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| By Andrew Webb | |
| Friday, 02 May 2008 09:43 | |
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There's been a lot of shouting about exposure, and what are the judges (Max Maven, Jeff McBride and Franz Harary) thinking?? Come to that what at the coaches thinking? Can the stars of magic like Simon Lovell, Asi Wind, David Regal, Rocco Silano, Silly Billy, Derek Hughes and Murray SawChuck, really be involved in a TV show teaching tricks ? and who actually are the contestants? Carnie Wilson, 'Ant', Thomas Howell, Hal Sparks, Lisa Ann Walter, Chris “Kid” Reid, and Pussycat Doll, Kim Wyatt, all very American names. The biggest complaints came before the show had even aired, I was ever hopeful that the show was going to be positive for magic, but how did it actually come across ?? The show itself is in the X-factor meets Magic style. Six American celebrities get paired up with six top magic coaches, each episode they will attempt to tackle one specific area of magic. The first episode covered 'Street Magic' and the contestants were given just one day to work with their coach to get the skills, and decide on tricks that they wanted to do. A very plus point here is that there is no exposure at all, you see the contestants work on effects without seeing the methods, and it's more about how hard the art is to learn, and their struggles with performing, and methods than the trick itself.The assignment of 'stars' to magicians is well balanced, and causes some 'interesting' feuds between the contestants; Carnie Wilson will be mentored by Simon Lovell Ant will be mentored by Asi Wind C. Thomas Howell will be mentored by David Regal Hal Sparks will be mentored by Rocco Silano Lisa Ann Walter will be mentored by Silly Billy Chris “Kid” Reid will be mentored by Derek Hughes and finally, Kim Wyatt will be mentored by the lucky lucky Murray SawChuck. 'Ant' seems to have become the shows resident 'bad guy' stirring up trouble at any opportunity. Once they are ready and coached up, they head out to test their new found skills in the real world. The show is filmed at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, so under close supervision of their coach, and a judge or two, they are watched drawing crowds, performing, and in many instances, failing, and failing spectacularly. What comes across is the pure pain, and upset of many of the celebs, clearly giving the impression that they WANT to learn this stuff. Of course the $10,000 prize might also have something to do with it, but an excellent example is that, according to Simon Lovell, Carnie Wilson learnt the sleight method of Card Through Window, as opposed to another method! Their skills after just one day with each coach were surprisingly good, but with any reality show, someone has to leave at the end of each week.. It's a great show if you can get to watch it, and feedback so far's been very good, and generally that this will help magic raise it's profile again. So thankfully as I thought, the judges and coaches allowed the show to be exposure free and a credit to magic, they so far, has done a great job with the show, and I hope that continues going forwards.. Next week, apparently it's Childrens Magic... HCMS Members should log into the site for more information on this show. |
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