Toys Killer Magic

This programme contains some strong language.

Five magicians go head-to-head to find out who is best.

Oh, shit, look!

The stakes are deadly

because the loser will face a trick

that has killed or injured magicians in the past.

Shut up.

I feel sick.

This is Killer Magic.

SCREAM

Can we get medical in?

So, let's meet the magicians. First up, it's Sue Perkins' stunt double,

Chris Cox, the Geek.

I try to do mind-reading stuff, influencing,

that type of nonsense.

Can you think of a word for me?

I like it that people think I can get inside their head.

Send this word over, one, two, three.

-BOTH:

-Tree.

-Is that the word?

-Yeah.

Thanks, Kenny.

That hurts.

Next up, this cheerful chap is Dee Christopher, the Goth.

The stuff that really excites me

is when you strike a different kind of a chord with people.

This is going to hurt.

Oh, my God, that noise is...

'Sort of spook them a bit or creep them out.'

Oh! Oh, my God.

I feel sick.

Damien O'Brien is the Geezer.

My style is very flashy showing-off.

When I perform, it's very intimate, like.

-Do you remember the card?

-OK.

It's kind of in your face, very visual style of magic.

-Four of hearts.

-It should be straight here, on top...

of the deck. Watch.

Oh, my God.

That's crazy.

This handsome young man is Ben Hart, the Gent.

I like to do magic which is really visual

and I think, as magicians, we should be able to alter objects.

I need to borrow a coin and also a note.

'Anything I pick up, I try and change its shape or size'

or make it do something that you would never expect.

I bet you do.

Do you see what's happening?

It's completely weird, isn't it? I'm pretty sure that was your note

and your coin. Isn't that just really bizarre? Are you shaking?

Oh, no, it's OK. It's going to be OK.

And there's Jasz Vegas, the Girl.

It's not very inventive, being called the Girl, is it?

Just find your name.

OK? So, I'm going to give that to you.

But just because I'm a girl

doesn't mean I don't do it as well as the guys.

Watch this.

Oh, no.

Oh, my God.

I don't understand that.

Not only will the magicians be competing -

they'll also be scoring each other out of ten,

all of them trying to avoid that Killer Trick...

-Oh, ooh.

-Oh.

..which this week is...

The ice bath.

-Oh, no.

-Nobody wants that!

So, the loser will attempt to stay in the bath of ice

for as long as possible.

Inspired by Houdini's endurance training

and David Blaine's 63-hour feat in a block of ice,

this killer stunt can cause shock, hypothermia and serious danger.

-Oh.

-No, thank you.

-It doesn't sound fun.

It's giving me goose bumps.

63 hours? I don't think any of us would last 63 seconds.

All they need now is a theme to base their tricks on.

Your challenge is to perform magic on the theme of...

Ooh!

..toys.

Oh, that's nice.

-I instantly think of my childhood.

-You get to be a big kid again.

-Yes.

I didn't really have many toys.

I used to play with insects and set fire to them.

-What was wrong with you?

-That says so much about you.

Hmm. Enough of Ben's charming anecdotes!

Let's get to the magic,

and remember, our five magicians are performing in front of real people -

no stooges, no camera tricks, no funny business -

just magic.

First up, then, and hoping to avoid an early bath filled with ice,

it's Jasz.

There's definitely a big surprise in store with this trick

and I think it's going to be quite a shocking outcome.

-Hi, guys, I'm Jasz.

-Hiya.

Hiya.

She's brought her toy-themed trick to a nursery school.

I've brought some building blocks.

Ever since I was a child,

I've always been a bit of a rule breaker and I like to push boundaries.

I want to show you how I play with my building blocks.

So, if you'd like to sign this brick for me.

It's not just these three slightly awkward spectators

who'll be enjoying this brick trick -

the other magicians are loitering in the corner

and will give their verdicts at the end.

Thank you very much.

Watch.

So, the brick is signed.

I wonder what sort of structure Jasz is planning to build with...

Oh, she's putting it in her mouth.

As you can see, your signed brick is completely gone.

So I'm going to need to find some more.

I think we'll need some wheels as well.

One more.

Now, we just have to wait 24 hours till they come out the other end.

I think that's done it. Watch.

Although it looks like Jasz isn't willing to wait that long.

That top's ruined.

Oh, my God.

Eurgh!

Ew!

Now, it goes without saying - and yet here I am saying it -

please don't try any of this at home.

Jasz is a professional magician and clearly has a screw loose.

Oh!

Eurgh!

-Ew.

-Eurgh.

Oh, my God.

It's got your signature.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God, are you OK?

Can we get medical in?

-Even though it was disgusting, I still kept on watching.

-Yeah.

It was covered in her blood and it was from her stomach.

I didn't like it.

It made me feel sick and I felt scared for the other people.

Just be glad she kept the knife away from your cardigan, Chris.

Yeah, but for shock factor -

-with magic, you want to blow your people away and that...

-Why?

-Just be nice to them.

-They will remember that for life -

-that girl cutting that damned car out of her stomach.

-Yeah,

they're going to be haunted and scarred for life!

I'm scared for her life.

And I'm scared that those toy bricks are going to go

back into circulation at a children's nursery.

Anyway, what did the other magicians think? Time for the scores.

Jasz cut a car out of her stomach with blood and we all felt sick

but I'm going to give her...

..an eight.

I've given her...

..a nine.

Jasz, you're getting a...

..six.

I'd have liked Jasz to connect more with her spectators

rather than psychologically scar them for life.

I'm going to give it a six.

So, Jasz's bloodcurdling antics give her a more than healthy 29.

Up next, it's Chris, our geeky mind-reader.

I do not want an ice bath. Seriously, if I'm in an ice bath,

you're going to get two or three seconds tops

before I get out of there.

Also, I don't want people to see my scrawny, man-child body.

Shame.

To try and avoid the Killer Magic ice-dunking,

Chris has enlisted the nation's sweetheart

and TV contrast confuser Joe Swash

to take part in his arcade toy-themed trick.

I'm so excited about this trick.

It involves one of my favourite video games but on a giant scale.

-Can you work out what the game is?

-I don't know.

Another clue is on the T-shirt.

-Oh, Pac-Man.

-Yes, of course it's Pac-Man.

-I got you.

-Do you want to play Pac-Man with me?

-I'd love to play Pac-Man.

-Let's go and play Pac-Man.

-Are you sure?

-I'll probably beat you at Pac-Man.

-You're not.

-Amazing.

-Real-life Pac-Man.

-Hello, everyone, you all right?

-So, these are my ghosts.

That's Pinky, Inky, Blinky and Ben is Clyde.

They look happy, don't they?

I'm getting them to dress up ridiculously

so I think that might sway their vote against me.

-All right, Joe.

-All right.

-I love Pac-Man.

Now, Mario, I was a big fan of, liked his moustache. Sonic...

All right, fine, take them off, why don't you?

Sonic, I liked cos he was blue and looked cool but Pac-Man,

he was my favourite game. OK. I loved Pac-Man.

Why did you love Pac-Man so much?

It felt like it connected to me on a weird level.

-Do you want to be Pac-Man?

-Yeah, I'd love to be Pac-Man.

Let's get you dressed up. Here we go. First thing, safety harness.

-Pop it on.

-OK.

-Pop your head through.

-A final piece of the puzzle.

-Oh, great.

-Do I look like Pac-Man?

-Yeah!

You are going to have 30 seconds to run round the Pac-Maze

-and as Pac-Man, you have to pop as many balloons as you want.

-OK.

I'm going to predict how many balloons I think you're going to pop

so I'm going to pop this prediction in an envelope,

keep hold of it like that, hang on to it, don't let anyone touch it...

Five years at RADA for this.

Right, ready, player one. Let's do this.

Are you ready? I'm ready.

Three, two, one, Pac!

And he's off.

Joe has clearly got a natural talent for popping balloons

which makes him ideal for this trick

but terrible company at a children's birthday party.

Look at him go, taking no prisoners.

Joe, of course, is no stranger to inflatables and latex.

You should see some of the Snapchats he's sent me -

terrifying.

He's gone up there. You're jumping the maze, though.

Ten seconds left.

With ten seconds to go,

Joe is making light work of those pesky air-filled menaces.

It's undoubtedly a career high

but how did he do?

-Yeah, it was good.

-You're good. OK, come back over,

don't pop any more balloons. They won't count.

Right, now, where's your envelope?

-I've kept it safe in my pocket.

-Has anyone been near it?

-No, no, only me.

-Can we get an actual score, adjudicator?

56!

-And you've been hanging on to this envelope the whole time?

-Yeah.

-Joe, you want me to help you open it?

-Go on, you open it.

-No, you open it, it's all right.

I'm not going to do anything dodgy here. I'm going to take out

one thing and I want you to read aloud exactly what it says.

Oh, you got it.

-"I predict that TV's Joe Swash..."

-There you are.

"..will pop exactly 56 balloons!"

56 balloons!

-There's no way you knew that.

-I knew it! I knew it.

-No way.

-I knew it. 56 balloons.

I want to know how you did that.

I just knew the way you'd run round the maze.

You couldn't have known the way I'd run round the maze. Even I

didn't know the way I ran round the maze.

-Now, let's try something. Joe, you've been wearing this suit the whole time, yeah?

-Yeah.

-All right, hold on a second. Let's take it off you carefully.

-Really?

-Joe, this has been under your Pac-Man suit, yeah?

-Oh, shut up.

Take out what's inside of it, here it is.

I'm going to take this off you.

Keep hold of it, don't want to touch it, don't want to go near it.

-You see there's a TV screen over here?

-Yeah.

There's no way you would have known this.

-OK, pop yourself round here.

-You're a witch.

-So this is you.

Here you are, you'll get you waving to the camera in a second.

Let's start it and this is the prediction I made of your route.

Here you are, off you go.

Down here to begin with.

Down there, straight along.

-There's no way...

-This is you following.

No idea what way you were going to go, yet here you go, following it.

So, we've got a bit of a gap there cos you jumped over it.

So, you predicted the jumps as well?

I knew you wouldn't stick to the maze, Joe.

There you go, running up here...

And that's where the horn runs out. There's your 30 seconds.

Something weird's happened, innit?

I'm... I don't know how you would have done that.

Do you know how I did it, Joe? Mind-reader!

He's not a mind-reader. Take no notice.

That was pretty amazing.

I don't know how that would have happened.

If I lose, it's because I made them dress as ghosts,

not because I'm shit.

I'm sure they won't be so petty, Chris.

I wasn't very happy about wearing those costumes.

Yeah, I felt like an absolute dick.

He's going to get a slap for it, the little geek.

It was a pretty good trick, though.

I spoke too soon.

We'd better get the scores.

I would have gaven you an eight

but instead, you're getting a seven.

I thought Chris's Pac-Man trick was really amazing and lots of fun

so I'll give it...

an eight.

So I'll give him a...

seven.

He made all four of us look absolutely ridiculous

so I'm going to score him...

a mere five.

Really, Dee?

He made you look ridiculous?

Chris's dressing-up stunt has earned him a dressing-down

and a measly score of 27.

That puts him in line for the Killer Magic ice bath.

Next up, it's Ben, the Gent.

I'll be doing a trick with a board game, which will involve finding a girl...

-Hello, you must be Sophia.

-Hi, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

..kidnapping her...

They don't call him the Gent for nothing.

Taxi!

..taking her to a secret location...

and wowing her -

not in a dirty way.

I'm worried he had to clarify that.

And you can open your eyes.

-Oh, OK.

-Welcome to my little habitat.

Do you feel OK being blindfolded for that long? It's a bit...

-It was all right.

-..disorientating?

-Yeah.

-It heightens your other senses

so maybe in your heightened sense,

this blindfold could be like a, I don't know,

like a walking stick?

Oh, OK!

Er, this cane would make a good table, I think,

if only it would grow some legs, look.

-SHE GASPS

-There you go.

-Ha!

-You're going to play a board game with me.

-Right.

Inside here is the beginnings of a game...

..but there's nothing on it.

-We're going to need a load of imagination...

-OK.

-..to play this game. Do you have a good imagination?

-Yeah.

-Will you hold on to that for me?

-Sure.

I'll just throw that at the board

and that smoke is all we need to start a strange trip...

SHE GASPS

-..and the board game becomes completely printed.

-OK...

Now, through that smoke, things start to look pretty weird.

Oh, my God!

Would you take the dice for me and roll it on the table.

-We're going to take four rolls.

-OK.

Six, five, that's a two,

and a one, so let's add those together - 14.

Count forwards 14 spaces for me.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10...

-11, 12...

-13, 14

-and we're at Grand Central Station, that's a train station.

-Oh, OK.

-Now, in my board game, I've cut out all of the boring bits...

-OK.

..and you get to build a hotel wherever you land, immediately.

You get to name the hotel any name that you'd like

so take a word, lock it in to your brain, think about it.

-What word did you choose?

-Exciting.

-So the Exciting Hotel?

-Yeah.

This is pretty weird.

-Things are going to get a little bit creepy.

-OK.

You might want to hold my hand.

Such a charmer.

-Come with me, we're going that way. Come on.

-OK.

-Quick.

Step outside here because look, you won't believe this

but we're actually in a hotel.

But it's not any old hotel. Look here.

-You said the Exciting Hotel.

-Mm-hm.

We're in the Exciting Hotel. Do you see?

-Yeah.

-But I've got more to show you, come on, quick. Take my hand.

-OK.

Step down this way, look, it's a hotel. The Exciting Hotel.

-Are you excited?

-Yes.

-I can hardly take it.

You won't believe this

but we're here in the lobby of the Exciting Hotel, look.

Step this way because, look, here we go, you can have

a leaflet to the Exciting Hotel.

A hotel that exists only in your imagination.

And you chose to build the hotel... where did you chose to build it?

-Train station.

-Yeah, you will not believe this.

-What?

-Step this way, look.

-OK.

Look. Because here we are.

SHE LAUGHS

-Do you see? Look. Can you see that?

-Oh, God!

The train station, the Exciting Hotel, in the train station.

-That means that I think you've won the game.

-OK.

-Thank you very much for playing.

-Thank you!

It was so nice to meet you and, if you don't mind,

-I've got a train to catch.

-OK!

-So, enjoy your stay.

-Thank you.

Well, wow. That was really good. SHE LAUGHS

Never mind that, he's left without paying the mini bar bill!

I think she was a little bit terrified but it was good.

She looked amazed.

I like the way he put his little top hat on, it's typical Ben.

I don't know what to say! It's just weird.

So, it's time for the other magicians to score

Ben's board game trick.

She loved a bit of Ben's big trip.

So did I, I'll give it an eight.

I'm going to give it...

..eight.

I've given him...

a nine.

I loved it so I'm going to give him a...

..eight.

Which means Ben is in the lead with 33, leaving stud muffin

Chris as prime candidate for a sub-zero Killer Magic dunking.

Next up, Damien.

What I'm about to do is pretty scary.

I could end up going in hospital for what I'm doing today.

What me and my friends used to do when we were younger, we used to go

to the top of the hill, we'd cycle down as fast as we possibly could.

And the person who threw their brakes on last

and got closest to the wall would be the winner.

-This game is called Chicken.

-It's a gripping anecdote.

Scott, I would like you to mark the wall, give yourself a target,

mark it really nice and big, put initials, big X...

If he doesn't draw a giant penis and testicles,

-he's let all of us down.

-Yeah, you've vandalled a few walls.

So now you have the X of what you've got to try and stop before.

And we're going to check the back of the wall now.

-Do you want to check it yourselves?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, beat the shit out of it.

Punch it. It's great. Try not to knock it over.

Good advice.

First up to play Chicken with the wall is BMXer Scott.

Understandably, Damien's got the horn.

BLOWS HORN

Oooh...

Rubbish.

Right...

Let's mark where you got.

-Pretty much there.

-You slammed your brakes on.

Come on, mate.

Now, I'm going to do this blindfolded.

So, drop your head forward.

-Can you see anything from this blindfold? No?

-No.

Now, because he's blindfolded

and might smash his face off on the wall, Damien has a last-second

disaster warning in the shape of this paper screen.

-Take a seat.

-No worries.

The last thing Damien needs is an even flatter face.

As you can see, the other magicians look extremely concerned

for Damien's wellbeing/they are wondering what's for lunch.

BLOWS HORN

Off he goes.

HE SCREAMS

No!

-How did I do?

-Aye, you did no' bad, like.

-Come over, let's check.

Come with me.

That's your X spray-paint, right? Check it, make sure it's solid.

That's ridiculous.

THEY LAUGH

Shit, that was scary.

Come around, come around to the back as well, I want you to see the back.

I think you definitely won the game.

The question remains, how did he do it?

What's going on here?

I was thinking, he's never stopping in time.

-He was never stopping in time.

-HE SCREAMS

You heard the scream

and then all of a sudden the bike's at the other end.

I didn't expect to see him at the other end, you know?

Obviously I saw him hit the paper but genuinely thought, "Well, this guy's now dead."

It would be an easier competition if one of us

-were to just pop our clogs.

-Yeah.

Well, it is called Killer Magic, so who knows? Right, points, please.

It was WHEELIE good.

Oh, dear.

Eight.

I'm giving Damien...

a seven.

I'm going to give him...

..an eight.

It was amazing and a little bit terrifying, so I give him...

eight.

That gives Damien a comfortable 31 and leaves mind-reader Chris

precariously poised with only Dee, the Goth, to go.

There is a little bit of a kicker ending to this that

I don't think anybody will predict.

I've brought you here today to try and show you something

based on my favourite childhood toy,

the most violent game my parents would allow me to play.

You take a little plastic pirate, it would go inside a little plastic

barrel and several plastic swords would be stabbed in

and whoever managed to make the pirate jump out would be the winner.

As I wouldn't be seen dead in a pirate's outfit,

we're going to swap the pirate for a Goth.

I'm going to place some tape over my face,

cos I don't want my screams of pure agony to put you off your task.

These people could put the swords anywhere.

To be honest, there could be fatal injuries.

Be careful...

Being the consummate masochist that he is,

Dee has pre-recorded video instructions for the volunteers.

Would contestant one please choose a sword

and stab it through one of the cardboard walls?

Remind me not to buy his How To Impress Strangers With

Sparkling Charisma hypnosis CD any time soon.

Contestant two, will you now choose your initial sword?

Stab it through the box and out the other side.

These swords are real,

sharp and very dangerous, and the cardboard box is real,

made of cardboard and very box-shaped,

so, no hiding in the corners for Dee.

Ow!

They've run out of swords,

so any second now Dee will be popping out of that box.

Any second now, Dee.

Whenever you want. In your own time, Dee.

The atmosphere in the room has changed.

Everybody's a little anxious...

../bored.

And thar he blows!

I was lying. I fucking love pirates.

Said like a true rebel.

I think I might have just stabbed him.

Ow.

I can't see how he could have found any wee corners to hide in.

I could've come out of it a bloody mess.

Well, I have come out of it a bloody mess but in a different sense!

I think his performance was really great but the box was so big,

it might as well have been a walk-in wardrobe.

Oooh.

He needed more swords, so I give him...

six.

Dee, I'm going to give you a...

-..five.

-I'm going to give it a...

..six.

It was ridiculous. Sadly, I didn't care for the trick.

I'll give it a four.

Clearly not impressed, the magicians have scored Dee a lowly 21.

So, we have our winner and our loser.

It's time to deliver the news.

-This week's top magician is...

-Oooh.

-Ben.

-Yeah!

Yeah! Boom!

-Big trick wins the day.

-Yeah!

-This week's loser is...

-..Dee.

-Oh! Oh, no!

-Yes!

-Yippee! One of us has got to do it.

That is very true.

Always looking on the bright side of things, aren't you, Dee?

Sitting in a bath full of ice for as long as humanly possible

doesn't sound like my idea of a walk in the park.

Professional lifeguards dressed like opposing teams on a game show

are on hand to haul Dee from his frozen bath if it gets too much.

Or when professional doctor Ron feels he's in danger.

-There's going to be a big shock when it hits your skin.

-Very good.

-The sensation will go in your fingers and your toes.

-OK.

You'll be fine until you get below 35 degrees as your core

-temperature, then it's a seriously dangerous.

-Dee, are you ready?

Please tell me he's not going to take that dressing gown off.

-I'm ready.

-OK, do you want to disrobe?

It is currently...

-..one degree.

-LAUGHTER

Even touching that thermometer, it is freezing.

In your own time.

See you all on the other side.

-Well, that's unpleasant.

-You might just sit pretty quickly.

OK, the timer starts now.

Oh, fuck me!

Five seconds.

-Is that all?

-Yeah.

-HE LAUGHS

Ten seconds.

How are your legs?

-Erm, I can't...

-15 seconds.

Breathe.

60 seconds.

It's a minute gone.

Fucking hell, Ben.

HE LAUGHS

I'm starting to, er...

to feel a lot shakier.

Erm, it's starting to get really painful in my feet.

4 minutes and 50 seconds.

Good.

-Try and push past five.

-I'll push past five. I'm going to hit ten.

-Whoa!

-Five minutes.

That is double the length of time... Oh, my God.

-Dee...

-How does that feel now?

Is that a lot worse?

It's considerably worse.

You're shivering a lot more now.

Yeah, I can feel it a lot more now.

-Dee, you're getting, you're doing very well.

-I'm so impressed.

I probably think that's a record for everyone.

I don't think anyone would've thought you'd have lasted this long.

-You've done amazing.

-Yeah, I don't think I'll manage 63 hours!

-You've hit nine minutes, you're doing very well.

-Good.

Oh, my God!

Can you feel Damien touching you?

Can you feel my hand touching your leg?

Just about, but not at the surface.

-16 minutes.

-Oh!

I feel like I want to push myself to the limits with this.

Erm...

At some point it becomes stupid.

Yeah, no, totally, when I start losing composure...

-I mean, I can feel myself shaking a lot more now.

-I can see it.

Starting to get a bit scary.

It's getting on a bit now, mate.

-OK.

-OK, out?

-Out.

-Out.

-Be careful.

Oh!

Oh, my God.

-Fuck me.

-He's burnt, his legs are burnt.

Can you stand?

I've been out of the water now for nearly ten minutes.

HE EXHALES

I'm starting to get feeling back in my feet.

It's my feet that are the worst thing.

This has been the most exciting thing for me.

Really pushing your body to its limits,

because we're not made of glass, you know, we are made to survive.

Well done, Dee!

Dee has survived the deadly feat of endurance.

Next time, someone might not be as lucky on Killer Magic.