The Secret Cabaret Explained

Runtime:30 minutes
Executive Producer:Sebastian Cody
Country:United Kingdom
Language:English
Num Series:2
Num Episodes:12

The Secret Cabaret is a magic-based television programme that ran for two series, of six episodes each, on Channel 4 in the UK during the early 1990s. Fronted by British magician Simon Drake it was praised for giving a new and shocking twist to the presentation of illusions.[1] In addition to various magicians the show featured sideshow acts and presentations by experts on fraud and confidence tricks, all interspersed with vintage archive footage of freak shows and daredevil stunts. It was nominated for a Royal Television Society Award and achieved an average audience of 2.53million.[2]

Description and production details

Each programme revolved around a theatre-based show presented by Simon Drake and featuring illusions performed by him in various guises. The styling of the show was dark and mysterious with some elements that reflected goth subculture. One of the features that gained it attention were illusion segments performed by Drake in a guise that owed much to punk and heavy metal. These sections were often embellished with realistic looking blood and gore reminiscent of the infamous performances of Peruvian magician Richiardi Jr. A substantial part of the running time of the show was given over to guest performers and various filmed items, ranging from archive footage to close-up presentations or exposures of scams and swindles.

Simon Drake is quoted as saying: "On television in the UK then, were Wayne Dobson and Paul Daniels, but they didn’t appeal to me. I wanted to see something darker, more fast-paced and rock-and-roll, more sexy, more weird."

The series had strong input from sleight-of-hand magician Ricky Jay, who made special appearances in each show and was credited as a writer. Also credited as a writer was poet and playwright Heathcote Williams. Noted illusion designer Jim Steinmeyer was credited as one of the producers.[3] [4]

Regular guests included magicians James Randi, Geno Munari, Max Maven and David Berglas and reformed fraudster turned security expert Frank Abagnale.[3] This was a decade before Abagnale became world-famous through the 2002 bio-pic Catch Me If You Can produced by Steven Spielberg.

Episodes and broadcast dates

Series 1

Series 2

Other broadcasts

During the 25th anniversary of Channel 4 in autumn 2007, The Secret Cabaret was shown again on More4 during the celebratory season.[6]

Other credits

In addition to those named above, the following appeared in various end credits:[7]

On-screen cast[8]

Production personnel[9]

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. In the end titles for the second series of the show Drake received a credit for "Conceived and Original Material".
  2. Broadcast magazine, 19 March 1992
  3. Web site: The Secret Cabaret . Open Media . 2007-03-15.
  4. Web site: The Secret Cabaret (series 1) . https://web.archive.org/web/20081022024940/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/433847 . dead . 2008-10-22 . The British Film Institute . 2007-03-15.
  5. The information for this episode was checked directly with a recorded copy of The Secret Cabaret – series 2 episode 6 . (Open Media and Channel 4) .
  6. Web site: Channel 4 at 25 – Page 5 – TV Forum . Tvforum.uk . 18 January 2016.
  7. The credits lists here have been compiled from available tapes of episodes and from lists published on the web by Simon Drake and Open Media. Tapes were not available for all episodes and so this listing should not be assumed to be complete. Where a particular series is noted in parentheses it means the name was found on credits for that series but it does not imply the person was not involved in both series.
  8. Taken from Web site: Cast & Crew . Secret Cabaret . 2008-07-17. and also from a tape of The Secret Cabaret - series 2 episode 6 . Open Media and Channel 4 .
  9. From tapes of The Secret Cabaret - series 1 episode 6 . Open Media and Channel 4 . and The Secret Cabaret - series 2 episode 6 . Open Media and Channel 4 .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "The Secret Cabaret".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.