I don't watch this show, REALLY! I am traveling for business and was flipping through the cable channels to find Kevin James competing on this show. He did a great job and if you check out his website http://www.kjmagic.com/ you will see a photo of the illusion he did on the show. It's an illusion with a mini-Charlie Chaplain appearing out of trunk.

Good Luck, Kevin!

You should see the entire Chaplin act I have the video it's great ! I guess the time of performance is limited .
Go Kevin !

I think its great he's getting his name out to a mass audience, my only question is why did he wait so long?

Kevin James is one of the BEST magicians of all time! I have seen him several times and can say he is a friend. He always brings the house down. Definitely one of the most underrated magicans out there. A true underground genius.

Kevin has had at least one other national appearance that I am aware of... it was a tv special from The Magic Castle several years ago. He did the Chaplin doll and the animated arm.

The appearance on AGT seemed to have a minor glitch when the doll head (which is supposed to fall away) rolled completely down the steps off the stage. He recovered well, and was a shoe-in to move on.

I was pleasantly suprised to see him on AGT....Loved it!

Kevin did great last night, but honestly, I wish Kevin would have chosen a different illusion - and here's why:

After the mini-Chaplin came to life, the judges even said things like "ahhh, you got me, the rolling head took my eyes away from the box while you did it"

In my mind, their comments took the illusion, and turned it into one of those "oh, you got me, but I bet you won't get me if I see it again" things.

Just my $.02
-Vinnie

I thought it was gutsy being on there...any group of judges that put some of the acts through "Shekerah" could have possibly sent him packing, especially when the head fell down the stairs...I was nervous for him, but surprised that they would let a person who is as professional as he is on the program.

I've known the name Kevin James for a long time, but I've never seen him before. So I was glad that I caught him on the show.

Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed. Vinnie is right that it came off as the wrong kind of illusion. Plus, the set up is pretty obvious -- what else was going to happen? And I felt he spent a bit too much time in front of the box (his hands fiddling a bit too long in the box) with his back to the audience.

At least I know his reputation. I can understand that this is not the best presentation of James's magic.

Keep in mind, that was the first round. I'm sure Kevin will do just as well as Nathan Burton did last summer. He's got plenty of original material for the next round and beyond.

Ken

Good point, in a multi round contest you don't want to lead with best act for the qualifier... save that stuff for the voting rounds. that's the problem Quick Change suffered.. They did their best act right out of the gates and then had nowhere to go but down.

Kevin James is a great guy and Magician. Unfortuantely, I was a little disappointed as I felt the effect was a little transparent. But as others have said here that maybe the best is yet to come as it is only the first round and I wouldn't want to go down the road the way Quick Change did. I just hope that the public gets to see more of his personality.

I don't know how many rounds there will be in this contest.

If I were Kevin, I'd use the bowling ball production for a quick effect. The floating rose would be a great personality piece. For a larger effect, Kevin's snowstorm effect would be great.

Kevin's version of cutting a person in two would make a killer effect for the finals!

He'll probably stay away from the bowling ball production, since Nathan Burton did that in LAST year's show...

Steve

I agree with Steve.

-Vinnie

Nathen also did snowstorm last year

Kevin did a knock out job last night on America's Got Talent. Both he and Anthony Reed moved on to the next round airing tonight. Magic is being represented by some great talent on the show. Innovative and inspiring...

Ken

You're right, Ken, Kevin did an exceptional job this round. Reed's routine was traditional but good. But Kevin gave us a wonderfully 'bizarre' spin of a jaw dropping effect. I hope to catch his next performance on the show.

Well Kevin moves on. I'm a bit shocked that Anthony didn't move on, especially looking at some of the acts that were put through. Apparently moving two "dancers" with marginal talent on to the next round was higher on the agenda, than having two outstanding magicians on one show. Oh well, I look forward to seeing how America votes instead of producers from the show.

Ken

What about the redneck tenors?! Robbed! They could have (at least the one guy.) been more cordial and gracious.

I'm glad the Glamazon girls got through! LOVE ‘EM!

And the weird (but kinda hot?) beat box chick!!! I think she’s great!

Also A BIG SHOUT OUT, to my boys from Washington Square Park - The Calypso Tumblers! One of the BEST street/park acts out there. On any given weekend they can pull in WAY MORE than $5 Grand per day! Don't believe me? Next time you are in the Village, stop by the park and watch for yourself! They pull crowds of 700 - 900 people every show.


BUT. My money is on KEVIN JAMES


GO KEVIN!