Number 241 - 5th February 2005

 

Happy 100th Birthday to The British Magical Society, Europe's oldest magic club. To celebrate their centenary the society are holding a one day convention today (Saturday 5th) in Sutton Coldfield from 10am to 10pm starring Max Maven, Amethyst, Paul Hancox, Daryl and Alison, John Lenahan, Tino Navas, Sean Carpenter, Gavin Ross and Paul Dabek. Restricted tickets are available on the door - so there's still time for what I am sure will be a great day. The venue is the recently refurbished Sutton Coldfield Town Hall, Upper Clifton Road, Sutton Coldfield B73 6AB (Map). 5.2.05

 

Wayne Dobson heads the line up at the Northern Magic Circle Easter Parade (Saturday 26th March to Monday 28th). Artists booked to date: Vizage, Joe Trancini, Leslie Melville, Steve Gore, Percy Piecrust, Pat Fallon, Brian Sefton, Clive Moore and Jean with more to be announced. Featuring: Lectures, Dealers, Children's Showtime, a Gala Show, and a Close-up and Stage competition at the Craiglands Hotel, Ilkley, North Yorkshire. For registration details write to Bill Peckitt, 18 Pentland Drive, Huntington, York YO32 9PQ or telephone 01904 762910. 5.2.05

 

Magic Profile is back and we're delighted to feature Rob James in our first profile of 2005. A full time professional close-up magician Rob has turned his passion for magic into a career. "I now seem to spend most of my time driving to and from different hotels. Some of the more interesting places I have worked include the Tower Bridge Walkways, the House of Commons, the Science Museum and Plymouth Aquarium. Magic has also taken me to Dubai twice, Egypt, Florida and Las Vegas." To read more click on Magic Profile. 5.2.05

 

The Blackpool Convention has SOLD OUT! There are no seats left for the Sunday Gala Show so you cannot purchase a Gold Card Registration anymore. But there is some good news... Derek Lever, the Organiser and Arthur Casson, the Registration Officer, have put together a Silver Card registration package at £45.00 (Adults) and £30.00 (Juniors). This registration will admit you to all events, including the Saturday evening show and the Dealers, but does not include a Sunday Gala Show seat. It will also include $10,000 of "Funny Money" free of charge to enable you to play the tables in the Las Vegas style Casino. There are still a few tickets available for the After Gala Show Party at £12.00 each. You can download a registration form from www.blackpoolmagic.com or email: arthurcasson@aol.com or telephone Arthur Casson on 01253 393688. The dates are 25th, 26th, 27th February 2005... better hurry! 5.2.05

 

Mick Hanzlick presents Houdini - An Illustrated Talk on Thursday 31st March, at the Centrecom, 602 North Row, Secklow Gate West, Central Milton Keynes (Map) www.mickhanzlik.co.uk. 5.2.05

 

Sav, Pete Wardell, Chris Priest and Noel Qualter have just returned from the European launch of the new Nintendo DS in Paris. They performed customised magic designed to showcase the game console's features including a clever touch screen. On their way home via Eurostar they nearly got more than they bargained for when things were held up a little due to the fact that an unexploded WW2 bomb had just been discovered in a car heading for the tunnel! www.sav-uk.com, www.peterwardell.co.uk, www.chrispriest.com, www.noelqualter.com. 5.2.05

 

Nick Einhorn lectures at the Magical Mayhem Club in Hitchin, Hertfordshire on Thursday 10th March at 8pm. The lecture will take place in The Sun Hotel's Tavistock Suite, Sun Street, Hitchin. For more information email magical.mayhem@ntlworld.com or telephone Martin Daubney on 01462 627503. www.einhorn.co.uk. 5.2.05

 

The Order of the Magi President Mike Sharples and Immediate Past President Geoffrey Newton (photo, left and right) were invited to meet The President of Ireland Mary McAleese when she visited The Magi's headquarters, The Irish World Heritage Centre in Manchester, last week. A framed coloured Magi emblem was presented by Mike who said "It was a great pleasure to meet the president. We talked about the proposed new centre and how it will make a superb setting for our centenary in 2009." 5.2.05

 

Rob James has been teaching 'This Life' and 'Teachers' star Andrew Lincoln some sleight of hand for his part in a new peak time ITV1 drama series Afterlife. Andrew made a great student and the results will be seen later this year. In the picture, Andrew and Rob on location in Bristol. www.rob-james.com. 5.2.05

 

Roy Davenport, Keith Cooper & Carol and Magic Circle President Alan Shaxon appear at Mark Worgan's Klub Magic in Brighton on Wednesday February 9th with close-up magic from Steve Pratt and Andrew Jeffrey. I saw Alan Shaxon recently live on stage in The Magic Circle's Christmas Show and he was excellent. Tickets, via the Box Office: 01273 647100. For more information visit: www.klubmagic.co.uk. 5.2.05

 

Wanted! Shelley Radford from the BBC emails "Wanted - Funny and embarrassing 'magic' stories for a high profile BBC 1 television show audience, looking for possible audience members and/or fans of Paul Daniels. Would love to hear of any funny stories and events that have happened whilst performing magic. Particularly interested in embarrassing stories where things have gone wrong whilst on stage." Email Shelley Radford for more information: shelley.radford2@bbc.co.uk. 5.2.05

 

Michael Decker "World Champion Balloon Sculpturer Extraordinaire" will be lecturing across the UK in September and October. Lecture topics include: The basics, Using balloons as promotional give- aways, Balloons for corporate and personal promotion, Balloons at birthday parties, Drawing and holding a crowd, Making four or five balloons at the same time, Christmas balloons, Halloween balloons, and Questions and answers. "In the UK Michael performs regularly for Harrods of Knightsbridge. He has lectured for The Magic Circle, the IBM Convention, the Blackpool Convention and Clowns International. The lecture is both entertaining and informative and will be of interest to beginners and experts alike." Michael will be available for one week from Monday 19th September in the South and then from 3rd to 20th October starting in Scotland and then heading South. For more information to book the lecture for your club contact Colin Peters, telephone 01306 883938, email ColinPeters@TheMagicCircle.co.uk. Club secretaries should also keep an eye on the MagicWeek Lecturer's page to see who is currently available to lecture in the UK. 5.2.05

 

Roald Dahl's The Witches, adapted by David Wood, will open at the Wyndham's Theatre on 9th March 2005, following previews from March 3rd, for a limited season to 2nd April. Starring Ruby Wax as 'The Grand High Witch' and featuring illusions by Paul Kieve who recently created magic effects for 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' 'The Witches' follows the adventures of a seven-year-old boy and his somewhat magical grandmother who battle with real life witches, led by the most powerful villainess of them all - the Grand High Witch. Click Here for more information. 5.2.05

 

Easy Build Illusions by Paul Osborne is currently available from www.elmagicshop.com together with a number of the other books in the series. Easy Build features: The In & Out Box, the Fall Apart Box, Fast Make Sub Trunk, The Mummy Returns, The King of Clubs, Fast Make Tip Over, The Shadow of Life, Blueprinted and At the Beach. 5.2.05

 

The Magic Cavern at Barons Court is expanding. Richard Leigh for False Impressions would like to hear from magicians who would be interested in performing at the Magic Cavern and other venues in London. Magicians of every description are required with acts from anything from a single 12 minutes to 2 x 40 minutes in length. Please send promotional photos, act details, availability and fees to richard@falseimpressions.com or post to Richard Leigh, False Impressions, Plexus House, 1 Cromwell Place, South Kensington, London SW7 2JE. 5.2.05

 

The next Magic Car Boot Sale sponsored by Albion Magic takes place tomorrow, Sunday 6th February (from 9.30am), at The Beechmen Circus Warehouse, Union Street, West Bromwich (There's a map on www.albionmagiccompany.co.uk). The 28 stands will including the following dealers: Alakazam, Albion Magic, Keith Bennett, Mel Harvey, Hocus Pocus, Kitchen Table Magic, Magic Zone, Practical Magic, RAR, Harry Robson, Adrian Sulllivan, Stephen Tucker and Zane. Admission is £3. 5.2.05

 

Have pouch, will travel. Completing his round the world trip on a wing and a prayer (Australia, New Zealand Busk Fest, Los Angeles, Tampa, Key West), James James is back in the UK in time for the Street Busking Competition at the Blackpool Convention at the end of this month. "The value of Gazzo's tuition is paying off" said James. 5.2.05

 

Derek Lever - Change of email address: Blackpool Convention organiser Derek Lever has just had his email address changed by his ISP... but they forgot to inform him, so Derek asks readers who have not had a reply to any recently sent emails (that he will not be able to receive) to please email him again at his new email address: deriko@webaplomb.com. 5.2.05

 

Sony Multi-region DVD player - £49.99 including delivery! Just the job for all those magic DVDs this top-rated fully-featured player supports DVD video, DVD-RW/+RW, DVD-R/+R, SVCD, VCD, CD, MP3 and JPEG playback, with Coaxial Digital out, RGB SCART out and phonos out. Featuring an easy to use on screen contents browser, and, of course, an obligatory remote control. From Amazon.co.uk Click Here. 5.2.05

 

As The Magic Circle gear up for their Centenary Celebrations Nick Barlay talks to Magic Circle PRO David Beckley in The Times Click Here • "Illusionist's new circle of friends really are magic" Click Here • "Magician puts the fun into recycling" Click Here • "Wand-erful way to raise funds. A magician will be saying abracadabra to audiences in St John's when he puts on a magic show to raise cash for the tsunami appeal." Click Here • We've got an exciting new section planned for MagicWeek starting on Saturday 20th, but that's it for this week. Your UK magic news is always welcomed, see you next week, Duncan. 5.2.05

 

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