Britain’s Got Talent 2015: Jamie Raven divides Twitter as fans expose mind-boggling magic trick..
Jamie Raven magicked himself into the final of Britain’s Got Talent after winning the public vote in Wednesday night’s semi, but not everyone has been left impressed with his wizardry.
The magician asked 52 members of the live audience to think of an object and write the word down on a piece of paper. He then asked Alesha Dixon to shout ‘stop’ as he shuffled the pack of answers, before giving each judge a word.
Jamie proceeded to conjure up the objects from nothing – a goldfish for David Walliams, an ice cube for Alesha, a shoe for Simon Cowell and a helicopter for Amanda Holden (yes, really).
However, some viewers began pointing out flaws in Jamie’s trick, noting that he had taken off his shoe before Simon had said the word so must have known what it was beforehand.
The most beady-eyed Twitter users took screenshots of Jamie slipping off his shoe while working on Alesha’s ice. The cameraman and your TV’s rewind button have a lot to answer for. So does the person in the audience who wrote ‘helicopter’ but failed to make themselves known when asked by Simon.
“How do you think Jamie Raven conjured up a goldfish and a helicopter? Answer – He knew what was coming. Not magic, pure bluster #BGT”
Notorious Crooks: Who Was Erdnase?
By Paul Drexler for The Examiner…
Born in Connecticut in 1872, Andrews picked up an early interest in magic and card manipulation and became a professional gambler at 18. By 1900, he was one of the best card sharks in the country.
In 1902 a man calling himself S.W. Erdnase self-published “The Expert at the Card Table.” This 143-page book explained and demonstrated the “shuffles,” “shifts,” and sleight-of-hand techniques used by card sharks and magicians. The first edition sold poorly, and the author reduced the price to $1 per copy.
By 1903, Andrews was at the peak of his career, claiming an annual income of more than $20,000 (worth $600,000 today). But life as a hustler had taken its toll. He had developed serious digestive problems and a raging temper.
He took up with Bessie Boutin, a prostitute with a taste for luxury. They fought frequently over her drinking and his jealousy. In October 1904, Boutin disappeared in Denver, and Andrews left town with her jewelry. When her body was discovered, he was the main suspect in her death. Andrews was later linked to two other unsolved murders. Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/notorious-crooks-who-was-erdnase/Content?oid=2931064
The Shape I’m In: Keith Barry, magician..
KEITH BARRY’S new hypnotic show, You’re Back in the Room, got massive ratings from when it premiered on TV3 in March. Ratings were impressive in Britain too and the show is set to head Down Under after the format was sold to an Australian broadcaster.“People are hugely fascinated by the workings of the human mind and by my being able to hypnotise them and get them to do things they wouldn’t normally do,” he says.No matter what hair-brained deeds Keith gets his subjects to do, nobody has ever come back and complained, he says.“With hypnosis, the whole idea is to get rid of inhibitions and free up somebody’s mind to allow them act in a way they wouldn’t normally. People enter it willingly. “They know going in they’re going to do something outside their boundaries or rules. Most of them end up being more positive.
When I’m taking them out of hypnosis, I instil a sense of positivity they’ve never felt before.”Almost a decade on, Keith’s TED Talk remains in the top 20 of most viewed TED Talks. “For it to be still in the top 20, I find just amazing. It has brought me a lot of work. "Somebody in Hong Kong saw it and I ended up going there to do a corporate gig. But when I look at myself on that TED Talk, I cringe.I was a chubby, spiky-haired young fellow,” says the 38-year-old father of two. His children Breanna and Braden are aged six and three. Read the interview below….