Gadgets Killer Magic

This programme contains some strong language.

Five magicians go head-to-head to

find out who is better than the rest.

The stakes are deadly...

..because the loser will face a trick

that's killed or injured magicians in the past.

SHE SQUEALS Shut up.

-This...

-I feel sick.

..is Killer Magic.

-You're

-BLEEP

-kidding me.

No, I'm not and mind your language.

So let's meet the five magicians putting their reputations

and possibly their lives on the line.

There's Damien O'Brien,

street magician and precision shaving expert.

Close-up magic is really great

'because it's in the people's hands.'

There's no stage,

'no elaborate sets.'

It's as real as it gets.

'It's right in front of them.'

Put the white ball on whatever card you feel it's closest to.

-On the nine.

-On the nine, right?

'I will work really hard to make it memorable.'

Take it out. Turn it straight over, have a look.

-THEY LAUGH

-Wow.

Jasz Vegas, alternative magician, burlesque dancer

and master of blue steel.

The sort of magic you can expect from me is the unexpected.

Can you just check that's a real nail for me?

'I like to do things'

that are edgy, that are different

'and beautifully strange.'

Don't ask her to help you out with DIY though,

she'll have an item from your tool box into an orifice

before you know it.

Next up it's Ben Hart, a young gent with fast fingers

and an excellent hairdresser.

Magic is all about the audience who are there.

This coin will go from here, watch it go.

'It's got to do with how does the audience interact emotionally'

with the magic that you're doing.

And it reappears on your shoulder.

'Cos magic happens'

only in people's heads, nowhere else.

This gorgeous specimen is Chris Cox, mind bender and all-round geek.

My main job here is to entertain, hopefully to make people laugh.

There you go, grab hold of it and show the camera it. Do as I do.

'And mix lots of different techniques together to make it look'

like I can read minds, but I can't.

But I am good at lying though.

And just think of your time, tell me your time.

4:17.

Have a look at the clock, Ian.

IAN LAUGHS

And finally, Dee Christopher, a Goth who by all accounts

is a barrel of laughs.

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

Seeing something original, something with edge.

Prepare for dramatic voice,

because not only are the magicians competing,

they're also scoring each other out of ten,

all of them trying to avoid that killer trick.

Dear magicians, uh, this week's killer trick is electroshock.

This week's losing magician will feel the force

of hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity,

more than enough to fry your brain.

That is horrible.

Yeah, look at all the electricity flying around.

If one of our magicians gets caught up in that,

we will have a human barbecue on our hands.

Tricks involving electrical errors

have certainly killed magicians in the past.

You know, the Great Lafayette wired a plug up wrong

and it burnt the whole theatre down.

-On a trick?

-Yeah, he died.

-He wasn't just wiring up a new blender or something?

-No.

-My God. Did anyone else die?

-That's an electricity related death.

Yeah, loads of people died.

So it wasn't just him, he took out the whole theatre?

It was really tragic, it started as a joke

-but now it's turned really dark.

-Too soon?

Thanks for lowering the tone.

What the magicians need now is a theme to base their tricks on.

This week's challenge is to perform tricks incorporating...

Ooh!

I don't own any gadgets.

Oh, actually, I got a pen here, Chris.

You just...just click it on for me, activate the pen.

Ahh!

CHRIS LAUGHS IN PAIN

What the hell's wrong with your pen!?

All the magicians are performing in front of real members of the public.

You're seeing genuine reactions as the magic happens.

There are no camera tricks, no special effects,

and given the reckless abandon with which that electric pen

is being used, no health and safety checks.

First to show off his gadget is Damien,

who's desperate to steal the limelight.

Everyone has a camera these days

and it's probably one of the biggest gadgets out there

so I thought let's use a camera today.

Damien's doing a photo shoot with Radio 1 Extra's Sarah Jane Crawford

and some of her mates.

Of course, he could've photographed the four other magicians

but no-one wants to see that.

I wanted to do some magic for you guys.

Now, I have got a deck of cards with me.

So as you can see, every single card is completely different.

So, Sarah, I just want you to point at one, OK?

-OK, I'm on it.

-As I go through.

Any card you want, just point at it. This one?

-Yeah.

-You sure?

-Yeah.

-OK, take your card, have a look at it. It's all right.

-I'm like...

-I kind of caught a little glimpse of it, it's all right.

-No, you didn't.

Yes, I did, it's the king of hearts.

I've got a little sticker here, which we will put on.

What I'm going to do, I'm going to write down king of hearts

on the back of it.

So that way we know it's your card whichever way you look at it.

OK, so from the front and from the back it will be the king of hearts.

So, king of hearts, that's your card, OK? That's yours.

So, as you've got your card,

-you're going to pose for a couple of photographs for me.

-OK.

So if you could stand right here on our spot here,

hold it out just like that.

All right.

She's done this before. That's it.

Bit more. Oh, look, see. One more.

Great. You can follow me over here and we're going to use the lights

so you can see your card, king of hearts, right in...

We can see it, actually, quite clearly through the light.

It's kind of weird - you can see all the ink.

It says king of hearts, right? Which is yours, which we wrote down.

Watch the writing, come close, look. Watch.

-What?

-The more you concentrate,

the more the writing will slowly start to disappear.

Oh, my goodness.

But do you know the reason it says "gone"?

Because, it completely has gone.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

That's it, the only real evidence of your card existing

is in the photograph and that's the great thing about taking photos.

You can, you know, look back on 'em.

I'm going to get one of the photos up to the screen.

This is so weird. I'm scared now, I'm not going to lie.

Let's see how good my photography work... Oh! Boom!

-I am sick.

-No, that's good. Strong. Strong.

-Blue steel.

-That is good.

-Yeah.

So, that's the only real evidence of your card actually existing

in the photograph now.

-OK, cos that was the card you picked, right?

-Yeah.

So watch, I'm going to do something, check this out.

If I just put my hand up like this, come closer, guys, so you can see.

Watch.

I think I can get it, just...right...

-I can take it out of the screen.

-No!

-What?

-What you doing?

And it's backed with the king of hearts all normal on the back

from the beginning.

How it all looked from when we first originally wrote down.

-What have you done?

-Show those guys.

What have you done?

No, that is too weird.

'So dodgy. I'm just not sure of anything any more.

-'I hate the idea of just things disappearing, like...

-Yeah.'

But disappearing in that way is too weird.

I just can't even get my head around it.

There's millions of people at home now scratching at their television

trying to pull me out the screen, but they ain't getting it.

You ain't pulling me out the screen.

Apart from you.

Please stop flirting with the viewers, Ben.

So how did Damien's trick go down with the other magicians?

Sure, it was a card trick

but I thought it was a really flashy one, I'll give it a seven.

It was like trick photography but live and so it gets...

an eight.

I think Damien's trick was great so I'm going to give it...

..eight.

Beautiful people, beautiful trick...

Eight.

So that's a massive 31 for Damien.

It's a great score

but will it be enough?

Next up it's mind-reader Chris with some typically geeky gadget magic.

The internet is my gadget of choice, I love the internet.

I do hope he's cleared his history

before showing us what's on that screen.

I don't think anyone's tried mind reading

over the internet before and I'm not sure whether it's going to work

but if it does, I think it'll be pretty good.

And today Chris is reading two minds,

which by my calculations makes it doubly impressive.

Yes, it's internet sensations and Radio 1 DJ's Dan and Phil.

-Hello!

-Hi, Chris.

-Hi, Chris.

Well, thank you for joining me. So, first things first.

Take off your clothes.

Um, this is...

I wasn't aware it would be that kind of magic trick.

I'm actually naked, these clothes are tattooed onto me.

-What is behind you?

-Well...

-A towel?

Yeah, I've had to cover this up,

this is my I love Dan and Phil poster, didn't want to freak you out.

-Oh, obviously.

-Yeah.

Yeah, that makes sense, thanks.

So, you should've been sent a big box of stuff,

do you have a big box of stuff?

-Yes.

-We have a big box.

-It says uh, "Do not open until Chris tells you."

-Oh.

-So we won't do that.

-Good.

So I'm going to do a personality test with you

and since this is the BBC, I have a generic magazine.

-Nice.

-Oh, nice, you made the front cover.

-Yeah, I know.

-I'm really happy for you.

Also, this is a girl's magazine, so you're going to do

a female personality test to get in touch with your feminine side.

Good, it's probably going to be more accurate then. It's fine.

Sounds good to me.

Dan, this is your personality test.

Question one - the day before your holiday begins,

-an important work project lands on your desk, what do you do?

-OK.

A - tell your boss, "No can do."

B - cancel the trip.

Or C - work hard until the last minute and then arrange for cover.

A, you're an A - tell your boss, "No can do."

Out of interest where would you be going on holiday?

Japan.

Good. Question two for you.

So, while shopping, Dan,

you and a friend spot a top that you both love,

but there's only one left, do you let her have it?

A - yeah, it's not worth fighting over.

B - hell, no, you'll tear it out of her hands.

Or C - you'll try and steer her towards another top.

A, B or C?

I like how insidious option C is,

cos you're kind of getting what you want but not in a direct way,

that's me.

Good, excellent, so that's C.

Assuming it was a top that you two fought over,

I'm imagining it would be a T-shirt,

what would be the one thing printed on the T-shirt?

-Robot.

-Robot it is. OK, robot on your T-shirt, good to know.

-Yep.

-When you hear about a great job that your college roommate has got...

-OK.

-..do you think, "I know there's a great job out there for me too?"

-OK.

B - wow, I wish I could land a position like that.

Or C - just wait, I'm going to get a better one.

I don't like C's attitude, do you? That's...calm down.

I'm going to go with A.

A - I know there's a great job out there for me too.

-Yeah.

-Somewhere.

Full of positivity.

Right, so, here are the answers.

-So number 1 you answered A, what are your scores for that?

-Five.

For two, you answered C.

And that gives me 15.

-Very nice. And for three you answered A.

-Ten.

-Ten.

-Ten.

-Jesus. OK.

Do you want to add that up? What did you get?

-30!

-30.

OK, if you scored between 25 and 35, it says,

"Yes, you have ambitions and work to reach them.

"That makes you likely to succeed and likeable."

-Does that sound like you?

-It's like the happy ending.

-You scored 30 in total, correct?

-30, yeah.

And your scores were five, 15 and ten, yeah?

-Yeah.

-Total of 30 and succeed and likeable.

-You've got a box of stuff, yeah?

-Yeah.

This arrived at your flat at 6am this morning, yeah?

It did, it woke me up. Destroying the house.

Go!

There's a mouse mat, what's on that?

Five, 15 and ten!

And a mug with 30.

And the top of the CD box, look at the top of the CD box.

Success and likable.

Oh, my God, what?

-Yes.

-He's a demon.

-But there's more.

If I take it off you'll see - succeed and likable,

30, five, 15 and ten and also this tiny bit here

if you can see it - in Japan, I will wear a robot T-shirt.

-No.

-Shut up.

-No.

Can you see it?

My mind has just imploded,

is there a little bit of brain leaking out of my ear?

-Yeah, it's just leaking out of your ear.

-Look.

-A torrent.

To me, this was the perfect form of gadget,

it involved computers and the internet. Amazing.

-He's a demon.

-He sold his soul, Phil.

-PHIL WHISPERS

-He's a demon.

We can be impressed by it but at the end of his life,

-he's the one that's going to pay for it.

-Yeah.

But what did the other magicians make of Chris'

online personality prediction?

I enjoyed the webcam trick. I'm going to give it a...

I loved Chris' trick and so it gets...

a seven.

I give it...a seven.

I'm going to give it a...

So, mind-reader Chris scores 28

leaving him an obvious candidate

to be a human barbecue.

Anyone fancy a skinny wiener?

Next, it's Ben who's raided the BBC's costume drama department

and is taking us back to the early days of magical performance

to demonstrate his gadget.

I think the other magicians will be impressed.

I think, I don't know how they'll deal with being

in this old-fashioned space, they're a bit modern, aren't they?

Damien the magician like, "Bzzz, I'm here in the music hall."

I think he's confused Damien with a house fly.

So, hello, everybody.

So you're probably wondering why

I've brought you here to this old theatre.

In fact this is the oldest music hall in the world.

Now, the reason why I brought you here is because I want to show you

an invention created almost 200 years ago

by a madman genius French magician called Robert Houdin.

-What's your name, sorry?

-Lily.

Lily. Nice to meet you, Lily, I'm Ben.

-Could I borrow that ring?

-Hm-mm.

I will treat it very nicely, I promise.

I'm going to wrap Lily's ring inside this pocket handkerchief.

Lily, will you just feel through there,

check that the ring really is inside? Yeah?

I'm going to leave it inside this oil lamp chimney

which will isolate it and the handkerchief inside here.

Now, because it's inside this piece of glass,

you know that I can't easily access it.

I don't want you to blink or you'll miss this.

Three, two, one.

And the handkerchief and ring vanish completely from inside the glass.

Now, this tree here is a piece of clockwork.

It uses coiled springs and twisted metal to recreate nature.

Now, the first thing that happens is the tree begins to blossom.

-What?

-Growing orange blossom.

And after the tree has blossomed, oranges begin to grow.

Starting small and slowly growing bigger.

I think it's quite beautiful.

I'm going to remove one of these oranges

so that you can see that this is a real orange

and not some kind of clockwork orange,

but a real orange with juice and pips.

And in the final stage of this strange piece,

the orange at the top divides itself.

And two mechanical butterflies start to flap their wings

and fly from inside the centre and they carry between them...

a handkerchief.

And tied in the centre of the handkerchief...

is a ring.

And can you confirm for me, Lily, that this is your ring

-having just grown off a mechanical tree, it is?

-Yeah.

It's still as amazing now as it ever was.

That was amazing. I've not seen anything like that before.

Oh, I think it was awesome.

The oranges growing from the tree, that was dope.

I thought it was amazing.

I absolutely loved every minute of it, it was so beautiful.

So Jasz liked it and it was a hit with the audience

but how do the other magicians feel?

A beautiful bit of magic,

strong seven.

I give him...

an eight.

I'm going to give it a...

I'm giving Ben...

..seven

So, Ben's fruity performance

scores an impressive 30

leaving him safe

from the killer trick,

which promises to Taser the lowest scoring magician

with a million volts of electricity.

Next, let's see how Jasz gets on.

She's trying to persuade shoppers to buy a fake gadget

they just can't live without.

She's being followed by hidden cameras

and a few discreet

undercover magicians.

There they are.

I've got the ultimate gadget here,

so I'm...I'm in with a good chance of winning this week's theme

because it is the biggest gadget, I think, out of all of the tricks.

Big and small is exactly what the Resize 9000 promises to give you.

According to Jasz, this machine can work miracles growing or

shrinking anything you choose.

I once bought a pump from the internet that promised

a similar service.

Sadly, it didn't work.

Have you heard of the Resize 9000?

-BOTH:

-No.

-Brilliant. So, the Resize 9000, have you heard of it?

-No.

I see you've got bags there and things, yeah?

-And they're quite bulky, aren't they? BOTH:

-Yeah.

This is where the Resize 9000 comes in

and solves all your bulk problems.

I'm going to show you what I mean.

If I take this apple and I pop it inside the Resize 9000,

just like so.

So it's in there.

Yep.

And we're just going to count down five seconds.

Five, four, three, two, one.

BELL DINGS Hear the ding

and it's done it's thing!

THEY LAUGH We look inside now...

The apple is a fraction of the size.

If you need your fruit that small, just buy a grape.

Now, for anyone who actually believes Jasz's sales patter,

let's be clear - this machine is a magic prop,

you cannot buy it in the shops, obviously.

But it does look pretty convincing.

Can I borrow your watch?

Yes.

Thank you very much.

So, now, if I put your watch inside the Resize 9000,

like so.

Oddly enough, I never thought of a watch as a huge, exhausting

thing to lug about, but never mind.

..two, one. BELL DINGS

Hear the ding and it's done it's thing.

If I look inside now, your watch is a fraction of the size.

This is what's so good about it.

It means, in my handbag, I can now pack a change of clothes.

It's a bit skimpy.

I can wear that at the weekend.

Also got my...my phone.

Good luck playing Candy Crush on that.

I can pack the manual for the Resize 9000.

So I'm going to make the manual larger again.

If I pop it back inside the Resize 9000, just like so.

And it's going to take more time, so I need more power,

so we're just going to have to wait until we hear the ding, OK?

She's really trying to make this catchphrase a thing, isn't she?

BELL DINGS Hey!

Hear the ding and it's done it's thing.

-There it is.

-Shall we have a look inside now?

And we've got the Resize 9000 full size.

Yeah, but what happens if you put a Resize 9000 inside a Resize 9000?

Huh? Huh? Ah, we'll never know.

I did not expect that. I was just...

-Definitely the sales pitch.

-Yeah.

-I thought...yeah, I thought

-I was taking home a home appliance.

-Ten-minute sales pitch.

It looks like they're sold.

It was really good, I don't actually know how she...done it.

The Resizer 9000, finally I got to see it in real life.

I've been looking on the infomercials for ages

and it was great to see it do its job.

Looks like a microwave up close, though, doesn't it?

Don't spoil it, Damien.

So, what do the magicians think of Jasz's gadget trick?

It was a lot of fun

but not really magical enough.

A six.

She gets a tiny little six.

This time, I've gone for...

a seven.

The Resize 9000, it wasn't a gadget.

Weren't as bad as a three, so it's going to get a five.

So, Jasz gets 24,

a weak performance that makes her

the prime candidate

for this week's killer trick.

Next to perform is Dee

and, worryingly, he's brought a guitar along.

This week's episode, the theme is gadgets.

So I've brought from home some of my favourite gadgets,

my electric guitar and my amplifier.

'I want to do this trick.'

That's the main thing for me is, you know,

to do something that, uh,

you know, shows my love for music as well as magic.

I'm not much of a guitarist but I like to...I like to play.

I find it's useful to know how to strum a few chords

when composing music with my band to get some ideas across.

Yeah.

When it comes to writing music, my favourite thing in the world is

to go back to a suitably gothic feather quill, ink and sheet music.

So, I'm going to get you to think of a song that you'd like me

to try and play for you today.

Have you got one?

-Right, got one.

-Yeah? Actually, I'll get you to change your mind.

OK.

-And change your mind one last time.

-Right.

So you've now got a song in mind that you didn't know that you

were going to think of before you stepped through these doors.

So, for the first time, what is the song?

Umbrella by Rihanna.

One of Dee's favourites.

OK, um...

It's not my usual style.

Has that song even got any guitars in it?

I tell you what, I've got a better idea.

We'll use...

we'll use this tray and we'll use this ink.

You know sound travels in waves, like, vibrations?

Yeah.

We're going to try and use this ink to catch visually

what those vibrations look like.

-I'm going to get you to keep that song in the front of your mind...

-OK.

..and I want you to place your hand on the amplifier.

I want you to imagine the thought of that song

travelling down your arm,

through the amplifier, into the ink.

I'm going to turn it up to 11.

MUSIC DROWNS OUT SPEECH

Look at that, a shape of an umbrella has formed in the ink.

There we go. See, it's starting to bubble up.

Can you see that? It's like the shape of an umbrella.

What the fuck?

Thank goodness she didn't think of the Thong Song.

Oh, my God.

We're not going to stop there.

Let's make use of this sheet music.

Look, you can see that every page is blank.

-Uh-huh.

-Mm-hm.

I'm going to bend this up slightly and try and catch the ink inside.

Watch close.

-You see, it doesn't fall out at the bottom.

-Yeah, it didn't.

That's weird.

THEY LAUGH

Not only that, if we turn it upside down...

..it also doesn't fall out at the top.

That's because the ink has now become

embedded in the paper...

..in the shape of Umbrella by Rihanna.

-What the actual fu...?

-THEY LAUGH

"Umbrella, umbrella, umbrella, umbrella, umbrella,"

right through to the end.

Oh, that is freaky. That is freaky.

That was freaky.

Yeah, it was weird. Like, really strange.

THEY LAUGH

I'm just trying to figure out, like, what he's...

-what...how...what...how it happened.

-What he did, how did it do it?

-How he went about that.

-Yeah, that was good.

I noticed that, um, Dee's magic spelling skills

aren't up to scratch, cos he'd spelt Umbrella wrong on the sheet music.

Don't blame him, blame the ink.

I like the way that Dee took heavy metal,

and an electric guitar, and a quill, and a cowboy hat,

and pinned them all together under the same 'umbrella'.

No! Have it. Take it, it's yours.

JASZ LAUGHS

Oh, good lord.

So, what do the other magicians make of Dee's brolly busking performance?

Dee's trick lacked spark.

Gets a six.

I'm going to give him...

a six.

I loved it, so I'm going to give it...

Dee referencing Rihanna's Umbrella, what's not to like?

# 'Ella, 'ella. #

Seven, 'ella.

That is 27 for Dee and his guitar,

by no means the best

but certainly not the worst.

So, we know that he is in the clear

from the killer trick.

It's time to let the magicians know who's won.

-Damien!

-Boo ya!

Champion!

Paper cuts, God! The paper cuts!

He's taken it modestly.

Yes!

Congratulations.

The magician facing the electroshock killer trick is...

It's Jasz! Oh, no!

-Oh, my God.

-I'm going to die!

You will be at the end of hundreds of thousands of volts

and, as the winner, Damien gets to throw the switch.

-DAMIEN LAUGHS

-Yes!

-Ooh!

It's really going to hurt.

It might be a nice tingling sensation.

I don't think it's going to be.

So, it's time for Jasz to face this week's killer trick.

She needs to find a way to stay alive as electrical currents

strong enough to fry, I don't know, an army of elephants

is passed through her body.

-CURRENTS ZAP

-Fucking hell.

-Jasz.

-That's fucking terrifying.

I would say I'm a little bit of an adrenaline junkie, so this trick

excites me quite a lot even though I'm quite nervous at the prospect

of being struck by, you know, what is essentially lightening.

Jasz, today, will be hit with one million volts.

Now, usually, in a plug socket there's 240 volts,

so one million, I assume, is life-ending.

We've got some well-synchronised electricians on hand

just in case things go wrong

and a scientist to explain things and put Jasz very much at ease.

All right, so a million volts is the kind of voltage

they use in the national grid.

So if you get too near that, it's a kind of spark you might see

just before you died.

Wow.

Would it, like, you know, blow her into pieces?

Uh, it would have a serious effect on her, I think it's fair to say.

Calming words.

Jasz has only one hope for staying safe.

What we've got here is a thing called a Faraday cage,

and it looks a bit like a mosquito net but it's actually...

I wear tights thicker than that.

The crucial thing about this is it's actually made of stainless steel.

It looks like material but it's actually stainless steel.

There are some scientists who, although they know electricity

and the laws, will still not get in there.

So, I think you're pretty brave.

Are you serious?

-So, let's get you in the cage.

-All right.

So...

OK, then, let's roll this giant condom over Jasz

and hope it offers maximum protection.

I'm not feeling very safe, guys.

It's time to flip the switch.

-SHE SCREAMS

-Bloody hell!

CURRENTS ZAP

SHE SCREAMS

Fuck that shit!

HE LAUGHS

SHE SHRIEKS

I've just noticed, there is a tiny hole in this thing.

CURRENTS ZAP AND SHE SHRIEKS

-Is it scary?

-Yeah. That is so fucking scary.

-I think I wet myself.

-SHE LAUGHS

# Danger, danger

# High voltage

# When we touch

# And when we kiss

# Danger, danger

# High voltage

# When we touch

# When we kiss

# When we touch

# When we kiss... #