The World's Greatest Magic was a series of Americantelevision specials showcasing magic acts.[1] The first of five shows was broadcast by NBC in 1994, and continued with annual editions through 1998. These shows were most often first telecast during the Thanksgiving holidays when special programming would occur.[2] These specials reran occasionally on ABC Family (then The Family Channel and Fox Family) from October 1996 to early 2002.
The first episode was hosted by Robert Urich, the second by Alan Thicke, and the final three episodes by John Ritter. All of the specials were narrated by Don LaFontaine. During specials II, III, IV, and V, before each commercial break of every episode, in a segment known as the Mac King School of Magic, Mac King showed viewers a simple magic trick, and would break its steps down after the commercial break so that the audience could perform the same trick for family and friends. The first special featured the same teach-a-trick segments which involved some of the various magicians featured in the special, along with a special guest celebrity.
Below is a list of the closing illusions for each of the five shows, and the magicians who performed them:
World's Greatest Magic I:Franz Harary - Space Shuttle vanish
World's Greatest Magic II:Penn and Teller - Magic bullet catch
World's Greatest Magic IV:Lance Burton - Jaws of Death escape (Lance was handcuffed and shackled inside a canvas mailbag, put in the back of a car, and dropped into a car crusher.)
World's Greatest Magic V: Brett Daniels - Teleportation of actress Kelly Packard across the Grand Canyon
The producer of this series, Gary Ouellet, released a booklet entitled 'Music for Magicians',[4] in which the music selection and editing process for this show was explained.
Few of the performers could use their regular performance music, because synchronization rights are usually too costly (or sometimes unavailable) for commercial tracks. Two exceptions were Topas from WGM I, who used 'Hello Again' by the Cars, and Jeff McBride, who had music specially written for him by Jordan Rudess.[5]
Hence, for the first two specials, the performers taped the show using their normal music, and a new audio track had to be created for broadcast, consisting of custom music created for each performer (which resembled their existing music), and a re-creation of the audience applause. In some cases, it was known that the ambient sounds/applause would be important to a particular performer, and those acts were performed without music, so that custom music could be cleanly inserted in post-production.[6]
Prior to making WGM III, Ouellet had to use production music as a last-minute scoring option on another magic production, and subsequently he decided to make WGM III entirely using production music, for which he searched through 15,000 'cuts'.[7] Each performer's music track was specially created from at least one (often several) library track, with stingers, hits and various accentuating effects from Gary Ouellet's Designer Textures for Magicians. Hence, WGM 3-5 were taped live with the pre-prepared music tracks.
The following tracks have been identified as being used within the noted performers' sets:
World's Greatest Magic III
'Damned' from Kosinus (Brett Daniels - Appearing Car)
'Shock Troops' and 'Car Wash' from Kosinus (Hans Klok)
'Pure Silk' from JW Media Music and 'Angel Wave' from Kosinus (Galina)
'Tabasco Road' & 'Angel Eyes' from Koka, and 'Funky Lady' from Opus 1 (Peter Marvey)
'Mystic Party' from Kosinus, and 'Requiem, Op. 89, B. 165:III. Dies irae' by Dvorak (Joseph Gabriel)
'Techno Pursuit' from Opus 1 (Brett Daniels - Sawing in half)
'Loco' and 'Words on the Beat' from Koka (Nathan Burton)
'Starlight' and 'Hi Hop' from Koka (Greg Frewin)
'New Opus' from Koka (Jean Pierre Vallarino)
'Kabaret' from Koka (Mac King)
'Katanga' from Kosinus and 'Pressure Point' from JW Media Music (Dirk Arthur)
'It's Hollywood', 'Industrial' and 'Final Result' from Opus 1 (The Pendragons - Vanishing Showgirls)
World's Greatest Magic IV
'Real City' from FirstCom (Opening titles and transition segments)
'Gothic City', 'Enemy Hits' and 'Double Threat' from FirstCom (Ayala - opening illusion)
'Gun Play' and 'The Getaway' from Hollywood Music (Jonathan David Bass)
'Facing Saigon' and 'Bamboo Sea' from FirstCom and 'Stormrider' from Chappell (Juliana Chen)
'Top League' from Chappell (Tim Cole & Jenny Lynn)
'Closer To My Love' from Chappell (Rick Thomas)
'X Generation' from FirstCom (Sherry Lukas)
'Cyclone' and 'Bravado' from FirstCom (The Hamners)
'Small Town' from FirstCom (Carl Cloutier)
World's Greatest Magic V
(except where noted, the following tracks are from DeWolfe and its subsidiary labels)
'Sunrise' from Atmosphere (WGM 1-4 Recap)
'Driving Force' and 'Classical Excellence' ('Coming Up' segment)
'Round We Go' (Magic Unlimited)
'Heatstroke', 'Jumping Joker', 'Athleticism (Remix)' and 'Franky's' (The Majestix)
'National Emergency' and 'Breathless' (Brett Daniels - The Grand Canyon)
'Commitment', 'Brave New World', 'Aborigine Firedance 2' and 'Pagan Ritual' (Phelston Jones)
'Theatre Overture', 'Benny For Your Thoughts' and 'Starlight Concerto' (Dimmare)
'5 Pack Driver', 'Monster', 'First Time' and 'Encounter' (John Gabriel)
world, greatest, magic, this, article, uses, bare, urls, which, uninformative, vulnerable, link, please, consider, converting, them, full, citations, ensure, article, remains, verifiable, maintains, consistent, citation, style, several, templates, tools, avail. This article uses bare URLs which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot Please consider converting them to full citations to ensure the article remains verifiable and maintains a consistent citation style Several templates and tools are available to assist in formatting such as Reflinks documentation reFill documentation and Citation bot documentation August 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message The World s Greatest Magic was a series of American television specials showcasing magic acts 1 The first of five shows was broadcast by NBC in 1994 and continued with annual editions through 1998 These shows were most often first telecast during the Thanksgiving holidays when special programming would occur 2 These specials reran occasionally on ABC Family then The Family Channel and Fox Family from October 1996 to early 2002 The first episode was hosted by Robert Urich the second by Alan Thicke and the final three episodes by John Ritter All of the specials were narrated by Don LaFontaine During specials II III IV and V before each commercial break of every episode in a segment known as the Mac King School of Magic Mac King showed viewers a simple magic trick and would break its steps down after the commercial break so that the audience could perform the same trick for family and friends The first special featured the same teach a trick segments which involved some of the various magicians featured in the special along with a special guest celebrity Below is a list of the closing illusions for each of the five shows and the magicians who performed them World s Greatest Magic I Franz Harary Space Shuttle vanish World s Greatest Magic II Penn and Teller Magic bullet catch World s Greatest Magic III The Pendragons Disappearance of 25 Vegas showgirls World s Greatest Magic IV Lance Burton Jaws of Death escape Lance was handcuffed and shackled inside a canvas mailbag put in the back of a car and dropped into a car crusher World s Greatest Magic V Brett Daniels Teleportation of actress Kelly Packard across the Grand CanyonContents 1 Featured magicians 2 Music 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksFeatured magicians EditThe Amazing Johnathan Anand Joshi Ayala amp Lilia Bill Malone Bob Arno Brett Daniels David Williamson Fielding West Franz Harary Galina Greg Frewin The Hamners Hans Klok amp Sittah Jean Pierre Vallarino Jeff Hobson Jeff McBride Joseph Gabriel Juan Tamariz 3 Juliana Chen Lance Burton Mac King Magician Ganesh Mark Kalin and Jinger Kalin Max Maven Melinda Saxe a k a Melinda First Lady of Magic Nathan Burton Penn and Teller Peter Marvey Princess Tenko Raymond Crowe Rene Lavand Sheri Lucas Steve Wyrick Francis Tabary Tom Mullica Topas Ken MateMusic EditThe producer of this series Gary Ouellet released a booklet entitled Music for Magicians 4 in which the music selection and editing process for this show was explained Few of the performers could use their regular performance music because synchronization rights are usually too costly or sometimes unavailable for commercial tracks Two exceptions were Topas from WGM I who used Hello Again by the Cars and Jeff McBride who had music specially written for him by Jordan Rudess 5 Hence for the first two specials the performers taped the show using their normal music and a new audio track had to be created for broadcast consisting of custom music created for each performer which resembled their existing music and a re creation of the audience applause In some cases it was known that the ambient sounds applause would be important to a particular performer and those acts were performed without music so that custom music could be cleanly inserted in post production 6 Prior to making WGM III Ouellet had to use production music as a last minute scoring option on another magic production and subsequently he decided to make WGM III entirely using production music for which he searched through 15 000 cuts 7 Each performer s music track was specially created from at least one often several library track with stingers hits and various accentuating effects from Gary Ouellet s Designer Textures for Magicians Hence WGM 3 5 were taped live with the pre prepared music tracks The following tracks have been identified as being used within the noted performers sets World s Greatest Magic III Damned from Kosinus Brett Daniels Appearing Car Shock Troops and Car Wash from Kosinus Hans Klok Pure Silk from JW Media Music and Angel Wave from Kosinus Galina Tabasco Road amp Angel Eyes from Koka and Funky Lady from Opus 1 Peter Marvey Mystic Party from Kosinus and Requiem Op 89 B 165 III Dies irae by Dvorak Joseph Gabriel Techno Pursuit from Opus 1 Brett Daniels Sawing in half Loco and Words on the Beat from Koka Nathan Burton Starlight and Hi Hop from Koka Greg Frewin New Opus from Koka Jean Pierre Vallarino Kabaret from Koka Mac King Katanga from Kosinus and Pressure Point from JW Media Music Dirk Arthur It s Hollywood Industrial and Final Result from Opus 1 The Pendragons Vanishing Showgirls World s Greatest Magic IV Real City from FirstCom Opening titles and transition segments Gothic City Enemy Hits and Double Threat from FirstCom Ayala opening illusion Gun Play and The Getaway from Hollywood Music Jonathan David Bass Facing Saigon and Bamboo Sea from FirstCom and Stormrider from Chappell Juliana Chen Top League from Chappell Tim Cole amp Jenny Lynn Closer To My Love from Chappell Rick Thomas X Generation from FirstCom Sherry Lukas Cyclone and Bravado from FirstCom The Hamners Small Town from FirstCom Carl Cloutier World s Greatest Magic V except where noted the following tracks are from DeWolfe and its subsidiary labels Sunrise from Atmosphere WGM 1 4 Recap Driving Force and Classical Excellence Coming Up segment Round We Go Magic Unlimited Heatstroke Jumping Joker Athleticism Remix and Franky s The Majestix National Emergency and Breathless Brett Daniels The Grand Canyon Commitment Brave New World Aborigine Firedance 2 and Pagan Ritual Phelston Jones Theatre Overture Benny For Your Thoughts and Starlight Concerto Dimmare 5 Pack Driver Monster First Time and Encounter John Gabriel She Can t Love Me Like Me Goldfinger amp Dove Night Flight Death Penalty and Hostage a from KPM Music Jim Passe See also EditThe World s Most Dangerous MagicReferences Edit The World s Greatest Magic The Dream Team Genii 58 10 827 831 September 1995 TV Guide information Nov 1994 Nov 1995 Nov 1996 Haider Shuja 2023 01 02 The Man Who Made Spain the Magic Capital of the World The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 2023 01 06 http www camirandmagic com sc 004 html Biography JordanRudess com www jordanrudess com Archived from the original on 2014 12 31 Music for Magicians Gary Ouellet Music for Magicians Gary OuelletExternal links EditThe World s Greatest Magic at IMDb The World s Greatest Magic 2 at IMDb The World s Greatest Magic 3 at IMDb The World s Greatest Magic 4 at IMDb The World s Greatest Magic 5 at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The World 27s Greatest Magic amp oldid 1131924402, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
