The Magicians is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 family entertainment television show, first broadcast throughout January 2011 on BBC One

BBC One

BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

. The show features magicians Luis de Matos

Luis de Matos

Luis de Matos is a Portuguese magician and was voted magician of the decade 2000-2009.-Biography:Luis de Matos was born in Portuguese Mozambique in 1970, a Portuguese overseas province until 1975. At the age of five he moved with his parents to Portugal where the family settled near the city of...

,Barry and Stuart

Barry and Stuart

Barry Jones and Stuart MacLeod are a two-man magic act from Scotland, who perform as "Barry and Stuart" or "The 2magicians". They are known for their dark and gory performing style, and for taking as inspiration the accounts of Biblical miracles to form the basis for some of their illusions.-...

, and Chris Korn performing a number of magic tricks with guest celebrities, competing for audience support. The show is presented by comedian Lenny Henry

Lenny Henry

Lenworth George "Lenny" Henry, is a British actor, writer, comedian and occasional television presenter.- Early life :...

.

Show format

Each episode features each of magicians Luis de Matos

Luis de Matos

Luis de Matos is a Portuguese magician and was voted magician of the decade 2000-2009.-Biography:Luis de Matos was born in Portuguese Mozambique in 1970, a Portuguese overseas province until 1975. At the age of five he moved with his parents to Portugal where the family settled near the city of...

, Barry and Stuart

Barry and Stuart

Barry Jones and Stuart MacLeod are a two-man magic act from Scotland, who perform as "Barry and Stuart" or "The 2magicians". They are known for their dark and gory performing style, and for taking as inspiration the accounts of Biblical miracles to form the basis for some of their illusions.-...

, and Chris Korn being paired-up with a guest celebrity performer to perform three magic

Magic (illusion)

Magic is a performing art that entertains audiences by staging tricks or creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means...

 tricks:

• A Grand Illusion
• A trick the celebrity has always wanted to perform
• Street Magic

The former of these is always performed on-set in front of a live studio audience

Studio audience

A studio audience is an audience present for the taping of all or part of a television program. The primary purpose of the studio audience is to provide applause and/or laughter to the program's soundtrack . A studio audience can also provide volunteers, a visual backdrop and discussion participants...

, the latter shown as a pre-recorded sequence filmed on location, while the trick of the celebrity's choosing varies between being performed live and having been pre-recorded. The order in which the magicians perform, and the order in which each of the three tricks is done, changes from show to show.

After all nine performance, members of the studio audience

Studio audience

A studio audience is an audience present for the taping of all or part of a television program. The primary purpose of the studio audience is to provide applause and/or laughter to the program's soundtrack . A studio audience can also provide volunteers, a visual backdrop and discussion participants...

 vote for their favourite magician-celebrity partnership using an audience response

Audience response

Audience response is a type of interaction associated with the use of audience response systems, to create interactivity between a presenter and his/her audience. Systems for co-located audiences combine wireless hardware with presentation software, and systems for remote audiences may use...

 system, and host Lenny Henry

Lenny Henry

Lenworth George "Lenny" Henry, is a British actor, writer, comedian and occasional television presenter.- Early life :...

 then reveals the 1st, 2nd, and finally, 3rd positions of the magicians, as chosen by the studio audience. Those in the 3rd position must then attempt a forfeit

Forfeit

- In sport :* Forfeit * Forfeit , defeat in a chess game by a player being absent or out of time* Declaration and forfeiture, in cricket, two possible ends of an innings- In law :...

trick that has been previously explained to the magician, but not the celebrity; it will be their first time performing this trick. The forfeit trick is usually of a dangerous nature.

Episode list

Key:

– 1st Position

– 2nd Position

– 3rd Position

Episode 1

Theme: box prop

	Barry and Stuart Barry and Stuart Barry Jones and Stuart MacLeod are a two-man magic act from Scotland, who perform as "Barry and Stuart" or "The 2magicians". They are known for their dark and gory performing style, and for taking as inspiration the accounts of Biblical miracles to form the basis for some of their illusions.-...	Luis de Matos Luis de Matos Luis de Matos is a Portuguese magician and was voted magician of the decade 2000-2009.-Biography:Luis de Matos was born in Portuguese Mozambique in 1970, a Portuguese overseas province until 1975. At the age of five he moved with his parents to Portugal where the family settled near the city of...	Chris Korn
	Sian Williams	Ashley Banjo Ashley Banjo Ashley Banjo is an English street dancer and actor. He is the leader of the dance troupe Diversity, who won the third series of Britain's Got Talent...	Bruno Tonioli Bruno Tonioli Bruno Tonioli is an Italian choreographer and TV personality who appears as a judge on the television dance competition Strictly Come Dancing for BBC TV in the UK, and its American adaptation Dancing with the Stars on ABC TV in the US, Tonioli co-created and appeared on the BBC talent show DanceX...
Grand Illusion	sword through box trick using crossbow bolts and javelins	Diversity appearing out of a small box	Tonioli suspending Chris in a box over spikes
Celebrity's Choice	mind-reading illusion	escapology trick involving a chest	each of Chris and Bruno sawing an assistant in half
Street Magic	hand through stomach trick	making Ashley Banjo appear behind a coat on top of a park bench	teleporting extracts from books from one London Eye pod to another

Forfeit trick: the Firewalk: walking on hot ashes barefoot

Episode 2

Theme: transportation

	Barry and Stuart Barry and Stuart Barry Jones and Stuart MacLeod are a two-man magic act from Scotland, who perform as "Barry and Stuart" or "The 2magicians". They are known for their dark and gory performing style, and for taking as inspiration the accounts of Biblical miracles to form the basis for some of their illusions.-...	Luis de Matos Luis de Matos Luis de Matos is a Portuguese magician and was voted magician of the decade 2000-2009.-Biography:Luis de Matos was born in Portuguese Mozambique in 1970, a Portuguese overseas province until 1975. At the age of five he moved with his parents to Portugal where the family settled near the city of...	Chris Korn
	Adrian Edmonson	Peter Jones Peter Jones (entrepreneur) Peter Jones, CBE is a British entrepreneur and businessman with interests in mobile phones, television, media, leisure, and property. He became a television celebrity through his appearances on the BBC Two show Dragons' Den and on his American television show American Inventor...	Amanda Byram Amanda Byram Amanda Byram is an Irish television presenter, originally from Castleknock in Dublin, Ireland.-Early life:Formerly a model, Byram started her career on television in 1999 presenting the TV3 morning show Ireland AM with Mark Cagney, during which time she met her then boyfriend comedian Patrick...
Grand Illusion	mind-reading prediction, including making a horse appear	making Peter's car disappear	making a car fly, making a helicopter appear
Celebrity's Choice	blending and restoring a phone	escapology trick featuring a straight-jacket and chains	Victorian Mystery Box trick
Street Magic	spoon-on-nose trick, using a nail	card trick, tearing it apart and making it vanish before reappearing inside an orange	card trick with mind reading

Forfeit trick: lying on a Bed of Nails, with a motorbike running over their chests

Episode 3

Theme: animal magic

	Barry and Stuart Barry and Stuart Barry Jones and Stuart MacLeod are a two-man magic act from Scotland, who perform as "Barry and Stuart" or "The 2magicians". They are known for their dark and gory performing style, and for taking as inspiration the accounts of Biblical miracles to form the basis for some of their illusions.-...	Luis de Matos Luis de Matos Luis de Matos is a Portuguese magician and was voted magician of the decade 2000-2009.-Biography:Luis de Matos was born in Portuguese Mozambique in 1970, a Portuguese overseas province until 1975. At the age of five he moved with his parents to Portugal where the family settled near the city of...	Chris Korn
	Stephen K Amos	Chris Tarrant Chris Tarrant Christopher John "Chris" Tarrant, OBE is an English radio and television broadcaster, now best known for hosting the first version of the television game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in the United Kingdom and later Ireland, as the two national versions of the show merged in 2002.Chris...	Samantha Womack
Grand Illusion	"mind-poking", use of cards, making a camel appear with Amos sat on it	making an animatronic dinosaur appear	making many white rabbits appear from an apparently empty shed
Celebrity's Choice	making Barry disappear	card selection trick using a pool table	spike under cups trick
Street Magic	woman selects a card and then chooses a pack containing only that card from many packs suspended from a ceiling	psychological; members of the public attempt to open a box by selecting keys	passing a ticket through glass

Forfeit trick: Glass and Sword Staircase: walking on broken glass and swords

Episode 4

Theme: fairytales

	Barry and Stuart Barry and Stuart Barry Jones and Stuart MacLeod are a two-man magic act from Scotland, who perform as "Barry and Stuart" or "The 2magicians". They are known for their dark and gory performing style, and for taking as inspiration the accounts of Biblical miracles to form the basis for some of their illusions.-...	Luis de Matos Luis de Matos Luis de Matos is a Portuguese magician and was voted magician of the decade 2000-2009.-Biography:Luis de Matos was born in Portuguese Mozambique in 1970, a Portuguese overseas province until 1975. At the age of five he moved with his parents to Portugal where the family settled near the city of...	Chris Korn
	Martin Kemp	N-Dubz N-Dubz N-Dubz are a British hip hop group from Camden Town, London. The group consists of members Dappy, Tulisa Contostavlos and Fazer.N-Dubz were previously signed to Polydor Records before joining All Around the World Records...	Rolf Harris Rolf Harris Rolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...
Grand Illusion	Kemp makes a goldfish appear in a bowl, made an audience member put a needle 'supposedly' through Stuart's tongue, balancing Stuart on the tip of a sword and piercing him with it.	3 separate effects: disappearing Fazer’s chest and stomach, sawing Tulisa into eight, and shrinking Dappy	tricks based around Alice in Wonderland, using a member of the audience as Alice, including transporting a ring and making a bottle disappear
Celebrity's Choice	transportation of Barry and Kemp from one box to another	Luis and Tulisa making paper butterflies appear and remain airborne	Rolf draws a person with features as selected by members of the audience, later shown by Chris to have been predicted on a scroll, and a model appears wearing the same items as in the painting
Street Magic	card trick where a member of the public signs and shuffles a card back into the pack, and a restrained Kemp produces it from his mouth	set in a school, using Segways while blindfolded to correctly locate from many CD players the one playing N-Dubz's music	Rolf draws a spider on a web, Chris disappears the spider from the drawing, and a fake spider appears on the back of the person's hand

Forfeit trick: Stone Cold Smash; smashing a concrete block on the chest of an individual balanced by their ankles and shoulders on two hurdles*

• Chris was supposed to be on the hurdles, with Rolf smashing the concrete, but due to a hernia sustained in rehearsals, Chris was unable to do the forfeit. Host Lenny suggested that he take Chris' place, and a member of the stagecrew stepped in to smash the concrete.

Episode 5

Theme: fright night

	Barry and Stuart Barry and Stuart Barry Jones and Stuart MacLeod are a two-man magic act from Scotland, who perform as "Barry and Stuart" or "The 2magicians". They are known for their dark and gory performing style, and for taking as inspiration the accounts of Biblical miracles to form the basis for some of their illusions.-...	Luis de Matos Luis de Matos Luis de Matos is a Portuguese magician and was voted magician of the decade 2000-2009.-Biography:Luis de Matos was born in Portuguese Mozambique in 1970, a Portuguese overseas province until 1975. At the age of five he moved with his parents to Portugal where the family settled near the city of...	Chris Korn
	Angela Griffin Angela Griffin Angela Griffin is a British actress and television presenter.-Acting career:She appeared in the popular long-running British soap operas Emmerdale and most famously in Coronation Street as Fiona Middleton from 1993 to 1998...	Neil Morrissey Neil Morrissey Neil Anthony Morrissey is an English actor, media personality and businessman. He is best known for his role as Tony in Men Behaving Badly....	George George Lamb (presenter) George Martin Lamb is a Scottish-born British radio and TV presenter. He is the son of actor Larry Lamb.-Career:Lamb's radio career peaked with presenting his own daytime show on BBC Radio 6 Music for two years from October 2007 to November 2009, before being moved the early weekend mornings for 6...  and Larry Lamb Larry Lamb (actor) Lawrence Douglas "Larry" Lamb is an English actor who has worked frequently in television. He is best known for playing one of the greatest villains of British soap Archie Mitchell in the BBC television soap EastEnders, Michael Shipman in the BBC television show Gavin & Stacey and Mischievous...
Grand Illusion	Story of the McCrae family, with Angela tied up and placed behind curtains which were closed and opened, showing once with the stage demolished, second with Angela with a coat on with maggots everywhere & third with 7 people appearing, and throwing 'maggots' into the crowd.	A card trick in which a audience member identified a card were placed in a 1000L box of water. Luis was suspended within it to try and find the card, disappearing from it and reappearing at the back of the studio.	George was tied to a bed with a panel of nails hovering above him ready to fall. When they do, curtains are dropped and George appears on top of the nail panel.
Celebrity's Choice	Angela had been made to appear out of nowhere in a box, audience was then shown the same trick again but with an infrared camera to see through the box panels, but then came to know that Angela wasn't in the box, but sitting next to Lenny.	Neil lying down on a plank of wood and being levitated by Luis	A audience member identified a paintball and Chris was strapped into a device that prevented him from moving. George then proceeded to fire the paintball through a panel towards Chris, and Chris caught the paintball in his teeth.
Street Magic	Barry & Stuart approached someone in a library and asked them to type in their email into their phone, sending them a email containing a Youtube link. They then asked her to choose 7 books from random and choose one from the ones chosen. Then, they played the Youtube link, showing Angela reading out the book chosen by the member of the public.	Neil showed members of the public how to easily see to the backs of cupboards, by moving Luis' neck halfway down his body without him bending over	Chris showed off some sleight of hand magic in a bingo hall, transporting coins from George and Larry's hands.

Forfeit trick: Iron Pole Bend; bending an iron pole by pressing it into their necks and running towards each other