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It seems like the deck was stacked against the magical acts in this year’s Britain’s Got Talent competition. Several of them encountered unfortunate technical errors, and those who didn’t were stymied by by unappreciative judges and apathetic viewers at home. Hilarious magic veteran Mandy Muden faced both. 

In the opening moments of her semi-final performance, a body double she was using in one of her tricks got stuck after (deliberately) falling off the stage and was caught by a behind-the-scenes camera while exiting the stage. I presumed the gaffe was part of her act, but the footage has been removed for the official YouTube video of her performance.

Even if it was on purpose, the British press has been particularly enthusiastic about “EXPOSING” the secrets behind the secrets behind the tricks in this year’s competition. Nearly every performance has been followed by tabloid hacks and gormless Twitter gremlins pontificating loudly that they know how a trick was done. I don’t think the jokey artifice did Muden any favors when it came down to the votes. Neither did the show’s audio set up. Muden later had her mic cut during another trick. She handled the interruption like a pro and proceeded to put on another great performance. 

Sadly, it wasn’t enough. She was eliminated from the competition on Friday, leaving the BGT finals without any magical talent whatsoever.  

The eventual winner was comedian Lee Ridley, better known as Lost Voice Guy. 

To add insult to injury, Muden then had her flight cancelled on the way home from the competition.