New Series of Master of Magic Starts August 1 (CW Network)

[Richard Kaufman]

Press Release:

How Did They Do That? - Hosted by Dean Cain, "Masters of Illusion"
features amazing magic performed by cutting-edge illusionists, escape
artists and performers displaying skills ranging from perplexing
interactive mind magic to hilarious comedy routines - all in front of a
studio audience.

Magicians featured in this episode include Jan Rouven, Jarret and Raja,
Michael Finney, Nathan Burton, Michael Grandinetti, Jonathon Pendragon,
Rob Lake and Spencer Horsman.

Hosted by actor Dean Cain ("Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of
Superman"), Masters Of Illusion premieres Friday, August 1 (8:00-8:30 pm
ET) with great escapes, fascinating sleight-of-hand and large scale
illusions, all in front of a studio audience.

The 13-episode series features amazing magic performed by cutting-edge
illusionists and escape artists, and performers in each episode display
skills ranging from perplexing interactive mind magic to hilarious
comedy routines.

Live audience members and viewers at home will be baffled by the
astounding skills of these modern illusionists. Masters Of Illusion is
from Associated Television International with executive producers David
McKenzie ("The 38th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards," "Marie"), Al Schwartz
("The 38th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards," "The Golden Globe Awards" 2013 &
2014, "The Gulf is Back"), Gay Blackstone ("The World Magic Awards"
2007-2009) and David Martin ("Marie"), along with co-executive producers
Justin Pierce ("The Rocky Saga: Going the Distance") and Jim Romanovich
("Inside Story: Ferris Bueller's Day Off").

[Doug Thornton]

By the way, in the New York area, this half hour show is followed by "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" and then - at 9 pm - "Penn & Teller Fool Us". (This is a broadcast - non-cable - repeat of the show which originally aired in the UK.)

[Brad Henderson]

is this series being edited by the same folks who did the previous?

[MJLauck]

I believe it is the same production company as the previous two incarnations. I am not sure whether that means the same directors are involved. It is a 30 minute show now instead of a 60 minute format which may affect the presentation as well.

[Brad Henderson]

I always felt the way those shows were cut made great acts look mediocre.

[MJLauck]

You probably ain't going to like this version either!

I'm sure I'll end up watching it each week (thanks, DVR) but the pace seemed rushed. One less illusion and a little more introduction may have made for a better show.... There were some odd audience reaction shots as well.

[Richard Kaufman]

The leisurely cutting of the old days won't hold a young audience anymore.

[Steve Bryant]

That's one of the nice things about P&T's Fool Us: you get to see complete routines.

[Jonathan Townsend]

The leisurely cutting of the old days won't hold a young audience anymore.

First one needs to engage the audience. What's the underlying appeal?

[erdnasephile]

I seem to recall in the 70's there was a US magic show made up of partially edited acts from FISM. Sometimes, only one trick would be shown. Other times, the entire act would be broadcast. It was sometimes frustrating to just see bits and pieces of acts, but at least I got to see video of Fred Kaps do his salt pour, as well as Richard Ross' remarkable ring routine.

Does anyone recall the name of this series?

[Brad Henderson]

speed of the cuts is not the issue. the issue is bad cutting : terrible audience over dubs, lack of sync to music, wide shots when close ups would be better and vice versa.

The previous segments of this series did a great job at making excellent performers look bad.

editing makes or breaks film and TV - if you have ever been on a set you see how the cutting and shot choices can make what seemed to be an average performance exciting or the opposite.

sadly with this series they are too good at the opposite.

[Frank Yuen]

I seem to recall in the 70's there was a US magic show made up of partially edited acts from FISM. Sometimes, only one trick would be shown. Other times, the entire act would be broadcast. It was sometimes frustrating to just see bits and pieces of acts, but at least I got to see video of Fred Kaps do his salt pour, as well as Richard Ross' remarkable ring routine.

Does anyone recall the name of this series?

That was The Wonderful World of Magic hosted by Bill Bixby.

Does anyone remember the series that had "Vaudeville" in the title? There were usually one or two magicians on per week.