Money Killer Magic

-Five magicians...

-Follow me.

-..go head-to-head...

to find out who is better than the rest.

LAUGHTER AND SCREAMING

-So predictable!

-No! That's not normal.

The stakes are deadly, because the loser will face a trick

that's killed or injured magicians in the past.

This programme contains some strong language.

This...is Killer Magic.

-Cut the power, cut the power! You

-BLEEP

-kidding me?

So, let's meet the five magicians trying to out-trick each other.

First up is a man who's never lost a staring competition -

Dee Christopher, the Goth.

Pop the bulb inside a bag. If I could ask you

to hold hands for me? Wonderful.

'I like my show to feel like a good horror movie.'

We're going to try and make something amazing

happen at the moment we make contact and complete the circle.

-OK.

-All right?

The one thing in magic that excites me the most is seeing something new.

-GIRL ON LEFT GASPS

-Oh, my God.

-Oh, my God.

-That's amazing.

Our next magician is this guy, Damien O'Brien, the geezer.

I'll definitely try and play to the close-up as much as I can,

cos I know my strengths.

-What was the one playing card you thought of?

-Seven of hearts.

But I will jump out my comfort zone and play with some big boy toys too.

I'll go down the cards, you can see them.

Right, behind that six, there's one playing card turned over.

Take it out, have a look.

Ho-ho-ho!

This woman with a flagrant disregard for playing cards is

the colourfully-coiffed Jasz Vegas,

our resident bizarre trickstress.

Check out the needle for me. Just take it, check it's real.

-Eh, definitely.

-I think around all the guys I do get quite competitive,

but I think that just adds to the fun.

I think you should expect things that are a bit edgy,

a bit different, I'd like to say maybe beautifully strange.

I don't think it matters if you're a girl or a guy,

I think what matters is doing great magic.

This heart-throb is Chris Cox,

the mind-reading geek.

I'm going to get you to think of, like, a singer or a band.

Give me a "la-la-la-la".

-FLAT:

-# La-la-la-la. #

-Hold that thought.

'Hopefully I'm going to make the other magicians laugh a bit,

'and then be amazed. I love people going,'

"Ha-ha-ha - oh, my God, how did he do that?"

-Are you thinking of Queens of the Stone Age?

-Yes!

-Is that it?!

-Thanks so much. BOTH:

-Bye!

And finally, with his classic good looks,

it's Ben "the heartbreaker" Hart, our gent.

Erm, I've got a cigarette lighter here.

They've always got these warning labels on, and they terrify me.

Magic is pretty unique in that anything is possible.

So I'll remove the label like that...

So it should be approached with imagination and generosity.

-Watch this very, very closely.

-No!

-Nooo!

-Yeeees!

Now, not only will our five magicians be competing,

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

trying to avoid that Killer Trick, which this week is...

-The guillotine! La guillotine. ALL:

-Ooh...

I've seen guillotine illusions and I'm always terrified.

Guillotines killed thousands and thousands of people.

This killer trick is inspired by the French Revolution's

terrifyingly effective instrument of choice for separating

posh people from their bonces.

Madame Guillotine.

So they know what they're trying to avoid -

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

Let's just hope Chris doesn't sing it.

-# Money, money, mo-ney... #

-Oh, dear.

-JASZ:

-# Money! #

-No RICH pickings

for this trick, I would imagine.

That was a pretty POOR joke.

-Take it, it's yours.

-Oh, dear.

I don't think they get out much. Now remember,

all the magic you're seeing is performed in front of

real people with real reactions, there are no actors,

no camera tricks and no CGI - mainly because we couldn't afford any.

First up it's Damien,

and he's off down the rub-a-dub to put a Lady Godiva in the slots.

It's probably best if I let him explain.

One of my favourite places to come and chill out is the pub,

and I've got a trick which is very pub-based and my style,

and I think it's going to be absolutely great

for the theme of money too.

Cheers.

OTHERS LAUGH

Happy days.

I have one bad problem when I come to the pub.

I end up spending more money on them than I do behind the bar

and having a good time.

And that being said, got a fiver?

-Cool, and can you sign your name on the fiver?

-Mm-hmm.

Really big.

-Rachel?

-Yep.

-Now that's your £5?

-Yep.

-You'd know that if you were to see that again, right?

-Yep.

We're going to go and play the fruit machine.

Oh, shit.

Ah, that fruit machine don't take bank notes.

LAUGHTER

And now we get five pound coins. Now we can play the fruit machine!

-Jackpot - 40 quid.

-Mm-hmm.

-Put all five of them in.

One, two, three, four...

-Five.

-..five. There we go.

FRUIT MACHINE JINGLE

Nothing. Second time.

Oh, third time. Third time lucky.

HE SNIGGERS

Go on, again.

Nothing yet. Last time.

Yes! You got three oranges!

Look at that, a fruit machine that pays out real fruit.

Bring them over here. If you could put your three oranges down?

And push one forwards.

-OK. Get rid of that one? Is this the one you pushed forward?

-Yeah.

-OK.

First orange.

Nothing. Second one.

-Nothing.

-Mm-hmm.

-Third orange.

If I untwist this slowly...

Look.

Inside you'll see...

GASPS AND LAUGHTER

I don't want to touch it. Slowly pull it out.

Unfold it.

Oh, my God!

Your £5 that we burnt, what came from the orange from that machine!

-It went up in flames.

-It was gone.

-That was kind of scary.

They went absolutely fucking crazy, didn't they? That was great.

Inside you'll see...

Reactions like that is why I do magic.

RACHEL LAUGHS

-And it's wet of orange.

-I can feel the orange juice.

-It still stinks.

That's one way to get your vitamin C.

There were quite a lot of segments to the trick.

Take it, have it, it's yours.

Ohh!

Turning the lights out with a high-five could be the best trick of the show.

-Let's get Damien's scores.

-New zest, old trick, I give it a...

I was a big fan of Damien's fruit machine trick, so he gets...

It was nice to see Damien take a classic of magic

and make it his own, so I shall give him...

I enjoyed this trick, I'll give it an eight.

So that gives Damien a healthy balance of 31.

Next up, it's smooth operator Ben Hart's turn to impress.

So our theme this week is money, so I thought I'd do a magic trick

using coins, but where I never touch the coins.

So I thought I'd try to manipulate objects with my shadows.

And to help Ben with his manipulation...

Mm!

..it's comedian and presenter Joel Dommett.

So scared right now.

-He knows how to strike a pose.

-Yes!

-Joel, I've invited you here, into my brain.

-It's nice. Sparse.

I don't know what they're doing in here. They're squatting, I think.

Will you have a look at those coins for me? Check they are normal coins.

They are old, they are silver coins.

-Yep, this is an American half dollar.

-That is true.

OK, if it's OK, I'd like you to sort of kneel down with me.

-We've brought a rug for it.

-Oh, well, if you've brought a rug then fine!

Oh, God. Now, guys behind me, gather round. Come on, don't be shy.

Now, before I go any further, Joel,

could you check there's nothing sticky on my hands?

-There is nothing sticky on his hands.

-Makes a change.

And there's nothing up my sleeves.

I'm going to attempt to move the coins using just

the shadows of my hands. Just the shadows.

HE WHISTLES

And that coin goes from there to there.

HE WHISTLES

And it goes from here to here.

HE WHISTLES From here to here.

HE WHISTLES From here to here.

HE WHISTLES From here to here.

-That's brilliant.

-Let's stand up,

cos it's hurting my knees. I'm going to take it a step further.

-I've got a pen here.

-Mm-hmm.

-Conveniently, there's four letters in your name.

-There is.

And would you write one of the letters on each coin for me?

But try and make it distinctive so that you'll recognise it

when you see it again. Put 'em together, what have you got?

-BOTH:

-Jelo!

-Right, Joel, could you hold on to those?

-Thank you.

I'm going to move the light now.

-Over here. Hope you can still see.

-Yes.

-Are you ready for this, Joel?

-Born ready, mate.

-Crikey.

-The reason for these tweezers is

so I don't get accused of sexual molestation, because...

I don't know why, this is the bit where I'd get accused.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. When you're undoing my buttons.

-Cos I'm going to put one coin in each of your four pockets.

-OK.

Right, Joel, we'll start with the J, going to go in here,

I hope I don't hit you in the face.

-Oh, oh... We made contact there.

-We made contact.

-In there.

And another 50 cents in here. What you going to spend that one on?

-A 50 Cent album.

-Oh, nice!

-Very clever.

And an E, if you could raise your arm for me.

-Oh... I thought I'd pinched your skin then.

-No.

-The last one is your L.

Stick the L in here.

And now, you know I can't use sleight of hand,

because those four coins are in your four pockets.

But I'm going to attempt to use sleight of shadow. I love the magician's pose.

-LAUGHTER

-Is this...?

I look pretty comfortable, right?

-Oh, my God.

-Be natural.

-Is the magic happening yet?

Now watch. Stay very, very still. You may even feel this.

-Oh, crikey.

-I'm going to attempt to take the first coin.

Using just my shadows.

HE WHISTLES To here.

LAUGHTER I'll make the next coin...

travel from here...

HE WHISTLES ..to here.

I'll make the last coin travel from here...

HE WHISTLES

Go inside your pocket, it's vanished.

-Completely gone?

-It's gone, mate.

-And it's going to travel over...

..to here. HE WHISTLES

Go inside your pocket, take out al four coins.

We should have them all, the J, the O, the E and the L.

What?

-One...

-That's the J.

-Two.

-Is that the L?

-O.

-The E!

-There's an E.

-There we go - Joel!

Yes! We did it!

Trying to figure it out. Like... He was all in different pockets.

I'm just... I think... I feel a bit weird...

I feel a bit weird about it.

Wee-wee-wee...

I'm pretty sure that went well enough for me to avoid the Killer Trick.

I wasn't very excited about the idea of getting my head

chopped off by a guillotine.

I thought it was really great, it was amazing,

and I'm...kind of confused.

A lovely bit of sleight-of-hand magic from Ben,

it was amazing to watch.

I don't really... I don't trust... I don't trust the world any more.

Scores then, please.

Not since Cliff Richard has anyone done

anything as good with The Shadows.

-I'll give it an eight.

-I'll give him a...

He gets an eight.

Ben's trick was really impressive, so I'm going to give it...

So, with high scores all round, Ben leapfrogs Damien into

first place with an impressive score of 32.

Next up, it's Dee, the Goth, but will his money-themed

magic trick keep him away from the guillotine?

I'm talking about alchemy going back to the times where

they were trying to turn lead into gold.

Got me thinking about mixology, cocktail making,

so I'm bringing the people to a cocktail bar to show them

my own kind of cocktail, I guess, a cocktail of mystery.

Have any of you guys heard of alchemy?

The definition is "the profound art of taking base substances

"and changing them into precious metals."

-So lead to gold, et cetera.

-How very educational.

Fire...was often used as the catalyst for these experiments,

where they'd take something worthless...

..and change it...

-Whoa.

-..into something...

..very precious.

I've got a silver ring here.

It's my understanding that perhaps if I was to heat up the metal...

and melt it down...

What the fuck?!

..we could potentially analyse the solution

and figure out a way to replicate it.

For instance, uh... we could use a straw.

If I was to take a drop of this. Just a single drop.

That'll do.

And try and cool it down.

We should be able to solidify it...

..into something new.

BEARDED MAN LAUGHS

But, you know, these old-fashioned silver coins are no good to us,

they're not accepted here as currency anyway, so to have the

maximum get out of this you'd have to really deposit it in the bank.

What the fuck?!

It's all about the plastic these days.

I have a pen here, would you like to click that and sign your name?

-Are you going to use this against me?

-I'd never dream of such a thing.

Wow. Congratulations, David,

you've just signed yourself into five grand's worth of debt.

There is one problem with this situation,

and that's that nobody really cracked the code to alchemy.

Or if they did, the secrets remained well-hidden.

So that means that everything you've seen today was simply...an illusion.

Ohh...

Fear not, sometimes reality is sweeter.

You signed your name on a credit card.

-Yep.

-I placed it into an envelope and it inexplicably vanished.

It's now appeared...

..in a very safe place. Inside the zipper compartment...

-of my wallet.

-..in his pocket!

If my memory serves me correctly,

David, I believe this debt belongs to you.

As an audience, they didn't really know what to expect,

so when there was the big flash of fire and the silver leaf appeared,

-they were hooked from there.

-Insane. I don't...

His hands didn't go in his pocket, it's like... I don't understand!

I don't understand how he did it.

I absolutely loved Dee's trick, it was charming,

it was skilled, it was amazing.

It was really good solid magic that took advantage of

different textures, there was plastic and metal...

It ticked all the boxes for me.

Thumbs up, I think it went pretty well.

So let's see how his competitors scored him.

I think Dee's trick was so amazing, so I'm going to give him a...

I liked Dee's trick, but I'm going to give him...

Dee got amazing reactions, but the trick wasn't golden for me,

so he gets...

I didn't think Dee was being himself.

Strong trick, but I'll only give it a seven.

So, Dee scores 31, still a big total, but at the moment it

puts him in line for the chopping block,

tied in last place with Damien.

Time now for our mind-reading magician Chris Cox to wow us

with his money-themed trick, and look, he's celebrating

a made-up birthday with a bunch of people he doesn't know.

-What a turn out.

-Pink top!

I can't believe you're here, I haven't seen you in literally ever!

Birthdays always mean one thing to me - money!

He's asking his rent-a-crowd group of strangers to pick out a card

and scribble in their own unique birthday message.

My name's Chris. So "To Chris", "Dear Chris", anything like that.

My surname's Cox, do with that what you want.

LAUGHTER Now, one of you,

let's have a look.

You've got good-looking shoes, I think

that means you've got a bit of cash.

-Have you got some money on you?

-Ehh, a wee bit.

All right, will you give me a birthday treat of a bit of cash?

I promise you'll get it back - in as much cheese

and pineapple from the hedgehog as you want. It's a good deal.

-Sounds like a fair deal.

-Happy with that?

You can go first, head on over to the cards, pick out your card,

and then write me out a nice little message,

put the money in the card and the money in the envelope.

I'll stand over here so I can't see what you're doing.

And then pop onto a table and write me a nice little message,

jokey insult if you want, and pop your money in it and tell me

when you're done.

-That's me.

-Yep? Next person, if you want to go over.

OK, next person, off you go.

Only one of the cards contains a bank note,

but with loads of identical envelopes,

can Chris use his skill to find the one that contains the money?

Perfect. Can you go through the cards

and make sure they're all sealed down?

And then give them a bit of a mix for me.

Bring the cards over to me and then rejoin your group. Thank you.

So one of these cards now has the money in it.

No money! Not a happy birthday for me.

Do you want to take that and stand over here for me? Next one.

No money! Not a happy birthday for me.

Come and stand over here for me. Come on down.

That is not the smell of cash, that is the smell of disappointment!

Not a happy birthday - next one. No, not a happy birthday.

Mmm, maybe a happy birthday.

Definitely not a happy birthday.

Not a happy birthday.

Not a happy birthday!

Not a happy birthday. I think that's the happy birthday with the money there.

-Come and join me over here.

-You do?

So I think that's the envelope with the cash, I think

these are the eight envelopes with no cash.

On the count of three, open your envelopes, throw it on the floor,

check there's no cash inside and hold your card in front of you.

Are you ready? Not you. One, two, three!

No cash, no cash, no cash, anyone got any money? There's no birthday money!

OK, hold your cards in front of you.

so, by process of elimination, we've found the card with money in it.

So I think you have written in your card...

Not "Dear Chris", I think you wrote "To Chris", is that right?

-Yeah.

-There's no way I know what you've written,

-it just came into your mind as you were sat writing it, yeah?

-Yeah.

I think you wished me not a happy birthday, but a pleasant birthday.

-"Kind regards, Tom."

-Yeah.

-Is that what you wrote?

-Yeah!

-Yes, it is.

-There's something more though, isn't there?

You drew a little picture, yes?

LAUGHTER

I don't think it's a cock and balls, I think it's a picture of me,

did you draw a picture of me in it, Tom?

-Well, I tried my best, but it's pretty bad.

-It's pretty bad.

And did you select an eight-year-old birthday card?

-I think so.

-Yes! Will you show everyone

the eight-year-old birthday card

and inside it I think Tom put a £20 note.

Here we go, it's the eight-year-old birthday card.

"To Chris, have a pleasant birthday", and there's the picture of me.

"Kind regards, Tom." And there's the twen...

MUSIC CUTS OUT Oh!

A tenner?! Is that all this is worth?

This is an expensive spread,

I've paid you all more than that to be here!

-Ten quid, Tom...

-Take it or leave it.

LAUGHTER

You hang on to it a second,

-that's your tenner that you put in for me, yeah?

-Mm-hmm.

Tom, every note in the world is unique,

cos they've all got serial numbers on them.

Let me have a little look

at the serial number, come and stand next to me here.

And will you, nice and loud, it's printed here,

give me the first number?

-Six.

-Good. And now the next number.

-Nine.

-Is the next number a seven?

-Yes, it is.

-And then the next one?

-Five.

-Yep?

-Nine.

-Yep?

-Four.

-Uh-huh?

-Five, three.

-Yeah!

It's my birthday. I'll look after that, that's my birthday money.

Shower me in glory, let's party!

CHEERING, HE BLOWS PARTY HORN

Pump up the beats, DJ!

Eh, that was pretty crazy, I thought

he'd messed up at one point with getting £20 instead of £10.

-Ohh! A tenner?!

-It was definitely the well shittest birthday party,

but it was a good trick!

There was quite a few cards up there,

there's only one bank note that has those numbers in

the entire world in that order, so it was a good trick.

How...? How do you...?

LAUGHTER

To know what the other magicians think about this,

you'd have to be some sort of mind-reader.

-Wait, what?

-Well, let's find out.

There was a bit too much going on for me,

so Chris gets...

I'm going to give it...

I'm giving him a...

I was sorely disappointed

when I realised there was no whisky at Chris' party.

So I've given him a seven.

Oh, dear, the magicians have given Chris a party-poopoing 28,

putting his delicate head directly in line for the chop.

Next up, it's Jasz, and she's hoping to impress with her

money trick at this shop of curiosities.

Lots of nice stuff, fancy one of them myself.

For my trick this week I'm going to be printing money.

I mean, who wouldn't want to print money?

She's roped in a couple of bankers for her trick.

No, really, they are bankers.

If my printed money can fool bankers, then it can fool anyone.

And she plans to use some sort of magical forgery machine

that she's discovered.

-Sort of looks a bit like a pasta maker.

-Yes.

-Have you ever made pasta before?

-Yes, boiling water.

I have some paper here, worthless piece of blank paper,

can you have a look at that?

It's definitely paper.

So what would be the most amazing thing

I could do with this piece of paper?

-Careful.

-If it turned into a tenner and ended up in my pocket.

Turning it into money is actually quite a good idea, I think

-I might give that a go.

-OK.

Pop this in.

-Oh...

-Impressive.

-Have a look.

-"Bank of Magic."

-Oh, it's only printed one side.

I'll pop that in there. We'll turn the machine down slightly.

Let's go to 20, they're much easier to shift.

Take another piece of paper.

Printing's quite difficult to do,

you've got to put it in really straight to get it lined up,

so if I put it in slightly off, it doesn't work.

I'm going to show you.

-Hmm, OK.

-Oh, both sides.

I mean, it looks a bit dodgy,

but there is a way to make this much more convincing.

-Take your word for it.

-Just going to use this to adjust the machine.

If I just tweak it like so.

Then...

Hopefully it will work better now.

So we've got another piece of paper now, as you can see.

And I want to mark it. Can you look in this drawer for me?

There should be some inks, I think.

-Yep.

-Yeah, just pick out a colour.

-Red, fantastic. Can I borrow your thumb?

-Which one?

LAUGHTER This one will do.

OK.

And just pop that on there.

This brings back memories. SHE LAUGHS

Thank you.

If I just run it through...

BANKERS LAUGH

-Check it out, check it's real.

-Wow, that's pretty good.

He's never held one of them before.

Yeah, check the watermark.

If I get caught with this...

-Oh, very good.

-..it's got your thumbprint on it.

-Can I spend it?

-No.

THEY LAUGH

Pop this in.

-Fantastic.

-Amazing, actually.

-Great way to make money.

"Bank of Magic."

I started off with fun, silly £10,000 notes

and then went to real money.

I didn't expect Jasz Vegas to be a criminal, make counterfeit money.

She seemed so sweet and innocent.

But was the trick on the money?

Hands up who liked the trick.

LAUGHTER

So what did the other magicians make of the trick?

It was a magical machine, but sadly for me,

not a very magical performance, so I'll give it a six.

It wasn't bad but it wasn't on the money. I'd give it five.

It gets...

a six.

It's nice to see Jasz's bad girl side come out,

so for that reason I shall give her a nine.

Even with Dee's generous scoring,

Jasz's money-themed trick has gone into negative equity with 26,

so we have a winner and more importantly a loser.

Off with their head!

It's time for them to discover their fate.

The scores are in.

This week's winning magician is...

HE TAPS ON DESK

..Ben Hart Throb.

Thank you. That surprised me frankly. It was a good week.

Strong week.

And...our loser this week is...

Young Jasz Vegas.

You're going to possibly die!

This is what's going to be the scene of your death.

Look at that, she's put her hair up especially.

She shouldn't have bothered.

It's completely based on the original guillotines used in France.

You're going to kneel down, stick your head through the hole.

I'm going to pull the cord which will drop the blade,

which will pass down at terrifying speed,

-you will be completely unharmed.

-And I'll be fine, yeah?

-You promise?

-Fresh as a daisy.

-OK.

She sounds convinced, and just in case anything goes wrong,

we've invited a highly visible ambulance crew along.

Thank you, it's very reassuring having you here.

In your experience as paramedics,

have you ever come across something quite like this?

We've had lots of severe trauma but nothing involving a guillotine.

If you wouldn't mind stepping over there a safe distance away,

just in case anything does go wrong.

I don't want you guys to be held responsible.

If you just come around here,

you're going to have to kneel down about there.

Just here, yeah?

Jasz, it is traditional for me to ask you if you have any final words.

-Got any final words?

-I'd quite like...

God's sake, Ben.

I've been waiting years to use this!

What?

Be very careful, I don't want you to smack your head or anything.

-You've got to bend forwards.

-Now he's concerned about her head!

Heaven forbid she get a slight bump to the forehead

on her way down to putting it through a hole

below a razor-sharp blade. Let's do this then.

If you're of a nervous disposition, perhaps look away now?

-Jasz?

-Yeah?

I sentence you to death for crimes against magic.

3, 2, 1.

Shit. Paramedics?