Dir. Andrew O'Connor, UK, 2007, 90 mins
Cast: David Mitchell and Robert Webb, Jessica Stevenson, Darren Boyd, Peter Capaldi, Andrea Riseborough
Harry (Mitchell) and Karl(Webb) have been best friends from childhood, and a magic double act since they were teenagers. They are very different in style and personality, Harry is shy and technically minded, whereas Karl is ambitious and more of a showman.
As adults, and professional magicians, they are the greatest magic double act in the country. That is, until Karl is discovered with Harry's wife, and a guillotine illusion goes horribly and spectacularly wrong, leaving their friendship in tatters and their careers finished.
Four years later Harry and Karl are still not speaking. Harry loves magic, but understandably he is very unhappy because he accidentally cut his own wife’s head off, and he has just been fired from his job in run-down supermarket. Karl, with the help of his friend and would-be manager Otto (Boyd), is trying to get a deal with a TV company based on his new act, masquerading as a mind reader and medium, a form of magic met with contempt by many within the prestigious inner ring of magic, the Magic Table.
With the downturn of their careers following their falling out they are both desperately in need of some cash. The ultimate international magic competition, The Magic Table Shield, which is soon to take place in Jersey, and comes with a big cash prize for the winning act, draws Harry out of retirement and he reluctantly approaches Karl to partner him.
The competition is staged as three rounds. The first stage eliminates the less skilled magicians, the second round in which the competitors directly compete against one another, and the final stage when the chosen few compete for The Shield, the ultimate accolade of the Magic Table.
Harry and Karl arrange to meet at the preliminary round to perform together. But from the outset they find themselves unable to agree on their act. Harry wants to go down the classic magic route and perform a trick which involves him firing a gun with blanks at Karl, but Karl does not trust Harry’s motives. With neither willing to compromise they have no choice but to enter the competition as individual acts and directly compete against one other.
For his traditional act Harry needs a magician’s assistant to help him, and after some disastrous auditions he takes on Linda (Stevenson), who views the opportunity as a chance for some fun. Their relationship is initially strained as Harry is insecure about his magic abilities following the guillotine incident. But as Harry begins to regain his confidence and relax around Linda he finds himself starting to quite like her.
Karl, with the encouragement of Otto, decides to perform as a modern magician, seeing himself as a Derren Brown type character. At the same time he is becoming romantically involved with Dani (Riseborough), a girl he met whilst pitching his mind mongering act to a big television company. Dani, being very sweet and naïve, is taken in by Karl’s charm and medium act, and follows him to the competition to watch him perform.
MAGICIANS follows Harry and Karl as they prepare for, and participate, in the three stages of the competition, a journey on which they experience magical and romantic mishaps, and rediscover their friendship, and passion, for the world of magic.
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