Americas Got Talent - Top 31 Magicians (Honourable Mentions)

Americas Got Talent is in the midst of its tenth season, with numerous magicians among the acts competing to win the million-dollar prize and an opportunity to perform in Las Vegas. Last year, close-up magician Mat Franco became the first magic act to win the show, so they will need to be more impressive than ever if they want to follow in his footsteps.

The audition rounds of AGT come to a close this week, to be followed by a round of "Judge's Cuts" that will last for four weeks. Before we talk about the magicians who have made it to the "Judges Cuts", it would be fun to take a look back at those who competed in the previous nine seasons.

Since Americas Got Talent begun in 2006, a total of 31 magic acts have made the Live Shows across all nine seasons. (This figure does not include acts such The James Gang from Series 3 or Christian Stoinev from Series 9, who weren't magicians, but used magic tricks during a performance to help them stand out). Throughout the week, I will be doing a countdown of all of them, from the least impressive to the best. The magicians will be placed based on their level of success,originality, showmanship and performance skills.

Before we start the countdown proper, there are a few honourable mentions. The honourable mentions are magicians who provided impressive auditions, but failed to make the Live Shows. These acts either withdrew from the competition or got eliminated at the Vegas Week/Judgement Week stage, where the judges choose which successful auditionees would make the Live Shows. All the honourable mentions are listed in chronological order and are not part of the main countdown.

The Honourable Mentions

Anthony Reed (Series 2)

In contrast to the other seasons, which have seen at least 40 acts in the Live Shows, Series 2 only had 20 acts, meaning that contestants who would have easily made it past Vegas Week in any other series of AGT were sent home by the judges. One of the most notable eliminations from Vegas Week that year was Anthony Reed. Although his audition routine was fast-paced and fun to watch, it was his performance of the Aquarian Illusion in Vegas that really stood out. The only reason why Anthony failed to make the Live Shows was the fact that fellow magician Kevin James (Anthony's former mentor!) had given an even more amazing performance, and the judges believed they could only put one magic act through to the Top 20.

The Pendragons (Series 3)

The Pendragons, consisting of husband and wife team Jonathan and Charlotte Pendragon, are one of the most iconic magic acts of all time and appeared on numerous magic shows in a partnership that lasted from the early 1980's until 2009. They auditioned for Americas Got Talent in Series 3 with their signature trick, the Metamorphosis, and their performance of it was as impressive as ever - the switch at the centre of the illusion took just four seconds to carry out. The Pendragons were present at Vegas Week, but the viewers did not get to see them in action. It was a shame that they did not progress any further, as they were far better than the magicians that made the Live Shows that year.

William Scott Anderson (Series 5)

Early seasons of Americas Got Talent were dominated by singers, but Series 5 was the first in which large numbers of variety acts began to stand out. Magic acts were particularly successful that year, with all four of the magicians who made the Live Shows in Series 5 making it to the Semifinals. However, one of the best magic routines at the audition stage came from a magician who failed to make it past Vegas. William Scott Anderson, a helicopter pilot for the U.S military, provided an impressive version of the Origami illusion. The trick was great and I liked the way William used his military background - It made him stand out, and provided him with a powerful, assertive image. Unfortunately, Williams' Vegas Week illusion was a lot less interesting, leading to an early exit.

Michael Turco (Series 6)

During his audition, Michael Turco stood out due to his quick-fire, energetic style of magic, as he crammed a large number of impressive illusions (such as making four assistants appear from a single box) in his 90-second performance. Based on this routine, Michael appeared to be a strong contender, but he was eliminated in Vegas Week after his performance there was affected by prop malfunctions.

Taylor Reed (Series 7)

A point that will be brought up frequently on the countdown is the fact that bigger does not always mean better - magicians using big boxes and elaborate props can often be upstaged by ones who prefer ordinary objects such as a deck of cards. Taylor Reed was a good example of a magician who failed to take this into account, as he was eliminated in Vegas Week in spite of doing a trick where he made a helicopter appear. However, whilst he lacked the showmanship of rivals such as Eric Dittelman, Taylor was still able to provide impressive performances in both the audition stages and Vegas Week, and I would have loved to have seen him perform live.

Rogue (Series 9)

Russian Roulette-type tricks are highly popular among magicians on AGT because the threat of severe injury (at the very least) makes them interesting to watch. Landon Swank and David & Leeman are among the iconic AGT magicians who have risked life and limb testing the intuition of the judges. However, another memorable spin on the genre came from Rogue, who did a version with four staple guns, one of which was loaded. He was able to make the danger seem genuine and handled one of the biggest obstacles an AGT magician can face, as he used judge Mel B as a volunteer and pulled the trick off in spite of her panicky, uncooperative behaviour on the stage. Although Rogue's audition demonstrated that he could have easily stood toe to toe with the likes of Mat Franco and Smoothini at the Live Shows, he didn't show up at Judgement Week.


Tomorrow...We start the main countdown, and reveal the AGT magicians who placed between 31st and 22nd on it.