Number
1016 - 14th December 2019
Penn
Jillette on The
Jonathan Ross Show, tonight at 10.10pm on ITV.
This week on The
Jonathan Ross Show, Jonathan is joined by Rebel Wilson and Jason Derulo
- stars of upcoming Hollywood blockbuster Cats, the breakout sporting
star of 2019, cricketer Jofra Archer, world famous award-winning
magician Penn Jillette, hilarious comedian Katherine Ryan, and one of
the biggest-selling bands of the millennium Keane will be performing in
the studio. See TV Magic for details.
14.12.19
Phil
Hitchcock is celebrating 25 years of Panto by appearing in Goldilocks
and the Three Bears at the London Palladium. It’s an all-star cast
in a multi-million pound QDOS Entertainments production. Phil has
designed new illusions for the production including an outstanding
version of his award-winning bird act. He's also created an mind blowing
version of his floating fireball with a spectacular finale! Inspired by
Siegfried & Roy and with thanks to Alpha, this is an exclusive illusion
that is wowing audiences twice daily. The show is receiving rave reviews
and has almost sold-out for the 5 week run.
14.12.19
The
Magic Circle Christmas Show, 20th-30th December, 2019. From The
Magic Circle: The Magic Circle Christmas Show is our annual fund raising
event featuring family entertainment. The show is for families so arrive
when the doors open to make the most of your experience at The Magic
Circle. The museum will be open prior to each show and magicians will be
mixing with the audience. The matinee performance (2.30pm show time)
should be finished by 5pm and the evening show (6.30pm show time) by
9.30pm. The Magic Circle has a fully stocked bar with soft drinks for
children and adult refreshments. Confectionary is also available and
there are a large selection of restaurants near The Magic Circle. See
www.themagiccircle.co.uk for full details and to book.
14.12.19
Dancing
on Ice at Christmas. Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby present
the launch show for the 12th series of the skating challenge. The famous
faces taking part this year are magician Ben Hanlin, reality TV star
Maura Higgins, Diversity member Perri Kiely, model and businesswoman
Caprice, TV presenter Trisha Goddard, actress Lisa George, Paralympian
Libby Clegg, ex-EastEnder Joe Swash, Steps singer Ian `H" Watkins,
newsreader Lucrezia Millarini, former footballer Kevin Kilbane, and TV
personality Michael Barrymore. In this first edition, the celebrities
are paired up with their professional partners, while Torvill and Dean
also perform a spectacular routine with some special guests, before
taking to the judges' desk alongside Ashley Banjo and newcomer John
Barrowman. 7pm on Sunday 22nd December on ITV. "Ben Hanlin reveals
Dancing on Ice 2020 skating partner"
Click Here.
14.12.19
Midlands
Magic Convention, 31st May, 2020. From the organisers: On Sunday
31st May 2020 Rob Harper, a magician from the Midlands, has arranged a
one day charity convention to be held at the
Birmingham
Conference & Events Centre. The day is a fundraiser for the charity
Hope For Justice. Rob is also a police officer and along with a team of
ten others is heading to Cambodia in September 2020 to work with victims
of child sexual exploitation. With a top quality line up including Lee
Smith, Fay Presto, Etienne Pradier, Leo Smetsers, Wayne Goodman, Jon
Allen, John Moreton, Joel Dickinson and Jasper Blakeley (with his
Russian alter ego Kockov) the day is going to be amazing. Early bird
tickets are now for sale priced at £40 until the end of December. Visit
the Facebook page
facebook.com/groups/556127978454713 for details.
14.12.19
The
Magic Club York to launch in the New Year. Phil Shaw writes: We are
a group of magicians whose aim is to provide a fun, friendly and social
environment for anyone with a strong interest in magic. We will meet at
7.30pm on the 1st Monday of every month at Acomb Bowls Club, 302 Thanet
Road, York YO24 2NW (Map).
The club’s first meeting, on 6th January 2020, will be free to attend.
Feel free to pop along and see what we are all about and meet our guest
Adrian Sullivan who will be demonstrating magic that will be available
to purchase at very low prices. If you would like to become a member of
the club there will be a £30 annual subscription fee which will be due
either on the night or at February’s meeting. We look forward to seeing
you there. Find us on Facebook or
www.magicclubyork.co.uk.
14.12.19
The
MagicWeek Video Archive. A new magic clip or show every week! This week
David Blaine on BBC1's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross from 23rd November 2002. See
The MagicWeek Video Archive. To catch up with more from The MagicWeek Video
Archive
Click Here.
14.12.19
Magicians
go on the road to conjure up fun for Scottish Schoolchildren.
Magicians are on a mission to help make learning fun in Scottish schools
during the run-up to Christmas. Magic School on the Road is a
touring workshop presenting free-of-charge magic lessons to kids who
wouldn’t have otherwise been able to attend MagicFest events.
National Lottery Awards for All Scotland and Kiran’s Trust Charity
support the Edinburgh MagicFest event, which is now touring seven
primaries and secondaries in the capital and Falkirk, in areas of
deprivation. Magic School on the Road takes some of the great activities
from highly popular Magic School workshop, that takes place during the
Magic Festival, and conjures them up for children in the classroom. Last
week Magic School headmaster Gary James delighted children from Primary
4 A and B at Craigour Park Primary School where he taught them tricks to
perform for their family and friends over Christmas and the New Year.
Thanks to cunning sleight of hand the children were also learning to
apply mental arithmetic as well as developing skills in critical
analysis and performance.
Gary, who has been running the MagicFest (Edinburgh International Magic
Festival’s) Magic School for a decade, said: “A lot of the children have
never seen a live magic performance before, so it’s a treat for them,
and there’s a lot hidden away in there of real educational value.”
MagicFest organisers, Svetlana McMahon and her magician husband Kevin
Quantum, piloted Magic School on the Road last year and felt it
had real potential. Svetlana said: “This year is the 10th annual
MagicFest and we wanted to do something really special. Not every child
can get along to festival events like Magic School so we thought that we
would go on the road and take it to their schools. And while on one
level it’s all about having lots of fun – magic is a great way to get
kids learning.” Not going to your school? You can still get tickets for
the events over Christmas at
www.magicfest.co.uk.
YouTube.
14.12.19
Become a MagicWeek Backer.
Thank you to everyone who became a MagicWeek Backer since the launch of
the scheme just over a year ago. I introduced it so that
MagicWeek will always be free. All Backers receive a small 'thank you'
gift.
Click Here to find out
more. DT.
14.12.19
All
the latest from Merlins! Merlins of Wakefield write: We have our
latest Magic ‘Preview’ available now. It’s packed with over 100 magic
books, tricks and offers. To get a download,
Click Here. If you would prefer a printed copy, just email your
postal address to us for a free 20 page copy
merlins@btconnect.com. We
also have tickets available for our Magic Festival Day in May 2020. It’s
our 25th Anniversary year, so we are pulling out all the stops to make
the day the best ever - for more details
Click Here. We have the 2020 Tenyo Magic in stock
Click Here for more details. With Christmas just around the corner,
don’t forget we do Gift Vouchers. These can be bought online and the
voucher is emailed to you, so can be done up to 1pm Christmas Eve. For
details of how to buy Gift Vouchers
Click Here.
14.12.19
Children’s
Magic Show, Friday 27th December in London. From the organisers: Let
your children enjoy the magic of Christmas! With top children’s
entertainer Colonel Custard, and the fabulous magic and dance act of
Megan Swann. Tickets: £7 children £9 adults from
www.conjuringatthecourt.com. The show starts at 2.30pm and runs to
4pm with an interval. It’s in the lovely function room of the Drayton
Court, 2 The Avenue, West Ealing, London W13 8PH (Map).
Just 12 minutes from Central London; take the West Ealing train from
Paddington and the hotel is 2 minutes walk from the station.
14.12.19
Conjuring
at the Court, Friday 27th December in London. From the organisers:
Enjoy Christmas with mystery and fun from Carl Pettman, Paul Megram,
Stephen Barry, and the balletic magic of Megan Swann. Compere Russell
Levinson. Tickets still only £11 from
www.conjuringatthecourt.com. The show starts at 8pm and runs to 10pm
with an interval. It’s in the lovely function room of the Drayton Court,
2 The Avenue, West Ealing, London W13 8PH (Map).
Just 12 minutes from Central London; take the West Ealing train from
Paddington and the pub is 2 minutes walk from the station. Parking is
free from 6.30pm.
14.12.19
Neptune
Magic Society Juniors' Christmas Show. The first annual Christmas
Show from the Junior section of the Neptune Magic Society was staged
last week at
Magicbox in Newcastle in front of a sell-out crowd. The Neptune
Magic Society would like to thank everyone at Magicbox for all of their
help and support in making it such a wonderful event. Ajay Vora reviews
the show,
Click Here. Also see
www.neptunemagicsociety.com.
14.12.19
The
Mark Leveridge December 2019 Podcast. The final podcast of the year
sees Mark giving comment and opinion on: The changing nature of magic
conventions means that the most successful and sustainable events are
those which are focused in terms of their theme or content. How do you
decide how many tricks to carry when performing strolling magic? Audio
books are a great learning tool for those who say they don’t read books
any more. A good performing style or personality can help dictate the
type of magic you choose for your act. The decline of general theatrical
agents has removed a quality control mechanism. Manage your bookers’
expectations if you want to avoid them being disappointed with you.
The podcast is the ideal 30 minute festive magic tonic, so pull up a
chair and listen for free either at
www.markleveridge.co.uk/podcast-archive or at
www.markleveridge.podbean.com from where you can also sign up as a
follower and receive every new edition automatically on its release.
14.12.19
Dynamo: Magician Impossible is being repeated over the Christmas period. See TV Magic for details. 14.12.19
Brian Rogers. Choreographer Brian Rogers died earlier this month. Over the years he worked with many magicians on television productions including The Best of Magic and Magic Comedy Strip, working on the staging of illusions as well as the choreography. 14.12.19
"Pete
Firman returns to Taunton with his amazing TBC tour"
Click Here •
"Piff the Magic Dragon is Heading to Silverthorne Pavilion"
Click Here • "Illusionist and Asia's Got Talent Winner Eric Chien Says Some
of His Tricks Have Come Straight Out of Dreams"
Click Here •
"BWW Review: The Illusionists return to Broadway with Magic of the Holidays"
Click Here •
"The Illusionists' Dom Chambers and Eric Chien Blow Our Minds with Magic"
Click Here •
"The Illusionists share some secrets"
Click Here •
"Q&A: Shin Lim"
Click Here • "Derren Brown On Why Magic Is More Theatrical Than You Think"
Click Here
• And finally, not magic but for Star Wars fans, here's Mark Hamill in
conversation with Frank Oz just last week,
YouTube •
Many thanks for your UK magic news, always welcomed. See you next week, Duncan.
14.12.19