Here’s a clip (the native American dancers). The person I’m talking about says, “They were supposed to have something choreographed.”
Edit: I set the time to start when they show him or her backstage.
Maybe It was pressed up tightly against the top of the envelope somehow, and then loosened up after the envelope was sealed.
You might notice he cut the envelope open with scissors. There’s a reason for it.
That’s all fine and well. I understand what a forced choice is and I fully realize that the page 60 was probably pre-chosen by Collins. However…
He showed the judges the empty envelope before the trick began (from the camera angle, it seemed to me to be empty as well).
He gave the envelope to Heidi before bringing the book out. If page 60 was already torn out and in the envelope under Heidi, then he should not have been able to show it to us.
Immediately after Heidi and Mel read the page number/word, Collins hands the book to Howard.
If the page 60 that Mel and Heidi read from was a plant (i.e. the real page was already torn off and under Heidi) then what did Mel and Heidi read from?
Zev Steinhardt
Yes, that’s her. Lots of wild eye make up. I didn’t specifically remember the outfit, just that it was vivid. A deepish voice. I think it’s a woman, but I had the same first reaction.
If it was flat inside, then it should have been seen when the judges inspected. I’m sure he did something between their looking in and pulling it out. I could see rigging the envelope, but he left it for their inspection, so I don’t think it’s a rigged envelope.
Are you suggesting he smuggled it rolled up in his hand or behind the blade? I suppose if the paper is thin enough (it seemed pretty thin) and the roll not too tight, he could do that without curling the paper with permanent bend.
I did check and the end he cuts is the end he sealed, the one that was open at the beginning.
I point out again, hints 1, 2, and 4. And it was page 50, not that it matters.
Not at all. But there’s a reason he didn’t just tear it open, or pull open the licked seal he created at the beginning, or just allow Heidi to open it. He had to make sure it was opened in a particular manner.
Consider the possibility that the envelope has two pockets. one sealed, only accessible when cut open.
And yeah, “Kennedy Davenport” is no woman… I won’t explain how that trick is done. 
The singing guy at the end was clearly, far and away, without question, the most talented person on that stage tonight. The other acts were just not in the same ballpark. Not that some of them weren’t entertaining though. I expect more nights like this because of some of the lame acts they’ve passed through. I’ll give the magician some credit, for a 17 year old magician he’s doing really well. I seriously hope I never see the world’s worst escape artist ever again.
Anybody else sick of all the attention being given to the venue? Yeah, it’s Radio City Music Hall. You only told us that about 600 times.
Guess what? It’s a theater! The show is supposed to be about the acts.
Though the talent looked mighty slim. There were a couple of acts I enjoyed without thinking they deserved to win (the hand balancers, the comedians, the Hype dance crew) and one that seemed really talented (the last singer) and all the rest were mediocre to worse. 
On the West Coast Fresh Faces just finished. I’m feeling like DMark, so far everything sucks.
Well, the first act was OK. But the rock band sucked. Tellavision was OK, but the dancers were a little out of synch with the images and the lights should have been a little bit dimmer. Special Head sucked and Fresh Faces sucked.
The Kristef brothers just performed. Wow, now that was good. I’m definitely voting for them.
Wow, really lackluster, even from acts I liked in the past. That poor little girl really flubbed her song, which is a shame because she’s super-talented. I hope her past performance helps her get some votes. Same with Special Head. He’s apparently a one-trick-pony, and he managed to mess that trick up this time. But so help me, I love him, and I voted for him anyway. I want to see him come back with something new. Hype disappointed with the useless fountain (one of them even slipped in the water, I think), and “KDJ” relied too much on his “wacky character” and had not much material.
I agree, tellAvision was cool, but out of sync. They really need more practice, I think. Collins Key’s trick was amazing as usual, but his stage presence is annoying. The Kristef brothers were funny and impressive, but I think their shtick is getting old for me. I keep thinking that they might really be Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller in disguise and that the whole thing is a big Andy Kaufman-style gag. The singer at the end has pipes for sure, but I get bored quickly listening to him.
Then the rest was absolute tripe. The mediocre cover band, obnoxiously cute little girl dancers doing spastic contortions, the CMV metal kids who should have been sent home politely the first time around, Houdini’s mom with her husband over-explaining everything… they can’t get cut soon enough for me.
That would be the “rigged envelope” I mentioned. Possible, but he left the envelope for them to examine afterwards.
With regards to last night,
I wasn’t as happy with Anna Christine’s performance (the first girl). Some of it was song choice and song style, but it just didn’t have the same connection. But I want to root for her a bit longer.
Fresh faces, I agree with the assessment - cute kids doing a cute dance recital, but not star quality.
American Hitmen - their performance was a bit better this time IMO, but I still feel they’re basically a garage band.
Special Head - no longer special, too much head. I don’t like his schtick to begin with, and he only gets the one surprise, after that, his chanting and such is just annnoying. He’s a stage magician with an annoying schtick and a limited repertoire. And apparently messed up, too. The levitating on the giant pyramid, yawn, the disappearance in the cloud of smoke, okay, but then miscued/mistimed and was visible sinking below the screen. Which he tried to lamely cover in his explanation. Appearing on top of the sign outside, which we get because… it’s on the video screen. Hmmph.
And then there’s the inspirational story about him and his life that I don’t believe a word of. When we see the story of a singer talk about his life and inspirations, or a pole climber, or whatever, we can think they’re probably telling the truth of their experience. When I see a stage magician talking, I think “I wonder if this is just more of his schtick?”
Alexanderia the Great - she seems to be of the impression that we all know she’s just going to use tricks, hidden lock picks, etc to get out so there isn’t any point in hiding it, the drama comes from being under water for however long. I don’t agree. Sure, we know that, but keeping her progress hidden keeps us in suspense. Watching her progress lets us know that she’s on track. Like seeing just how quickly she wiggled out of the chain with all the locks demonstrates how pointless that part of her act is. Narrating the progress and exactly how she’s “cheating” - yeah, that really* helps*.
Kevin Downey Jr (comedian), was hit and miss. I laughed at some of his jokes, was a bit irked by the rape humor. But I didn’t care for his “character” - does anybody else see the similarity to Bobcat Goldthwait?
Aaralyn and Izzy - I agree with the mean old Howard, there was the surprise on the first time out, but the singing is about what you expect from a 6 year old (i.e. crap) and the song is junk. “Stepping in Dog Poop” - I can see why this appeals to a 6 year old, but no thanks.
TellAvision - it was arty, but I liked the overall flow. There was a little off-synch on some of the cues to the screens, so they definitely need more practice. I wasn’t as put off with the dance not being that agressive, they are not necessarily about hard core dance, rather the visual presentation as a whole. But could use work.
Hype was a little over hyped. I pretty much agree with the judges. They didn’t really go anywhere or do anything with the dance, they claimed they’d step it up but haven’t. Time to practice should have upped their game, not left it at the same level or even sunk a bit. The fountain wasn’t used for any decent effect, the overheads didn’t do anything to improve the show.
Collins Key - very good magician. I mean, that’s a standard trick that I think I understand, but he’s got a good stage presence and is likable, and I did not see the move. I think I know where it had to be, but I didn’t see the motion. Nicely done. To become a million dollar act, he’ll have to demonstrate the ability to do something creative and new with his tricks, but he’s certainly skilled and entertaining.’
The KriStef Brothers - I loved their act. It was so incredibly over the top gay it was hilarious. The outfits, the prancing, the parody of figure skating. And then the hand balancing was impressive. Standing on the guy’s head, handstanding on the guy’s head. I loved it.
The final singer Branden James has a very good classical voice. I’m not intrigued by that music (either the opera or what he did last night), but he has talent.
My rankings
1 KriStef Brothers
2 Collins Key
3 Branden James
I’m a little uncertain on fourth slot. Of those performances, I probably enjoyed Kevin Downey Jr the best, but I did like the overall performance of tellAvision, and I kinda want to root for Anna Christine based on her audition.
We’ll see what America says.
Out of the 10 votes I had, I gave the Kristef brothers and singer Branden James 3 votes each. They were head and shoulders above everyone else.
I gave 2 votes to Anna Christine. I admit I didn’t pay too close attention and missed her flub, which she herself admitted to. But what I did hear, I liked. And I gave 2 points to Tellavision. I want to give them one more chance to practice and improve their timing. Collins Key was pretty good, although just now I realized how he probably did his trick.
And poor Howard, trying to get Heidi’s opinion only to have her go into automatic, “It’s up to America to decide,” mode. Howard asking what the hell that meant and reminding her that they’re judges was refreshing. Howie’s just as bad as Heidi.
I notice they use the, “It’s up to America,” mostly when they don’t like an act, but for whatever reason don’t want to admit it.
Not sure, but I think he left the book with Howie also. But he’d be counting on them being pros and not revealing the secret after it’s done. As it is their feigned amazement at simple tricks is getting on my nerves. And if it’s real amazement they are as dumb as posts.
I called the first three acts going home, and I almost called the second three, but I didn’t think they would do it twice. Well, color me surprised.
I am so glad Anna Christine got voted through. I’m a little surprised that the judges were split.
Too bad about Tellavision, but they were out of synch. They seem like a combo of Lightwire Theater or Fighting Gravity, and Silhouettes.
But it’s ICONIC!!! Is it product placement? It got intrusive quickly.
I liked the Kristef Brothers more this week than in previous weeks. I like that they’re poking fun but also have the skills to back it up. Some of those moves were really impressive.
I like how mater-of-fact Howard Stern is. More often than not I agree with him.
I found Branden James’ song choice oddly unsettling.
So was Howie, apparently. “This is UNPRECEDENTED!” Yeah, it’s unprecedented that the producers would put the results in such a “shocking” order. :rolleyes:
Sad to see Special Head go, but otherwise I can’t really argue with the choices. I really never need to see Branden James sing again, but I knew he’d get votes from people who like Josh Groban and the like, so it wasn’t a big surprise. What was a surprise was a) the American Hitmen getting as high as 5th place and b) two of the judges agreeing that they were any good.
One more comment I had about Special Head: when he originally walked out in the auditions with his cane, I couldn’t help getting a “The Prestige” vibe off him. In that movie, fairly early on, the characters go see an old hobbled Chinese magician perform to learn an important lesson. Mild spoiler for the movie:
The old man is not weak and hobbled, but pretends to be so, to mask how he performs his magic feats. His trick involves holding a huge bowl of water between his knees under his robes to move fish around, but that requires moving slow and cumbersome, so he pretents he old and feeble to appear slow and cumbersome at all times.
When I saw Special Head with his walking stick and his slow deliberate walk, it really clicked.
Yes, sure it’s famous, but does it really have any filter on the kinds of shows that perform there, like the reputation of Carnegie Hall?
So I watched the show, kinda fastforwarded through the song. When they got to the first set, I was thinking “Out of those three, I guess I’d keep Kevin Downey Jr.”, only to have them pull the surprise “nobody” make it through. Wait, they can do that? I mean, the order of showing them to use for the eliminations is totally under the control of the show, they didn’t show them in America’s voting order or in order of performance. So it’s silly they made a group of all eliminations.
So then they list the second group, and I figure it will be the same thing. I mean, there was an outside chance on Hype, but I figured they would do the same gimmick. Yep.
So that brought out the third group with tellAvision, Collin’s Key, and the KriStef Brothers, and then I knew they had to keep 2, because if they only kept 1 there wouldn’t be any drama for the last group. So there was little tension in that set.
Setting up the last group with Branden James, Anna Christine, and the American Hitmen. And I pretty much called the results on that, but they threw in a different twist by leaving the last save down to the Judges panel. “Wait, they can do that?” Okay, I guess it makes sense: you still have judges, you gotta let them do something, right? So give the last call to them.
And then they split the decision 2:2. Who didn’t see that coming? And so then Nick says “I guess the tiebreaker will be what America voted”, like he was making it up on the spot. Really? That so felt like a set up to me.
By the way, I really don’t want Nick’s job. He has to be nice to all the acts, and play good cop after the judges axe somebody. “I thought you were really good.” Even the sucky acts.
So we saw a clip of the judges summarizing the acts the night before, it appears I matched Howard Stern pretty closely. Maybe some variance on the sequencing of the top 3, but agreed on who they were and on Anna Christine over the American Hitmen.
I didn’t notice any particular flub, and Howard was right to instruct her not to call attention to it herself. She’s young and could use some coaching. My lack of enthusiasm was more just the overall performance didn’t hit me the way her audition did, possibly because of song choice. But I’m glad she made it through, and hope she rebounds.
Well, yeah. They don’t have to be the bad guy, like Howard does. I tend to agree with his positions on the contestants. He was right about Fresh Faces and about Aaralyn and Izzy. He was even right about Hype. I disagreed a little over TellAvision, but with only 4 slots they weren’t quite up to par.
Well, a good magician doesn’t want to reveal how the trick was done, so you don’t leave props that can tell the secret for your audience to examine. Keep them amazed and that keeps them excited for the next performance. Tell them the secret, and they might be less impressed the next time.
It’s kinda the mindset behind the old magician’s admonition to never reveal the trick. The reason is that there’s a certain sense of amazement and wonder than comes from not being able to understand how it could be possible. Telling everyone how it’s done ruins the ability to recreate that wonder. For skilled magicians, that can be supplanted by an appreciation for the artform, for a skilled magician and his execution, but it’s a different feeling. Learning the secrets without an appreciation for the skill it takes to execute the trick convincingly and smoothly can foster a less-appreciative audience.
So I wouldn’t expect him to leave a prop that can be figured out. Leave them an envelope that looks like a normal envelope, not an envelope that with a moment’s quick inspection reveals it is two envelopes glued together. There’s nothing special about the book that will reveal the trick, nor probably the torn out page. Leave those, and it’s just a book with a page that is clearly the page from that book. The secret of the page number is not left behind. I presume he protects the secret of the page in the envelope as well. I would.
Eh, not everybody is as interested in learning how those tricks are done, or follows magic that closely. They seem thoroughly amazed by acts of “talent” that your average garage band or church chior perform. Maybe they need to get out more.
Yeah, stupid. What’s unprecedented, that they’d eliminate 3 out of 12 acts? Reveal order is totally controlled by the show, so the only shocking thing is that the producer’s decided to fabricate some drama. Wait, that’s not shocking at all.
That performance was better than their previous two, mostly by virtue of being supported by a high-dollar sound system and tech crew. They didn’t sound like a garage band. I thought their song choice was okay, I thought they were their best, I just don’t agree they’re on a par with Anna Christine’s audition or Collin’s Key’s acts, etc. But they are certainly better than Aaralyn and Izzy.