Phenomenon: Episode 2 Recap

Tonight’s episode of Phenomenon was live. Very fitting for a Halloween evening.

The show began with each of the four performers from last week’s show giving us a very fast illusion. Then the remaining performers did a very fast illusion as well. They were all very fun to watch, but nothing that would blow our minds, just enough to catch our interests. Ross Mathews was so much fun as one of the assistants last week, they brought him back this week along with Shandi Finnessey & Raven-Symone.

Interestingly, it seems that one of the original mentalists, Jason Scott has been replaced for some reason by a mentalist named Mike Super. (I’ll be updating the cast page tomorrow, so please bear with me. There was no press release about this…)

Then, they let us know who had been eliminated from last week’s show. Gerry McCambridge & Eran Raven were safe and will return next week. But Jim Karol & Ehud Segev were eliminated. I was surprised. I thought Jim Karol was better than Gerry McCambridge, but what do I know about mentalism?

(follow the jump for lots more!)

Then we got to find out about Wayne Hoffman. He found a way to mentally influence Shandi to draw the image he had tattooed on his shoulder a month before. And I have to hand it to him, he has a lot of enthusiasm. But I think he did himself a disservice by letting us know how he had influenced her. It’s like giving away the trick. I was disappointed about that.

Next up was Angela Funovits. She did an illusion that I’ve seen Criss Angel do before with the sharp knife under the paper cover. She did it perfectly. Ross was funny as her assistant. I liked her act.

Next to perform was Guy Bavli. He was able to stop his own heart, then revive himself. He totally freaked out Raven (and me, by the way.) Totally impressive!

Then, we got to see Jan Bardi perform. He did an elaborate illusion where he “found a needle in a haystack.” He used a pendulum to help him and it was very impressive, but hard to describe.

Then, Jim Callahan tried to contact the dead and uses a pendulum as well. But this time, he demonstrated automatic writing. I thought it was a bit hokey.

Apparently, Criss Angel did too because he called him out as being “comical” and told him that he would give him $1 million of his personal money if he could tell what was in an envelope he pulled from his pocket. Jim got very upset and they almost came to blows right there on the stage, live. (Oh, the beauty of live television!)

Then we got to see the final mentalist to perform, Mike Super. He added humor to his performance. He created a fictional murder mystery for the audience. With a lot of fun style and personality, he did a good performance. I enjoyed it.

Well, now it’s up to America to decide who will go home and who will go through to the next round. Three of tonight’s performers will be eliminated on the next live show. If you liked them, be sure to vote for them.

What did you think of the performances? Who do you think should go home? Who should advance? Leave a comment to share your thoughts!

Reality TV, TV, Television, mentalist, Mindfreak, Phenomenon, Criss Angel, Uri Geller, Tim Vincent, Jan Bardi, Guy Bavli, Jim Callahan, Angela Funovits, Wayne Hoffman, Jim Karol, Gerry McCambridge, Eran Raven, Jason Scott, mike super, Ehud Segev