Magic - Entertainment For Children and Adults

Do you remember growing up watching magic occasionally, in your life, as an art of entertainment and how simple prestidigitation has transported you to an unknown world where it was all mystery, illusion and entertainment? It is not surprising that magic has historical importance although it gained respectability and strength in eighteenth century. Modern magic art owes a lot to Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin who performed in France and England. The 19th century magician of prominence, Harry Houdini magic guru took his stage name from French Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin. The world remembers these two great names as magicians who brought respect to an otherwise, what was thought and practiced as an art of, occult and conjure practice. How Is Magic Performed None of the performers of this day claim to possess any supernatural powers baring a few who may be called as 'charlatans'. Performers establish an unspoken relationship with audience even as they enter the stage, achieved through sleight of hand. And then what follows next is an illusionary and mind numbing combination of deception, misdirection, connivance with a member of the audience, mirrors, equipments and other apparatuses with mysterious mechanisms, and lots of other trickery. The bafflement the audience falls into is beyond explanation that audience thinks it lost senses as they can't believe how anything that has happened, albeit before their eyes, has happened at all. Dumb stricken, having lost comprehension and thinking abilities, audience, in no time give in to the tricks and just become a part of the show before beginning to pay a role themselves. Where Does It Stand Today Unfortunately, for much of the 20th century, this great art of entertainment was ignored and marginalized. This is mainly because of the rise of celluloid entertainment which added stories to make believe shows. Stalwarts and enthusiasts have been at it for reviving this 'children's entertainment', as it is regarded now. But the result, which, for much of the last 2-3 decades has been elusive, appears to be a distant possibility. The expression 'all smoke and mirrors' which gained coinage coinciding with the decline in interest has also contributed too magic's present state today. Some of the famous acts of magic are Escape Art, The Great Indian Rope Trick, Teleportation, Vanishing Act just make a small partial list of great acts interspersed with the routine fillers like innumerous number of card trick, pulling rabbits from hats etc. The term magic has become synonymous with great performance in other fields too, especially sports. Can anyone forget Magic Johnson, at all?

Children's Entertainment and Comedy

Only parents with Victorian attitudes would insist all children's programming be 'improving' and educational - there should be room for fun and entertainment, as in adult schedules.

Popular new genres of the 1950s included live theatre variety and the game show and Children's TV replicated both. Crackerjack (BBC, 1955-84) was a mini-version of series like Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ITV, 1955-67; 1973-74), comprising variety turns, comedy sketches, pop music, party games and simple quizzes.

Both children and television have changed greatly since Crackerjack began. The 1960s produced Top of the Form (BBC, 1962-75), an austere inter-schools general knowledge quiz with serious-minded questions addressed to uniformed pupils. Film quiz Screen Test (BBC, 1970-84) used a similar static, sit-down panel format, albeit enlivened by movie clips. Runaround (ITV, 1975-81) brought the quiz format to life - active youngsters sprinted across the studio to answer trivia questions, egged on by a noisy audience. After the first series of Cheggers Plays Pop (BBC, 1978-86), BBC Head of Children's Edward Barnes remarked, "It's the most vulgar thing I have ever seen - but I'll recommission it!" It mixed music guest spots, pop quiz and action games involving inflatable contraptions and messy gunge. The latter ingredient, influenced by TISWASFun House (ITV 1989-99) and Get Your Own Back (BBC, 1991-). These shows allow free rein to natural childish energy; quizzes of the 1950s and '60s were an extension of the classroom. (ITV, 1974-82), became de rigeur in the likes of

Cheggers Plays Pop and Crackerjack included pop performance, but ITV provided dedicated music shows in the 1970s and '80s, Muriel Young producing several for Granada in the 'glam rock' and 'teenybop' eras - Lift Off With Ayshea (ITV, 1969-74), including a legendary 1972 appearance by David Bowie, Shang-a-Lang (ITV, 1975) a showcase for the Bay City Rollers, and Marc (ITV, 1977), a vehicle for Marc Bolan. Get It Together (ITV, 1977-81) was a durable mix of performance and quiz, let down by a poor guest roster and dubious cover versions sung by host Roy North.

Pop interview, performance and - from the early '80s - music video also became a regular part of Saturday morning shows. Music video and its ubiquity, via satellite channels, has removed much of the impact enjoyed by shows like Lift Off, then a rare opportunity to see music idols perform.

Comedy for children usually deals in physical slapstick, farce and bad puns. In this vein, doddery old Mr Pastry (BBC, 1950-62) was an early comic hero, as were the grotesquely greedy schoolboy Billy Bunter (BBC, 1952-61) and the similar comic strip schoolroom antics of Whack-O! (BBC, 1956-60; 1971-72).

Broad pantomime traditions informed Pardon, My Genie (ITV, 1972-3), Grandad (BBC, 1979-84) and Rentaghost (BBC, 1976-84) - faces were blackened by exploding ovens and struck by flying cream cakes. Such series used experienced comic actors like Roy Barraclough or Clive Dunn, but farcical events and comic misadventures also befell child actors in Here Come the Double Deckers! (BBC, 1971), Graham's Gang (BBC, 1977-79) and Jossy's Giants (BBC, 1986-87). Such physical comedy has nonetheless taken in satire (Educating Marmalade, ITV, 1982) and strong character writing (Worzel Gummidge, ITV, 1979-81; Channel 4, 1987-89).

Absurdist pre-Python series Do Not Adjust Your Set (ITV, 1967-8) was a rare example of truly innovative sketch comedy. While nothing since has matched its influence, the earthy humour of various 1970s Thames series like You Must Be Joking (ITV, 1975-76) and Pauline's QuirkesPlay Away (BBC, 1972-84), a colourful mix of corny jokes and songs, was the longest running of all children's comedy series. (ITV, 1976) proved both popular and controversial.