The less-than-perfect moments that the magicians hoped would vanish away are unearthed in this three-hour special.
Featuring some of the world of magic’s top names including Siegfried & Roy, David Blaine and Paul Daniels whose fails promise to leave you open-mouthed.
There are water cell stunts and fire acts gone horribly wrong as well as some excruciatingly bad performances from the most unlikely stars including OJ Simpson.
Rating 687,000 peaking at 1.1m and an 8.0% share. Top rating programme of the day on Channel 5. 74% above slot average.
Consolidated rating 963,200 and a 9.44% share. 15th Highest Rating Programme of the Week on Channel 5.
*** Winner *** Best Use of Footage in an Entertainment Production, Focal Awards 2017
Broadcast Article: Crackit Productions’ three-hour Channel 5 doc When Magic Goes Horribly Wrong picked up Best Use of Footage in an Entertainment Production, where it was up against Shiver’s ITV doc Les Dawson Forever and BBC Studios’ BBC 4 doc How Quizzing Got Cool: Brains of Britain.
Among the gems unearthed by producer/director Simon Withington and researchers Jo Stones and Daniel Kilroy was a 1980s clip of OJ Simpson explaining his disappearing act – which found its echo in the winner of Best Use of Sports Footage: ESPN Films’ and Laylow Films’ Oscar-winning five-hour doc OJ: Made in America.
TV Review by Matt Baylis of The Daily Express (Sep 26, 2016):
A show with a title like When Magic Goes Horribly Wrong (Sunday, Channel 5) cannot possibly go wrong. There’s something about magic, from the naff, cruise ship cabaret show to the self-conscious weirdness of David Blaine, that demands to have the mickey taken out of it and this three-hour selection of clips really pulled the rabbit out of the hat.
After three hours we were wondering how many magic tricks had actually ever gone right, although perhaps that’s a tricky term to define.
I’m still wondering whether Robert’s World of Magic, which featured on that early Sky show, Star Search, was a flop or the funniest thing ever to come out of Harrogate. Describing himself as a member of The Magic Circle and his show as “A magic act – a man from Harrogate”, an awkward young man had himself tied up in a duvet cover in front of Bullseye presenter Jim Bowen as the Diamonds Are Forever theme tune played.
In order to prevent the struggling young man from an early death, a helplessly giggling Keith Chegwin finally had to cut him free with a pair of scissors. “Does The Magic Circle actually know you’re a member?” Jim Bowen asked, drily, at the end. This, if not magic, was almost worth staying up until nearly 1am for.