Review Lecture - Will Houstoun 2016

Will Houstoun Lecture - Cotswold Magical Society

April 2016

Reviewed by Dougie Gibbard AIMC

I noticed that there is only one review of Will’s lecture on MagicWeek, written last year by Chris Payne of the Bristol Society of Magic, so I’d recommend that you read that review, and then go online to view as many clips of Will that you can find. Will’s Cotswold Magical Society lecture was similar and afterwards I sent a message to our Society recommending that we book Will again - even if it was for the same lecture!

I expressed my personal opinion that it had been the best lecture I had seen in my 41 years of membership. In that time we have had some excellent lectures, from some notable magic names; but the meticulous preparation and delivery of Will's lecture was exceptional.

It is a difficult lecture to explain. Will sometimes allows members to decide which subject he should cover next. Coin 0.5, Minus Aces and Shadow Coins are all viewable on line. Will demonstrates how to visibly toss a coin from one hand to the other and yet although you see it go it does not arrive. And of course he does the opposite. He throws the coin invisibly, i.e. you see nothing travelling - and yet it arrives in his other hand.

Will has written two historical books: "The Notebook" and "Hellis in Wonderland". His explanation of these and how they came about also formed a fascinating part of the lecture. Finally, I repeat my advice, to read Chris Payne's excellent review and persuade your programme organiser to book Will's lecture!

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