Diminutive magician and anarchic, couch-destroying firebrand, Issy Simpson, recently did her thing on The Ellen Show. The nine-year-old mentalist performed her two signature tricks, leaving host, Ellen DeGeneres, flabbergasted.
Simpson, who has been dubbed the, “real life Hermione Granger,” for obvious reasons, shot to national fame when she appeared on Britain’s Got Talent and made it all the way to the finals at just 8 years old.
The tiny magician’s heritage did generate some controversy, when it was revealed that her grandfather and magic tutor, Russ Stevens, had previously coached contestants on the show. Some suggested that Simpson got her place on the show via nepotism rather than by her skills as an entertainer.
According to British rag, The Daily Mail, a reliable source inside the show had this to say on Stevens and his granddaughter:
He is well known in the magic world as the main magic man behind the scene on Britain’s Got Talent. I have no idea why he is doing this. Surely the grand-daughter of the person in charge of magic performing a self-working routine she’s taught by him isn’t right?’
Not one to let a child get away with appearing on a televised talent show, the same source also argued that Simpson’s gimmicked props were “too expensive,” when compared to the tools used by other contestants.
The young magician was knocked out of the competition in the final stage, but is already well on the way to establishing an enviable magic career. Earlier this month she made her US TV debut.
Jon Dorenbos, the football-player-turned-magician, captured our hearts with his appearances on Ellen. He’s dropped by the comedian’s talk show several times to show off magic tricks, and he went decidedly big for his latest visit on the set. He has a giant map of the United States, a pile of oversized footballs, a calculator, a deck of cards, and some highly questionable money-counting. It’s a fun prediction routine that plays really well to the crowd.
He closes with a quick torn-and-restored card trick that offers some very sweet kudos to Ellen. Check out the full performance here:
The phrase “better late than never” is no truer than when it refers to birthday presents; doubly so when that present is a magic trick.
Ex-Philadelphia Eagle Jon Dorenbos stopped by the set of Ellen yesterday to talk about being awarded a Super Bowl ring in honor of the team’s recent win, and he brought with him a special magic trick to honor Ellen’s birthday. The two go through a deck of cards and throw them around wildly, chucking them into a box, dumping them out of the box, until only one card remains – but there’s another prize in store. Check out the full performance below:
He also performs a second bonus trick, involving a deck of cards and two wine glasses (no wine, unfortunately).
Dorenbos also briefly mentions that a film about his life is currently in the works. The pro-football player was forced into retirement due to a heart condition, and made the leap into professional magic shortly thereafter, making a few other appearances on Ellen, as well as making it all the way to the America’s Got Talent season 11 finals.
Who does Dorenbos hope to play him in the movie version of his life? Oh, only Zac Efron or Chris Pratt. You and me both, dude.
Paul Vu has been making a name for himself as a Rubik’s Cube wizard, and he recently went on Ellen to show off just what he can do. Vu takes us on a mind-bending journey over the course of the above seven-minute video, first perfectly matching Ellen’s mixed-up cube with the one he holds in his hand, to solving one by lighting it on fire, to even assembling an image of the world’s most popular video game character out of a stack of randomly mixed and chosen cubes. Oh, and he actually solves one in seconds like it’s no big deal. I honestly don’t know what feels more magical.