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Author: Rick Carruth

truTV’s “The Carbonaro Effect(TM)” Grows +40% among Young Adults..

truTV’s “The Carbonaro Effect(TM)” Grows +40% among Young Adults..

Are YOU watching the Carbonaro Effect on truTV? I’ve watched all four shows to date – and I’m very impressed. It’s such a refreshing change from typical magic shows that attempt, to sometime impossible degrees, to out-do the competition. Michael uses primarily sleight of hand and misdirection to fool the spectator into thinking they are seeing something technologically advanced, scientific, or downright mysterious, not necessarily magical. It’s the resulting ‘situation’ that’s so entertaining… It’s also fun seeing Johnny Thompson, David Regal, and friend Chad Sanborn,  among the cast.. (Editor)  


[via press release from truTV]

truTV’s “The Carbonaro Effect™” Grows +40% among Young Adults

Comic Magician Michael Carbonaro Stars in Hit Show Airing Thursdays at 10 p.m. (ET/PT)

truTV’s brand new series The Carbonaro Effect, starring Michael Carbonaro, scored tremendous demo growth in its second week. Last night’s episode garnered 458,000 adults 18-34, a +40% jump over last week’s premiere telecast. It also scored 699,000 adults 18-49, an increase of +11% over the premiere. In addition, The Carbonaro Effect ranked as one of basic cable’s Top 5 programs in the 10 p.m. half hour among adults 18-34.

In total, last night’s episode of The Carbonaro Effect drew 1,130,000 viewers in Live + Same Day delivery, with a remarkably young median age of 30, four years younger than the premiere episode’s final median age.

The Carbonaro Effect – Thursdays at 10 p.m. (ET/PT)

truTV’s new series The Carbonaro Effect stars Michael Carbonaro, a magician by trade but a trickster at heart. In each episode of this hidden-camera series, Michael amazes and amuses ordinary unsuspecting people in various locations and situations. Posing as an ordinary bartender or a seemingly unremarkable salesman, he astonishes unknowing citizens by turning a tuft of hair into a puppy or pouring 12 pints of beer from an ordinary bottle. Whether they are alone or with their friends, everyone is left stunned and delighted, even though they have no idea what just hit them. Real people. No camera tricks. Just The Carbonaro Effect.

Actor, magician, comedian and improv artist Michael Carbonaro is a familiar face to television viewers thanks to his appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He has also played roles on Happily Divorced, The Newsroom, 30 Rock, Wizards of Waverly Place, CSI: Miami and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He is an OutFest Best Actor Award winner, as well as a two-time nominee for an Academy of Magical Arts Magician of the Year award. Michael hosts and performs shows of comedy, magic and other bizarre acts at a variety of clubs worldwide, including NYC’s Joe’s Pub and Hollywood’s Magic Castle.

The Carbonaro Effect is produced for truTV by Fields Entertainment and 11 Television, with Simon Fields, Kevin Healey & Michael Carbonaro serving as executive producers.

About truTV

truTV takes viewers on a fun ride that surprises and entertains. It delivers a dynamic mix of action, comedy and competition, featuring engaging characters and compelling new worlds that pull you in and leave you wanting more. Currently seen in 92 million U.S. households, truTV features such popular original series as Impractical Jokers, The Carbonaro Effect, Hardcore Pawn, Lizard Lick Towing, Killer Karaoke and South Beach Tow, as well as the upcoming series Motor City Masters and Friends of the People. In addition, truTV is a partner in airing the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news; entertainment; animation and young adult; and sports media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

Read more at http://www.thefutoncritic.com/ratings/2014/05/23/trutvs-the-carbonaro-effect-grows-plus40-percent-among-young-adults-645512/20140523trutv01/#ScaZSMtMvIC16sEx.99

Thanks to Jared Freeman of the Christian Post for directing us to this video. Justin Flom is an internationally known magician, following in the footsteps of his father and Uncle. After several appearances on “The Ellen Show’, Justin developed quite the reputation as both a magician and a card technician.

Justin is a professed Christian, and this very nice effect is similar to ‘Sam the Bellhop’.. but from a very different perspective. Taped in 2012, this is a great video to watch on a Memorial Day weekend…  Enjoy !!  

Brookline magician follows his dream, with a handkerchief up his sleeve..

Brookline magician follows his dream, with a handkerchief up his sleeve..

By Ignacio Laguarda for Wicked Local – Brookline

Magician Eric Benton wants you to know exactly what his show isn’t.

It’s written plainly on his website,ericbentonmagic.com. What you won’t get is “sparkly boxes,” routines that make audience members the butt of jokes, and finally, no playing of the song “Final Countdown” by the band Europe.

The Brookline resident likes his magic to stand on its own.

“I guess I just try to be myself as much as possible,” he said. “It’s pretty easy in magic to emulate what you’ve seen before and go with what normal set script comes with the trick. I try to go off of that and make it my own”

Benton got into magic, as many do, when he was a kid and was given a magic set as a present. For some kids, magic can be a passing fad, but for Benton, it stuck.

“Some [magicians] just stick around,” said Benton, before wryly adding, “And some of them discover girls.”…

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Penn and Teller: ‘We compare death threats with Richard Dawkins’..

Penn and Teller: ‘We compare death threats with Richard Dawkins’..

By Craig McLean in the Telegraph..

What kind of trickery is this? First of all, Teller struggles to unscrew the cap on the bottle of fizzy water plonked on the hotel boardroom table. Having a couple of decades on the diminutive 66-year-old magician, I give it a go. Failing miserably, I hand it to his hulking partner, Penn Jillette, 59, who is twice the man of each of us. Or, he’s the two of us combined. He can’t open it either.

Penn and Teller quietly harrumph. The temperature in the over-air-conditioned conference space drops another notch.

The magicians have travelled from Las Vegas to a hotel in central London. Also on their schedule: a trip to the BBC’s Manchester studios to visit Blue Peter. They’ve been trying to think of a kiddie-friendly trick. They think “maybe the muffin trick. But adults are very good at underestimating children’s ability to make choices,” says Teller with a hint of reproach, “so they often try to make us do things that seem absolutely innocuous.”..

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