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British Magical Championships 2007, Blackpool
24th February 2007
Report and photos by Mandy Davis
This
year’s X-Factor style competition was particularly long with thirteen entrants
and comments from the judges: Derek Lever, Terry Seabrooke, Hank Moorehouse and
Domenico Dante.
The event opened with the first of the junior acts, High Jinx. Siobhan Jordan,
in dressing gown and slippers, wandered among the props on stage and vanished
some balls in a box before performing a sub trunk to bring her brother Michael
onto the stage. He brought back the vanished balls and the two of them performed
a D’Lite routine and a synchronised candle vanish and reappearance. They ended
with a packing case illusion and the appearance of a giant wand which they
carried offstage. The judges had several comments: a hatred of face microphones
which were considered distracting, the opening was too slow as they need to grab
the audience’s attention and the giant wand was proclaimed ‘naff’! However they
were also told that they had a first class act which could earn them a living
right away.
Stuart Brown won the Manipulation category with a fairly classic act. There was
a cane to feathered plumes, a cane production from inside a Slinky toy, a silk
from a tube and more plumes from the silks before some card manipulations
including single cards from a silk. Some giant card manipulations followed as
well as an Animated Hanky sequence and a streamers from Dove Pan finale. Here
the judges felt that the act should’ve been entered into the general magic
category and also that Stuart needed to be relaxed. It was also considered that
his music was wrong, especially for the hanky which needed to be more natural.
It was also said that it was a shame to close with an automatic trick such as
the dovepan and – most importantly – that Stuart should get out of the habit of
talking to himself, something many manipulators tend to do! This seemed to be a
lot of criticism for an act which won its catergory….
The next act, Atmosfear, opened with a very elderly couple shuffling their way
onto the stage to stand at a bus stop. This became very useful for a Yogano
stool style levitation performed to a George Formby song and was followed by a
sub trunk which revealed Atmosfear without their masks - a young couple who
included three costume changes in this sequence. Their next illusion was a full
head and body twister to lively modern music. After donning a full length
leather coat, a small pyramid illusion took place and a costume change from
orange to yellow which matched the outfit the girl was wearing when she finally
emerged. The judges felt that this was a good act for lay people but that
magically the body twister was not good and having casters on it didn’t help. It
was suggested that they should do more as the old couple. Both of the performers
looked good and Atmosfear won the Illusion category.
Keelan Leyser and Charlotte Marie won both the General Magic category and the
Grand Prix Trophy. Their quick change act was immaculate as they moved and
danced expertly throughout the act. Keelan changed from one suit to another,
then added colour changes for his tie and gloves before performing a snowstorm
effect using rose petals, the first of several quick magic effects. Charlotte
Marie was wearing black when she first appeared to dance to Lady in Red – so a
change of dress was needed here! A change of tempo and Keelan also changed, this
time into silver clothes to perform as a robot. Quicker and quicker the changes
came, she into a yellow mini dress and he into a pink waistcoat. More still
behind an unfurled poster and through some silver streamers ending, in a David
and Dania way, with a final shower of tinsel for the last change. All the judges
thought the act was fabulous, they had nothing but praise.
There were three special acts as well as the competition entries. The first of
these was Stan Allen performing with his usual great style and comedy timing. He
amusingly tore a newspaper, not to restore but to replace under the pet travel
box which housed his infamous rabbit puppet, Killer who was as cute as they come
and performed a card trick almost unaided!
Prior to the interval the ever funny Tony Stevens presented a giant water casket
and informed the audience that he would smash Blaine’s underewater record. To
the delight of the audience he immersed himself and was locked inside the casket
– to emerge when the curtains were raised for the second half of this three
halves competition.
Reflections was the second manipulation act featuring appearing and vanishing
candles, silk fountain, card manipulations and glitter balls which got larger
and larger until the final, even larger, one preceded the production of an
assistant. The judges did not endear themselves to the audience who booed when
it was said that the performer needed to lose weight! However it was also
considered that the act was original and novel but needed to be longer and have
more pace and built in applause cues.
Andrew Green, illusionist, had a very atmospheric act with a lot of excellent
dance to enhance the magic. It started with a shadow box to produce a girl.
Several appearing and vanishing candles, as well as a Silk to Rose effect, led
to an operatic aria as the girl was carried onto a base for the first of the
evening’s fan suspensions and a sub trunk finale. This was considered a good act
by some of the judges with a good atmosphere. However it appeared to be a long
time before anything magical happened and it was suggested that the act should
finish with the fan and not the trunk. One judge commented that it was ‘a magic
competition, not Come Dancing!’ and felt that there was not enough magic
although the audience clearly didn’t agree with this.
Romany’s entrance was embellished by Roy Davenport and John Archer in tuxedos,
dancing onto the stage to escort her down some steps. Two spectators were
brought on for Miser’s Dream, then a long sash was tied between two stands with
giant feather fans. The sash was used for a Cut and Restored effect before
Romany launched into her signature treatment of Coins Across using the
spectators to support her as she swooned between them in her efforts to make the
magic work – and it did! She ended with the production of a bottle of champagne.
One of the judges declared Romany to be ‘a lady who can put the capital ‘E’ into
Entertainment’ and another felt she would do well in any entertainment
competition; it was also felt that the competition had limited her capability
but that what she had done had been greatly appreciated.
Alec Powell was awarded both the Comedy prize and the Ken Dodd award. The act
lasted twenty=eight minutes which was somewhat overlong. He started by
attempting to perform a Zombie routine, only to find that it was his wig which
levitated and not the ball under the cloth. He used some good and pertinent
lines referring to events at the convention so far and he had an original take
on a legs table. His performance included a disabled assistant who had returned
for revenge, a Dippy Duck routine and a Hypnotised Rabbit, as well as some
levitating shoes, a traffic speed camera and a cannon! One of the judges
announced, and the others agreed, that this had been a pile of c**p – but the
funniest pile of c**p he’d ever seen.
Joe Ray was the second junior and won his category. He opened with card scaling
and multiple coin productions enhanced by the tinkling sounds of a coin ladder.
He used large coins too, appearing and vanishing from a large red silk. This was
followed by card manipulations and single card productions, all faultlessly
executed but with the same expressions throughout. The production of a velvet
bag of coins was novel and this in turn was used for a zombie routine, finally
being opened to show it was full of coins which were poured out into a casket.
When this was reopened all had vanished leaving Joe’s hat which he donned as he
recovered the cane he’d been carrying when the act had begun. The judges were
divided about the music, some considering it outdated but all agreed that it was
a lovely act, very beautiful.
The act to close the second half was Die Zauderer from Germany and were totally
original in their presentation. Three knights in full armour entered the stage,
two blowing trumpets and the third walking with a zimmer (walking) frame. Two
showed large silks but the third had his swallowed by the large drum he was
banging. As the act continued the visors on their helmets went up and down
unaided in time to the music and their armour creaked as they moved. Everything
they did was funny and/or magical and different. A plastic sword became a flute
then all the swords are seen to make the sounds of Indian musical instruments.
There were some nesting vacuum cleaners too and a vanished silk reappeared to
the sound of birds flying overhead and leaving a deposit! There was some fun
with more silks, simple direct but very funny and the final moments saw the
productions of two umbrellas to fend off a rainstorm – and the appearance of a
useless umbrella frame too.
After the interval Mist was the final act in the Illusions category. Their
opening was very unusual, a combination of a shadow box and video footage as we
saw a guy, Sean Alexander, apparently struggling inside the box and then
breaking out, half inside on the screen and half outside emerging in reality.
The act continued with a floating lady illusion and then a transparent trunk was
uncovered to reveal a girl inside it. The guy leaped onto the top of it for a
sub trunk effect but although the girl changed places with him initially, he had
vanished and MC Tony Stevens, plus another girl, were sealed inside instead.
Finally we saw the vanish of several members of the audience who stood inside a
frame on a ramp and curtained from the rest of us although there were other
spectators standing around as witnesses. Sadly, due to the lighting and the
angle of my seat, I was able to watch the people inside and saw what happened to
them! The judges felt that this was raw talent at this stage and were aware of
some exposure. It was also considered wrong to leave the witnesses on stage at
the end of the act, that they should be sent back to their seats.
David Allen’s comedy act started by producing a duck from a drawing board
instead of the expected bowling ball! He proved that he had also invented a
‘duck translator’ which helped the audience to understand what the duck was
saying throughout. The duck was also put through a wringer and flattened before
being restored. Finally it was placed in a cannon and fired across the stage to
land inside a cage. The judges agreed that the act was in its infancy and that
the ventriloquist skills needed improving. It was also suggested that the duck
itself was too noisy – maybe what it said could be translated rather than
vented? It was felt to be a great idea but needed more business and quite a bit
of work.
It was almost midnight when the last junior magician got to perform. Josh
Miller’s act was lively and his smile was constant as he romped through Linking
Rings, Silk to Rose, Dancing Cane, Dream Bags and a Dove Pan streamer finale.
The judges agreed that they had seen three excellent junior performers during
the evening but that this act’s magical content was not quite right as yet and
that the automatic Dove Pan ending shouldn’t be used.
The final act was in the general category but opened with a glass pyramid
illusion. A girl was then put into a colourful cube and tubes thrust through it.
The box itself opened into a geometric shape and the girl had gone. Some cards
were produced for manipulations and another fan levitation was performed to end
this act. The judges felt that this had been the best fan illusion of the night
and that the act should’ve been in the illusion category. They all loved the act
yet it didn’t win a prize this year, maybe because it was in the wrong group.
An unnecessary final guest act took the evening’s entertainment beyond one in
the morning. Sos & Victoria Petrosyan performed an unusual shared Dancing Cane
routine with the cane going from one performer to another often without apparent
preparation. This was an act that needed to have been seen earlier to be
appreciated to the full but it was different and brought to an end a very long
but professional competition.
Winners (and photo order above)
Junior - Joe Ray
Manipulaton - Stuart Brown
General Magic + Grand Prix Winner - Keelan Leyser
Comedy - Alec Powell
Illusion - Atmosfear
© Mandy Davis, March 2007