Southport Gala Show 2007
The first thing to report is that the advertised compere, Robert Baxt, was asked to step down and was replaced by Kevin King. Opus sources tell us it is rumoured that other people were invited to take over but the offer was turned down.
Why Robert was replaced is a mystery so far and he told Opus he had no idea why. Obviously the team are trying to find out.
While Kevin did a fine job on the opening show, his offering here revealed that he did not have enough material with him to fill two compere roles (which is totally understandable) and hence had to use stuff that the majority of the audience had already seen only a couple of days before. This did not help the show...
The general opinion was that the show was too long.
I think the show would not have been lessened had some of the acts not done so long. This did not affect seasoned acts such as Vic and Fabrini or Eric Borgman but others could have done less without reducing their impact.
One act could have done more and not reduced his impact and that was Paul Zenon who was excellent. His swinging of the beer glass full of beer on the snooker/pool triangle fastened to a dog lead has built over the years into a tension filled piece performed here. He even climbed down off the stage and through some the audience still swinging away! I don't know how many of the audience were aware that Paul had made the national newspapers a little time ago when a spectator had been injured during the course of this stunt but no one moved a muscle as he passed by...
The Shield winners, High Jinx, opened the show after a musical introduction by a six to ten (?) piece band. Whether they were worthy winners or not I don't know as I missed the competition this year but they were a touch lightweight on a show of this calibre.
Eric Borgman did his football juggle as seen at the International Magic Weekend a couple of years ago... Vik and Fabrini did their robot act as smoothly as always and the first half closed with a painter Dan Dunn who did a large portrait of Elvis. Given that a large majority of the audience had already seen him do two other paintings (Ray Charles and John Lennon) on and earlier show, his impact here was reduced...
The second half opened with the band again and then String Fever, a string quartet with a difference. At one point they play Bolero on the cello... four musicians on one instrument. An excellent act but did they need to do four pieces rather than, say, two?
The Great Tomsoni and Co were as smooth and funny as always, Les Bubb was highly skilled with his mime and physical comedy but too long and the box jumpers Murry Hatfield and Teresa (why are the assistants so often better performers than the magicians?) closed with boxes...
Why Robert was replaced is a mystery so far and he told Opus he had no idea why. Obviously the team are trying to find out.
While Kevin did a fine job on the opening show, his offering here revealed that he did not have enough material with him to fill two compere roles (which is totally understandable) and hence had to use stuff that the majority of the audience had already seen only a couple of days before. This did not help the show...
The general opinion was that the show was too long.
I think the show would not have been lessened had some of the acts not done so long. This did not affect seasoned acts such as Vic and Fabrini or Eric Borgman but others could have done less without reducing their impact.
One act could have done more and not reduced his impact and that was Paul Zenon who was excellent. His swinging of the beer glass full of beer on the snooker/pool triangle fastened to a dog lead has built over the years into a tension filled piece performed here. He even climbed down off the stage and through some the audience still swinging away! I don't know how many of the audience were aware that Paul had made the national newspapers a little time ago when a spectator had been injured during the course of this stunt but no one moved a muscle as he passed by...
The Shield winners, High Jinx, opened the show after a musical introduction by a six to ten (?) piece band. Whether they were worthy winners or not I don't know as I missed the competition this year but they were a touch lightweight on a show of this calibre.
Eric Borgman did his football juggle as seen at the International Magic Weekend a couple of years ago... Vik and Fabrini did their robot act as smoothly as always and the first half closed with a painter Dan Dunn who did a large portrait of Elvis. Given that a large majority of the audience had already seen him do two other paintings (Ray Charles and John Lennon) on and earlier show, his impact here was reduced...
The second half opened with the band again and then String Fever, a string quartet with a difference. At one point they play Bolero on the cello... four musicians on one instrument. An excellent act but did they need to do four pieces rather than, say, two?
The Great Tomsoni and Co were as smooth and funny as always, Les Bubb was highly skilled with his mime and physical comedy but too long and the box jumpers Murry Hatfield and Teresa (why are the assistants so often better performers than the magicians?) closed with boxes...
posted by JJ at 10:24 AM
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