Could this be Keith Barry's best magic trick ever?

On 6 March, TV3 aired a US TV special by the Waterford magician called Keith Barry Extraordinary Magic.

Made for American network CBS, the special featured the Irish star in Hollywood doing his stuff with an a-List gang of celebs including Jessica Simpson and Matthew McConaughey.

Heavily promoted by TV3, the one-hour special pulled 249,000 viewers to the Ballymount station.

However, Irish viewers could well have had a sense of déjà vu, because The Diary can reveal that three years ago, in December 2006, RTÉ broadcast the very similar sounding Keith Barry Extraordinary which also featured Keith Barry in the US doing his magic tricks for celebs Jessica Simpson and Matthew McConaughey.

Hang on a minute! Are we talking about the same TV show? A TV3 spokesman told The Diary: "Keith Barry: Extraordinary Magic which aired on TV3 was a first on Irish television. It aired originally on CBS. The programme that aired two years ago on RTE was part of a completely different series."

Confused? The Diary calls its first witness, Keith Barry, who told us: "I am 100% sure RTÉ aired this. Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Simpson, that's the same show. The only show I ever shot for CBS was Keith Barry Extraordinary, a one-hour special for CBS and that was it. There was no series on CBS. I think they [TV3] renamed it. I thought there was no way TV3 would air a programme that RTÉ had aired until I was in bed on Tuesday morning watching Ireland AM and heard Mark Cagney talking about me in a TV preview of the week. I think it's very odd my CBS special went out on TV3 last Friday night. Great but odd."

Hilariously, it might have been the third time Keith Barry's CBS Special has aired on Irish TV. RTÉ confirmed to The Diary that the station acquired the rights to air Keith Barry Extraordinary in 2006. It was broadcast on RTÉ One on 28 December 2006 and was repeated on RTÉ One on 6 August 2007.

TV3 is standing by its story, but later told us: "The information TV3 was given was that the programme we aired was not aired on RTÉ. That's what we have been told and if that information is incorrect, that is highly unusual."

Meanwhile, we suggest you catch the magic man on his Irish tour. It visits Athlone's Dean Crowe Theatre on 20 and 21 March, Tipperary's Excel Theatre on 27 & 28 March, and Limerick University on 2 April.