Josh Jay on Fallon Tonight

[Doug Thornton]

The show airs at 11:35 (or 10:35) pm in most U.S. markets - NBC.

[CraigMitchell]

https://youtu.be/68OA51F-jwE

[Jack Shalom]

It's a great effect--but too perfectwise it leads very quickly to stooges whether that is the method or not. I don't think he eliminated that possibility strongly enough for the audience.

[Leonard Hevia]

If Jay wanted to go the mentalism route, I would have preferred watching a good Confabulation effect, or maybe a book test, or perhaps Kurotsuke. A Harry Anderson giant monte type of effect would have worked. A Multiple Selection routine, or three minutes with a three foot piece of rope and a pair of scissors would have done nicely. How about Billy McComb's Mona Lisa effect? Whit Haydn's Comedy 4 Ring Routine would have slayed with Fallon as the volunteer. Silk to Egg? Mark Wilson had the cojones to perform this trick on the large stage of Dick Clark's Variety Special back in the late 70s, and slayed with it.

The Too Perfect Theory reared its ugly head last night.

[performer]

I prefer him when he was clean shaven.

[erdnasephile]

I thought Josh did a really nice job. He came across as very personable, intelligent, and not a bit nervous in a rather high stakes situation. Plus, he fooled and entertained Jimmy F., which in turn entertained and probably fooled the audience. Well done!

[performer]

He did seem very confident and relaxed which is VERY important for television. In fact he seemed so relaxed I had a feeling he knew the host personally. I just got a vibe of it somehow although I may well be wrong.

[Bob Farmer]

The method doesn't matter. The effect doesn't matter. What matters is that Josh Jay was on Jimmy Fallon and he did a great job.

[Leonard Hevia]

The method doesn't matter. The effect doesn't matter. What matters is that Josh Jay was on Jimmy Fallon and he did a great job.

The effect was obvious, transparent--yet he did a great job? Was it a success in a Carl Ballantine way? Comedy effects that don't fool anyone, yet are supposed to be amusing? In that sense, Ballantine did a great job too.

[Steve Bryant]

Some of the comments here explain exactly why Josh had a spot on Fallon and forum contributors did not. Josh knew exactly what was needed, and he delivered.

[Leonard Hevia]

Some of the comments here explain exactly why Josh had a spot on Fallon and forum contributors did not. Josh knew exactly what was needed, and he delivered.

In other words, managing to get on television is all that matters? Even if your magic is not deceptive?

[Steve Bryant]

Frankly, i think it deceived you. I consider it icky to discuss Josh's method. Most of us have been in magic long enough to have an idea of what was going on. I certainly have an explanation, but don't know if it is Josh's explanation. But in "my" explanation, everyone involved except Josh was fooled, and the audience more so.

Any mental effect of course can be attributed to stooges. I did a family show on my 40th birthday, and my uncle named a card that I showed reversed in a Brainwave deck. Everyone at the party said my uncle HAD to be in on it, that no other explanation was possible. That goes with the territory.

I have other friends, mostly Cal Tech grads, who are rarely fooled by ANY magic trick. Most secrets are simple. Those friends nevertheless enjoy watching magic.

But yes, more important than fooling anyone was that everyone taking part in the stunt was having a great time, and so seemed the audience. The trick was wholly successful and -- I think -- included some clever subtleties.

[Richard Kaufman]

I agree with Mr. Bryant: it's icky to discuss the method here where it can be found via Google. So I've cleaned up the thread.

[performer]

I said it first you know!

[webbmaster]

Jeff McBride and I watched Ballantine live once and we were amazed at his timing and delivery. Larger than life for sure. As for Josh, he knows so much magic that I'm sure he would have gone over well with many of his feats. I will say, from watching the non-magicians in the room where we were watching TV for the Fallon Tonight, those non-magicians all thought it was a "setup" which is a lay term that is different from the way we use it, but it isn't really a compliment.