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Liam Ball Lecture
South London Magical Society
February 2024
Reviewed by Simon Rosselli
The title of the Lecture was “Rings, strings, wallets, cups, and other
thoughts” and the synopsis was a Magic lecture for magicians, by Liam Ball - The
Gentleman Magician. A lifetime of passion in the magical arts, and decades of
hard-earned knowledge was laid bare. A litany of hard hitting, direct magical
effects, and the thinking behind them, along with a few impromptu pieces that
you can do with items around you, that will have a high impact, and minimal
preparation.
Simply put, it didn’t disappoint.
Liam started off with his Chop Cup routine that was a joy to watch and extremely
well executed. He said he was going to wait to the second half to explain the
workings of it when he would go into the workings of it and his thinking behind
it.
We were all then given paper napkins and taught not only how to make a paper
rose but also how to make it smell like a rose! This was very interactive and
had the whole club engaged in learning something at the same time.
Liam then went into his workings of coin and glass through the table which again
was detailed and well described and included how to make a coin come up through
the table.
Before the break he showed us his ring on ribbon the ring finally appearing in a
wax sealed envelope inside a nest of leather wallets that had been on the table
the entire routine. After the break he broke down the handling, which included
three very nice moves with the ring on ribbon and also his detailed workings on
the wallets and the construction of the wax sealed envelope.
We were then shown Liam’s Trio of Equivoque – with a dice, a chosen card and
some random coins. This was a nice easy routine, which had some wondering how he
had done it. It was also a method for him to write down predictions, which were
handed out in advance and became business cards for spectators to take home.
To finish up with we went into the workings of the Cups and Balls, which was
broken down move by move and again something for everyone that already has this
in their armoury or for the complete beginner.
Afterwards he had some lecture notes for sale. Being the perfectionist that he
is, The Gentleman Magician didn’t just produce some bog standard lecture notes.
It was a 42 page booklet, printed on carded paper, with full colour photos and
illustrations on his breakdown of moves and handling and loads of QR codes which
took you live performances and step by step moves. There was also additional
material included on things he hadn’t got around to in the lecture – such as
Invisible Deck.
I know a couple of people that bought these lecture notes not just for the
information inside but because of the thought and time he had put into creating
such a document.
Highly recommended if you are looking for a new lecture for your club.
© Simon Rosselli, South London Magical Society, February 2024