Season 1 – Wizard Wars

Audience Reviews

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08/25/2014 The new Wizard Wars on Syfy is one of the most interesting reality shows in many years. I'm not a Magic Groupie or, as one Magician called them"Wand Waxers", but I found the format and the performances fascinating. It is produced by Penn & Teller who are the greatest Magical Showmen of our times. OK if not the Best ? in the top Two. Two teams of amateur Magicians compete with each other by producing the best Performance and Trick as determined by a panel of Wizard Judges. That Team then competes against a team of two professional for the $10K prize. I think the real Prize is the marketing leverage that the win will give them in establishing their career. Under tight time constraints, they have to come up with tricks using three assigned objects which they must use. Some are ones that they would never think of incorporating into a Trick. A load of 5 lbs. of canned Spam ? is not the most optimum product for Magic. Or a Super Soaker Toy spray gun? And the Tricks, developed are amazing. One that even amazed Penn who exclaimed .. ?I never saw This one before!? No camera wizardry is used and the performances are in front of a live audience. I found the Judging as interesting as the Tricks. The panel judges total Performance and not just the Trick. How cohesive was the presentation, what was the chemistry between the two partners and how their command of the audience. It?s rated on its Totality as an Act. The Host, Ellen Fox, does a great job moving the show along. She is a self-declared Muggle, and is effectively the Ambassador between the Magicians and the audience. A three minute video is now on Youtube with her and Penn & Teller as they manipulate three cans of mints (Old shell game). She has to find the can with the mints and not select an empty one. So easy? how can she miss it ? but she never can find it, even when it's down to two cans. It is now impossible to see how she cannot point out the mint filled can. You and the audience see easily see which one it is. Absolutely clear. But ?. NO! Missed Again! Penn then reviews the trick to her and the audience AND why our senses are deceived. All the rest of the Magic shown is still under the Code of not revealing to the Muggles how the trick works. The downside is that there are only six episodes produced. With the first episode getting a rating of a million viewers with good demographics, it looks like this series could have legs. See more Read all reviews

Wizard Wars — Season 1

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