Number 164 - 16th August 2003
Germany's
Simon Pierro has just been added to the line-up of magicians scheduled
to appear at this year's
British Ring Convention
in Southport (September 25th - 28th). Simon comes fresh from his success at
FISM where he was placed 2nd in General magic. Also booked: Michael Bailey
(UK), Stephen Bargatze (USA), Claus Wave (Germany), Craig Dickson (USA),
Jeremy Pei (Singapore), Danny Archer (USA), Laurent Beretta (France),
Chris de Rosa (UK), Shoot Ogawa (Japan), Frank Faver (France), Nicholas Le
Page (France), Loki (UK), Julie Llusion (UK), Michael Ammar (USA), Il Duo
Luis (Italy), Paolo Giua (Italy) and Theo Dari (France). Looking good!
Registration details can be found on the website:
www.britishring.org.uk.
16.8.03
John
Archer has just returned from the Abbott's Convention in the States
where he was awarded the Clark Crandall Award for Comedy. Seen here
with Pat Page, Hank Moorehouse and Obie O'Brien, John has just completed
work on a new series of Fort Boyard and can be seen next year at the
Blackpool
Convention.
16.8.03
Max
Somerset is all for exposure... of the "I haven't got any clothes on"
kind that is. He's just finished filming for a new game show to be aired
on Bravo in September called the Yes No Game Show. "I am wearing a
silk top hat and stand behind a plinth but there's nothing up my
sleeves... I can't believe they talked me into it!" We'll bring you
transmission dates when we have them.
www.maxsomerset.com. 16.8.03
Secrets
of Magic was reviewed in The Stage on Thursday, August 14th, by
TV critic Harry Venning. "Magic as a branch of the entertainment industry
has been in decline for quite some time and programmes like Secrets of
Magic look determined to kill it off for good." To read the
review, reproduced with kind permission from The Stage,
Click Here. The Stage is published every Thursday and often has items
of interest including audition advertisements, reviews,
details of showcases, an annual Magic Supplement and much more...
www.thestage.co.uk.
16.8.03
Fay
Presto heads the line-up at the
Magic Club in
Birmingham on Sunday, September 7th. Also on the bill are Saxon and Ron Popple.
Venue: the
Boundary Hotel,
Walsall. Map
- Doors open at 7.30pm.
16.8.03
International News: "Two years ago,
Jason Latimer began his quest to create his very own magic trick, a twist
on the old shell game, or the magician's cups and balls routine. He spent
his first year inventing the eight-minute show of visual and psychological
misdirection, the next year practicing and perfecting it." FISM winner
Jason Latimer is interviewed about his recent success in
www.insideVC.com
- the report includes audio and video clips. "It's an obsession," Latimer
said. "It's sad, but I'm a one-topic person. I'm going to be doing magic
for the rest of my life, that's for sure."
16.8.03
The British Magical Awards Convention
organised by the Manchester Circle of Magicians looks like being a great
day out. It's on Sunday 31st August at the Middleton Civic Hall, Fountain
Street, Middleton, Lancashire (just off the M60 at Junction 20). At 9.30am
14 Magic Dealers exhibit their wares followed by the North West "King of
Kids Magic" competition. At 1.30pm Eddie Burke lectures then at 3.00pm the
North West Close-up Championship begins with 6 strong competitors. At
5.30pm another star lecture is billed, then at 7.15pm the presentation of
awards followed by a Gala Show featuring Shane, Alec Powell, Michelle,
Brian Sefton, Mark Raffles, Chris North & Belinda, Terry Seabrooke
(photo) and
direct from a season at the Blackpool Grand Theatre Philip Hitchcock.
Further details can be obtained from the Registration Officer: Anne Lever
on deriko@skynow.net or phone or
fax 01253 810113.
16.8.03
"The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is a
place where you would expect to see alternative comics, avant-garde
theatre and the outrageous - this year you will find an alternative in
Paul Daniels. Presenting two shows, Paul brings experience and pure
showmanship to the Festival." Marc
Dominic reviews both shows this week:
Click
Here. And Tony Walker also reviews An Audience with Paul Daniels:
Click Here
16.8.03
The
Full Facts of Cold Reading by Ian Rowland is available once again and
is now stocked by
MagicTricks.co.uk "We're very pleased to be stocking this as it is the
first time that Ian has allowed a dealer to sell this item." The book was
reviewed by Keith Fields in MagicWeek two years ago - and this new version
is the third edition.
Review.
16.8.03
www.magicbox.uk.com
present EXP - The Magicbox Experience. "We took three of our
magicians, a bar, a restaurant, a kid's show and the Gate (one of
Newcastle's newest entertainment complexes), some of our latest and
greatest tricks, put them all in front of a camera and this is the result!
It's 90 minutes of non-stop magic, performed for real people in the real
world so that you can see how these effects really look!" What a great
idea. Available on video or DVD from
www.magicbox.uk.com.
16.8.03
International
News: Set in the heart of the beautiful Austrian Alps the Austrian
Magic Convention 2004 is set to take place from May 20th - 23rd.
Almost 800 magicians are expected to register from all over the world. An
overland bus tour is being organised from England. For more information
visit: www.zaubern.at
or email mayrhofen@zaubern.at.
16.8.03
Steven Dick
takes over on Sunday for the final week of Magic @ Cafe Royal
at the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Ian Kendall who organised the shows reports
that the run was a great success. Steven is a magician
and stand-up comic from Dunfermline. Tickets are £5.
www.stevendick.co.uk.
16.8.03
Reigning
French Junior Champion of Magic,
Sammy Nesville
(14) is over from France at the moment to spend some time working on magic
with Luke Sherratt (15) who is a member of the Isle of Wight Magic
Circle, the Portsmouth Magic Circle and the Young Magicians'
Club. Both boys are really interested in stage illusion and have
benefited greatly from each others ideas, despite language
limitations.
16.8.03
The
Magic Cavern at Barons Court Presents An Amazing evening of
Magical-FX and Illusions with Matt Edwards on Monday December 1st at
7.30pm and 9.15pm. Barons Court Theatre, West Kensington, London. Box
Office 020 8932 4747
www.falseimpressions.com Now Booking to April 2004. If you are
interested in presenting your act/show at The Magic Cavern contact
Richard Leigh:
richard@falseimpressions.com.
16.8.03
David
Penn and Clive Fletcher will be performing this weekend, for an
estimated 70,000 people per day, on the main stage at the Northampton
Balloon Festival. Their illusion Show will feature a guest appearance
by Jim Henson's "Bear in The Big Blue House" one of the many stars of The
Disney Channel.
16.8.03
Look out for Joe Tracini and Stephen Mullhern this morning on SM:TV Live from 9.25am on ITV1 • Drew McAdam's online review of Keith Fields' Edinburgh shows that we linked to last week contained an error. Drew emails: "For some reason the Keith Fields review seems to have dropped a couple of stars in the telling! I have no idea how this happened, but the web page you are directing to has got it wrong. Keith was a 4 star review." Drew is also a mentalist and a good friend of Marc Salem. Richard Marks (USA) and Lior Manor (Israel) were both up in Edinburgh to see the shows and Paul Zenon and Drew ended up as guests on Marc's show one night... sounds like a mini magic convention! • "Paul Daniels adds some magic to Bute House party" read the full story in the Scotsman • Jonathan Royle is presenting a Stage-Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy seminar in Rochdale, Lancashire on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th September 2003. There is a £100 discount for MagicWeek readers... For full information by return email hypno@hypnotorious.com mentioning "MagicWeek." • Mel Harvey can be seen on upcoming editions of The Weakest Link and Our House - transmission dates when we have them • That's just about it for this week, many thanks for your feedback to my review last week. I thought I'd get a few emails but since last Saturday have received 49. A real guage of the indignation that was felt by so many • Your magic news is always welcomed, see you next week, Duncan. 16.8.03