Most rude talk show hosts

Discuss the latest news and rumors in the magic world.
Guest

Re: Most rude talk show hosts

Postby Guest » December 19th, 2002, 5:02 pm

I am not quite sure what the problem is with dealing with obnoxious hosts.In fact there shouldn't be a problem if the magician knows his business.

First it is not as if the magician has no warning. If the host has a track record of this behaviour then the magician should be ready for him.

The magician will have the advantage of surprise.The host will be taken aback by the way the magician can put him in his place. The key is preparation.

How the magician handles the host is up to him. The point is that he has plenty of time to figure it out.

I well remember an old British pro named John Styles put famous comedian and TV host Bruce Forsyth in his place. Attack was his defence.
When Bruce started the obnoxious act John said "is this a double act?" After a few more one liners from John, Bruce got the message and backed off. Yes, Styles did a great job for himself and any future magicians that Bruce would have had to deal with.

I would have used a different approach. I let people bully me then I screw them with a sucker trick. They soon shut up after that after they have made a fool of themselves on TV.

The key thing is to plan beforehand your tactics.
No good whining afterwards if the host acts like he always has acted before and you don't do anything about it.

Guest

Re: Most rude talk show hosts

Postby Guest » November 18th, 2004, 9:45 am

My vote for worst host goes to Wiiliam Shatner. Technically he was an M.C. and not a host, but he was pretty darn terrible just the same. The artist formerly known as T.J. Hooker was hosting a live Halloween magic special on television 10 or 15 years ago. He was rude and condescending to all of the acts, as far as I can remember. The worst came with the Pendragons. The Pendragons performed their version of Metamorphosis which was supposed to end with Charlotte performing a costume change. Well apparently there was a problem with the bottom of the costume and Charlotte could not get it on in time. Being a smart performer, she merely kneeled in the box and did the ta-da gesture so the audience could only see her from the waist up. No one would have known there was a problem. Well Captain Kirk was standing next to the trunk, looked inside, and shouted out something to the effect, shes not wearing any pants!!! It was like he was trying to humiliate poor Charlotte. Shatner should have kept his mouth shut and no one at home or in the audience would have known that there was a costume malfunction. What a wad.

David Alexander
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Re: Most rude talk show hosts

Postby David Alexander » November 18th, 2004, 11:32 pm

I was in the audience that night, both at the dress and live show. Shatner was his usual self-absorbed best. Harry Blackstone put him in his place during the dress when he quietly said, "Nimoy was right. You do over act!" Shatner didn't screw around with Harry that night.

Charlotte was, indeed, without coverage on her lower half. Something ripped as I recall. She and Jonathan covered the problem nicely and as you said, it would have gone unnoticed had it not been for Shatner's big mouth.

John LeBlanc
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Re: Most rude talk show hosts

Postby John LeBlanc » November 19th, 2004, 5:45 am

That was a bad night for the Pendragons. After setting up the trunk, stage hands moved it to make room for Dean Gunnerson's bit. Remember, this was live TV, and the Pendragons had minutes to go before their appearance. According to Jonathan, the trunk was "a mess" and Charlotte had to reset it all.

Added to that, the producers wanted her to wear a heavily rhinestoned one-piece for the costume change, instead of the usual one. Apparently the Pendragons practiced using it for weeks, and used it successfully during the week of the show, but... Charlotte had a costume malfunction.

I have the show on tape and I think they handled it the best they could. Jonathan was gracious in explaining Shatner was out of his element hosting the show and probably felt uncomfortable anyway. Still, had Shatner not said a word, we would probably be talking about the other notable thing that occurred during the Pendragon's performance that night: it was the first time they did the new foulard thing.

John LeBlanc
http://www.escamoteurettes.com

Jon Racherbaumer
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Re: Most rude talk show hosts

Postby Jon Racherbaumer » November 19th, 2004, 10:35 am

Great hosts--please note that I use the word "great" without hyperbole--are few and far between. Johnny Carson and Mike Douglas were terrific and rarely intruded, or tried to be an upstaging "double," or were in any way obnoxious to other performers or guests.

Many performers, once on stage with other performers who are in the spotlight, resort to all kinds of reflexive behavior...much of it bad, if not outright goofy. Provide any lull or "dead air" and they jump in, uninvited.

When Don Alan was on the Mike Douglas (He appeared many times), he was about to begin his close-up "set" at a table with Mike Douglas, Phyllis Diller, and Henny Youngman. Don immediately realized that Henny was often pretty irrepressible...a chatterbox of glib and not-so-glib one-liners. Immediately after Don was introduced, Henny started to "rattle."

Don, a master of using questions as weapons, looked at Henny eye-to-eye and said, "Hi, Henny. How are you?"

This question stopped Henny in his tracks. He couldn't think of a ready, apt quip or come-back. Henny also realized that Don's question was a signal to "zip it."

Henny was mum the rest of the set.

Onward...

David Alexander
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Location: Aurora IL

Re: Most rude talk show hosts

Postby David Alexander » November 20th, 2004, 11:28 am

Milton Berle always involved himself in his guests' acts. He was "Mr. Television," so everyone put up with it whether they like it or not...everyone except Harry Blackstone who had a bigger pair than Uncle Miltie.

Rehersals went fine, but on the live broadcast, Blackstone called Milton over to show him a trunk, a bit that had not occurred in the rehersal. Berle was confused but he did what he was told and Blackstone put into the trunk, closed and locked the lid and went on with his act, leaving the most popular and powerful television personality of his day out of Blackstone's way.

At the end of the act Uncle Miltie was let out. He put a game face on it, but he knew he'd been had by a better man.

I watched Harry Jr tell this story to Milton on a national show and Milton did his best to appear to be a good sport 30+ years after it happened. It wasn't often that Milton was bested.


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