R. Paul Crap

I love R. Paul Wilson's show, The Takedown, in which he and a group of highly trained professionals actually attempt to cheat and "take down" various casinos. It's really educational and walks you through Wilson's mind. The episode, "Art of the Steal," was fantastic because Wilson re-worked the idea of a deck shell in order to steal a painting, exchanging a forgery for a valuable painting (instead of a card case, the shell was a hollow tray with glued on glasses - the switch was made much in the same way as a deck shell switch is made). The show is also rather suspenseful and nail-biting because of the reality of the situation - Wilson and his team really can get taken down.

The movie, Shade, involved R. Paul Wilson as a consultant (along with team member, Jason England, who can be seen in the movie doing the 21-Card Trick, a subtle inside magic joke). Shade was a great movie on its own and the subtle magic jokes and references made it that much better for a magician like myself. Just look at the cast list on the IMDB page and see how many magicians' names you recognize (these actors aren't playing the actual magicians they're named after - the director and writer, Damien Nieman, a magician himself, just named the characters after his magic idols.) Other things to look out for: the scene that runs during the opening credits features tons of incredible magic effects and sleights, including second deals and bottom deals as viewed from below a glass table; the scenes in which Stuart Townsend does sleights and effects, as R. Paul Wilson trained Townsend to do all of that within a month; and the scenes in the Magic Castle, in which Vernon meets "the Professor," a dead-on portrayal of the actual Professor, Dai Vernon.