I Don't Care if You're a Jedi Now You See It

Prepare to enter a world of magic

where nothing is quite what it seems.

No! I say no.

I say no!

We've got a dancer standing tall...

You're going to hurt yourself.

..a bunny that falls...

and a father getting a dent in his...

pride.

Welcome to Now You See It.

First, Harry Potter and the boring old stick.

Avada Kedavra!

OK...

Meanwhile, in a toy shop far, far away...

Let's see you, buddy.

I don't care if you are a Jedi Knight -

all breakages must be paid for.

And in a galaxy far, far closer to home,

give the pinata a thwack and make sweets magically appear.

All right, go ahead.

Oh!

We would, of course, advise dads keep well away from pinatas.

Here's GloZell, with magician Chris Ballinger.

So, if you could do me a favour and just touch any one of the cards.

This one right here. Can you say it out loud for the camera?

This one right here.

-Is...

-Is a jack of hearts.

-Jack of hearts. We'll leave it right where it is.

-You know my card.

-OK, so you're seeing it live.

-Yes.

-They're seeing it on a screen.

Wouldn't it be a little more fair if you saw it through a screen?

-Wouldn't that be more fair?

-I don't wear glasses.

But I've got a screen here,

a little piece of plastic and you can see the cards through it,

-right?

-Can they see it?

They'll be able to see it.

-We're just going to put the little screen right here.

-OK.

Just like this, so you can see the cards through the screen.

-Yeah.

-OK, watch.

-Oh, my gosh, what's going to happen?

-Watch...

No, it's going to explode.

Oh, no!

Imagine her reaction if it HAD exploded

rather than just changed to the colour green!

Although something tells me that green might be her favourite colour.

You're seeing it through the screen,

it'd be better if you didn't see it through the screen at all.

What in the world?

No...

-No! I say no!

-Every single card.

-I say no!

-Oh wait, I missed one.

I think she's saying no.

No, no, it's OK. I think this might be...

-What was your card?

-It was the jack of hearts.

-No! Don't turn it over. No!

-That's the jack of hearts.

No, I say!

All the other cards are green, except for the jack of hearts.

It's...

Giant pencil or tiny hands?

Hard to tell.

-Did you get it?

-Not quite, try it again.

Hold up one sec.

All right.

-Ow!

-LAUGHTER

Quick, draw an ambulance!

Time now for our beginner's guide to magic.

A great magic trick requires speed and dexterity.

Or, at the very least, the ability to unfold a sheet.

It's important to build up a sense of anticipation.

But try and get round to doing the trick at some point.

Seamless. The sheet, not the performance.

Now, in my best, not very good, American accent, it's time to say...

Magician Mat Ricardo spent years perfecting this skill,

only to discover there's absolutely no call for it whatsoever.

Master the fiendishly difficult art of yo-yo,

and you could end up on stage.

Bit of an up and down sort of career, though,

and not always in the way you'd think.

But it is important to keep practising

if you want to keep your hand in...

..and your nose out.

Here's men in coats.

I wondered what Noel and Liam were doing these days.

That's an Oasis reference, kids.

Oh, hang on - Liam's got something in his eye.

They've got more tricks than you could shake

a carefully concealed massive stick at.

APPLAUSE

Moving on now to some levitation.

Is there nothing these guys can't do?

Ah, yes...

..levitation.

Shall we take a look at some... GROWLS

We've all heard of flying carpets,

but here's a cat test-driving the world's first flying doormat.

Lovely outfit, by the way.

Here's a hedgehog that really wants to be a magician's rabbit.

One day, if he keeps practising,

he'll get the hang of popping out of a hat.

One day.

But not today.

Meanwhile, this rabbit's thinking,

"That hedgehog's pinched my hat again." So he does his

rabbit-vanishing-off-bed trick instead.

You're going to hurt yourself. OK.

Now, let's take a peek behind closed trapdoors, as we ask...

No, that's not Michael Ball performing Phantom of the Opera

in a shopping centre.

Although that's not to say he doesn't do that.

It's from Japanese channel NHK,

and this masked magician...

Oh, he's a little bit creepy, isn't he?

This masked magician is about to produce something spectacular

from behind his dining room curtain.

A ballerina's appeared out of thin air.

Or is it a thin ballerina appearing out of air?

Anyway, the question is - how did they do that?

Well, brilliantly, we can see exactly how that was done.

First, she cleverly concealed herself behind the cameraman,

making them look like they're forming the world's shortest

conga line.

Then, as the masked man shoves his face into the camera and brandishes

a bit of curtain, she stands directly behind him.

At the right moment, she runs forward,

skids delicately between his legs and voila - instant lady.

And now to magical Hertfordshire, with well-dressed wizard DMC,

for our big finish.

Joining DMC, it's Belinda Challis, a top motorsport professional.

You'll see at the far end of the runway we have two paper screens,

one with the cross and one with the circle.

In a moment, I'm going to have you get inside your car,

I'm going to have you look at both symbols,

and I'm going to have you think of one of the symbols,

just in your head, OK?

When you've done that, I'm going to ask you to drive...

..through that screen.

There is one thing you need to know.

You won't know which one,

but I'm going to go and stand behind...

-..one of the two screens.

-Right.

Oh, good - no pressure then, Belinda.

-I'm going to go and get ready.

-Good luck.

Yeah, good luck. Hope I don't run you over!

If we could please put the screen into position.

I've said it before and I'll say it again,

don't try anything like this

unless you are international illusionist DMC.

Actually, I've never said that before, but it's true.

And Belinda you have no idea which of the two screens

I'm standing behind, correct?

Nope, I haven't got a clue.

No more contact.

Three, two, one.

Oh, and Belinda, if you want to change your mind,

once you've set off, you can.

Go.

I'm sorry, I can't resist saying it.

When else am I going to get the chance?

Run, DMC!

Phew!

Nice that DMC checks his suit's unblemished.

The first thing we'd all do.

He should check round the back as well, though.

Thank God! Good choice.

Amazing trick, but here's an almighty twist.

Belinda, let me-let me show you something.

Behind this screen we have a ten foot, five tonne

concrete wall.

Come and have a look, come and have a look.

-You could have driven into that, Belinda!

-Whoa...

Quite.

That's all we've got time for.

No! I say no!

Well, I'm afraid, GloZell, I have to say yes.

But join us next time on Now You See It

and until then, watch out -

magicians are everywhere.

Although, to be fair, some are easier to spot than others.