Number 170 - 27th
September 2003
Derren
Brown will attempt not to shoot himself in the head, live on
Channel 4 on Sunday, October 5th. Filmed in a secret location, one person,
selected from the thousands who applied, will load a real handgun with a
single bullet and then hand it to Derren. Using a series of psychological
tests Derren will then determine which chamber contains the bullet. He'll
then hold the gun to his head and fire, until he comes to the live
chamber. "Most of the stuff I do I reckon has a 90 per cent success
rate," says Derren. All being well Derren
will go on tour next year. Here are some confirmed dates: Monday 22nd
March, New Theatre Oxford. Thursday 29th April, Bristol Hippodrome. Sunday
2nd May, Liverpool Empire. Wednesday and Thursday 5th and 6th May,
Alexandra Theatre Birmingham. Friday 7th May, Grand Opera House, York.
Sunday 9th May, Palace Theatre Manchester. To book online via TicketMaster
Click Here. I was lucky enough to see Derren's sold out live show
earlier on this year and he was excellent.
27.9.03
Max
Maven lectures at the second Escape from the Asylum
day of mental magic run by Spyros Melaris, this time entitled Another Escape, at the
Waterfall Studios, London, on Sunday November 16th. For more information
and booking details visit:
www.magicinmind.com.
27.9.03
Playing
Tricks is a new 10-part magic series which will be screened on
Trouble every weekday
from October 20th at 4.30pm. Described as "David Blaine meets Trigger
Happy TV" seven undercover magicians will take to the streets with
their own brand of magic. "Whether it be
telling random members of the public their own pin numbers, dumbfounding
viewers by leaning forward to an incredible 25 degree angle before
righting themselves and walking off, or pouring red and white wine out of
the same bottle, our magicians will amaze viewers with their sleight of
hand, uncanny ability to predict, and incredible skill in creating
illusions." The show features: Laura London, 19 from Barnet, Jez Rose, 20
from Buckinghamshire, Tariq Knight, 19 from Brighton, Keelan Leyser and
Richard Reed, 22 and 23 from Surrey, Loki, 30 from Kent and Chris
Nicholson, 17 from Brighton. Tune into Trouble every weekday at
4.30pm (repeated at 9.55pm), between Monday October 20th and Friday
October 31st.
27.9.03
David
Blaine's
hanging in so to speak...
23 days and counting. The week got off to a dodgy start when his
management company PMK took it upon themselves to fly over to the UK to
see what all the bad publicity was about... and in the process generated a
little more. Ah well. Here's the latest:
Paint attack on Blaine. (Evening Standard) Click Here
Magician Blaine's Sponsors Face Charge for Stunt. (Reuters) Click Here
A pain in the Blaine. (Guardian) Click Here
US bemused by Blaine-baiters. (BBC) Click Here
Put her in the box: Poll. (Sky News) Click Here 27.9.03
Keith Fields
appears on Inside Out, on BBC South, at 7.30pm on Monday September
29th. In a "city into the country" feature Keith leaves his
comedy magic at home and 'roughs it' on a 48 hour survival course.
27.9.03
Tony
Griffith will be lecturing for
The Kent
Magicians Guild on Tuesday 30th September. Contact Dave Akhurst on
01892 823259 for details. This will be the 'Creative Magic' lecture that
Tony has presented worldwide.
www.tonygriffith.co.uk.
27.9.03
Mind
Magic by Marc LeMezma is reviewed in MagicWeek this week. To read the
review Click Here.
To order a copy from
Amazon.co.uk
Click Here.
27.9.03
Apollo
Robbins and Shoot Ogawa will present their lectures at the British
Magical Society on Tuesday, 30th September, following on from the British
Ring Convention. All bona fide members of other magic societies are
welcome on payment of £5 at their HQ: Selly Oak Ex-Servicemen's Club, 8
Selly Hill Road, Birmingham B29 7DL. For further information
contact Pamela Buckley on 01827 715660.
27.9.03
On
Tuesday, September 30th Monkey Boy and Tufty will be appearing on Loose
Lips, an entertainment show hosted by Melinda Messenger and Richard Arnold
on Living TV and
the shows producers are looking for fans to join the studio audience. The
show will be filmed at 12pm and they need audience members to arrive
at their Chiswick Studio at 11pm. Anyone who would like to go along should
call Yeva Paley on 0208 996 5575 or email
yevapaley@screamfilms.com -
mention that you read about the ticket offer on MagicWeek.
27.9.03
Tom
Lyon makes a return visit to the Blue Peter studios on Monday,
September 29th at 4.55pm, live on BBC1. In a new escape challenge Tom will
be suspended upside down buckled into an unusual straitjacket that has
both side and front 'loops'. These prevent the arms from being pulled over
the head as in the traditional magician's escape and provide a very real
challenge for the escapologist. A presenter will also be buckled
into a jacket to show that it really is impossible to escape! See
TV Magic.
27.9.03
New
from Alakazam! "The one with the Trivial Pursuit cards" by Mark
Elsdon... "Mark performed this in our shop and it totally knocked us for
six!" writes Peter Nardi, for more information visit:
www.alakazam.co.uk.
27.9.03
Monty,
from Honolulu, emails: "I have started planning my 2004 magic lecture
schedule. Would your magic club be interested in a lecture? At this time I
am just trying to find out which clubs are interested so I can plan my
schedule." Monty - Guinness World Record Holder.
www.montysmagic.com.
27.9.03
Last Sunday's The
Greatest Magic Tricks in the Universe
Ever, the first of six
one-hour specials on Five, presented by the Monkey Magic boys, took
a light look at magic and magicians, from Cardini to David Blaine,
with comment from present day magicians and magic fans. The next in the
series is at 8pm this Sunday Mats G. Kjellstrom has launched a
new magic project and is looking for magic authors;
both experts and "newbies" - visit
www.mastermagic.info
Rowland
Valentine won the Magic Club of Great Britain's Close-up Competition on
Thursday, September 25th. The finals of the
Stage Competition will be held
on November 6th at their club in Milton Keynes
The 8th Top Secret Magic Day in Milton Keynes is set to
take place on Sunday, June 6th - details nearer the time Martin
Breese emailed to say that he has now managed to
resolve the situation reported last week regarding copies of his magic CDs That's it for this week. Your UK magic news is always
welcomed, see you next week, Duncan.
27.9.03