Magic on the radio. Let that sink in for a moment.
Magic is usually something one witnesses in person or through television…
During August I received a call to perform a routine from my show, on the radio.
I had been on the beach for a few hours and I thought that perhaps the sun had got to my head.
This routine isn’t one that is particularly suited to performing on the radio, yet it was to go ahead.
The magic they wanted me to perform was my version of the infamous Bullet Catch.
Throughout history, the Bullet Catch has caused the demise of 12 magicians and the slight injury of one spectator, so I was surprised that the BBC were keen to do it! The most famous magician to die performing it was a chap named Chung Ling Soo, his story is most fascinating.
As part of a satirical comedy show for BBC Radio 4 I was to prove how many copies of The Spectator magazine it would take to stop a bullet.
Mathematical analysts were contacted, as were ballistic experts, and all decided it was better for my safety to perform the routine, not with a lead bullet, but with a paintball.
We recorded the show at a wonderful venue in London, in front of a live audience of over 150 people. Andrew Hunter Murray was at the helm as host with Jon Holmes directing it all.
The script was very funny and there was over an hour of material for our 28 minute slot, the rest will hopefully be archived.
I was the last guest to be featured in the show, after maths wizard Bobby Seagull, and media lawyer Duncan Lamont.
I performed a full 5 minute routine for it then to be stripped to just over 2 minutes! The audience reactions and laughs you hear in the show are authentic, of course, but on the radio you couldn’t see the visual gags or our facial expressions, relying solely on the writing of the script to make you chuckle.
After the recording many guests came up to me and congratulated me on the performance, and asking for my card. One even got to keep the paintball-penetrated copy of the Spectator!
Magic on the radio was not something I had done before, and no one before had performed the Bullet Catch on air, but it is certainly something I’d do again.
I perform this routine in my one man show Magic at The Tower – Love & Passion, tickets for which can be found at Eventbrite.
Anyway, here is the full radio show, my spot is at about the 20 minute mark. Enjoy.
Magical Wishes,
Chris
