The Mysterious World of Alain Nu

[James Nelson]

Tonight, TLC has Alain Nu followed by 2 David Blaine shows to begin their "Week of Magic" all starting at 8pm EST...........

[Steve Bryant]

If the TV Guide listings (online) are correct, tonight's TLC Alain Nu show repeats on Wednesday, then there is a NEW Alain Nu show on Thursday. Various David Blaine specials also run throughout the week.

[Joe M. Turner]

This whole week is "Magic Week" on TLC. The promo segments they are using between other commercials to promote this week are hilarious. Most of them were shot in Atlanta and I had the good fortune to rent some props to the production company for these promos.

If you see the segment with two guys trying to convince a girl to get in a large blue & silver box to make her "disappear," -- that's the tip-over trunk I sometimes use to make certain VIPs appear at banquets. Jay Gorham was produced out of that trunk at the 2004 SAM National Council meeting in Atlanta. The Rice rabbit silk and the feather flower bouquet in that segment are also things out of my magic basement.

All the segments feature people performing or attempting to perform magic in a stereotypically annoying way and are quite funny. All segments eventually close with "Leave magic to the pros. Watch Magic Week on TLC."

While I was dealing with the kids tonight, I tried to catch part of Alain's show. The parts I saw in realtime were interesting, although dodge ball from 30 feet away didn't seem particularly menacing. The blindfold drive in San Fran was a great twist, and it was presented as a memory test -- effect was combined with calling out the memorized order of a shuffled pack of cards while driving.

I have to go rewind the tape and watch the whole show to see the rest.

[Guest]

Thought Alain did best and got the best reactions with his signature spoon bending, but the blind-fold drive as memory test (including, as mentioned, the calling of cards starting from the bottom of the deck) was an rather interesting twist on a classic effect.

Looking forward to Thursday.

[Arnie Fuoco]

I thought this special was excellent. The spoon bending was first rate. The mix and assortment of effects was well chosen. Lots of kudos to Alain for his presentations. I also noticed about 15 or more consultants on the credits at the end to include Bob Fitch, Bob Sheets, Docc Hilford, Banechec, et al.

I have questions on two of the effects. (1) Do you think that most people believe that the blind fold is really opaque? and (2) Was the "finding the thought-of book" in the bookstore an example of the too-perfect theory where people will believe there was advance work performed?

Looking forward to the next special by Alain.

[Bill Duncan]

I was favorably impressed with most of the stuff on the special. I really liked his take on the blindfold drive.

The spoon bending left me cold. All I could see were his arms flailing around like windmills...

[Raj Madhok]

Word from Alain is that the 3rd special's airdate has been moved up to June 9th. As always, check your local listings.

Raj