Last week, ITV1 aired the second episode of The Next Great Magician, in which some of the world's best magicians compete to win a TV Special worth over £500,000. In this episode, six magic acts competed to win a place in the Grand Final, which will be held on December 11th. With the creative French Illusionist Xavier Mortimer already through to the Grand Final, the acts featured in this episode had to provide a really impressive performance in order to join him.
The competitors in this episode were:
- Illusionist Marcel (& Magus Utopia)
- Mentalist Katherine Mills
- Comedic Illusionist Duo Barry & Stuart
- Comedic Magician Andi Gladwin
- Close-Up Magician Will Houstoun
- Close-Up Magician Hun Lee
The Performances
Marcel (& Magus Utopia) - In the intro to this episode, the announcer said that it contained performances "which some younger viewers may find scary". He was referring to Marcel, the first act of the night. Marcel is the lead member of a magic troupe called Magus Utopia, who provide a magic act themed around dreams and nightmares. For their performance, Magus Utopia performed a number of frightening illusions inspired by this subject matter.
Marcel began his performance by getting into a seemingly normal bed and putting the duvet over his body. However, when Marcel threw the duvet over his head for a couple of seconds, he was replaced by a female assistant in scary, gothic makeup. Marcel then reappeared inside a circular doorway, now wearing a different set of clothes. After being seemingly hypnotised into a trance by a group of assistants (who were also in scary makeup), Marcel was chained to a pole by the lead female assistant for a variation on the Assistant's Revenge illusion. The assistant covered herself and Marcel with a curtain for a few seconds, but Marcel then emerged, freed from his restraints. When the curtain was removed, it was revealed that the assistant was now chained to the pole.
After this, Marcel's assistants locked him inside a cage and sealed it shut with black shrink wrap. The cage was lifted into the air and the assistants threw spears into it. However, a jet of flame soon caused the shrink wrap to burn away, revealing that Marcel had vanished from the cage. The bed used at the start of the performance was then returned to the centre of the stage, A duvet was held over the bed for a couple of seconds, and when it was put down, Marcel had re-appeared inside the bed, as if reawakening from his nightmare.
I am not a fan of horror, but Marcel & Magus Utopia provided some interesting illusions. Though the tricks they provided were variations on familiar illusions, they were carried out with plenty of style. There were also some interesting touches, such as some creepy voices and a brief glimpse of a bisected female assistant whose legs drove a cart with her upper body in the back. These made the performance seem scarier and more dangerous. The best aspect of Marcel & Magus Utopia's routine was their strong and cohesive story. However, whilst a dreams and nightmares theme works really well in a five-minute performance, I am not sure it can be properly translated to a longer TV special.
As usual, when the performance finished, hosts Stephen Mulhern and Rochelle Humes asked Marcel what tricks he and Magus Utopia would perform if they made it through to the final. Marcel promised that he would provide a "very beautiful" trick centered around a floating bed, followed by a "very dangerous" illusion.
Katherine Mills - Katherine Mills has already had a special on the cable TV channel Watch, but this is the first time she has appeared on a primetime show on one of Britain's "big three" mainstream channels. However, with this performance, Katherine proved she deserved a much greater level of recognition.
Katherine's performance was pre-recorded at a fancy London restaurant. There, she met a man named Ben for what appeared to be a typical blind date. However, once they had started talking, Katherine began to reveal that she was no ordinary partner. She began her routine by asking Ben a series of random questions and telling him to reveal his answers. At almost the exact same time Ben revealed his answers, Katherine gave exactly the same answers, as if correctly predicting Ben's choices. Regardless of whether she was asking him for his favourite film (Terminator 2: Judgement Day), his favourite superpower (Invisibility) or his favourite holiday location (Barbados) Katherine was able to correctly match Ben's answers every time.
After this, Katherine performed a trick which involved Ben's phone. She got a waiter to use the phone to take a photo of herself and Ben. Katherine then took Ben's phone, then revealed that a number of her personal photos (including ones showing her arriving at the restaurant, and one of her at a Halloween party) had appeared on it. Then, for the climax of the routine, Katherine spilled her glass of wine, and revealed that the spilt wine had formed a picture of a heart with the initials "K + B" (for Katherine and Ben) inside. In addition, a wedding ring had appeared from inside the overturned glass. As Katherine told Ben she would accept this apparent marriage proposal, a waiter lifted up the stained table cloth, covering Katherine's clothes for a few seconds. When it was removed, Katherine's red dress had transformed into a white wedding dress, and confetti was raining down from the ceiling to complete the routine.
Overall, this was one of my favourite routines of the night. Katherine has a strong personality, and a very distinctive approach. I liked the way she combined mentalism, close-up magic and illusions, and some of her tricks, such as the mentalism she provided at the beginning, are almost impossible to figure out. It's great to see a female magician provide such an impressive routine.
After her performance, Katherine promised that she would maintain her "hidden camera" style if she was put through to the Grand Final, as she would pretend to be a nanny and become "a real life Mary Poppins".
Barry & Stuart - Having previously appeared in both seasons of BBC1's magic show The Magicians, the Scottish magic duo Barry & Stuart returned to prime time television with a creative and funny, but disgusting, routine.
Barry & Stuart began their performance by showing viewers a jug containing "a really disgusting mixture" of over fifty drinks, ranging from pineapple juice to wheatgrass. It was poured into a bowl, and even more liquids, including orange juice, red wine, beer and an egg, were added to this concoction. All the drinks used by Barry & Stuart were shown on a screen behind them. Barry promised to put his head in this unusual brew, and drink from it. In order to make this more dangerous, Stuart claimed that Barry was lactose-intolerant, then added milk to the mixture. Barry then promised that he would "separate the drinks out" in his stomach. The audience was asked to name a drink of their choice from the options on the screen behind them, with one audience member choosing beer. Barry drank the concoction, then appeared to regurgitate beer into a glass. Stuart gave this beer to the audience member, who verified that it was genuine.
Barry & Stuart then invited TV personality Amy Childs onto stage to assist them, before Barry drank more of the mixture. Barry & Stuart then promised to regurgitate a hot drink for Amy, and asked her to choose from the dozen or so hot drinks listed on the screen behind her. Amy chose an Americano, and Barry appeared to regurgitate the drink into a second glass for her, When the Americano had been produced, Amy verified that it was still warm. Barry then regurgitated some milk to go with the drink, and the routine finished with a moment of comedy when, instead of regurgitating sugar, Barry merely took a couple of sugar packets from his pocket and added those to the Americano.
Barry & Stuart's routine combined the magical regurgitations associated with America's Got Talent finalist Stevie Starr with the classic Hospitality routine, where the magician produces drinks on demand for the audience. Both of these tricks are very impressive on their own, and the decision to combine them was very clever. Barry & Stuart also managed to use the unusual and disgusting nature of their routine to provide plenty of amusing moments. Overall, it was a really fun performance.
When Barry & Stuart were asked what they would perform if they made it through to the Grand Final, Stuart promised to show off his own superpowers by seeming to appear "in many places, all at the same time".
Barry & Stuart then invited TV personality Amy Childs onto stage to assist them, before Barry drank more of the mixture. Barry & Stuart then promised to regurgitate a hot drink for Amy, and asked her to choose from the dozen or so hot drinks listed on the screen behind her. Amy chose an Americano, and Barry appeared to regurgitate the drink into a second glass for her, When the Americano had been produced, Amy verified that it was still warm. Barry then regurgitated some milk to go with the drink, and the routine finished with a moment of comedy when, instead of regurgitating sugar, Barry merely took a couple of sugar packets from his pocket and added those to the Americano.
Barry & Stuart's routine combined the magical regurgitations associated with America's Got Talent finalist Stevie Starr with the classic Hospitality routine, where the magician produces drinks on demand for the audience. Both of these tricks are very impressive on their own, and the decision to combine them was very clever. Barry & Stuart also managed to use the unusual and disgusting nature of their routine to provide plenty of amusing moments. Overall, it was a really fun performance.
When Barry & Stuart were asked what they would perform if they made it through to the Grand Final, Stuart promised to show off his own superpowers by seeming to appear "in many places, all at the same time".
Andi Gladwin - For his performance, Andi Gladwin made use of a giant red balloon. He begun with the balloon over his head, then put his entire body inside the balloon. After this, Andi stuck his head outside the balloon, and provided some jokes for the audience, including a bit where he moved his body within the balloon in order to provide comedic "impersonations" of a space-hopper and a lava lamp.
Andi then provided viewers with magic routine in which he only used his mouth. Rochelle was chosen to assist as a volunteer, and Andi got her to take hold of a deck of cards with a different profession written on each one. Rochelle was then asked to go into the audience and choose a random audience member to participate in the trick. This person was asked to choose a card, look at the profession on it, and keep their choice a secret. Andi then asked Rochelle to take a silver platter and place this near him, before claiming that he would produce an item related to the chosen profession from his mouth. Andi made a golf tee appear from his mouth, but it turned out that the chosen profession was actually "Scuba Diver". Andi then put his head back into the giant balloon for a couple of seconds. The balloon then burst, revealing that he was now dressed in a complete Scuba Diver's outfit, including goggles and an oxygen tank.
This was probably the best performance I have seen involving a giant balloon, as it was used to aid the magic and also provided some physical comedy. The idea that using it would prevent Andi from doing anything with his arms or legs made the routine more interesting, and the climactic costume change was pretty impressive. However, acts involving giant balloons are usually pretty childish, and this performance felt like it was aimed at a younger audience. There's nothing wrong with magic for kids, but Andi's routine was not as impressive or sophisticated as those provided by the other competitors.
Andi promised that he would continue to use giant balloons if he made it to the final, and his routine would involve putting Stephen inside one of them.
Andi then provided viewers with magic routine in which he only used his mouth. Rochelle was chosen to assist as a volunteer, and Andi got her to take hold of a deck of cards with a different profession written on each one. Rochelle was then asked to go into the audience and choose a random audience member to participate in the trick. This person was asked to choose a card, look at the profession on it, and keep their choice a secret. Andi then asked Rochelle to take a silver platter and place this near him, before claiming that he would produce an item related to the chosen profession from his mouth. Andi made a golf tee appear from his mouth, but it turned out that the chosen profession was actually "Scuba Diver". Andi then put his head back into the giant balloon for a couple of seconds. The balloon then burst, revealing that he was now dressed in a complete Scuba Diver's outfit, including goggles and an oxygen tank.
This was probably the best performance I have seen involving a giant balloon, as it was used to aid the magic and also provided some physical comedy. The idea that using it would prevent Andi from doing anything with his arms or legs made the routine more interesting, and the climactic costume change was pretty impressive. However, acts involving giant balloons are usually pretty childish, and this performance felt like it was aimed at a younger audience. There's nothing wrong with magic for kids, but Andi's routine was not as impressive or sophisticated as those provided by the other competitors.
Andi promised that he would continue to use giant balloons if he made it to the final, and his routine would involve putting Stephen inside one of them.
Will Houstoun - In addition to being a magician, Will Houstoun is an expert in "Magical History" who notably worked on Hugo, Martin Scorsese's film about the pioneering French magician and filmmaker George Melies. For his performance, Houstoun used his historical knowledge to enhance an otherwise conventional close-up routine.
Will Houstoun's performance took place at Knebworth House, with Downton Abbey star Jim Carter helping out as a volunteer. The two went to the library, where Will told Jim about Matthias Buchinger, an 18th century magician who had been born without hands or feet. In spite of his disability, Matthias was able to perform a number of sleight-of-hand tricks extremely well. In order to pay tribute to Matthias, Will showed an example of close-up trick where he did not touch any of the objects used. He put four silver coins on a table some distance apart, and placed his hands above them. By doing this, Will made all the coins move to one spot. With some more hand movements, he made the coins return to their original positions, before making them appear in a single spot again.
After this, Will performed a card trick created by Nate Leipzig, a classic magician from the early 20th Century. He took out a deck of cards and divided it in half, giving one half to Jim. Will and Jim shuffled their cards thoroughly, then swapped their portions of the deck, shuffling each other's half some more. The two piles were mixed together in a seemingly random fashion, and Will showed that they did not seem to be in any coherent order. However, he then opened a second deck of cards to reveal that the cards in this deck were in exactly the same order as the cards in the deck which Will and Jim had shuffled - all 52 cards in the second deck were in exactly the same position as the shuffled cards.
Will's tricks may have been rather conventional, but I would love to see him headline an hour-long TV Special. I'm a keen history fan, and I really admire the manner in which Will used magicians from the past as inspiration in order to make his act seem unique and interesting. In addition, Will's performed his tricks very smoothly, making it a lot harder to figure out how he did them. The card trick was especially impressive. I look forward to seeing more performances from Will in the future.
Will Houstoun claimed that if he made it through to the Grand Final, he would perform a 200 year-old trick discovered in an incomplete manuscript housed in the Magic Circle's Archive Collection.
Will Houstoun's performance took place at Knebworth House, with Downton Abbey star Jim Carter helping out as a volunteer. The two went to the library, where Will told Jim about Matthias Buchinger, an 18th century magician who had been born without hands or feet. In spite of his disability, Matthias was able to perform a number of sleight-of-hand tricks extremely well. In order to pay tribute to Matthias, Will showed an example of close-up trick where he did not touch any of the objects used. He put four silver coins on a table some distance apart, and placed his hands above them. By doing this, Will made all the coins move to one spot. With some more hand movements, he made the coins return to their original positions, before making them appear in a single spot again.
After this, Will performed a card trick created by Nate Leipzig, a classic magician from the early 20th Century. He took out a deck of cards and divided it in half, giving one half to Jim. Will and Jim shuffled their cards thoroughly, then swapped their portions of the deck, shuffling each other's half some more. The two piles were mixed together in a seemingly random fashion, and Will showed that they did not seem to be in any coherent order. However, he then opened a second deck of cards to reveal that the cards in this deck were in exactly the same order as the cards in the deck which Will and Jim had shuffled - all 52 cards in the second deck were in exactly the same position as the shuffled cards.
Will's tricks may have been rather conventional, but I would love to see him headline an hour-long TV Special. I'm a keen history fan, and I really admire the manner in which Will used magicians from the past as inspiration in order to make his act seem unique and interesting. In addition, Will's performed his tricks very smoothly, making it a lot harder to figure out how he did them. The card trick was especially impressive. I look forward to seeing more performances from Will in the future.
Will Houstoun claimed that if he made it through to the Grand Final, he would perform a 200 year-old trick discovered in an incomplete manuscript housed in the Magic Circle's Archive Collection.
Hun Lee - Korean sleight-of-hand magician Hun Lee was the last act to perform during the episode, and provided a fast-paced and energetic routine.
Hun Lee began his performance by making a silk handkerchief appear, then made it turn into a box of cards, with a full deck inside. Hun accidentally dropped the deck, then appeared to briefly "rewind" the performance, causing it to fly back into his hands. He then performed some tricks with card boxes, making multiple boxes appear in his hands. Hun also made a box of cards float in midair, and caused the deck inside to rise out of the box. He then made several "fans" of cards appear at his fingertips, before making a card turn into a card box,
After this, Hun performed more tricks with multiplying card boxes, which included making them change colour. At this point, he began to "rewind" his performance again, reversing all his previous moves until he was back in the position he had been in at the start of the routine. This phase of the routine was performed at a much faster speed, but Hun was still able to perform his manipulations flawlessly. In addition to making card boxes and card fans appear and vanish, he performed a number of new tricks, such as making a deck of cards float in midair as they flew between his hands. There was also a section where the rewinding briefly "skipped", causing a number of individual cards to appear at Hun's fingertips and vanish rapidly.
Overall, this routine was similar to the sleight-of-hand routine provided by Jordan Gomez in the previous episode, but much more impressive, due to the greater range of tricks, which were generally superior to Jordan's. In addition, the "rewind" gimmick was very creative, and highlighted Hun's speed and precision. However, whilst quick-fire sleight-of-hand acts are very interesting to watch for a short performance, they can become tiresome over longer periods of time. Therefore, I don't think that Hun Lee can sustain a full TV special.
Hun promised that if he was put through to the final, he would perform "musical storytelling card magic".
Hun Lee began his performance by making a silk handkerchief appear, then made it turn into a box of cards, with a full deck inside. Hun accidentally dropped the deck, then appeared to briefly "rewind" the performance, causing it to fly back into his hands. He then performed some tricks with card boxes, making multiple boxes appear in his hands. Hun also made a box of cards float in midair, and caused the deck inside to rise out of the box. He then made several "fans" of cards appear at his fingertips, before making a card turn into a card box,
After this, Hun performed more tricks with multiplying card boxes, which included making them change colour. At this point, he began to "rewind" his performance again, reversing all his previous moves until he was back in the position he had been in at the start of the routine. This phase of the routine was performed at a much faster speed, but Hun was still able to perform his manipulations flawlessly. In addition to making card boxes and card fans appear and vanish, he performed a number of new tricks, such as making a deck of cards float in midair as they flew between his hands. There was also a section where the rewinding briefly "skipped", causing a number of individual cards to appear at Hun's fingertips and vanish rapidly.
Overall, this routine was similar to the sleight-of-hand routine provided by Jordan Gomez in the previous episode, but much more impressive, due to the greater range of tricks, which were generally superior to Jordan's. In addition, the "rewind" gimmick was very creative, and highlighted Hun's speed and precision. However, whilst quick-fire sleight-of-hand acts are very interesting to watch for a short performance, they can become tiresome over longer periods of time. Therefore, I don't think that Hun Lee can sustain a full TV special.
Hun promised that if he was put through to the final, he would perform "musical storytelling card magic".
The Results
As was the case in the first episode, the six magic acts gave each of their competitors scores based on three criteria: entertainment value, star quality, and how interesting their Grand Final performance sounded. The act who received the highest score would make it through to the Grand Final. Once all six competitors had made their decision, the winner magically appeared on stage. The act who made it through to the Grand Final in this episode was:
Barry & Stuart
Barry & Stuart deserved their place in the Grand Final, as they are both funny and creative. Their Grand Final performance sounds very interesting, and they seem like potential winners.
Barry & Stuart
Barry & Stuart deserved their place in the Grand Final, as they are both funny and creative. Their Grand Final performance sounds very interesting, and they seem like potential winners.
My Verdict
Overall, this episode of The Next Great Magician was better than the first one. The magic provided wasn't quite as spectacular as it was last time, but the magicians all gave strong performances, with Katherine Mills, Barry & Stuart and Will Houstoun being my favourite acts of the night. Although I'm still a little worried that the scoring system isn't transparent enough, the hosts have improved - Stephen Mulhern and Rochelle Humes have good chemistry and managed to provide some amusing lines in this episode. I'm really looking forward to seeing the rest of the series.
Next Time - The six magicians who will be performing in the next episode of The Next Great Magician are:
- Illusionist Josephine Lee
- Close-Up Magician Laura London
- Rubix Cube Magician Paul Vu
- Close-Up Magician/Mentalist Rob Zabrecky
- Comedic Magician Rune Klan
- Close-Up Magician Seol Park
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