(explosion booms)
- 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.
(explosion booms)
(audience cheering and applauding)
Get ready for an incredible night of mystical wonder.
I'm Dean Cain and I am your host for "Masters of Illusion".
- [Lucy] Darling.
- You know, magic is- - Oh, no, no, no.
- Lucy. - Hi, how are you?
- Hello. - Do you miss me? Did you?
- I do miss you, but we're doing a show right now.
- No, no, you're gonna do this.
Okay, so, I heard that you are very easily influenced,
you're very susceptible to pickpocketing.
- No.
- Oh, no, you definitely are, but I can help you out.
I'm gonna show you a little trick, yes?
- Yes.
- Do you have some coins I can borrow?
- I have, yeah, I have some coins.
- Amazing, fantastic.
- Are you gonna steal my coins?
- That is the idea.
- That is the idea, okay. - Wonderful.
- There they are. - See, this is it.
Every time somebody asks you for something
you just give it to them. This is a fool's errand.
Can you hold your hand like a little scoop?
I'm gonna count these five coins into your hand
one at a time. - Okay.
- And when you get that last coin,
I want you to close your hand around it
and put it to your chest so I can't sneak it out.
- [Dean] Okay, good.
- One. - One.
- Two, three, four, five.
Whoa, that was pretty sneaky.
- Right? - Very slow that time.
That's why it was so easy to get that last coin.
Can you count those four onto my hand, darling?
One at a time.
- One, two, three, and four.
- Well, I barely gave you a chance. You know what?
We'll give you a chance this time.
(Dean laughs)
- This again?
- One, two, three, four, five.
Do you feel like you got it that time?
- I know I have it.
- You know you have it. - Yes.
- Then how come it's right here?
(audience gasps)
- [Dean] I did not put that there.
(Lucy laughs)
- Count those four coins into my hand.
- One, two, three, four, and now I'm going to jail.
- Yes.
Darling, if you want to know how to make them all vanish
I will tell you, but it is a private lesson,
so you'll have to find me later.
(audience gasps and applauds)
- Lucy Darling, everyone.
(audience cheers and applauds)
Prepare to have your minds blown
by a magician who has honed his skills
through years of dedication and hard work.
That's what it takes.
He's here to show you what real magic looks like.
Let's hear it for Alex Ramone.
(audience cheers and applauds) (upbeat music)
- That's our boy!
Come on, puppy boy, come on.
Come on puppy boy.
This is MJ, this is my cute blonde assistant.
He is actually, if I'm being honest,
I'm the assistant, he's the magician.
(audience laughs)
If I'm being perfectly honest.
And the question I'm asked all the time isn't,
"How is the magic done?"
The question I'm asked all the time is,
"How do you travel with MJ?"
Right? Well, the truth is, I carry him on.
(audience laughs)
In this.
I'll show you what I mean, all right?
♪ You've got me dancing like a fool ♪
♪ I like you, but hey, you're way too cool ♪
♪ You've got me dancing like a fool ♪ (audience laughs) ♪
♪ I like you, but hey, you're way too cool ♪
(audience claps to music)
(upbeat music continues)
(audience gasps)
(audience laughs)
(audience applauds)
(upbeat music continues)
(audience cheers)
(audience cheers and applauds)
- I cannot wait to present this illusionist
who always has me laughing
just as much as he has me utterly bewildered
at how he pulls off his magical feats.
Let's make some noise for Trino.
(audience cheers and applauds) (mellow music)
- Thank you so much.
Thank you so much, Dean.
This is the new Triple Trenty.
It has three ingredients.
Creamer, coffee and a whole lot of sugar.
It's $97 and guaranteed to keep you awake for four days.
(audience laughs)
Check this out.
(mellow music continues)
(audience applauds)
(audience cheers and applauds)
(explosion booms)
- Next, laughs and the unbelievable talent
of Maxence Vire when we return.
(upbeat music) (audience cheers and applauds)
(fire roars)
We have a performer who would like to take us
on little trip down memory lane.
So let's get a glimpse into the history
of magic with Maxence Vire.
(audience cheers and applauds) (upbeat music)
- Welcome back, here we are.
Tonight, I will show you the first trick I learned
when I was child.
(upbeat music)
Yes, and for that, I need a paper bag
and my magic wand.
(audience laughs)
Inside the paper bag, I put an object.
(glass clinks)
Try to guess what inside!
- [Audience Member] Glass bottle.
- Glass bottle, correct. Are you magician, too?
I saw.
This is a glass bottle.
Empty glass bottle, but it's glass bottle, yes?
And of course, the empty bag.
You want to check it? Check inside.
Ah! - [Audience Member] Ah!
- Oh no, it's not completely...
Oh, wait a second.
I have something on it.
Come on, baby.
You can come, come, come come. Aw, look.
(audience gasps and applauds)
Oh, this is Walter, my best friend.
It's a living plastic parakeet.
(audience laughs)
(laughs) Hello, Walter.
Coo-do, coo-do, coo-do, coo-do!
Could you catch Walter for me?
At three, okay, one, two, three, catch.
Too late, it's gone.
(audience gasps)
Oh, where's the cage? Where's the cage?
(audience laughs and applauds)
I'm going to show you.
Oh, it's the paper bag and the bottle.
So let me show you I can do that.
I will grab my bottle and I will put the bag,
and I got my magic wand.
And I say... (glass clinks)
You hear the bottle, yes?
And a one, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
(audience laughs)
And two!
La, la, la, la, la, la!
(audience laughs)
And a three, la, la, la, la, la, la!
And I pretend the bottle is gone.
It's gone.
You see it? It's gone.
(audience laughs)
And when I do that, it come back.
(audience laughs)
That's the trick.
Okay, I know what you're thinking.
You think I'm a conman.
Correct.
But what did you think about that?
(bottle clinks)
And a one! Blah, la, la, la, la, la, la!
(audience laughs)
Because now it is completely
(audience gasps)
glass of beer.
And of course, this is a transformation of the bottle.
(audience cheers and applauds)
And this is my first trick when I was child.
Cheers, everyone.
(audience cheers and applauds)
(fire roars)
- When we return, amazing is the only way
to describe Joshua Jay, next.
(upbeat music) (audience cheers and applauds)
(fire roars)
When it comes to the art of slight of hand
and fantastic storytelling,
few can match the skill of this performer.
He's a magician's magician, and he's here to show you why.
Without further ado, please give a round of applause
for Joshua Jay.
(upbeat music) (audience cheers and applauds)
- It's story time.
Your name is?
- Allura
- Allura, and you were told to bring a dollar bill.
Can I see it now?
Thank you.
Don't worry, you will get this dollar bill back.
It's not that kind of trick.
We just need a couple of things to make this work.
The first one is you get the pen,
and the next one is I need somebody
to tell me the exact time that it is right now.
- [Audience Member] 8:15.
- 8:15, so do me a favor,
I want you to put your initials here.
Just write it in that little white spot there on your bill.
And then here, there's some white spot there, put 8:15.
Excellent.
So, before we get to this story,
you can see her name
and you can see the time that this story takes place.
Now, you're gonna hold onto your bill,
but I'm gonna fold it in a very particular way
before you do.
Allura, hold out your left hand, palm down.
Yes.
I'm gonna have you hold onto your bill
and rest your fist right here, good.
Now, most stories come from books,
but this one comes from a different kind of book.
A book of matches.
It's very simple.
If you haven't heard it, it works like this.
There's a ship.
I'm pointing to a matchbook but the matchbook is now a ship.
And as sails, it stops along the way,
and they change out one of the floorboards for a new one.
And when they sail a little closer,
they change out three more floorboards.
And then they sail a little closer,
but this time they change out everything,
every mast, every sail, every ore, every floorboard,
every part of the ship is changed out
so that by the time the ship arrives, we ask this question,
and this is the question I'm gonna ask of you.
And there's no right answer.
The way you answer this question
just says a little bit about who you are.
Is the ship that lands the same ship,
or is it a totally different ship?
What do you think?
- I think it's probably a different ship by then.
- Me too. I happen to think it's a different ship.
And the reason I kind of think that way
is because every element of it is new,
even though it's the same ship that left, right?
- Right.
- And we could say the same thing about a matchbook.
This is still a matchbook.
But if I do this, is this a matchbook?
Maybe, maybe not.
I think it is because it still has that staple
and it still has the strike pad, right.
But if you were to take those off,
well, now I think we can agree
this is not a matchbook anymore.
- Right. - Yeah?
And the reason that I ask you all of this is quite simple.
I'm going to give you back your dollar bill in a second,
but I want to give you back the same bill,
and at the same time, a different bill.
And we do it like this.
Would you just choose one match,
any match with the other hand, and drop it inside the fist.
And in fact, take another one, drop it inside.
All the matches go inside.
Even the strike pad goes inside.
And now lift your hand up, place it on top of mine,
and turn over like this.
On the count of three, you're gonna open your fist.
One, two, three.
(audience gasps)
Now look at this.
Allura, this is the dollar bill you gave me
with your signature on it.
But now there's a strike pad on it,
there's a staple going all the way through.
And the next time you go to light a candle,
you will have a story to tell, a story that started at 8:15.
(audience gasps)
(audience cheers and applauds)
That's for you, thank you.
(fire roars)
- The impossible is easy
for the masterful manipulations of Noah Sonie.
(upbeat music) (audience cheers and applauds)
(fire roars)
It takes a special kind of talent
to make magic look effortless,
and our next performer has that talent in spades,
along with a bag of tricks that will blow your mind.
Ladies and gentlemen,
please welcome to the stage, Noah Sonie.
(upbeat music) (audience cheers and applauds)
- Tonight, I wanna show you all a miracle.
A miracle using a deck of cards, a wine glass,
and one person in this room.
What's your name?
- Maurice.
- Maurice, will you help me with this?
Maurice, in a deck of cards,
I'm sure you know that there's a hearts, clubs,
diamonds and spades.
In a second, I'm gonna snap my fingers.
When I do, name any suit that you want. Ready?
Now.
- Clubs.
- Are you sure?
I like the confidence.
So, you also know in a deck of cards
there's the ace, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,
nine, ten, jack, queen, and the king.
Just like before, I'll snap my fingers,
you get to choose whichever club you want.
Get creative, think outside of the box.
- Five.
- Five of clubs.
One last question, are you sure about that,
or do you wanna change?
- Keep it.
- You're gonna keep it.
This is what I think is so incredible.
This deck of cards has been sitting here the entire time.
The thing is, I had a feeling.
I had a feeling about somebody
that was gonna choose a card tonight,
and I think that person was you.
That's why before we started, before we did anything,
I took one card in the deck
and I turned it the opposite direction for you.
You said the five clubs,
and the card that I turned over was the ace of spades.
(audience laughs)
Not cool, man, not cool.
No, here's the thing, I didn't stop there though.
I had a feeling, I had a feeling about somebody
that was gonna name a card tonight,
and I'm pretty sure that person was you.
That's why I also turned over the ace of diamonds.
(audience laughs)
You look less impressed.
I didn't stop there though.
For you, I also made sure to get the ace of clubs
and I got the ace of hearts, all four aces.
And now you just look confused.
(audience laughs)
Here's the thing, here's the thing.
If I were sitting where you were sitting
I wouldn't really care
about what was on the front of these cards,
I'd be way more impressed
with what I wrote for you on the back.
The five of clubs.
(audience gasps)
Yes, yes! (audience cheers and applauds)
That's what I thought.
It's good, it's good.
It was good, it was good.
It was good.
I feel like I'm reassuring myself a little bit on that one,
'cause here's the thing, thank you.
- [Audience Member] Hey!
- Here's the thing.
I think it was good, but I know some people might be like,
well, I don't know if that was a miracle, right?
I don't know if it was a miracle.
So tell you what, let's try this.
Does anyone have like a bottle of water that we can use?
Hey, thank you, perfect.
You all right if I take this? Great.
If we really wanted to do a miracle,
I feel like it would look a little more like this.
Water, wine glass.
(audience gasps)
Oh!
(audience applauds)
Do you drink wine?
Take that.
Give it a sip. Can you smell it?
Smell it, does it smell like wine?
Give it a sip, go ahead.
Taste it.
Is that wine?
- It's wine.
- Thank you.
(audience cheers and applauds)
- We have a true daredevil in our midst.
Someone bound to take your breath away.
Ladies and gentlemen, Reza.
(audience cheers and applauds)
- Thank you very much.
I'm looking for the bravest dude here.
Who would like to join me on stage?
Let's get that guy right there.
Give him a round of applause.
(audience applauds)
What's your name?
- Nikita.
- Nikita, amazing, Nikita.
Follow me all the way around here.
And I want you to stick your head
straight through this hole, all the way through the hole.
Who wants to see Nikita do something dangerous?
Who wants to see that?
(audience cheers and applauds)
You guys are sick, but I like it.
(audience laughs)
Nikita, you are locked in place.
Also, we have this.
(audience gasps)
This is a razor-sharp circular saw blade,
inches now from Nikita's head.
I'm gonna try and get this blade through his neck
without severing his head off.
If it works, it'll be incredible.
It'll be amazing.
If it doesn't work,
we don't want his head bouncing out into the front row.
That would not be cool, so we have a bucket.
This is strictly precautionary.
Goes right there.
(audience laughs)
And if there's any blood, this should soak it up.
Nikita, do you have any last words?
- Is it too late to use a bathroom?
(audience laughs)
- Okay, I have a better place for this.
We'll just put it back there.
(audience groans)
Kids, do not try this at home.
Nikita, keep your head just like this
and legs spread for the bucket, that's fine.
(audience laughs)
Metal through flesh, whether it works or not.
(tense music)
(saw whirs)
(audience cheers and applauds)
You can pull your head out.
All the applause for you.
Come on forward.
(fire roars)
(upbeat music)
- Thank you for joining us tonight for a magical evening
on "Masters of Illusion" that we hope you won't soon forget.
Remember, keep believing in the impossible.
Until next time, I'm Dean Cain.
(audience cheers and applauds)