Number 261 - 25th June 2005
This
year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival runs from August 7th - 29th. The
programme for 2005 presents 26,995 performances of 1,799 shows in 333
venues! The excellent
www.edfringe.com website lists just about the lot; here are a few that
we picked out: The Mystery of Chung Ling Soo "Dynamic New York
Fringe First winners conjure explosive physicality and dazzling illusions
in this true-life murder-mystery thriller. When the star of London
Vaudeville magic is shot dead performing his own signature trick -
whodunit?"
Click Here. The Dentist Chair "Comedy, mime, magic, music
and... handcuffs!? All set around a bizarre dentist chair. 'It's the most
inventive and hilarious comedy idea I've seen this year' Stage. No
laughing gas required!"
Click Here. Ian Kendall's Magic Show "It's a magic show, if you
enjoy magic chances are you'll like this. If you don't like magic save
your money and spend fifteen quid on some bloke from the telly."
Click Here. And finally San Francisco Street Performers!
"Performing daily on the High Street! Comedy juggler Fred Anderson,
amazing magician 'Big Al' Catraz, the 'Fire Hands' juggler Greg Frisbee
and magician Paul Nathan."
Click Here. 25.6.05
Roger
Crosthwaite and John Archer (photo) have both been confirmed as
lecturers for the Paisley Magic Circle Convention on 30th October. The
provisional line up includes: Close-up with Paul Brignall, John Archer and
Mark Mason. A Gala show with Mark Fisken, Alex Procter, Chris Blair, John
Archer and Inverclyde Smith, Workshops from Tommy Templeton, and Magic
Dealers JB Magic, Bill McLeod, Paul Brignal and Adrian Harris. For
more information visit
www.paisleymagiccircle.co.uk. 25.6.05
Radio
Magic launches on Monday July 25th at 8pm, broadcast live from London
on 1134AM MW by magician and presenter Jay Fortune. Jay plans to include
competitions, reviews, news, tricks, interviews and live debate and has been working on the project for the past 18 months. Radio Magic is
proud to be associated with
www.magicbroadcast.com, broadcasting the hour long show live every Monday
evening to a worldwide audience of magicians. Repeats will be aired on
both magicbroadcast.com and Kool AM on 1134AM MW "Supported and sustained
solely through magic suppliers and magicians, Radio Magic will be a
place of immense interest to anyone interested in the world of magic!"
writes Jay. Visit:
www.radiomagic.co.uk. 25.6.05
Five
of Hearts Magic Productions have just taken delivery of a piece of oak
taken from the bow of
HMS Victory in
Portsmouth. Colin Rose will produce a number of limited editions forming
"The Trafalgar Collection" including specially turned cups and wands. It's
the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21st 2005. To
find out more about the history of the wood, and how it is now going to be
used,
Click Here and then click on the 'Special Events' page. 25.6.05
Steve
Cohen's newly published Win the Crowd: Unlock the Secrets of
Influence, Charisma, and Showmanship is now available from
Amazon.co.uk with 10% off. "Magicians need more than a hat trick to win
over an audience. This guide from the 'Millionaires' Magician' includes
powerful lessons on confidence, charisma, and persuasion - designed to
influence and control the crowd. Steve Cohen, master magician and star of
the long-running Chamber Magic show in New York City, will reveal the
secrets of all great showmen and magicians - how to persuade, influence,
and charm, and ultimately accomplish the things you've always wanted to
do. As Cohen writes, 'You'll discover how to take over a room, read
people, and build anticipation to a feverish pitch so people are burning
to hear what you have to say.' When you strip away the sleight of hand
tricks, magicians are essentially masters of attracting and holding
attention and impressing audiences, exactly the psychological secrets you
need to be successful in life and business." To order
Click Here. Steve Cohen visits London next month, appearing at
The Magic Circle Centenary
convention. 25.6.05
John
Carney lectures in Central London on the evening of Friday,
July 29th. The event will be hosted by the Opus magazine team, JJ and
Chris Power who have been responsible for some highly
regarded events both in London and the Isle of Man over the years. Chris
Power tells us "We are planning some new adventures for Opus and
organising this event is a little step in that direction - we're going
to have a great evening of magic." Further information will be available
from
www.opusmagazine.co.uk. Tickets for the event are £15 and anyone
interested in attending can email:
chrispower66@hotmail.com for
details. 25.6.05
Darryl
Rose was delighted to be asked to perform at the Granada Television
wrap party for 'Celebrity Love Island' on a South Pacific Fijian island
last week. Darryl decided to go one stage further by performing for the
celebrities and crew onboard an Air Pacific Boeing 747 as it flew Sydney as well.
A selected playing card was lost in the deck, returned to its case and
then thrown at one of the plane's windows... with the card ending up on
the other side of the double glazed pane of glass! Cabin crew and
passengers alike screamed with delight and amazement as they witnessed the
effect which took place 35,000 feet up, above Sydney Harbour Bridge and
the Opera House.
www.darrylrose.com. 25.6.05
Marc
Paul lectures at the Doncaster Magic Club on July 4th. The venue is
the Regent Hotel, Regent Square, Doncaster DN1 2DS (Map).
7.15pm for 7.30pm, visiting magicians are welcome (£5.00) for more
information visit:
www.doncastermagicclub.co.uk. 25.6.05
Safire
are set to headline at the Bolsover District Spectacular Fireworks
Display in October. Following last year's success Safire will perform six
illusions on the outdoor stage to about 4,500 people, keeping them all
entertained before the spectacular firework display over Bolsover Castle.
Location: Bolsover Castle, Castle Street, Bolsover, Chesterfield S44 6PR.
Saturday 29th October. Meanwhile Safire can be seen live on stage in
Chuckle Brothers Pirates of the River Rother in Blackpool, see
What's On for dates, and also in the
Children's Show at the Southport Arts Centre at this year's IBM
Convention. 25.6.05
Brian
Maxwell will be giving his lecture entitled 'Entertaining with the
Bizarre' at Bolton Magicians Club on Wednesday 29th June at the Cotton
Tree, Prince Street, Bolton at 8.30pm. "Brian will deal with effects
ranging from close-up to stage, with the emphasis on entertainment. Brian
puts the magic back into conjuring." Visiting magicians from other
societies are welcome, entrance fee £3. For further
information visit
www.bolton-magic.co.uk or telephone Jim Hodgkiss 01204 522651. 25.6.05
Jay
Scott Berry lectures at the
www.downtownmagicclub.co.uk
on Monday 11th July. "A fantastic lecture presented by the Amazing Jay
Scott Berry. If you have not seen Jay perform this lecture, then now's
your chance. Doors open at 6.30pm for 7pm start. Members of other magic
clubs are always made welcomed!" For more information contact Miki Travis
01233 620120 or visit
www.downtownmagicclub.co.uk DownTown Magic Club, Park Street, Ashford,
Kent. 25.6.05
Doncaster
Magic Club recently held its club competition. Magix Paul reports:
Once again the level of the entrants was very high. John Grantham, Walt
Thomas, Magix Paul, David Bateson, Billy Nolan and John Turner competed.
The club would like to congratulate John Turner of Ace Magic on winning
the competition and taking the Trophy. John suggested the next competition
should be in June 2008, just to give him time to look after the cup. Well
done all and thanks to everyone that came along to watch.
www.doncastermagicclub.co.uk. 25.6.05
"No trick as magician is handcuffed. A Hoddesdon locksmith has told how he conjured up all his expertise to resolve a trick-y situation in which a magician got his thumb stuck in a pair of miniature handcuffs! Emergency locksmith Stuart Eccleston, 35, of Lampits, came to the aid of the red-faced entertainer after being called out by desperate paramedics from Enfield, who were unable to prise the patient's thumb out of the restraining device. But the embarrassed magician, Tony McNamara, may have wanted to make himself disappear after he was slapped with a bill for a whopping £130. The caper began in the early hours of Sunday morning when Mr Eccleston, from Inhouse Locksmith Service, was on 24-hour call." To read the full story Click Here. 25.6.05
As some readers may know we run two online directories. One for magicians working in the corporate/party sector and one for children's entertainers. Literally hundreds of hours of work has gone into their design and development, which has resulted in their success. A few days ago an email arrived at MagicWeek asking us to feature a newly launched online directory in the News page. I took a look at the site and started to click around until I found myself reading some of my own wording! Looking closer I found a whole chunk of crucial code had been copied as well. It felt a bit like a burglar knocking on my front door asking if I'd put up a poster promoting his garage sale, featuring items he'd stolen from me the week before... 25.6.05
Richard Wiseman, Derren Brown, Paul
Daniels, Uri Geller... they've all been interviewed by
www.badpsychics.co.uk • Objective Productions were in the news: "Tom: No charges on squirt"
Click Here and "A thousand American actors and actresses are going to
look at this and decide they aren't going to Britain to be humiliated for
a stunt on a cheap TV show."
Click Here • "Campbell's Cube-Off" is reviewed this week,
Click Here
• "Kevin, of Haymarket, spent four weeks training with expert conjurors
before performing his seven-minute routine in front of a panel of judges,
including Paul Daniels."
Click Here • Many thanks to everyone who's contributed to MagicWeek
recently, see you next week, Duncan. 25.6.05