AGT, great article on the experience for a group of entertainers. must read. http://whipchick.livejournal.com/12805.html

This is not the first time I heard AGT treating entertainers this way.

The waiting was a bit*c, but I was never treated poorly. The producers were always very accodomating. I think a lot has to do with ones attitude and what they make of it.

Hi Scott,

I am going to disagree with you on this one and I hope you will understand. I know MANY people who went through the same process as described in the blog. You for the most part avoided the "treated poorly" part because they could use you for something. You had something unique they could get mileage out of and they did. For you it was the patriotic bit they milked. America LOVES its patriotism and AGT knows that. There is NO way they were going to mess with you in any negative way as it would make for bad television. Never dis a vet on tv. You did a great job . ( impressed the heck out of me) but so did a lot of others who never made it to air or were edited to look bad. That show is TERRIBLE for that. Its a manipulation fest from the beginning. They want something from you and if you can offer it you get treated good... if not then they feed you to the lions. Did I tell you about a friend of mine who was offered a top 10 position before he even signed up? Yep.... that's right. The show is that crooked.

You had something they wanted. Lucky for you you also had talent and making it to air exposed you to America and lots of work. You are one of the rare ones. Lots of talented people were not exposed because they never made it air despite standing ovations from the audience or they got edited to look like idiots. I am sure you have fond memories and would recommend the process to others but I would surely not.

Best,

Tim

A bit more about the franchise and how they mistreat acts. http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/aust....../xw72hdo

Best,

Tim

Thanks for the post Drake.

Great post Tim!! I fully understand your point of view.

Thanks Scott. I've had to keep reading my post over and over to make sure I didn't look like I was knocking you. I have issues with the show but you rocked. Everyone was talking the next day of the Military Guy that came out of nowhere and killed. I was glad to see you get so much out of your exposure. What ever time and money you invested in " doing it right" was money well spent. For that I tip my hat to you.

On another note.... don't you find it funny that for years and years we kept hearing..... "we need BIGGER magic" as they knocked those who didn't have big boxes. Now a blindfolded mentalist kills and gets a standing O. The judges all freak out like its the best they've seen. The same guy would have been "X"ed in previous seasons. Something smells funny on that show.

LOL......another excellent point Tim. I think they are running out of magicians to do their show. I was approached to do the show again, but I declined. I performed 3 of my illusions the season I was on, and all but one of my remaining props had previously been performed on the show. Plus, I figured that performing anything on that show that was previously done would be an instant suicide.....but that was proved wrong already this season. The two best routines in my show do not require large props, and are undeniablely the audience favorites....However, it would be impossible to perform them in the 90 second time limit.

I thought it was real fishy last season when they praised Landon for his water escape illusion, but told Anthony Reed a few seasons earlier that it was not an exciting enough piece to advance.

BINGO!

I just finished the article - did their act make it to air, and if so, is it on youtube or anywhere?

w_s_anderson: You may have already addressed this, but just wondering, how did appearing on AGT affect your booking rate/fees? I've been looking into the show for a while, but it seems it's more of a gamble than I thought.

It did air and went just about how she described it would. If I remember correct they cut out all of it except for the part they lit their tongues on fire at which points the judges acted all grossed out and X'd them along with all the audience boos. The girl was shocked and actually thought that the audience was booing Howard for X'ing them so Howard coaxed the audience into Booing for them a second time to prove they weren't booing him.

Geeeeesh! Do I have to do everything for ya? Look at the 2:10 mark and you'll see how they were treated. It all got cut out except for the humiliating part. http://youtu.be/nfq8WWmHAKQ

Watch this clip then read the article again and then decide if you want to trust the shows producers to treat you any better.

Thanks for that. I tried searching on youtube but didn't have any luck.
In my case I'm in Australia and the judges here seem to be more pleasant over all than the American ones, none the less this, along with the other link you gave (which was about the Australian version specifically), is certainly making me reconsider. If I want to gamble, maybe I should go to a casino instead - you only lose money.

OoooKayyyyy if we need some more examples of the shows character here is a bit to look at. I can't speak for all of the performers here but the guy falling off the chair is not a magic act but rather a comedy act that pretends to be a magic act gone wrong. It is clear to all who watch his full act what he is doing. The producers and the judges also know that but when the edit it right it looks like the guy is a baffoon of a magician. Then there is Becky Blaney who is a personal friend of mine. For years the producers called her and asked her to appear. No audition necessary they said. They told her they knew of her and were sure she had a chance to win. That would be the line that would make me run for the hills.

Anyway... after several years of asking Becky agreed. She did her act where magic appears to go wrong. The rings won't link with each other but they do with everything else including the mic stand and the folding chair on stage with her. Its part of her act and meant to be that way. However they edited it to look like she totally messed up big time. BTW... did you know they have councillors on site to help those affected by the treatment on stage. No kidding.

Here is the clip I mentioned http://youtu.be/0eIptKy_dWg

More news today on this fake show. Check out the background story, the music and the tears..... exposed today as FAKE! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/art......-newsxml

Ok.... off my rant now. Gotta get on with REAL life.

I knew that guy was faking! As soon as he came on my wife looked at me and said "That guy is full of crap."

http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_n......arn?lite

Here is a more detailed version of the story. This is absolutely disgusting. He even admits to embelishing his story to make it sound better. I am surprised he thought nobody would figure him out. It sounded a bit fishy to me also. AGT tried to get me to talk about my combat experiences on the show, but I refused. I'd only talk about performing magic. It's kind of the unwritten rule that those who "have done it" don't talk about it.....and those who "haven't done it" can't stop talking about it.

The Drake: "Did I tell you about a friend of mine who was offered a top 10 position before he even signed up?"

I'd be interested to hear more about that part, if it isn't confidential.
1. Was it in the contract itself, or as a 'verbal contract'?
2. Did he/she take the offer?
3. Did they actually give him/her the top 10 position?
4. How did the judges treat him/her?

Thanks

Come on Drake please share unless told other wise,,, we understand, Great post here, thanks for sharing to all. I originally posted this to help raise the art of magic instead of downgrade it as they mostly do. Thank goodness That Wsanderson had an original concept, as he can be read about way prior to his AGT experience. This doesn't just apply to the magical arts as we have seen on AGT, Thanks again for all of you chiming in.