Canada’s Got Talent is NOT a real Talent contest.

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People often ask me why I didn’t audition for Canada’s Got Talent ( when it taped in Toronto ) which will soon air in Canada on CTV. America’s got talent has boosted the careers of many magicians in the US so why not try out for the Canadian version?????

The answer is quite simple really. The show is very entertaining but it is not a real talent contest. It’s quite fake actually. Its a modern day Gong Show that features some good talent but also highlights the bizarre and hilariously bad talent for the amusement of audiences. Think about it… of all the thousands who audition and don’t make it on the show….. some silly act that shows NO talent at all does?????  Are the producers saying that person is more talented than the thousands that didn’t make it? The real reason is that it makes good television.  I can’t fault them for that. However… the point must be made that the show is about ” good television moments ” and not a real search for talent.

Canada’s Got Talent ( just like Americas’s Got Talent ) reserves the right to edit your appearance in ANY way they see fit. This is true even if it does not represent what really happened. I can only speak from my own knowledge and about acts I know but I have seen unfair editing done way to many times.  Example:  A comedian has an act where he is a poor magician who refuses to accept the fact that the can’t levitate. Its a funny routine but America’s Got Talent only showed a few seconds of his act making it LOOK LIKE he was an actual magician who had an accident on stage and failed. Clips of his act are now all over YouTube under ” Magician Fail” or ” Bad AGT Magician ” .  Similar editing has also happened to many of my friends in the magic industry.

The show is cleverly staged to maximize and create drama. Again… good television but not a real talent contest. Notice how when the judges results are read it always is delivered in a certain order as a  ”YES….NO…….. and then YES” ….. or …. “NO….YES……..then NO”…etc. It is never a ” NO……NO….YES” because the suspense is gone once we know two judges have voted a NO. The producers specifically want us to wait until that last minute. That as I said earlier makes good television but if its a real contest then how is it that the producers know which judge will say yes and which will say know in order to decide who speaks in which order??????  Hmmmmmmm

My act is also not one of the acts that can win an audience over in 90 seconds. I need to build a relationship with my audiences and that doesn’t happen in 90 seconds. I will watch Canada’s Got Talent when it airs March 4 and will wish all my friends who participated in it good luck. I will watch it but just not in hopes the best talent will end up the winner. ;)

 

London Magician Peter Mennie

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Yesterday I travelled with fellow Magician Peter Mennie to Listowel, Ontario where he performed a family show at the Theatre Three Eleven. After a 90 minute drive and conversation on the art of magic and illusion we arrived and set up.. or maybe I should say.. ” Peter set up “. He’s done it thousands of times so I let him do his thing while I scoped out the theatre to find the best locations to shoot video from.  I also took a few photos both before and after the well received show.

Magician Peter Mennie sets up before a Magic Show.

Magician Peter Mennie signs autographs.

Magician Bombs on Live Tv – Well not really

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I’ve posted in my blog before about Eric Leclerc and his 365 day magic video project on youtube. Eric like many others started such a project but unlike others he has finished it. Well almost finished it. He has two more magic videos to post at the time I write this.

Eric has proven his diversity again with this hilarious video where almost everything goes wrong on his morning television appearance.

Making Magic for ANOTHER Magician?

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Tomorrow both myself and another magician ( Peter Mennie ) will both be working behind the scenes in another magicians magic show. The job pays $0 dollars and we are both working to assist and promote a magician who could be considered our competition.  Why would we do such a thing?

ANSWER: Thats what magicians do for the most part. When it comes to a show we will work together to help each other be their best on stage. I have lots of stories of how The Amazing Corbin has supported my shows in the past and saved a few from disaster in the efforts. I’ll save those stories for another post. LOL

The audiences are the real magic.

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I recently received a very nice review from a client. So nice to hear that the audience has as much fun watching as I have performing magic for them.

Timothy: Thanks so much for performing your illusions at our event last Saturday evening. What a show!!! It far surpassed my expectations and many
guests told me the same was true for them. I continue to get nice comments about your show. People really enjoyed it – they found it fun and
entertaining, and different from anything they had seen before. You really helped to make the evening memorable for us and for our guests. I will certainly remember you for my next client event, and would be happy to refer you anytime!
Thanks again, Suzanne Denomme

The Perils of performing magic on live tv.

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A while back I was asked to perform on a local cable tv show. When performing magic on television it is best to make sure the camera crew know what is going to happen so they can be prepared to get the best shots. For example…. if you are going to make something appear in your hands at a certain moment a close up of your face at the moment instead of where the object appeared is not the idea camera shot. If you are going to make something vanish .. the same goes. It is for this reason that I like request a quick run through of my act for the tv cameras before going live.

One particular show felt this was not necessary and would not take the time to do a dry run through. BIG MISTAKE!  When it came time to go live I was to start the act and there was no music playing. I waited patiently for the music to start and after a minute someone realized the studio speakers were not on so they switched them on and my music came blaring on ( because they had kept turning up the volume ) and was half over. I had to request they start over so I could start from the beginning of the music.

The next act I performed was one I regularly perform for my live corporate magic audiences. I cause several hula hoops to magically link and  unlink. When I perform my own show I wear a wireless headset microphone. The studio I was performing in that day only used wired mics so when it came time for me to step into a hula hoop and pull it up over my head to link it to another…. it got caught on the wire that was connected from my mic to the studio. So much for that act as I had to stop right there with a tangle of wires wrapped up in my hoops. The rest of the show went in a similar fashion.

After the show the producer asked me if we could reshoot the segment so it was correct for the follow up broadcasts. Now that they knew what the act involved … the second taping went flawlessly. A simple run through in the beginning would have prevented this and for that reason I never perform magic  on live television unless the directed has seen a rehearsal or knows my act.

Canada’s Got Talent in Toronto

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Magicians Peter Mennie, Amazing Corbin and Timothy Drake took a day off yesterday to attend a taping of Canada’s Got Talent.  Only a week before I had been busy in my workshop racing to finish a magic prop on time so I could be used by one of the magicians on the show. Canada’s Got Talent producers prefer I not mention the magician by name in order to help keep it a surprise until the Got Talent air date.  It was a learning experience to sit in the audience for the shows taping. There was lots of excitement in the air and the judges proved entertaining on many levels. Martin Short shows he can still make canadians proud with both class and comedy. Stephan Mocclo proved to be the ” supportive judge” to young performers who have a dream and Measha Brueggergosman took on the ” mean judge” role normally played by Piers Morgan.

Host Dina Pugllese was rarely seen as her duties were mostly back stage and will be seen more when the show airs.  The odd time she was visible she was very popular with the crowd in attendance.

Canada's Got Talent Ticket in Toronto

What to do? What to do?

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Several years ago I was backstage only minutes until I went on stage to perform my magic act at a corporate event and as I quickly changed I noticed that I had not packed my black dress socks. I wear a somewhat gothic style tux when I perform and going on stage with a black tuxedo and white socks was NOT going to happen. Worse still off course would be wearing no socks. What to do ? What to do?  A quick inquiry with the events DJ revealed he carried a roll of black gaffers tape ( sort of like a duct tape made of cloth) in his road case.  I put the white socks on and  then quickly wrapped my ankles in black gaffers tape so the odd time my pant leg lifted above my show only black could be seen and it would look like I was wearing black socks.  It worked perfectly. Oh the glory of showbiz! ;)  To this day since then I always make sure to pack black socks before I leave for a show.

So the next time someone tells you to watch a magicians hands very closely … you might want to take a closer look at his ankles as well. LOL