Hey, y'all! My name is Kenn and I'm new here, but I've got a feelin' you'll be seein' a lot of me. (Hopefully not enough to make you sick. lol)

Anyway, on with the subject at hand... I just finished watching "The 2008 World Magic Awards" a few minutes ago. Hosted, once again, by Neil Patrick Harris, who was wonderful. I didn't see them last year, because I didn't even hear about them until after the fact. (I know, shame on me.)

It seems that these two hour specials are intentionally reminiscent of the annual "World's Greatest Magic" specials from some years back. (Two hours, night before Thanksgiving, same exact routines by two of the performers, "big" trick by Franz Harary...) Those specials were a tradition for me for that five years and it was fun sharing that experience with my sons.

First, what I liked: That fifteen year old was great. He did some solid magic, and his comedy had me cracking up. That was actually my favorite segment of the show. Also, what a fitting tribute to Mark Wilson! Thirdly, Hans Klok's segment was quite strong. A fast-paced string of classics... (Metamorphosis, Assistant's Revenge, Modern Art, etc.) I wondered if that very last segment (an underwater metamorphosis) was another nod to Wilson.

Ok, here's some, er, uh, observations: :-) 1. There wasn't even one close-up segment. I thought that was a little strange and disappointing. 2. I like Franz Harary as a person, but I've never been too impressed with any of his "super illusions." Knowledgeable magicians will probably know what I mean here. 3. This is probably my most important point. The camera work need to be more thought out and rehearsed. More than once throughout the show, climaxes happened that weren't even on camera! The most noticeable one was when the large bells appeared on Topaz's harp stand. That moment is great, and it didn't even happen on the screen. :-(

Still, maybe I'm being too nit-picky. Overall, I definitely enjoyed watching the show. I hope they keep making them. What did you all think?