Number 229 - 13th November 2004
Andrew
Murray wins The Magic Circle's Close-up Magician of the Year Award 2004.
Reported by David Beckley, Press Officer, The Magic Circle: Last week, The
Magic Circle awarded Andrew Murray, a London based magician, its coveted
title 'The Close-Up Magician of the Year' for him it was "a lifelong
ambition - a dream come true." On Monday evening at The Magic Circle
headquarters, before a packed audience made up almost exclusively of
magicians, Andrew Murray calmly walked on and impressed his audience with
a superb display of baffling magic that combined pure skill with
tremendous entertainment. Andrew demonstrated the importance of
introducing novel twists into classic routines. Coins appeared by magic
and Aces defied the laws of physics by changing places in a seemingly
impossible way. An amazing triple prediction, to close, left everyone
speechless. The Judges were unanimous in awarding Andrew the Devano
Trophy, £500 and a special invitation to attend the FFFF magic convention
in New York, an 'invitation only' event dedicated to the art of close-up
magic. Second place went to Larry Barnes who presented an authentic 'Doc
Holiday' gambling routine and third place went to Bruce Munton who, again,
used classic card magic combined with novel presentation. (Photo: The
Magic Circle's President Alan Shaxon presents the award to Andrew
Murray)
www.andrewmurray.biz
www.themagiccircle.co.uk. 13.11.04
Sim
Sala Bim... Derek W. Hilton's Sim Sala Bim Magic and Illusion show
will be at the Little Theatre, 77a High Street South, Dunstable,
Bedfordshire on Saturday, December 4th, at 7.30pm. Tickets are available
on the night or can be booked via the theatre on 01582 667387 or via Sim
Sala Bim on 01582 617854. 13.11.04
MAGIC - Programme
Five: Dangerous Magic is on tonight at 9.25pm on BBC 2. The legacy of Houdini.
"Houdini was such an extraordinary showman that even today he continues to dominate
the world of "dangerous magic" long after his death in 1926. A short,
aggressively competitive, mother fixated, psychologically complicated
immigrant with a squeaky voice, Houdini came to represent the triumph of
the human spirit over adversity. His act was a metaphor for everyone who
hoped to throw off the shackles of repression, persecution and poverty."
In this show Robert Gallup (photo) performs an escape that he designed
specially for the programme and that has never been seen before. High
above the banks of the Thames he's strait-jacketed inside a Blaine like
Perspex box. But this is no feat of endurance – the floor of the box has
been fitted with a hair trigger and unless Robert Gallup escapes in time
he'll be sent hurtling down to be impaled on a rack of blazing spears...! 13.11.04
Mick
Hanzlik is a Master Locksmith and Associate of the Inner Magic Circle
with Silver Star. He is recognised as one of the UK's leading authorities
on the life of Houdini and has put together a hi-tech audio visual
presentation "Harry Houdini… The World's Greatest Escape Artiste"
containing many rare movie clips, photographs and escape demonstrations.
Together with David Berglas he was responsible for the design and
construction of the Houdini exhibit at The Magic Circle headquarters in
London. Recently, he acted as assistant escape manager for Robert Gallup's
BBC2 appearance on Magic (see above). His most recent project,
"SupaLok" has just been launched with very favourable comments from many
leading performers. The most important aspect of this effect is that it is
completely self working, and all the magic takes place in the spectator's
hand. "It's my kind of trick... faultless" Wayne Dobson. "You want magical
entertainment? You'll get it from this" Donald Bevan. "It's a professional
prop... highly recommended" Peter McCahon. Visit
www.mickhanzlik.co.uk/supalok for more information. 13.11.04
Magicseen
magazine. Early 2005 will see the launch of a new magic magazine
Magicseen. "The top-quality publication is produced by an experienced
publishing team who have previously launched five successful national
magazine titles. The Bi-monthly title, priced at £3.50 will be UK biased,
and will also include magic from around the world. Issue one will feature
exclusive interviews, magic tricks, celebrity pieces, reviews and lots
more. Contributions will come from some of the world's leading magicians –
and if anyone would like to contribute editorial material for
consideration – they are welcome to send it in! Editor is Mark Leveridge,
and the writers are professional journalists with extensive experience on
the national press. 'Magicseen will be a real breath of fresh air to the
magic world,' said Mark Leveridge, 'The aim is to make Magicseen more
entertaining than the current magic magazines – and one that will not take
itself too seriously. The standard of journalism is brilliant, and we are
receiving lots of support from people such as Sky TV and the major
production companies, to get those behind-the-scenes exclusives.'"
Subscriptions will be available from January 1st. Editorial material
should be marked 'Editorial' and can be sent to:
philshaw@email.com. Advertising
and wholesale enquiries to Peter Salter:
peter.salter@costcutter.com. 13.11.04
Congratulations
to Richard Graham who, on Sunday 7th November, followed up his recent
success in the Southend Sorcerers Society's Stage Competition, by winning
their Close-up Competition. The competition was enjoyed by all and closely
fought. Richard's entertaining act consisted of The Diceman, Dobson's
Invisible Lie Detector, Hopping Halves and Shoot Ogawa's Ninja Rings. 13.11.04
Be
part of the audience for the television filming of 'Late Night Magic
in the West End' at The Jermyn Street Theatre this Friday, 19th November.
With close-up psychological magic from Doug Segal in the Getti Restaurant
and Late Night Magic featuring the gambling routines and street act of
Peter Wardell (photo), in the theatre. For full details and tickets visit
www.falseimpressions.com. 13.11.04
Professional
Magician Sean Heydon recently made front page news in several papers
for attracting huge crowds to stands at the NEC. Sean has just won the
Northamptonshire Magicians Club Annual Magic Competition, and is just
about to be flown out to Italy by one of his corporate clients, but his
bread and butter work comes from restaurant residencies. Sean is currently
creating a CD to help magicians book residencies with tips on how to keep
them, how much to charge, how to make cross sales and how to book more
work through them! If anybody has any questions they would like answering
on this CD then Sean invites you to email them to him at
info@seanheydon.co.uk. 13.11.04
Last
Sunday's Great Escape day featured an awards presentation for the
first time, and we've just been sent the results of the votes made by
members of the 'Mentalist's Asylum' group and those who attended on the
day. The Black Belt in Magic Award went to David Lang, Life Time
Achievement in Mind Magic to David Berglas, Best Mind Magic Effect
on UK TV to David Berglas for his pulse stopping routine, Best
Contribution to the Advancement of Mentalism to Derren Brown. Plans
are already underway for next year's event, run by Spyros. 13.11.04
The
Order of the Magi presents The North West Dealers Day on November 21st
at Barnton and Anderton Royal British Legion Club, Meadow Drive, Barnton,
Near Northwich, Cheshire from 10am to 4pm. With a lecture from Ali Bongo
and a performance by Patrick Page. Dealers booked: Adrian Sullivan, David
Charles, Castle Magic Services, Peter Diamond & Co., David Baxter, Stephen
Tucker, Mr E Enterprises, Practical Magic and Merlins. Entrance is just £5
and there's a £50 Dealer Voucher to be won in their raffle. More
information:
www.orderofthemagi.co.uk. 13.11.04
"For
Example" features magician Christopher Howell and artist Olivia
Plender in a varied exploration of magic, mediumship, and illusion at the
Hayward Gallery, on Tuesday November 30th. The event will touch on the
historic connections between magic and mysticism, and each concept will
then be illustrated with a magic demonstration. This event defies
categorization: part talk, part magic performance, part séance. For
Example was created by Howell (photo) and Plender especially for the
Hayward to further explore the concepts behind the current Eyes, Lies, and
Illusions exhibition. Admission: £5.00 Time: 6.30 pm (price does not
include entry to the exhibition). To book, call the Hayward Gallery's
Talks & Events Box Office: 0870 169 1000.
www.christopherhowell.net. 13.11.04
Watford
Association of Magicians President Terry Seabrooke hosted a lunch in
Bushey on Thursday for Academy of Magical Arts (The Magic Castle)
President Dale Hindman, who is visiting to attend The Magic Circle's
Annual Banquet. Other prominent WAM members present were Julie Carpenter,
Martin Cox, Tim Shoesmith, Patti Sinclair of Magical Wonders and John
Star. Both Shoesmith and Star have recently returned from performing at
the Magic Castle, Cox was today invited to perform at the Castle, Patti is
a Life member of the Castle, and Julie - who recently won WAM's Gil Leaney
Shield received much interest and looks to have a very bright future.
Terry Seabrooke retains the record as an international performer with over
100 appearances at the Magic Castle, and holds every award from the
Academy! 13.11.04
El-Loco
"The Dentist" combines the visual arts of comedy, mime and magic to
help relax his patients (the audience!) in the waiting room as they all
pay a visit to The Dentist...
www.elloco.co.uk. 13.11.04
The
Magic Wand Shop
www.themagicwandshop.co.uk is running a pre-Christmas Giveaway. Three
lucky visitors to their website will win a 14" mahogany magic wand,
complete with very rare phoenix feather. The Magic Wand Shop's wands all
come complete in a striking silk-lined presentation box, and are
much-loved by magicians and wizards of all ages! All you have to do to
enter the competition is visit
www.themagicwandshop.co.uk and follow the links. While you're there,
why not take a look at their full range of magic wands and associated
magical paraphernalia? All of their gift items are sure to make Christmas
morning even more magical! 13.11.04
Everybody's
Magic is now in stock and available from
www.magictricks.co.uk "A unique publication, with all proceeds going
to charity - this book is a must-have for anyone interested in magic!" •
"Objective Productions, the independent company specialising in magic
programmes such as Derren Brown's Mind Control and comedy series The Peep
Show, is opening a new office in Manchester in order to access new
talent." To read the full story by Liz Thomas in The Stage
Click Here • Paul Stone's Making Magic Pay seminar is reviewed
by Mandy Davis this week,
Click Here •
"Watch any magician at work, from Paul Daniels to David Blaine, and you
are watching science experiments in action. Even mind magicians such as
Derren Brown are using a knowledge of biology when they read people's body
language and behaviour to predict their thoughts." To read the full
article from RedNova
Click Here • my-magicshop.com have Spider Pens in stock,
Click Here for
details and to order • That's it! See you next week, Duncan. 13.11.04