Justin Lee Collins has made his name as one-half of an unlikely "double act" with stand-up Alan Carr, co-presenting The Friday Night Project for Channel 4.
The West Country ex-DJ polarizes popular opinion with his brand of loud, cheeky and overly-enthusiastic riffs, but at least gives audiences 110% commitment and passion.
Justin recently started branching out into guerrilla-style light-entertainment "missions" in the Bring Back... series – which has him persuading television has-beens into attending a reunion with their old co-stars, usually with mixed results.
In three-part series The Convention Crasher, the excitable man-bear gets to show more facets of his personality and demonstrate unexpected talents. The first episode found Justin musing on his love of magic as a child, particular husband wife act The Pendragons, with their "Metamorphoses" illusion: y'know, the one where the assistant is locked in a trunk, but instantaneously swaps places with the magician standing on top.
Justin's mission is to create his own 10-minute magic act and perform it in Canton, Ohio, where magic convention/competition "Battle Of The Magicians" is being held.
He has 4 weeks to learn the trade, so spends most of the time travelling around the UK talking with various magicians and buying tricks. Scott Penrose at the Magic Circle rubbishes Justin's dream of doing big illusions before he's mastered simple card/coin tricks, then spends over £200 at magic shop "Alakazam" and feels ripped-off with the underwhelming assortment of kid's part tricks.
With his confidence knocked, Justin goes to see escapologist Jonathan Goodwin, who knows the secret of the Pendragons' "Metamorphoses". Justin is determined to learn its secret, but suddenly remembers he's claustrophobic and can't handle being locked inside a trunk.
It's already 10 days till the competition in America, although the film doesn't really explain where the other 3 weeks went! Things are getting desperate now, so Justin goes to see Richard Cadell – a magician now employed at a theme park, who took over as Sooty's puppeteer from Matthew Corbett.
Richard is more positive and takes Justin into his magic workshop behind the Ghost Train, and agrees to reveal big secrets to Justin (including how "Metamorphoses" works), if he swears to keep take them to his grave.
Armed with a working knowledge of how some big tricks work, Justin is partnered with sexy assistant Zara and thinks up a fitting stage name: Justin Illusion (geddit?) Unfortunately, the next stumbling block for Justin is how clumsy, awkward and unbalanced he is – not good traits for a magician.
Having chosen a suitably cheesy black, flaming leotard cape combo as a costume, Justin is on his way to Ohio. The hotel where the "Battle Of The Magicians" is being held turns out to be filled with old conjurors, not young illusionists. Hey, maybe Justin stands a chance? Amusingly, every magician treated their room as an open "shop", with fellow performers wandering around and making purchases.
After reconstructing his props in his hotel room one night, Justin begins to mingle and attend some pre-competition demonstrations. Las Vegas showman Fielding West impresses with his revealing of how doves can be magically produced from handkerchiefs. Fred Haden seems to specialize in elastic band tricks, and has spent 55 years in the business but never competed before. His fanatical love of magic seems to have led to two divorces. Well, that's one way to make half your possessions disappear!
The competition is drawing nearer, so Justin and Zara/Panache practice on-stage, before being kicked out into the car park. The next day, the fun begins. 700 magicians make up the audience, and Justin suddenly realizes that he stands little chance of impressing anyone, as most people in the audience know how everything works. Success will depend on efficiency and showmanship.
The actual competition doesn't look that impressive, with the handful of performances we glimpsed looking quite old-fashioned. Only The Great Kaplan seemed to have an interesting, unique act. Haden The Magician (well, at least Justin's got a decent name) is sadly disqualified because his act overran by over a minute. Oh well -- that helps Justin!
Finally... it's time. But then, a last-minute problem – Justin hasn't primed his pyrotechnics! After a few seconds delay, everything's ready. It's time... for Justin Illusion!
Bounding onto the stage with ridiculous bravado and enthusiasm, Justin's act seems to go quite well. He has a knife trick (where it looks like he's cutting through his own forearm) which gets a big reaction. It's definitely a more shocking, modern trick than the floating wands and disappearing rabbits the audience have probably been swamped with!
The Shadow Box illusion is next, with Panache appearing inside a box covered in thin rubber, which stretches creepily – remember the bedroom-ceiling scene in Nightmare On Elm Street? It's like that. It looks pretty good, but the audience are less impressed.
And as a climax: "Metamorphoses". Panache is handcuffed, put inside a sack, and locked inside a trunk. Justin stands on top, holds up a sheet, and (after a count of 3), the sheet is thrown into the air... and comes down to reveal Panache atop the trunk, and Justin now locked up inside! Hey! It worked! To be picky, it was a bit slow compared to experts like the Pendragons, but... he did it! The audience seem quite happy, anyway. Irritatingly, the last visual punch of a handheld explosion goes wrong, but it didn't detract too much from things.
Voting time. Quite bizarrely, you can vote for yourself – so Justin does. And probably all the production team. A little later, the results are in: first place goes to The Great Kaplan (predictably), second place goes to Big Daddy Cool, and third place goes to... Justin Illusion! Who would have believed it?!
Now victorious, Justin returns to the UK and performs a celebratory performance at a theme park, where an audience of real people (not magic professionals) are far more vocal and receptive to his act.
Overall, this first episode of Convention Crasher was good fun. Like all light-hearted "documentaries", I was suspicious of a few elements – such as the likelihood of Justin buying obvious pap at a magic shop, or "suddenly remembering" he suffers from claustrophobia. The magical guests were also a bit weak – both the UK "mentors" and US talking heads, with neither offering much insight into magic or the art of performing.
But it was enjoyable throughout, even if there was no element of "crashing" (he was invited), and the magic venue was probably chosen so Justin stood a chance against old fogies with coins, cards and elastic bands. For an amateur with 4 week's experience, he beat them with bravado and expensive kit (hey, it's £40 for a "magnet-ring", you have to wonder how much a magic trunk costs. Not cheap, I expect!)
However, I can accept the attempts to squeeze more entertainment and mileage from the concept, and thought Justin Lee Collins came across very well – managing to lose the mildly desperate tone that comes through on Friday Night Project.
He looked genuinely interested, nervous, and excited by the whole process... and his transformation from bearded show-off to leotarded show-off was an enjoyable hour's diversion.
17 January 2008
Channel 4, 10.00 pm
The West Country ex-DJ polarizes popular opinion with his brand of loud, cheeky and overly-enthusiastic riffs, but at least gives audiences 110% commitment and passion.
Justin recently started branching out into guerrilla-style light-entertainment "missions" in the Bring Back... series – which has him persuading television has-beens into attending a reunion with their old co-stars, usually with mixed results.
In three-part series The Convention Crasher, the excitable man-bear gets to show more facets of his personality and demonstrate unexpected talents. The first episode found Justin musing on his love of magic as a child, particular husband wife act The Pendragons, with their "Metamorphoses" illusion: y'know, the one where the assistant is locked in a trunk, but instantaneously swaps places with the magician standing on top.
Justin's mission is to create his own 10-minute magic act and perform it in Canton, Ohio, where magic convention/competition "Battle Of The Magicians" is being held.
He has 4 weeks to learn the trade, so spends most of the time travelling around the UK talking with various magicians and buying tricks. Scott Penrose at the Magic Circle rubbishes Justin's dream of doing big illusions before he's mastered simple card/coin tricks, then spends over £200 at magic shop "Alakazam" and feels ripped-off with the underwhelming assortment of kid's part tricks.
With his confidence knocked, Justin goes to see escapologist Jonathan Goodwin, who knows the secret of the Pendragons' "Metamorphoses". Justin is determined to learn its secret, but suddenly remembers he's claustrophobic and can't handle being locked inside a trunk.
It's already 10 days till the competition in America, although the film doesn't really explain where the other 3 weeks went! Things are getting desperate now, so Justin goes to see Richard Cadell – a magician now employed at a theme park, who took over as Sooty's puppeteer from Matthew Corbett.
Richard is more positive and takes Justin into his magic workshop behind the Ghost Train, and agrees to reveal big secrets to Justin (including how "Metamorphoses" works), if he swears to keep take them to his grave.
Armed with a working knowledge of how some big tricks work, Justin is partnered with sexy assistant Zara and thinks up a fitting stage name: Justin Illusion (geddit?) Unfortunately, the next stumbling block for Justin is how clumsy, awkward and unbalanced he is – not good traits for a magician.
Having chosen a suitably cheesy black, flaming leotard cape combo as a costume, Justin is on his way to Ohio. The hotel where the "Battle Of The Magicians" is being held turns out to be filled with old conjurors, not young illusionists. Hey, maybe Justin stands a chance? Amusingly, every magician treated their room as an open "shop", with fellow performers wandering around and making purchases.
After reconstructing his props in his hotel room one night, Justin begins to mingle and attend some pre-competition demonstrations. Las Vegas showman Fielding West impresses with his revealing of how doves can be magically produced from handkerchiefs. Fred Haden seems to specialize in elastic band tricks, and has spent 55 years in the business but never competed before. His fanatical love of magic seems to have led to two divorces. Well, that's one way to make half your possessions disappear!
The competition is drawing nearer, so Justin and Zara/Panache practice on-stage, before being kicked out into the car park. The next day, the fun begins. 700 magicians make up the audience, and Justin suddenly realizes that he stands little chance of impressing anyone, as most people in the audience know how everything works. Success will depend on efficiency and showmanship.
The actual competition doesn't look that impressive, with the handful of performances we glimpsed looking quite old-fashioned. Only The Great Kaplan seemed to have an interesting, unique act. Haden The Magician (well, at least Justin's got a decent name) is sadly disqualified because his act overran by over a minute. Oh well -- that helps Justin!
Finally... it's time. But then, a last-minute problem – Justin hasn't primed his pyrotechnics! After a few seconds delay, everything's ready. It's time... for Justin Illusion!
Bounding onto the stage with ridiculous bravado and enthusiasm, Justin's act seems to go quite well. He has a knife trick (where it looks like he's cutting through his own forearm) which gets a big reaction. It's definitely a more shocking, modern trick than the floating wands and disappearing rabbits the audience have probably been swamped with!
The Shadow Box illusion is next, with Panache appearing inside a box covered in thin rubber, which stretches creepily – remember the bedroom-ceiling scene in Nightmare On Elm Street? It's like that. It looks pretty good, but the audience are less impressed.
And as a climax: "Metamorphoses". Panache is handcuffed, put inside a sack, and locked inside a trunk. Justin stands on top, holds up a sheet, and (after a count of 3), the sheet is thrown into the air... and comes down to reveal Panache atop the trunk, and Justin now locked up inside! Hey! It worked! To be picky, it was a bit slow compared to experts like the Pendragons, but... he did it! The audience seem quite happy, anyway. Irritatingly, the last visual punch of a handheld explosion goes wrong, but it didn't detract too much from things.
Voting time. Quite bizarrely, you can vote for yourself – so Justin does. And probably all the production team. A little later, the results are in: first place goes to The Great Kaplan (predictably), second place goes to Big Daddy Cool, and third place goes to... Justin Illusion! Who would have believed it?!
Now victorious, Justin returns to the UK and performs a celebratory performance at a theme park, where an audience of real people (not magic professionals) are far more vocal and receptive to his act.
Overall, this first episode of Convention Crasher was good fun. Like all light-hearted "documentaries", I was suspicious of a few elements – such as the likelihood of Justin buying obvious pap at a magic shop, or "suddenly remembering" he suffers from claustrophobia. The magical guests were also a bit weak – both the UK "mentors" and US talking heads, with neither offering much insight into magic or the art of performing.
But it was enjoyable throughout, even if there was no element of "crashing" (he was invited), and the magic venue was probably chosen so Justin stood a chance against old fogies with coins, cards and elastic bands. For an amateur with 4 week's experience, he beat them with bravado and expensive kit (hey, it's £40 for a "magnet-ring", you have to wonder how much a magic trunk costs. Not cheap, I expect!)
However, I can accept the attempts to squeeze more entertainment and mileage from the concept, and thought Justin Lee Collins came across very well – managing to lose the mildly desperate tone that comes through on Friday Night Project.
He looked genuinely interested, nervous, and excited by the whole process... and his transformation from bearded show-off to leotarded show-off was an enjoyable hour's diversion.
17 January 2008
Channel 4, 10.00 pm
