Raymond Crowe - Unusualist

[Brad Jeffers]

HERE is Raymond Crowe's Grand Final performance on Australia's Got Talent. A wonderful take on one of magic's classic effects.

[Richard Kaufman]

Ray is a great performer--did he win?

[Frank Yuen]

Thank you! That was wonderful!

[Necromancer]

Brilliant in so many ways!

Just look at this thought process: by making the floating object a borrowed jacket instead of a silver ball, Raymond (1) automatically increases audience engagement, (2) creates a comedic situation between himself and the lender and (3) adds a layer of mystery to the levitation by removing the possibility of a prepared object. Due to the nature of the borrowed object, he is then able to (4) put the action in the context of a dance routine, which allows him to (5) use moves that are particularly deceptive because they relate directly to two-person dance moves that many in the audience have experienced in the real world—especially when the jacket's playing the part of the "lead" and the performer is playing the "follow"—and (6) lead naturally to a satisfying conclusion because we all recognize what the ending of a dance number looks like: the big pose at the music's end.

This is marvelous, reputation-making work. I only pray nobody tries to steal it.

P.S. to Richard: nope, he didn't win. Beaten by musical act Uncle Jed doing a cover of a Pink song—because once again, originality is a double standard that only applies to variety acts in these spectacles. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcguykDVwMw