CELEBRACADABRA

[MaxNY]

I liked the twists. The best celeb from Ep.#1 got to throw a curve at the 2nd to last celeb from EP#1, during Ep.#2...They got to choose a costume from a "magic shop" that would challenge the celeb.. Well the costume was a Catsup bottle, and David K, did one heck of a job developing magic to go along with it....But then there was Rocco...with his Butterfly piece. NG!

[David Regal]

As most of you know, Genii is publishing a three-part behind the scenes look at the show, written by me. Part One was in the April issue, but if you missed it don't worry - it covered the pre-production of the show up until the moment a terrible freak happening moved me from "magic consultant" to "coach." Part Two will be in the June issue.

[Richard Kaufman]

And part three will be our July cover story ... but for now, wait until you read the second part in the June issue. I heard my wife screaming with laughter while reading it.

[Jeff Haas]

The second episode is up on VH1's site now.

I didn't know much about Asi before this, but after watching it, I really like him.

[Paul Q]

Because of the number of contestants, episode #2 didn't give much air time to Max or McBride. Hopefully in the future installments we'll get some good stuff from them.

When Max speaks, I can't turn away!

[Magic Newswire]

Our interview with ASI after Episode 2 is now on the site. Also, we've posted some links to video not before broadcast on the show. After listening to our chat with him and watching Ant & Asi's final comments.. you'll get an even better idea of why Ant is gone.

Enjoy!

[Magic Newswire]

... If this is the one with Max Maven and Jeff McBride involved with the judging, then it may not yet prove to be one of the signs of the impending apocalypse.

Jeremy

Jeff & Max made it clear that they were very cautious going into this project during our interviews with the, yet both seem very pleased with the outcome...

I know that I was totally encouraged by the fact that they were involved as I knew that they would be focused on insuring that 1) There would be no exposure.. and 2) It wouldn't make magic look creepy or easy.

[MagicBilly]

Newbie here to Genii forums, but do have a few years under my magic belt, so I thought I'd step into a gentle thread for post #1.

I've watched the 1st two episodes, read and listened to most everything posted on magic newswire and have discussed this with other magic friends. That said...

I hope in later episodes that the producers increased the interaction and judge feeback for all performers, not just those in the bottom three, from Jeff, Max and Jonathan. There is some "reality show" tension missing with only Jonathan dropping the proverbial axe.

I must say though while Ant's attitude, desire/ability to create group tension, and of course his clown anxiety will be missed, I loved Max's response to Ant just before he was voted off the island.

Now that this first post is over, I'm ready to swim with the sharks...NOT.

[Rene Clement]

With all the magic consultants on the show, how do they allow the opening credits to show "Kid" Chris Ried holding a rabbit by it's ears?
Ouch!!!

[David Regal]

...how do they allow the opening credits to show "Kid" Chris Ried holding a rabbit by it's ears?

That wasn't a rabbit. That was ANT.

[Richard Kaufman]

The focus on this series is really on the celebrities, with coaches next, and finally the judges. The drama is really the interaction between the celebs and coaches, followed by the celebs' performances.

[NCMarsh]

I just watched the second episode and, with the exception of the lawsuit-in-waiting closing act, the show that they performed was 10x better than any local magic club show that I have seen.

The common thread is that these are experienced, professional entertainers -- many with theater training. We talk about it a lot, but I think this is one of the clearest demonstrations I've seen that -- as important as it is to master the craft of deceiving an audience -- technical proficiency is a tiny, tiny part of what makes a magic show work.

I would pay much more to see a magic show featuring performers like Kid, C. Thomas Howell, Hal Sparks, Edward Norton, Orson Welles, or Jason Alexander than 90% of the professional magicians that I've seen (self included).

(For those who may have an interest in cultivating these "other skills," Mark Phillips is currently organizing a workshop with Bob Fitch in MD. You can contact Mark at: Mark@ThinAirProductions.com and learn more about Fitch camp at www.fitchmagic.com....)

[David Regal]

The upcoming episodes will have no shortage of horrors and triumphs.

[JustinRYoung]

Hey folks, if you have any lingering questions or comments about the show, the producer of Celebracadabra Chris Martin has been kind enough to personally offer answers. As I am sure anyone who worked on the show can attest, he seems to be a really nice guy who wants to give back to the community and this is part of it.

Just email Show@iTricks.com put Celebracadabra in the subject line and fire away.

On a personal note, as a guy trying to run a blog and book a podcast, I can't stress enough how cool he has been about access.

More details here and an interview about the first two episodes and beyond:
http://itricks.com/news/?p=3689

[Magic Newswire]

I can second that Justin! Chris has been fantastic!

I really enjoyed your conversation with Chris.

Our conversation with Asi is up now and we have finished the with the next coach to be eliminated and it will be up on Monday!

Celebracadabra!

[Jim Maloney]

Finally caught up on the second episode last night. Some thoughts:

Lisa: Despite the costume handicap, did an excellent job. I think a big part of her success was due to the fact that her coach was Silly Billy. His knowledge and understanding of children's entertainment was a huge point in her favor. As Hal said, "She took lemons...and made ketchup-ade."

Hal: Like last week, was pretty solid in his performance. The butterflies did cause a bit of a problem, but nowhere near the riot that Ant caused. In fact, I thought his observations about Ant were spot on: "...he just shrugged his shoulders and said 'This is stupid'. I think the kids deserve better." and "You don't need to sabotage a sinking ship".

Tommy: Even with his difficulties in the first episode, I felt that he could actually take this all the way. This week he really shone through and I have to say that I'm really looking forward to what he does in the coming weeks. I would not be surprised if he comes out on top.

Chris: Both last week and this week he showed that he's a born showman. You can tell that he's really having fun with this, and that he's very comfortable in front of a crowd. My only complaint about him was the language issue ("hell" and "damn"...relatively mild, sure, but not appropriate in front of school kids). Max and Jeff commented on it during the performance, as well as some of the folks backstage, but it didn't come up during the evaluation later on.

Kim: She was ok this week...nothing great.

Ant: I don't think there was any surprise that he was voted off this week. Between his unwillingness to work with Asi, the poor taste in costume, and the incredibly poor taste in his 'big finale', he more than deserved to go. He even knew it, though I don't know why he acted surprised when Asi agreed with the judges.

Great comment over on Television Without Pity: "But [Ant] is right; you don't get rid of the villain in the second episode. A$$holes get voted off early on, however."

The remaining five are all good. I don't think that a clear winner has emerged yet. Though, like I said above, I'm rooting for Tommy.

-Jim

[Jim Maloney]

Video blogs from Ant where he talks about Celebracadabra:

April 28th (Day after the premiere)

May 5th (Second Episode) (Celebracadabra stuff comes in near the end, about 5:50)

There's a ton more videos there, some of which may include more real-time info on the filming of the show...I just don't have the time or inclination to go through them all. He does appear to confirm that his personality on the show was an act, though as some people have pointed out, he wasn't much different when he was on Last Comic Standing.

-Jim

[John LeBlanc]

He does appear to confirm that his personality on the show was an act

I've long been inclined to think this covers Criss Angel, too. In Ant's case, he either really didn't want to do this, or his execution of being the villain was out of tune.

[Richard Kaufman]

Criss Angel is just Criss Angel. He has the same personality whether you're sitting and talking to him privately or when he's performing.

[John LeBlanc]

Another illusion shattered.

[Murray SawChuck]

The Drama on the show will definately increase as we get closer to the end with a few twists... This is a very interesting episode tonight! Murray

[Magic Newswire]

The clown thing is the main focus for the clip from the Pilot that we got from a contributor this morning as well.. A comedian afraid of clowns.. dunno what that says...

[Richard Kaufman]

The show really starts to kick into high gear with episode three tonight: Comedy Magic.

Click for a preview:
http://www.vh1.com/video/play.jhtml?id= ... vid=230663

[Mark Paulson]

I watched episode 3 this morning (new episodes air at 11am on Sundays and again at 9pm). I was a bit surprised at the outcome; however, it was a good episode. I can't wait until next week! The show is so much better without Ant on it.

[Magic Newswire]

We'll have our interviews with Derek Hughes & Chris "The Kid" Reid online today for your listening pleasure.

Enjoy!

[David Regal]

I am seeing the shows for the first time along with the viewing audience, so I have no idea what the final edit will look like. Last night's show was very, very entertaining, and the teaser for next week's show, with that shot of the elderly woman sound asleep, was about as funny as things can be.

[David Regal]

I just went to the Celebracadabra page at www.VH1.com There are extra clips from the show there, segments that were never aired. Click on "Struggling on the Street."

[erik120]

Thanks for the link, David.

My expectations weren't too high based on what I'd heard about the show, but I've been very pleasantly surprised after three episodes. Amazing that the performers had such a short time to learn and practice and yet mostly manage to put on a good show. Kudos to all the magician trainers!

[MaxNY]

Can anyone tell me how the coaches got a hold of props...Did they all have to bring their own?

[David Regal]

It was a combination of things. Many props were procured ahead of time, but we loaned things from our own collections as well. We also had ideas on the fly that we executed - not all things done were dealer items.

[John LeBlanc]

Wow. Hope Tommy didn't kill someone's personal duck. Bad enough he Pete Townsended the table!

And while I'm posting, I'll add that I not only had high hopes from the beginning, but I have also been enjoying Celebra Cadabra a lot. My money is on Lisa as the ultimate winner, and Kimberly as the object of the next wand breaking ceremony.

[Joe Pecore]

How have the ratings been? Any hopes for a season 2?

[Richard Kaufman]

I heard about 7 million, building with each episode. New viewers are watching the earlier episodes on the web.

[JustinRYoung]

We've gotten word that the show will move from Sundays at 9 p.m. to Thursday at 10 p.m. starting next week.

Just a rumor for now, but we feel very confident with the sourcing.

Full report here:
http://itricks.com/news/?p=3724

[Magic Newswire]

It's true and we'll have a comment from the Producer online in a few min. The move will occur on Thursday May 22nd.

Stay Tuned!

[Richard Kaufman]

Here is the schedule for the remaining episodes of Celebracadbra:

Episode 4 --> May 18 @ 9pm
Episode 5 --> May 22 @ 10pm
Episode 6 --> May 29 @ 10pm
Episode 7 --> June 5 @ 10pm
Episode 8 --> June 12 @ 10pm
Episode 9 --> June 12 @ 11pm

[Terrence]

Not sure about the 22nd, but the 29th is the "Lost" Season Finale on ABC.

That's 10 PM PST.

Will this be different out here?

[John LeBlanc]

Hmmm. Does that seem like a good move to you?

[Paul Q]

Thursday nights are huge for the main networks. Cable...not so much. It's where you send a show to die. So to answer your question...no, it's not a good move. Sorry to be negative. I happen to love the show.

[MagicBilly]

I agree John,

I suspect Chris Martin didn't have a big say in the matter and honestly don't know what VH1 execs were thinking putting Celebracadabra up agaist the last two season episodes of Lost. Of course it is May Sweeps, but head-to-head against Lost!?! Well maybe I'm clueless about the demographics of each show and ratings and how TIVO/DVR influence scheduling decisions.