Posted by Ian on 2009-05-29
in Celebrity
In case you’ve been living in a hole for the last few weeks, it would appear that a certain talent show is pre-occupying the nation’s mind. It’s called Britain’s Got Talent and purports to be a show attempting to discover new talent. Unfortunately it seems to be discovering a lot of singers and dancers; but not much in the way of comedians, magicians and other specialties.
The reason for this is fairly obvious. Well it is as far as magicians are concerned anyway. Firstly, the show does love a good back story. The first winner in 2007 was Paul Potts who was a manager at Carphone Warehouse. Last year’s winner was George Sampson, a fifteen year old boy from a single parent family who suffers from a rare illness. This year’s sensation, Susan Boyle, is a rather dowdy 47 year old spinster. In other words what all have in common is that there’s something interesting about them outside their chosen skill.
Secondly, the winners tend to be singers or dancers (and I would hazard a guess that 2009 will follow this trend – although my money is on the cool guy who plays the saxophone). To a certain extent singing and dancing (and indeed playing a musical instrument) can be perfected in rehearsal without an audience. I’m not suggesting that they won’t substantially improve in front of spectators – but with the right choreography and singing tuition you can go a long way in your bedroom.
This really isn’t so with magic. It can only really be learnt in front of the hard knocks of real people. Therefore to be good, you need to be professional; or at the very least an extremely active semi-professional. Such a breed aren’t of attraction to Britain’s Got Talent: the programme likes to discover talented amateurs, not hard working professionals.
Finally, and this is the toughest obstacle of all, most magic requires a gradual build up. You have to prepare the audience for what is about to happen, slowly rack up the tension and then produce your surprise. It’s extremely hard to make an instant impact: it’s possible - but it’s a tough ask. By contrast singers or dancers do have an immediate hit. As soon as they open their mouth and the unexpected note appears; or there’s an entrance by a dancer with some complex move, the audience can be hooked in.
When I did New Faces back in 1987, at least I had the chance to overcome that handicap. I was given 4 minutes of uninterrupted airtime. The acts on BGT, even in the semifinal, are given at most 2 minutes: and, of course, they can be ‘buzzed off’ during that time – as indeed one specialty act was this year.
It doesn’t help either that the judges, particularly Simon Cowell, have an inbuilt dislike of magic. Given some of the magicians who have appeared on the programme, it’s not altogether surprising. Most haven’t really done themselves any favours. Nevertheless there’s so much stacked against them that even a top professional would have a hard time getting anywhere in the competition.
Having written all that, if I was twenty years younger I might still have a shot at it. It so happens it’s the only game in town at the moment. No point in whingeing, far better to have a crack. At least you might get some broadcastable footage out of it; and you can always edit out Simon Cowell’s shake of the head and eyes raised to the heavens.
The reason for this is fairly obvious. Well it is as far as magicians are concerned anyway. Firstly, the show does love a good back story. The first winner in 2007 was Paul Potts who was a manager at Carphone Warehouse. Last year’s winner was George Sampson, a fifteen year old boy from a single parent family who suffers from a rare illness. This year’s sensation, Susan Boyle, is a rather dowdy 47 year old spinster. In other words what all have in common is that there’s something interesting about them outside their chosen skill.
Secondly, the winners tend to be singers or dancers (and I would hazard a guess that 2009 will follow this trend – although my money is on the cool guy who plays the saxophone). To a certain extent singing and dancing (and indeed playing a musical instrument) can be perfected in rehearsal without an audience. I’m not suggesting that they won’t substantially improve in front of spectators – but with the right choreography and singing tuition you can go a long way in your bedroom.
This really isn’t so with magic. It can only really be learnt in front of the hard knocks of real people. Therefore to be good, you need to be professional; or at the very least an extremely active semi-professional. Such a breed aren’t of attraction to Britain’s Got Talent: the programme likes to discover talented amateurs, not hard working professionals.
Finally, and this is the toughest obstacle of all, most magic requires a gradual build up. You have to prepare the audience for what is about to happen, slowly rack up the tension and then produce your surprise. It’s extremely hard to make an instant impact: it’s possible - but it’s a tough ask. By contrast singers or dancers do have an immediate hit. As soon as they open their mouth and the unexpected note appears; or there’s an entrance by a dancer with some complex move, the audience can be hooked in.
When I did New Faces back in 1987, at least I had the chance to overcome that handicap. I was given 4 minutes of uninterrupted airtime. The acts on BGT, even in the semifinal, are given at most 2 minutes: and, of course, they can be ‘buzzed off’ during that time – as indeed one specialty act was this year.
It doesn’t help either that the judges, particularly Simon Cowell, have an inbuilt dislike of magic. Given some of the magicians who have appeared on the programme, it’s not altogether surprising. Most haven’t really done themselves any favours. Nevertheless there’s so much stacked against them that even a top professional would have a hard time getting anywhere in the competition.
Having written all that, if I was twenty years younger I might still have a shot at it. It so happens it’s the only game in town at the moment. No point in whingeing, far better to have a crack. At least you might get some broadcastable footage out of it; and you can always edit out Simon Cowell’s shake of the head and eyes raised to the heavens.
