Number 466 - 30th May 2009
Ah-ah,
I know what you're thinking, "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Derren Brown is known to his devoted fans as a brilliant showman. His television shows attract audiences in the millions and
his live show plays to sell-out audiences every night. But in his spare
time, Derren uses a very different skill. He is a prodigiously talented
artist who paints caricatures of famous faces from around the world. He
has painted everyone from Richard Dawkins to Robbie Williams, from
Anthony Hopkins to Amy Winehouse, and here for the first time they are
all collected together, with Derren's thoughts on the person concerned
and why he wanted to paint them in the first place. A must for all of
Derren's fans, available from Amazon.co.uk,
Click Here. 30.5.09
Pete
Firman is performing on Friday, 5th June, in Carlisle at The Sands
Centre. Live and Ungagged is a charity comedy event starring
Pete, Jason Manford (8 out of 10 Cats), Tim Minchin (Secret
Policeman's Ball), Russell Kane (Big Brother's Big Mouth) and Robin
Ince (The Office). All proceeds will go to the Carlisle branch of
Amnesty International. The show starts at 7.30pm and tickets can be
booked via
www.thesandscentre.co.uk. He's also bringing 'The Pete Firman Magic
Show' to E4's Udderbelly, at the Southbank Centre in London. The famous
purple, upside down cow is hosting a 7 week season of shows and Pete is
performing an evening of the best bits from his last two sell-out
Edinburgh shows. The show is on Thursday, 16th July, at 9pm, tickets are
£12 and can be booked via
www.southbankcentre.co.uk (no under 16's). 30.5.09
IrishMagicNews.com
has just launched. Produced by Irish magician Brendan Byrne the site
will focus on magic and magicians making the news in Ireland, together
with links to magic societies and events based in
Ireland. "I really hope that this site becomes the first
port of call for all magicians considering visiting Ireland. In the past
it has been troublesome for lecturers to find the right people to talk
to. Hopefully that is a thing of the past." said Brendan. MagicWeek
wishes them well, visit
www.irishmagicnews.com today! 30.5.09
Chris
Cox: Mind Over Patter. Phil McIntyre Entertainment presents Chris
Cox: Mind Over Patter at Pleasance Dome King Dome, at 8.30pm, from
August 5th - 31st. "The UK’s most exciting contemporary mind-reader,
Chris Cox is renowned for his incredible ability to predict the
unpredictable. He returns to Edinburgh for the fourth consecutive year
with a brand new show full of previously unseen feats. Unleashing the
dormant mind-reader in every audience member, Chris envisions a perfect
world where the mundane can be magical, getting a seat on the train is
always assured, the objects of your desire always find you irresistible
– and even winning the lottery could be a possibility. He constantly
astonishes audiences with cutting-edge and highly imaginative stunts,
charmingly delivered with a warm and mischievous sense of fun.
'Stunning.... has other magicians scratching their heads.' The Times.
See What's On for
dates and London preview dates.
www.pleasance.co.uk. 30.5.09
Three
more Pavel lecture dates just in: Sunday 31st May, at 2pm, at the Scottish
Conjurers' Association. Tickets are £10 for non-members, available on
the door. Venue: Walton Suite, Southern General Hospital, Glasgow.
Website:
www.scottishconjurersassociation.org.uk. Monday 1st June, at 7.30pm, at the Newcastle
Magic Circle, The Copthorne Hotel, Newcastle Quayside. £10 entry for
members of other societies.
www.newcastle-magic-circle.org.
Tuesday 9th June, at 7.30pm, at the North Wales Magic Circle, Rehearsal
Room of the Little Theatre, Vale Road, Rhyl LL18 2BS. (This date is out
of sequence to their usual schedule). Guests and prospective members
welcome.
www.nwalesmagic.co.uk. 30.5.09
Paul
Daniels' Wizbit returns to children's TV. "Paul Daniels' magical
creation Wizbit is to return to TV screens 25 years after the series was
first created. The little wizard, who was actually a very large
magician's hat, has a knack for flying and spinning around, was last
seen on our TV screens in 1985. The show was introduced from Paul's
Playhouse - an old fashioned theatre - and in between telling the
viewers about Wizbit's Adventures the famous magician also displayed his
repertoire of tricks..." To read the full story in the Telegraph
Click Here. 30.5.09
Keelan
Leyser and Charlotte Marie, owners of
www.magictricks.co.uk, appeared on Britain's Got Talent last
Saturday performing their Quick Change Act. The auditions were filmed
back in January and they received an incredible response from the three
judges as well as the entire audience of the Hammersmith Apollo, London,
which resulted in the entire theatre giving them a standing ovation.
Keelan and Charlotte were put through to the live semi finals of the
show but could not perform due to prior contracted events in India,
despite being pressed by the Britain's Got Talent producers. To
see the clip of them on the show visit
www.keelanleyser.co.uk. 30.5.09
Axel
Hecklau's Cue Control. Cue Control is a 36 page A5 book laying out
Axel Hecklau's remote control system using an MP3 player together with a
transmitter and receiver. (He kindly sent through a copy). For any
magician wanting to add music and/or sound effects to their act, whilst
maintaining total control over all cues, Axel's system is just perfect.
Axel goes into great detail with the aid of diagrams and photographs
and recommends the right equipment to use, and how to have 'invisible
control' over it. Axel is a perfectionist, and as with his impressive
'News Flash' paper tear, nothing is left to chance. Highly recommended. For more info visit:
www.axelhecklau.com. 30.5.09
The
annual "Tri-Wizard Tournament" between the three magic clubs in
Sussex takes place on Wednesday, June 3rd. This fun and friendly
competition tests the skills and ingenuity of magicians in a series of
categories similar to the event held in the Harry Potter books between
Hogwarts and other magic schools. Visiting magicians are welcome (free
admittance). The tournament is being hosted by the South
Downs Magicians at their headquarters at Handcross Parish Hall, High
Street, Handcross, West Sussex RH17 6BJ (Map).
Performers from the South Downs Magicians, Sussex Magic Circle and the
Associated Conjurers of East Sussex (ACES) will be taking part. The
overall theme is "Anniversaries in 2009" and the categories are:
"Darwin" (to mark 150 years since Charles Darwin's Origin of Species),
"Doyle" (to mark 150 years since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's birth) and
"Cradock" (to mark 100 years since TV chef Fanny Cradock's birth!). "Let
the games commence" - for further information visit
www.southdownsmagicians.co.uk. 30.5.09
Magic
Books By Post announced on 27th May that Steve Short is to step down
as a Director of MBBP, as he will be concentrating on his performing
career and his other business interests. This leaves Paul Cooke as the
sole director of MBBP. All future correspondence should be addressed to:
Paul Cooke MMC, Director, MBBP, Westfield House, Main Road Thornton,
Lincolnshire LN9 5JU, UK. All telephone and email details will remain
the same. "I wish to thank Steve for his contribution to MBBP, he helped
the company through a challenging period and to make progress on a
number of fronts. I wish him well in his future endeavors." said Paul.
www.magicbooksbypost.co.uk. 30.5.09
Wessex
Magical Association. On Tuesday 9th June at 8pm, Peter Gardini will
be delivering his latest magic lecture, as presented at The Magic Circle
in London. Visiting magicians welcome (£5.00 charge). Describing his
lecture Peter says: ''This will be professional magic for magicians who
like to make things for themselves. No special tools or equipment
required and everything is so simple to do that you won't believe it
till you have a go. Bring a pen and paper to make all the notes that you
can. There should be something for everyone.''
www.wmagic.co.uk. 30.5.09
The
Order of The Magi recently held their close-up competition which was
won by Brian Berry with an act featuring multiplying sponge stars with
and enormous one as a climax. His acrobatic match boxes created great
interest as they operated when not even together. Brian’s forte was the
cups and balls with tangerines to finish. I had the pleasure of seeing
him perform this at the Centenary Close Up Night at The V & A Marriott
Hotel in Manchester City Centre and this clearly is a winner for him.
Brian is an enthusiastic member of The Magi and is a past joint winner
of their stage competition. The picture shows Brian (left) receiving the
trophy from Ian Ball MMC who is the Magi’s first president of their new
century. The society has another excellent syllabus for this year which
appears on
www.orderofthemagi.org.uk. Reported by Geoffrey Newton PRO. 30.5.09
John
Derris's Mirrorcle. News from John Derris: "Ten years ago I launched
a stunning close-up award-winning effect Mirrorcle in which a handbag
mirror was placed in a leather wallet and visibly penetrated by a pen;
it was extensively sold in Europe, USA and Japan. It has not been
available for many years but many requests for this exclusive effect
have been received from magicians during that time. A limited quantity
has been specially made for immediate release in response to the many
enquiries and is available by return on a first come, first served
basis. This is visual close-up magic at its best whereby a 4 x 4 solid
mirror is inserted into a leather wallet and without any cover a pen is
pushed right through the centre. More. The spectator can view inside the
wallet and actually see the pen penetrating the mirror after which it is
withdrawn right through the centre of the pen. It's high profile,
powerful magic and has been an international success since it was
released over ten years ago. Yes it's done with a Cornelius pen but the
routine and high quality props that have been performed in palaces and
pump houses all over the world have made this a very successful close-up
magic highlight. If you want this exclusive, limited edition effect
contact me today." Visit
http://magicderris.com/mirrorcle to watch a demonstration and to
order. 30.5.09
Paul
Gordon at 3SM. On Monday 1st June at 8pm, Paul Gordon will be
presenting his new professional close-up card magic lecture at 3SM
(South Staffordshire Magicians). To attend, contact Chris Congreve via
www.christophercongreave.co.uk. Paul's lecture is fun, informative
and jam-packed with doable card tricks, tips, stories and more. 30.5.09
Returning
from a successful run of cruise liner work Andrew Van Buren has just
sent a 40 ft shipping container full of equipment back out to the United
Arab Emirates, ready for performances in Dubai this summer. Andrew
emails: "The logistics of moving large shows can be a bit of a nightmare
at times, keeping track of, moving, maintenance and storage can prove a
challenge, often with equipment stored in different parts of the world.
It can seem daunting, but keeping the family business going I have
fortunately grown up in this environment and so I am used to it. Many
talented magic entertainers are successfully concentrating on close-up
work nowadays, but having listened to the public views we are
concentrating on breaking the perception that illusion shows are either
boring and badly presented or pretentious and relying on dark lighting.
It is most important to remember that we are part of the entertainment
industry, we have some very good performers in Britain, but sadly many
performers seem to forget the entertainment part." Photo: One of the Van
Buren Lorries.
www.illusionshows.co.uk. 30.5.09
School
of Busking. The School of Busking take place between the 19th and 21st of
June. Your host Mario Morris and VIP guest Gazzo, an international
street performer, will be teaching the art of street performing over
the three day period. The course takes place in Cardiff, and just two places
remain. The cost is £200. Contact Mario for more information:
mario.morris@hotmail.co.uk. 30.5.09
Brian
Caswell will at Magical Mayhem in Hitchin on 4th June demonstrating
effects from his new book '10 Tricks With a Borrowed Deck'. Those
familiar with Brian's work will know not to miss this one! Free entry,
all magicians welcome. 7.30pm
The Sun Hotel,
Sun Street, Hitchin, Hertfordshire SG5 1AF (Map).
For more info contact Lee Smith 07731 916965 or Nick Brown 07884 045554. 30.5.09
Derren
Brown An Evening of Wonders - out now on DVD. More 'magic,
suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship' from psychological
illusionist extraordinaire Derren Brown. Here Derren brings his
mind-bending powers to the stage for his live show An Evening of
Wonders. The show fuses Derren's established trickery with
impressive feats of memory, and astonishing stage theatrics. Available
form Amazon.co.uk with 39% off!
Click Here. 30.5.09
Mahka
Tendo. 18th March 1960 - 26th May 2009. Very sad to report that
Japan's Mahka Tendo died of cancer on Tuesday morning. A highly skilled
magician, Mahka made a number of gala show appearances at British magic
conventions, and won the manipulation award for stage magic at FISM in
Madrid in 1985. Dressed as a classic manipulator, his clever use of
movement and music (From Frankie Goes to Hollywood to John
Williams!) brought real drama and excitement to his live performances.
Mahka Tendo on YouTube
Click Here. 30.5.09
Magician David Gemmell travels from his home in South Wales this week, to the south coast to lecture for the magicians of Portsmouth and District Magic Circle on June 1st and the Associated Wizards of the South in Southampton on June 2nd. The lectures will include effects from his 2009 Lecture ebook which will be on sale at a special lecture rate, and can also be purchased online via Merchant of Magic and Lybrary.com. David will also be previewing effects from his upcoming ebook Pasteboard Adventures, available only at a special pre-release lecture price. david.mindreader.gemmell@googlemail.com. 30.5.09
"Magician's
prediction hits bookies"
Click Here • "Keith's magic bet costs bookies a fortune"
Click Here • Mike Stokes of
Playtime Balloons is delighted to have been asked to hold his ever
popular balloon workshop at The IBM Convention in Southport this
September
www.playtimeballoons.com • Congratulations to Herb and Ruby
Everest on the birth of a 7lb 15oz baby boy, James Herberte, on 26th May • Congratulations
to Owen Lean winner of the London Society of Magicians Card Magic
competition last week, with an act that included an original story deck
routine and finished with the entire deck changing color • "Magic
Circle works wonders at Royal Free Hospital" John Derris reports,
Click Here • "Pinner magician meets stars at soap awards"
Click Here • "Talented young magician vows to keep waving his
wand"
Click Here • Many thanks for your news contributions - see you
next week, Duncan.
30.5.09