(explosion noise)
- [Dean] Illusion, the art of tricking the brain,
distorting the senses, challenging perception.
You can't trust what you see, even with your own eyes.
Meet the masters of illusion.
(audience cheering)
- Hello everyone, I'm Dean Cain.
Welcome to "Masters of Illusion".
What is real and what is not?
That is a question you may be asking yourself
a lot over the next half hour.
But that's the beauty of magic performed by masters.
Will you be entertained?
Yes, that answer is easy, of course you will.
And-
- Hey Dean, look at what I got here!
- And look what's happening, Mr Ed Alonzo, everyone.
(Ed laughs) (crowd cheering)
- [Dean] What the...
- This is the plastic blade through head illusion.
- Ah, yes.
- Go ahead and get in.
- Me, uh, no, I don't, I don't understand what-
- Let me show you, it's easy.
All you have to do is you get down here
and your head goes through.
These are the head stocks.
- Right...
- The headstock.
Oh yes!
- All right, what does this thing...
- Oh that's so nice.
- This thing here what does it-
- Oh, don't touch that.
- Oh!
(audience laughs)
Uh, oops.
- I'm okay, Dean.
- Oh!
- I'm okay, I'll just get out of your way.
- Okay, oh, he's fine.
He's fine. (laughs)
Ladies and gentlemen, Ed Alonzo.
(audience cheers)
He's seriously, he's alive.
Yeah, he's definitely okay.
(audience claps)
Most magicians are very guarded
with the secrets behind their illusions.
This performer literally keeps them locked up.
Here's Andi Gladwin.
(audience cheers)
- I have three people from the audience here
to help me with this trick.
It is a trick where I have managed to slight of hand proof,
a deck of cards.
I have put a padlock through the deck this way.
There is nothing I can do
with slight of hand for this trick.
So I'm kind of locked in.
We're gonna have all three of you pick cards from this deck.
So let's start with you.
I will riffle through the cards like this
and you just have to say stop wherever you like.
Just say stop whenever.
- Stop.
- Here, remember the card?
- Mm-hmm.
- Okay, and you're gonna pick one, too.
Just say stop whenever you like.
- Stop.
- Here?
This is your card, you remember your card?
And then finally one for you.
I'll go through just say stop whenever you-
- Stop. - Here?
Okay, you remember your card? - Yep.
- So we have three cards selected from a deck
I cannot manipulate.
So because I can't do slight of hand,
instead I'm gonna do slight of mind.
I want you all to think of your cards,
and I'm gonna try and read your minds
and work out what cards you are thinking of.
So, let's see.
It's hard with three cards
but I think yours was a black card.
Yours was a red card.
Yours was a black card as well.
Yours was a, yours was a spade.
Actually, yours was a spade as well.
Yours was a diamond.
Two of spades.
Five of spades, seven of diamonds.
Did I get your cards right?
- Yeah.
- Fantastic.
(audience cheers)
It's a start.
Thank you, (indistinct) it's a start.
You picked the two spades, five of spades,
seven of diamonds.
Well, this has three digits on it.
Two, five, seven.
I want you to see if I do any other digit here,
it doesn't unlock the padlock.
If we do 888, it doesn't unlock.
Any combination the padlock doesn't unlock.
But if we do your exact combination of random choices,
two, five, seven, is the only combination
that unlocks the padlock.
(audience cheers and claps)
But look, even though the deck is unlocked
I don't wanna do any slight of hand.
I will be as fair as I can.
I'd like all three of you to take out your cards.
Two of spades, five of spades, seven of diamonds,
take out your cards.
Whoever gets their card quickest, wins.
Go for it.
(audience laughs)
Seven of hearts.
Nope, um, nope.
Turns out those cards have gone.
(audience laughs)
Those cards are no longer in the deck
even though I wasn't able to do any slight of hand.
But you remember I said that I wrote the combination down
and I put it in my wallet in case I forget it.
Here's good news.
I have my wallet in my pocket and inside
is not just the combination,
but three playing cards.
And they are your two of spades,
your five of spades and your seven of diamonds.
(upbeat dance music) (audience clapping)
- It's time now for an illusionist who has me in awe
each time he comes to the stage.
It's none other than Shaun Jay.
(audience cheers) (rock music)
- Thank you, thank you so much, guys.
I'm happy to be here.
We're gonna have some fun with my lovely volunteer
from the audience.
What's your name?
- Susan.
Do you happen to have a, you do,
do you happen to have a ring I can borrow?
Okay, can you go ahead and take that ring off?
Thank you so much.
With your ring, I brought this with me.
This is just a simple stick.
It's a wooden dowel, nothing super special.
Just painted a color.
Now I want you to examine the stick.
I examine your ring.
Looks good to me.
Thank you very much.
I'm gonna give you the magic stick
and you're gonna hold on to one side with your right hand
and one side with your left hand.
You got it?
- So, like this?
- Yes, just like that and watch this.
Now, how long have you had this ring for?
Two years?
- Mm, yeah, two years.
- Okay, and this is a special ring to you?
- Yeah, so much.
- So I better not screw this up.
Okay, there's a lot riding on this.
(audience laughs)
I think you have the type of personality
to pass through challenges and obstacles in life.
And that's proof, right there while you're holding
onto that ring.
(audience claps)
Let go with your right hand only.
Good, I'll take the ring.
Stay right there.
Here we go.
(blows loudly)
Little static, little magic.
I want you to wave the magic stick over my hand.
Go ahead, wave it over my hand.
Relax, this way.
Simple and easy, there you go.
Enjoy, enjoy. (audience laughs)
Now, stop.
I take this.
You're doing great.
Now can you hold out both of your hands for me?
I'm going to give you a gift.
Okay?
- Yeah.
- Let me give you the gift of astonishment.
Watch, ready?
Set.
- Oh, great, where is it?
(audience claps)
- You want your ring back?
- Yes.
- Can you hold out your hand just like this
and just go like this for me?
On me actually.
It's my favorite part of the performance.
Yes, thank you.
Right here.
You feel something?
- Yeah.
- That's my heart beating a million times a minute
because I'm freaking out 'cause I'm not sure
where your ring is, but if you just press.
Feel something a little different?
- Yeah.
- Feels like an extra button or something
that's not supposed to be there.
Okay, remove your hand.
Watch this, my hands are absolutely empty.
I want you to see this up close.
I carry around something very lucky.
It's my lucky piece of jewelry,
kind of like your ring is.
And on my lucky necklace
(Susan laughs)
- Oh my God.
- I have a ring, but it's not just any ring.
Please be honest, is this...
- Yeah.
- Your exact ring you gave me just a moment ago?
- Yes.
(audience cheers) (dance music)
(explosion)
- [Dean] Pay close attention.
We would hate for you to miss this next illusion
from The Conjurors.
When we return.
(explosion)
(upbeat music)
- It's time to wander in the whimsical workings
of The Conjurors.
(upbeat dance music)
- Oh yes.
- (laughs) I've been so excited to perform here
on "Masters of Illusion".
And I've got a quick trick just for you.
- I cannot wait.
Brand new, not been done before.
What do I have to do?
- Matthew, you don't do anything.
You stand over there and I'll take it from here.
- (laughs) Bear with us.
Sorry, hang on.
Are you saying that for this trick I do nothing?
- Nothing.
- It's all you.
- That's right.
- Bit awkward.
I wait over there?
- Correct.
- Just on my own?
- Perfect.
(woman giggles)
So we have here two tubes and underneath this tube
is a very lovely fancy bottle of red wine.
So I'll pop the tube over the bottle of red,
just like so, and over here we have the same tube,
but something different is underneath here.
You see, this a lovely little glass.
The glass goes under the tube, just like so.
And the idea of the trick is that the glass
and the bottle of red are going to switch places.
- They won't.
- In three, two, one.
- Oh, unlucky!
Remember Pomeroy and Lamb, The Conjurors,
taught the world together.
- Oh!
- Oh, hello. - Matthew?
- Yep.
- Would you mind if I tried that again?
- On your own?
- Please.
- Without me?
I stand over there?
- Yeah.
(laughs) Two tubes and underneath this tube is...
(audience laughs)
A bottle of red wine.
(audience claps)
So we pop the tube over the bottle of red just like so
and let me double check this time that we still, yes,
we still really do have that glass.
So the glass goes underneath the tube just like so
and you know what's going to happen now
it's going to switch!
- Now what happened was, the first time was quite good.
I quite enjoyed how you brought the bottle back.
If, if you could do it again, cheering, clapping, whooping,
screaming, people going wild for you.
I'll wait over here.
- Two tubes underneath this tube, is...
- Go on, Tash.
(Matthew gasps)
- A bottle of red wine!
- Wow!
(audience cheers)
So we pop the tube over the bottle of red just like so
and over here let me double, triple check this time that we,
yes of course, we still really do have that glass.
Now I'll let you into a little secret.
This isn't exactly going to plan.
So, Matthew Pomeroy.
- Hi!
- Would you mind helping me out?
- Yeah, of course.
- Hold up.
- What's the matter?
- What's behind your back?
- Lovely screens, brilliant patterns.
- What's in your hand?
- (laughs) It's a bottle of wine.
Now I tell you what, you wouldn't let me join in.
I felt a little bit left out.
You let me down a little bit.
There were two of us, there are two tables, two tubes.
And I thought we could do it together.
But you are doing brilliantly.
You look lovely, your hair's beautiful.
So here's what I'll do.
I'll go over there.
I won't touch the tubes.
You're doing a great job.
- Thank you.
Tube goes over the bottle of red wine just like this.
Over here we have the glass, the tube goes over this glass
just like so.
Over here, of course we still have that bottle of red wine.
(audience laughs)
The tube goes over the bottle of red just like so.
You know that here we have the glass.
Here we have the bottle of red.
The glass, the bottle, the glass, the bottle.
And in three, two, one, they will switch places.
Master of Illusions, are you ready?
(audience cheers) - Yes!
- Here we go!
Three, two, one.
- Magic!
(audience cheers and claps)
(explosion)
- [Dean] Next up, the quick moves of Smoothini
when we return.
(upbeat dance music)
(explosion)
- Hilarious?
Yes.
Talented?
Of course.
Refined?
Mm, not quite.
Let's give it up for Smoothini.
(audience cheers) (upbeat music)
- What's going on, planet Earth?
Me growing up, learning magic,
I didn't have enough money for props,
so the easiest thing I could get my hands on besides cards,
was a piece of rope.
And you would think ropes are simple
but it could be complicated.
For example, if I had one rope it would have two ends,
one middle.
If I had two ropes we'll have four ends,
three ropes, six ends, whatever.
But if I had a rope and a half,
you catch yourself with a little bit of a predicament.
(audience claps)
Which is a little bit strange
when you notice that you have one middle with four ends.
(audience cheers and claps)
See, when you see the rope with two ends on that side
and two ends on that side, it makes a lot more sense
when the ends are separated,
making it two ropes.
(audience claps)
It gets better, girl, I've seen this before.
(audience laughs)
See if I have two ropes that are about the same size
and I tie them into loops,
I should logically have two loops
of about the exact same size.
Now this is a family show so I'm gonna reduce
a lot of my Las Vegas jokes at this moment.
(audience laughs)
So watch me as I hold my breath and I get censored.
(audience laughs)
One loop is bigger than the other.
Just me?
All right.
All right, well how about this?
When you combine both the loops
they look exactly the same size,
which is a lie. (audience claps)
See the thing is this.
Some people gonna tell you that all I do is I go back
in time, back with the rope, had a knot.
(audience claps)
You can applaud me as much as you want.
It's all good.
I can absorb all the love.
We're gonna do the drunk version, okay?
So you guys over here on this side, you watch the ends.
You guys over here in that side, you watch the middle.
You can watch whatever you want, girl.
(audience laughs)
You wanna take the ends over here from this side.
Of course it doesn't wanna work.
There we go and bam.
(audience claps)
Not one rope.
I really got two, not two ropes.
Really have one.
Now one rope.
I really only have a rope with no ends.
(audience cheers and claps)
How about we do this?
How about you all blow?
That doesn't do nothing with the trick.
I just wanna smell your breath.
See the ends?
You put the ends in my pocket.
Woo, and the middles in my hand.
Real quick, if somebody, any bro,
lets just say you over there,
just say a number really loud between one and five.
- Four.
- It's a recession, you get three.
(audience laughs)
Take that.
(audience claps)
(explosion)
- [Dean] Get ready for a grand illusion
like you've never seen before from Eric Buss,
when we return.
(upbeat music)
(explosion)
Let's give a warm welcome to a magician who not only
has mastered magic, but also carpentry?
Hm, you'll see.
Here's Eric Buss.
(audience cheers)
- Hey, thank you so much.
Cool, thank you very much.
Back in March, 2020, when the world shut down
we all had a lot of spare time.
I decided to build my son a tree house
and I love the process.
It was a lot more fun than I thought.
Now magic's back open, I'm very excited,
but I still keep thinking about tree houses,
it's a new passion.
So I thought today somebody would win a free tree house.
(audience cheers and claps)
Yes.
You, what is your name?
- Catherine.
- Catherine, you win a free tree house!
(audience laughs and claps)
- I didn't say it was a fair contest,
I just said somebody would win.
I chose Catherine.
Catherine, do you have kids by chance?
No, good.
You don't want kids in your tree house anyway.
Where do you live?
- Seattle.
Ooh, I live here in LA.
I might have to crash on your couch two, three weeks,
a month maximum, but we will have some fun.
Now Catherine, I built 30 tree houses.
I picked out six of my favorites.
This is the design we'll use for your tree house.
Katherine, pick a number between one and six.
- Five.
- Five, all right.
I'm not gonna show you the tree house
Catherine selected just yet.
I'm just gonna mark it like that.
First, we will see the tree houses
that Catherine did not select.
Oh, one of my favorites.
This was a good one.
There's a rock wall over here,
the slide here it was like this.
The kids just went bam.
(audience laughs)
Catherine, you did not pick that one, no slide for you.
Treehouse number two.
Ooh, another one of my favorites.
This was a huge rock wall.
It's like nine feet high, there's a little hole there
so the kids could crawl through.
You did not select this one.
No rock wall for you.
Number three.
Ooh, this was a really cool one.
This was a giant tree.
It's another rock wall there, there's hidden monkey bars.
This one came with a free tree.
Mm. (audience laughs)
You did not pick that one, no free tree for you.
Number four tree house.
Oh, this one was for toddlers.
You don't have toddlers, you don't want toddlers.
This one was tiny.
Yeah, you didn't pick that one.
No toddler house for you.
Number six tree house.
Ooh, another good one.
This one was huge.
I put some red curtains in there.
Classed up the joint a little bit.
Little rope climbing thing over here.
Some more hidden monkey bars.
This tree was huge.
You did not pick this one.
Sorry, Catherine.
Let's see the tree house that you did select.
(upbeat electronic music)
Okay, this was one of the earlier ones.
Now, not one of the better ones.
You picked the playhouse built out of popsicle sticks.
(audience laughs)
Yay.
(audience claps)
The bad news is it's built out Popsicle sticks.
The good news is it's already built..
What? (audience laughs)
(audience claps)
There you go, your very own playhouse
out of Popsicle sticks.
Thank you so much.
(audience cheers and claps) (upbeat music)
(explosion)
Well that's all the magic we have time for this time,
but there's plenty more next time.
We hope you'll join us again.
Until then, I'm Dean Cain.
See ya.
(audience cheers)
(upbeat music)