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Tony Griffith Reflections Lecture
York Society of Magicians
May 12 2010
Review by Rex Stott
The York Society of Magicians started its 2010/2011 magical year with Tony
Griffith’s Reflections Lecture. What a fantastic start it turned out to be! His
opening item Silk ‘N Sorcery set the standard for the whole evening. This
three-phase routine started with the flash appearance of a silk on a rope, its
subsequent release once it had been securely tied and finished with a very funny
silk- though-body sequence. Tony then not only meticulously explained the
working of the routine but shared the thinking which underpinned it. He
emphasised that he hoped his verbal instructions were sufficient to enable
people to go and perform the routine but he did also make reference to the notes
which accompanied his lecture. In Final Reflections, the third of a trilogy of
notes, there are 10 pages of instructions containing 23 line drawings just to
make sure that this sequence is fully explained.
This set the pattern for the evening – a very professional and accomplished
performance of a routine, a detailed explanation, all underpinned and reinforced
by excellent notes. You couldn’t help but learn from this born teacher. Other
rope routines were explained, followed, inter alia, by the multiple location of
previously selected cards, gambling routines, and elements of mentalism and the
evening ended with a performance, demonstration and explanation of Handy, a DIY
puppet.
At the end of the lecture Tony did a very brisk trade with his well-produced
one-trick items which he had earlier performed. A real bargain was his
much-acclaimed three-volume Reflections series. These contained not only
explanations of all the items demonstrated but also words of wisdom about
trade-show, corporate, close-up and other areas of magic and even practical
advice about which glue to use to make a thick card! But, for me, one of the
real gems contained in these publications was a considerable number of his
excellent Magic of Science experiments.
The sustained applause at the end of the evening was evidence of how much our
members had enjoyed the whole evening and I can do no more than urge magical
societies to put Tony Griffith’s Reflections Lecture in their programme. Our
members will testify that they are glad we did!
© Rex Stott, May 2010