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Stars of Magic 2008
Istanbul
Reported by Lee Alex
"Stars
of Magic 2008" has now finished its very successful run. For the past few weeks
Istanbul has been buzzing with a great deal of magic in the air - the publicity
that this production received from the media was amazing and everyone was
anticipating the arrival of the stars to the city. Jeff McBride and Kevin James
from Las Vegas, Erix Logan from Italy, Aaron Crow from Belgium and Lee Alex from
London, who is celebrating his 25th anniversary as a professional magician on
stage.
The event started with Turkish magicians attending a two day Secret Session
Master Class from Jeff McBride. Most of the participants are contestants in the
new "Fenomen" programme here, hosted by Uri Geller. Jeff informed me that the
winner of the Dutch version had also been a student of Jeff's; we are hoping
that we will be able to claim the same thing in Turkey. After two episodes of
the programme, the claim still holds true!
Kevin James and Antonio Hoyos proved extremely popular at the same time by
making appearances at a shopping centre and the same night on a late night chat
show.
The first show was attended by press, celebrities and well-known business
people. The atmosphere was great and the show extremely well received which
helped sales for the following nights. Jeff McBride and Lee Alex attended a
school for orphans during the daytime on Thursday presenting small shows and
then being bombarded by 150 children whilst distributing effects supplied by
Murphy's Magic in the USA. The following day Kevin James, Erix Logan and Lee
Alex attended a smaller event for children with kidney illnesses. These children
were far more relaxed, but equally excited and were the proud recipients of the
classic "Egg and Ball Vase" (once again supplied by Murphy's Magic).
The shows continued (seven shows over five days) with huge success and faultless
performances. It seemed that every magician in Turkey had also made the effort
to come and watch the shows with great anticipation - in fact I did not realise
that there were so many magicians in Turkey! Children and adults alike flocked
in the foyer after the shows to receive autographs and have their pictures taken
with all the stars.
The whole event was produced and organised by Tamer Kurter of Magic Concept
Entertainment. It has taken over two years of discussions and planning to get
the five artists together in the same venue at the same time due to everyone's
busy schedules. The results have been superb with an extremely happy audience
and equally contented artists. Jeff and I are already discussing plans for
"Stars of Magic 2009" where we plan to combine shows for the public with events
for magicians from all over the world, including Master Class, competitions and
lectures.
Interest has been shown in next year's event already with emails from performers
in Australia, America and France wanting to take part in the events. "Stars of
Magic Istanbul" promises to grow year by year as the seeds were planted with
great success in 2008.
Photo: The artists along with producer Tamer Kurter from Magic Concept
Entertainment.
© Lee Alex, May 2008