Number 118 - 28th September 2002

 

Comedy came out on top at this year's British Ring Convention with The Great Nardini winning the stage competition (together with his excellent "assistant") and the brilliant Mark Shortland (photo) winning the close-up (Mark won the stage competition last year and is a real natural). In fact the close-up competition was of a higher standard then normal with five or six acts worthy of the top prizes... Andy Martin really stood out for me as well. Other highlights were: Fielding West doing a great job emceeing the Saturday night Gala show (more comedy), and John Fisher's lecture, the first Jeffery Atkins Memorial Lecture, "Lives of Illusion" recalling in vivid detail many great magic moments and ending with a well deserved standing ovation. Antje Pode's act on the Late Late Gala (Thursday night) was perfect in both its conception and execution, and Bin Lin's (China) card production act great fun. Convention organising secretary Tony Shelley and the entire team got it right, as did the technical team lead by stage director Neil Roberts. Here are the competition results, congratulations to all the winners:

Stage Competition Results:
First - The Great Nardini, Second - Loki, Third - Martin Cox, Comedy - The Great Nardini, Originality - Loki, Manipulation - James Parker

Close-up Competition Results: First - Mark Shortland, Second - Frederic Shark, Third - Rob Mollien 28.9.02

 

This year's International Magic Convention has a new venue and a new format. The Holiday Inn, King Cross, London, will host the entire convention which will be devoted to close-up magic and feature some of the world's finest, together with the close-up competition. The dates: Saturday November 30th and Sunday December 1st. More details soon. Also, from International, The Magic of John Ramsey Volume 1 performed by Andrew Galloway has just been released - 90 minutes of magical excellence, available now (not yet on their website, but you can order it nevertheless). www.internationalmagic.com 28.9.02

 

Cardiff's International Festival of Music in October stages the European premier of Ragtime the Musical featuring Harry Houdini as one of its central characters, and it's nearly sold out: www.cardiffmusicals.com 28.9.02

 

Pentagramus is a new release from Black Artefacts, an effect that demonstrates the latent power of one of magic's most widely known symbols - the pentagram. Involving no sleight of hand, and an 'instant reset' - it should prove to be popular with close-up workers who want to inject a little mind magic into their presentations. Full details on the website: www.blackhart.co.uk. There's an article from Black Hart in MagicWeek this week: Claaaaaaaaang! 28.9.02

 

Daryl does the Full Monte! on both video and DVD and it's reviewed by Kevin Gallagher in MagicWeek this week Click Here 28.9.02

 

Tom Lyon will re-enact a real-life escape from a 1980's hostage situation on BBC's Blue Peter this Monday afternoon. Tom writes "I am trying to push my style of escape forward and concentrate on escaping from real life situations rather than from the abstract/artificial contraptions so many escapists find themselves in. I hope this escape will be the first of many theatrical reality escapes I perform - I believe they are where the future of my art lies." Tom appeared on Blue Peter last year with a very accomplished escape sequence. Blue Peter, BBC1, Monday 30th at 5pm. 28.9.02

 

Two British magicians, Glyn Coy and Rob James (photo) fly out to Egypt on October 4th to perform in a number of shows in Hurghada on the Red Sea as part of a festival organised by Papas Bar. Glyn will be performing his mind reading act and Rob close-up magic. 28.9.02

 

The Alakazam.co.uk stand at Eastbourne was certainly one of the busiest, with constant demonstrations of all the latest releases. Knock 'em Dead!, the company's all-time best seller was knocking 'em all dead, and Run Away Joker a new card effect released at the convention, was also proving to be very popular. More details on the website: www.alakazam.co.uk 28.9.02

 

On October 15th Paul Gordon will be presenting his card lecture to members of The Coventry Magic Circle, magician guests are welcome at a cost of £4.00 each. Please contact The Secretary, Trevor Curtis, on 024 7637 5832 or email trevor@magicalentertainment.co.uk to reserve your place. 28.9.02

 

Ian Rowland emails the news that Larry Becker is about to release Stunners Plus, an expanded edition of his 1992 publication Stunners which hasn't been available for years. A special 'one page website' offering a pre-publication 15% discount is now online: www.stunnersplus.com • Don't miss this week's Review and Article • Next week I've got something new for all users of the MagicWeek For Sale ads... • Your magic news is always welcomed, that's it for this week, see you next week, Duncan. 28.9.02

 

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