Ben Earl Trick Artist. Channel 4, 9pm.

The trick was I watched this at 10pm after watching The Genius of Marie Curie. We all know that she won the Nobel for Physics and later the Nobel for Chemistry, and the half-life of uranium is 16 000 years. What is the half- life of TV fame? Ben Earl’s TV stunts are undoubtedly brilliant. I can’t explain them, but I can’t explain a lot of things. I can’t explain, for example, why Kylie is so cute, but her sister isn’t. I can’t explain what I last did with my van keys, or why people have door mats. I love magicians and con artists, but Ben Earl’s real trick would be to make Derren Brown disappear from scheduling. I imagine TV scheduling is a bit like a model of perfect competition. Derren Brown’s selling trick shows to television and Channel 4 in particular. His production company makes $ amount. A cut price Derren moves in and does tricks for £ amount. Soon the market is flooded and people stop watching. This model applies equally well to X-factor, Britain’s Got Talent, The Voice, and that Celebrity jungle thing. If Ben Earl of anybody else can make them disappear they’ll be God in my eyes.