Phenomenon Episode One
Phenomon is NBC’s latest reality import to hit American television. It is based upon the Israeli show “The Successor” hosted by Uri Gellar, an X Factor style competition with mentalists competing to win. NBC’s version has ex-Blue Peter host Tim Vincent introducing the mentalist acts which are then critiqued by Mind Freaks Criss Angel and spoon bender Uri Gellar. Interestingly Criss is determined to expose as frauds any of the performers who claim their performance is really based upon psychic ability; one assumes Uri is strictly off limits.
In the first episode of the series, four of the contenders took to the stage to perform their acts: Ehud Segev, Jim Karol, Eran Raven and Gerry McCambridge. Along with the studio audience were three celebrities that would be used in the acts where required: Carmen Electra, Rachel Hunter and Ross Matthews.
First onto the stage was Ehud Segev who was runner up in the Israeli version of the show. Ehud claims that “his routines are unique because they have to do with spirituality and connections”. Is he claiming paranormal powers? If so the trick he chose to perform will surely “out” him. He used a variation of Banacheks Psychokinetic Touches, an effect I’ve always liked that has also appeared in Derren Brown’s shows in the past. The effect is that while Ehud claims to be touching Carmen, he is in fact touching himself, but Carmen feels the touches irrespectively. I must say that I felt that Ehud performed the trick very well, with Gellar seeming to believe the effect was paranormal. Criss brought us all back to earth mentioning that he knew the trick well due to Banachek being a consultant on Mind Freak.
Next up was Jim Karol. This was a very disappointing act, with Jim performing a stunt with hunting traps that wouldn’t even convince children’s party. It involved a lot of fooling around, shouting and grunting and finally trapping his hand in a clearly gimmicked hunting trap. The culmination of the trick being that he correctly determined that Rachel Hunter had written Jeff Goldblum on a piece of card. Terribly disjointed, and really quite pointless. The judges were remarkably restrained in their comments, but you could tell by the look on Criss’s face that he was far from impressed.
Third to take to the stage was Eran Raven who performed a pretty accomplished Russian Roulette style act using nail guns as the weapon of choice. The correct level of tension was maintained through the performance, and I think he did a great job.
Finally Gerry McCambridge began his very traditional phone book act. Now these sort of effects do seem a little old fashioned these days, particularly after following the excitement of Eran Ravens death defying stunt. That said the trick was performed effortlessly and I feel Criss was perhaps a little hard in his comments on the act.
Between the acts Uri Gellar did a viewer participation stunt that was so banal I’m not going to bother commenting further.
Judging by the first four acts, I would say Jim Carrol should be packing his top hat, as he will do well to survive into the next round. All in all I enjoyed the show and look forward to seeing the next episode next week.
Technorati: Magic banachek, carmen electra, criss angel, ehud segev, eran raven, gerry mccambridge, jim karol, phenomenon, rachel hunter, ross matthews, uri gellar