Absolutely!

If he shines he will have an extra feather in his cap since he's the only New Yorker on the show.

The best magician I can think of to be on Letterman would be Bill Malone. They probably took one look at his act and figured he'd upstage Dave. He would shine in that situation.

Need I say more?

Ricky Jay on tv with a host

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgqXdnwIoQM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jKuHiY397U

and just for giggles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4TDeC3DyyM&feature=related

How was Roth treated? Anyone have a link to that?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpBgDffoCqA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpBgDffoCqA

I enjoyed the Roth clip. It was especially magical how he changed a 1964 silver coin (which was pointed out to DL in the presentation) into a huge 1988 coin. The camera angle showed this exceptionally well.

That's the first time I've seen that clip with David Roth. Although DL treated him decently those lame idiotic comments that he made with asking for Bridge Mix, etc. which was, obviously, nothing more than a pathetic attempt in trying to be the center of attention. Something Johnny Carson would have never done as he had too much respect for magicians, and of course, loved magic.

I'm not sure about the unrushed part. At the 4:15 mark in the video you could hear Paul playing the piano. It feels like the Oscars when they want to get someone off.

I have a question about the setting. The Letterman Show has had Roth on the show and many other magicians. Why do you think they thought it appropriate enough to give the performer the corner of a desk to use as their performing surface. And not just any corner of a desk; a funky looking corner with a sunken unusable portion and Dave's coffee cup smack dab in the middle of the part you can use.

They've seen close-up before.
They know what makes it nice for the performer.
They know what an appropriate close-up setting looks like.
They have the money to spend on an appropriate setting.

It's as if the magicians are coming out by surprise and they just clear a spot. They certainly took the time to make sure the cameras were in the right place. Dave made sure he, himself, was comfortable.

I don't think anyone would disagree that it is an awkward location. We all work from awkward locations from time to time but that is impropmtu. This is not imporomptu. It is THE planned and chosen place for the perfomance. I find it curious that they left it that way.

I don't have an answer. Does anyone?

The director felt Letterman would look best in the "two shot" reacting and assisting with the magic.

Hey Dottie! Can we get some brain cells here?

They could do that anywhere on the set as was done in previous shows.

That also doesn't excuse the performance surface. They could have hired a carpenter to build a close-up surface that would fit the edge of the table just fine with one phone call to a magician to find out what would be nice.

I'm afraid I'm still curious about this choice.

Not to be a smart *** but this is the David Letterman show not the John Carney show or Michael Ammar, or who have ya.
These guys are professional. They knew the layout of the show before they went on. They should have enough arsenal to handle any situation.
This is why they say Bill Malone , Gazzo would be great to have on. They been in these situations before. They perform for real people not people at the Magic Castle or magic conventions. Malone and Gazzo are witty and quick. Why? Because they perform all the time. Gazzo the streets and Malone in the bars and clubs. It's called experience!
We as magicians need to stop making excuses and start acting like professionals.

Frank as far as DL having other performers on that used a separate table do you remember Penn and Teller first appearance? It was on the edge of his desk and Penn and Teller took control and performed an off the wall trick .

Here ya go

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lImYjaQJiw

I agree with Frank here It seems they wanted the magicians to have a hard time performing . A table should be on the stage with letterman watching from his desk ! Also they should have edited out the flash of the orange when carney did the load .

Yes it would've been nice to edit out the orange along with the coconut but you can't blame the guys editing. If anything they edited out when Carney dropped his hat. Remember he said I need to practice. The editing guys aren't trained in the magic field like worlds greatest magic show, these guys only have about 5 hrs of editing

Tophatter , do you really think letterman purposely intended to make it hard for them?

TKO has it.. admittedly the performance area is far from ideal but this is Letterman's show..Sure it would be nice to have a different more conducive setting, but this is Letterman's room and his rules. His audience tunes in to see him banter with his guests.

I don't sense malice on the show staff i.e. willfully exposing the orange load. I think the line editor made the call (though wrong) and switched it at an inopportune time. bummer. Time to move on. JC can have a quick edit and still come out with a million dollar piece of video.

Think about it.. If you were a real magician... you wouldn't need a plastic sleeve, a special table, lights just right, a person on your right and a person on your left.. real world stuff... You should just be able to do it right then and there. wouldnt you ? I think that is more the attitude of the Letterman staff.

If you climb into that ring, choose your material wisely, know the rules and get ready... for anything.