Magicians – 22nd January

First of all I must say that it is easy to criticise and find fault in almost anything if you are the kind of person who does not like to see others excel. Indeed critical comments can often be considered as jealous jibes or envious epithets. So I am hoping that these, frequently critical comments about the BBC series The Magicians are seen in the light they are intended.

I love magic and I admire all kinds of wonder workers.

I would love to see a prime time magic show on UK television as a regular feature. A show, perhaps similar to the more recent Penn and Teller ‘Fool ”Em” show where, for the most part the magicians were allowed to perform quality routines without the need for celebrity intereference.

The Magicians features magic which is, I feel, secondary to the format of the show. This weeks gaggle of elebrities featuring the ‘too cool to be really impreseed so we’ll try to be the cool we real are N Dubz’ was in many ways a hindrance to the performance of artful denception.

I mean Rolf Harris, a hero of popular TV and one of the true entertainers, seemed a little out if step with his partner Chris Korn.

Even Barry and Stuart seemed a little off their game tonight – and I love their work.

It was pleasing to see the first pieces of magic that I feel really could have been performed under normal street conditions, but even one of them seemed to rely on some time misdirection made possible by the filming process.

The blindfold Segway drive and the 30 CD players was certainly not, in my opinion street magic.

The illusions were so so this evening, lacking dramatic drive and pace. How ‘the impaler’ could be turned into such a under-played piece of magic is beyond me (sorry Barry and Stuart). Funny how I was extolling the virtues of that particular illusion to Alex of Matricks today. Alex’s Illusion act is superb and as a working pro act he brings dynamism, theatricality and entertsinment to an illusion show that works, in the real world. After seeing that particular illusion on the show tonight my excitement about it’s theatrical potential my well be seen as being misguided by Alex.

Now whilst I may not agree with Lenny Henrys rhetoric about the magicians on the show being ‘the best in the world’, I am very sure that if left to their own devices Lois, Chris and Barry & Stuart are worthy of much praise and audience accolades. Again we are back to the limitations of the shows format. The need to elicit celebrity comments about the ‘mystery of magic’ and audience votes on the ‘best magic’ can, I feel de-value the art.

Tonights show ended with Chris Korn and Rolf Harris turning down their forfeit.

The reasons given may be genuine or not, but at least this ‘moment’ in the show created genuine tension. In a way it doesn’t matter whether Lenny’s saving the day was as spontaneous as it was made out to be, this moment of drama was very very strong. If it hadn’t been rehearsed then Lenny gets my utmost praise for playing this the way he did. If it was rehearsed then the shows directors get my praise for daring to bring a moment of real uncertainty into the set piece. It will be one of those ‘water cooler’ moments – one which will prompt comment and question around the water coolers, coffee breaks and informal conversations in the work place. Which is what magic should be doing all of the time!

As I watched tonights show and the odd collection of magical
performances it reminded me just how brilliant Paul Daniels was during his long running weekly television series. The pressure of creating week in and week out magical routines that were topical, engaging, artful and mysterious must be incredible. The fact that Daniels and his team were able to do this in an apparently effortless way was, perhaps, the greatest illusion of all.

Watching tonights Magicians show I can’t help but wonder if the strain is starting to show.

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