Number 355 - 14th April 2007
Dynamo
continues to generate media interest wherever he goes. Currently
featured in RWD magazine and lads mag Zoo, Dynamo appeared
on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross last night and the show will be
repeated late night Saturday (tonight) at 1.20am, see
TV Magic. From the
RWD interview: "You’ve been on MTV, Ch. 4, had your own DVD; what’s
next? I can’t say too much but we are working on other TV projects. I’m
off to Miami for the Music Conference, which we’re filming for a mini
documentary called Dynamo’s Five Nights In Miami. I’m also working on a
stage show that I’m looking to take to theatres. I’m also director of my
own film company, Inner Circle and I’m in a film too that’s out next year.
It’s called The Grind and I am the face of the adidas ZX trainer. Check
the ads at
www.sneaker-magic.com. You’ve got to put your heart and soul into
this; I’ve done a lot while I’ve been here but I haven’t touched where I
want to go." To read the full story in RWD
Click
Here.
14.4.07
The Leamington & Warwick Magic Society Day of Magic
- this Sunday! From 10am to 4pm with lecturers from FISM award winner, Gregory Wilson
(photo), and Alain the Storyteller (current holder of the BMS Close-up
Magician of the Year title). Plus mini dealer dems from Merlins of Wakefield, Andrew
Normansell, Keith Bennett, Kaymar Magic and Made to Measure Magic. With
compere Paul Kybert. Refreshments available
throughout. Venue: Cubbington Sports & Social Club, Windmill Hill,
Cubbington, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire CV32 7LN (Map).
Tickets £15, available on the door. More information: 024 7646
2701
www.magicsociety.co.uk.
14.4.07
Youngest
ever Stage Magic winner. On April 4th Megan Knowles-Bacon (pictured
here with club chairman Kevin Doig) became the youngest ever winner of the
Bexleyheath Society of Magicians coveted George Trophy for stage magic, an
award normally won by the adult members. Megan's act combined ballet and
magic with a hint of humour. Not yet 15, she is also the current holder of
the Young Magicians Club, J-Day Stage Competition award and recently
appeared on Tricky TV. "I never realised when I performed for Megan on her 8th birthday
that I would be triggering a series of events that would lead to her
current success," said Roy Marsh, vice chairman of the Society. "I have
seen her enthusiasm take her from a very insecure start at age 10 to one
of growing confidence and a genuine love and understanding of how magic
needs to be performed." Roy added.
www.bexleymagic.org.uk
www.theyoungmagiciansclub.com.
14.4.07
The
Worst Audience in Britain? Harry Houdini described the Blackburn as a
"wretched hoodlum town" and one of his worst audiences. Last week BBC
North West Tonight featured this story with contributions from Blackburn's
magical historian Brian Lead, and the Radio presenter and comedian Ted
Robbins gave an incite into modern Blackburn audiences. Did he agree with
Houdini? To recreate one of Houdini's favourite illusions Andrew Green
(photo) performed a modern adaptation of a the Sub Trunk.
www.modernmysteries.co.uk
Click Here and enter 'Houdini' into the search to watch a clip.
14.4.07
Chris
Dugdale and Phil Jay have been delighted by the feedback from members
of "Close Up Success". Their goal was to write the finest ever course on
close-up magic and they report that: "Members have achieved fantastic
monetary gains since joining the course and the course has been receiving
rave reviews in the USA." Here's a quote from Bob Sheets: "Awesome... Just
about the most intelligent piece I've ever read... The duo has gone right
to the performance jugular and will save years to someone who would have
to do all of this work, study, and research on their own. The methods
discussed for making your magic real world is so well organized that it
makes the course worth the price alone." Chris and Phil have prepared an
additional website
Click Here featuring new video clips together with samples of the
complimentary DVDs, for MagicWeek readers interested in the course. (Note:
Places are now running out for the complimentary live seminar to be held
in Jan 2008 - hurry!) Also visit the main website:
www.closeupsuccess.com. Meanwhile Phil and Chris have just been booked
for their third gig with Bryan Adams, with Chris will flying in from the
US to join Phil here. Chris then heads off to Switzerland for Dell and
then Las Vegas, where he is performing close-up magic at a special event
with guests Penn and Teller.
14.4.07
Congratulations
to Darren Wray, winner of not only Leicester Magic Circle's Alan Brook
Holme's Trophy for 'Children's Entertainer of the Year', but also the
Annual Stage Competition's 'People's Choice Award'. Darren, who runs
'Wonky Rabbit Magic, said afterwards "this is the first competition I have
ever entered, and to have won means the world to me." Darren, with the
help of his beloved assistant Bonkers the Rabbit, is looking forward to
participating in more competitions in the future.
www.wonkyrabbitmagic.com.
14.4.07
Manchester
Circle of Magicians Jumbo Auction. Monday 23rd April at 6.30 pm at
Salford Masonic Hall, 41 The Crescent, Salford, Manchester with star
Auctioneers Mike Shepherd and Derek Lever hosting the event. Hundreds of
items have already been submitted including children's effects, books,
videos, DVDs, stage and close-up magic. The door charge is £3.00 for
non-members but free for members. Members recently enjoyed Lectures by
Geoffrey Durham and Greg Wilson who both played to full houses of 150.
Membership costs just £10.00 per year which includes the bi-monthly
magazine The Magic Times. Details from Derek Lever email:
deriko@webaplomb.com or visit
www.taurusmagic.net
or phone 01253 810113.
14.4.07
Edinburgh
Magic Circle Sale & Exchange. Edinburgh Magic Circle are holding a
Sale & Exchange evening on Monday 16th April at 7.30pm at the Edinburgh
City Football Club, 7 Baxter Place, Edinburgh EH1 3AF (Just down from the
Edinburgh Playhouse Theatre). Open to all members of magical societies.
Contact Gary James
g.james@blueyonder.co.uk for further details
www.edinburghmagiccircle.co.uk.
14.4.07
Dobson's
Choice TV Stuff Volume 1 is back in (very limited) stock at
www.waynedobson.co.uk. This is not a new production run but a
very limited supply from the original batch. Professionally produced, we
featured this disc in our
Magic DVDs
section when it first came out. Highly recommended!
14.4.07
Hancock's
Half Hour - The Conjurer. First broadcast in 1956, BBC 7 are
transmitting this edition of Hancock's Half Hour on Tuesday 24th April.
"Hancock becomes a magician but when he gets a booking at Dartmoor Prison
his act does not go according to plan." Listen online via
www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7.
14.4.07
Iain
Moran: Covert Magic. Available from ModusMagic.co.uk by return: "On
DVD for the very first time, acclaimed UK magician Iain Moran unleashes
the very best material from his professional repertoire on this exclusive
DVD. Moran has won the Order of the Magi's 'Close-Up Magician of the Year'
award twice, and he is one of the only non-Italian's ever to be given a
close-up magic award at Club Magico Italiano. Watch with mouth agape as a
selected card eerily moves on its own accord from a spread deck! Marvel at
the unbelievably visual 'Snap, Crackle & Pop!' Shake your head in
disbelief at Iain's multi phase '3 Fly' routine - 'Coin-ageddon!' Bonus:
Includes free gaff cards inside the box! It also comes with a number of
gaffs necessary for some of the tricks." For more information and to order
visit:
www.modusmagic.co.uk.
14.4.07
Oliver
Tabor is currently appearing in 'The Magical World of Variety' at the
Royal Hippodrome Theatre, Eastbourne. The show's doors opened in March for
an 8 month run through to the end of October. Call the box office on 01323
412000 for times and prices.
14.4.07
Lee
Alex emails: At the beginning of this month I performed at the launch
of British company Vodafone's launch in Turkey. The show started with an
aerial appearance in a smoke chamber followed by a dance show (with
dancers' being produced from a clear Plexiglas casket on the stage). The
show was followed by the production of a McClaren Mercedes Formula One car
in the same casket. Vodafone was the sponsor and the illusion was designed
by British illusion designer Mark Parker and built in Turkey. 8,800
spectators watched in a huge tent which was also specially constructed for
the party. Seven television channels broadcast the party live on
television. I was able to perform at this event after an operation to my
spine just a few days before the performance and Italian magician and
illusionist Erix Logan was waiting in the wings as a substitute in case
anything went amiss. The show with great success. British Vodafone is now
the second largest mobile operator in Turkey.
Vodafone Party.
14.4.07
Leicester
Magic Circle Open Evening. The Leicester Magic Circle is holding an
open evening at 7.30pm on Monday May 14th at their Headquarters, the
Ramada Jarvis, Leicester. The evening promises to be a night of
excellent magic presented by some of Leicester Magic Circles' top
magicians, and is an event not to be missed. If you are interested in
attending and would like to book a place, or would simply like more
information, contact the Leicester Magic Circle's secretary Barry Martin
on 01509 843066 or email
lmcircle@hotmail.com.
14.4.07
All
it takes is will power... Congratulations to Will Gray - winner of
five awards at this year's 51st Northern Magic Circle Easter Parade. Will
took two trophies in the Close-up competition; The Jim Lumley Challenge
Cup for first place overall and the Vice President's trophy for
representing Leicester Magic Circle, together with three additional
trophies in the Stage Competition; the Frank Baumforth cup for second
place overall, the Vice President's trophy for representing Leicester
Magic Circle and the Clem Bailey cup for Best Comedy Magic!
www.willgray.co.uk.
14.4.07
Congratulations
to Chris Dinwoodie, winner of the Scottish Conjurers Association's
recent annual Close-up Contest. Eight competed in front of an audience of
40. Brendan Kirk, SCA Secretary, reports: Chris (Woody) Dinwoodie, with a
lot of confidence and a bright personality breezed through a David Stone
bottle production using a silk as cover, followed by an Ambitious Card
routine and an excellent 3-fly routine with poker chips instead of the
usual coins. Chips moved from hand to hand, appeared, and disappeared with
apparent ease although he was using some pretty impressive
sleight-of-hand. This included some of the David Stone sleights seen in
his recent lecture. Chris complemented his competitors, one of whom, Paul
McAtear, selflessly provided Woody with a replacement wine bottle when a
last minute rehearsal went wrong and bottle met floor! Jim Kelly and Scott
Cuthbertson were placed 2nd and 3rd.
14.4.07
IBM
British Ring Presidential Dinner. President John Styles and his lady
Barbara are delighted to announce that they have booked the services of
international ventriloquist John Bouchier for their Presidential Dinner.
He has played the London Palladium and No.1 theatres around the country,
supporting Norman Wisdom, Morecambe and Wise and Ken Dodd and is rarely
seen at magical events. Also booked: Solid Feet (a three-man dynamic tap
dancing act), Mark Walsh (from London's Brick Lane Music Hall and The City
Varieties Leeds), and Martyn James & Company (comedy illusionists). The
venue is the
Thistle Hotel, Brands Hatch, Dartford, Kent DA3 8PE (Map)
and the date is 12th May. Send an SAE together, with a cheque for £45 (per
person) made payable to "Brian Miller", to Brian Miller, Springate Cottage, Radleys End,
Duton Hill, Gt. Dunmow, Essex CM6 3PT to book. John Styles appeared on
television twice last week. He was featured on BBC 2's Do Something
Different, on Tuesday with his collection of ventriloquist's dolls,
along with Keith Harris and Orville, tutoring a young presenter for an
appearance at The Grand Theatre, Blackpool, and he was also seen, together
with his Punch and Judy puppets, in Disney's 102 Dalmatians, on
Good Friday
14.4.07
Now You See It
11am and 12 noon on Saturday 14th April on Disney. "Danny Sinclair is one of three finalists in
a TV contest to find the best young magician. Producer Allyson Miller is
determined he will win, and will stop at nothing to achieve her aim. But
when she discovers Danny's powers are real she has another challenge - to
protect him from those who want to destroy him. Gabriel Sunday, a
real-life young magician, plays Danny, with Alyson Michalka as his mentor
Allsyon. There's magic and adventure in this great family film." See
TV Magic for listings.
14.4.07
ASBO
by Wayne Goodman. "The magician's insurance policy has had its day!
Welcome to Wayne Goodman's ASBO! After being unable to find the chosen
card the magician finally confesses that he has to learn to control his
temper, because last week he was issued with an ASBO, to prove it he
brings out an official looking envelope and opens it to reveal an ASBO
inside. As the ASBO is read it reveals the accusations against the
performer and at the end the name of the chosen card. You even get a
choice of two comical endings, which allow you to either predict the
position of the card in the deck or produce the selected card from the
card case. With huge potential for comic byplay, this is bound to be a hit
with modern day audiences." Available from
www.magicbox.uk.com and
www.waynegoodman.co.uk.
14.4.07
International
award-winning magician
Gregory Wilson is currently lecturing across the UK. See
What's On for dates.
14.4.07
Marc
Spelmann and Collin Clause have just returned from a very successful
event performing for Gartner in Monaco. CEO Alan Bowman said "Marc and
Collin were without question the hit of the launch night; what they
achieved was simply unbelievable. I have never seen anything like it and
we have seen a hell of a lot over the years. With a function catering for
over 600 business people it was no easy task - but their originality and
talent was quite simply astonishing. They should be burnt at the stake!"
www.marcspelmann.co.uk
www.streetmagic.org.uk. What's New? No Chance by Peter Nardi
and Marc Spelmann. "No Chance is a principle that has been used by
a select few mentalists for many years. Peter Nardi and Marc Spelmann now
bring you this hard to find prop together with a DVD featuring routines,
tips and ideas on the use of this great little utility."
Click Here and scroll.
14.4.07
Children's
entertainer Hall dies. "Terry Hall, who was one of the earliest
children's television entertainers, along with his sidekick Lenny the
Lion, has died after a long illness, aged 80." To read the full story from
the BBC
Click Here. It transpired that the idea of Lenny came from a visit to
Blackpool Zoo. BBC North West Tonight featured this on Last Thursday's
Programme and Keith Harris and Orville took part.
Click Here and enter 'Terry Hall' into the search to watch the clip.
14.4.07
Creating
the Worlds of Star Wars: 365 Days - John Knoll. John Knoll was 14
years old when the first Star Wars film came out in 1977, and it
changed his life. By the time the first prequel, The Phantom Menace,
was released in 1999, he was its visual effects supervisor - in charge of
all special effects. With Knoll as tour guide, this deluxe addition to
Abrams' 365 Days series provides the single most comprehensive
collection of Star Wars images ever, including breathtaking 360-degree
panoramic shots of sets and models, as well as concept art, props, film
stills, and memorabilia. The only book that covers all six films, Star
Wars: 365 Days is Knoll's spectacular survey of the visual world
created by those films. It shows us George Lucas and his crew creating
their universe on location and in the studio - in pages dense with imagery
and information, documenting a remarkable sustained creative effort by
hundreds of devoted filmmakers and craftsmen. A CD-ROM, with nearly 100
QuickTime panoramas of the sets, adds to the beauty of this edition. 744
pages, over 3½lbs in weight, 9½" x 6½" x 2½" (thick!) and currently on
offer from Amazon.co.uk for just £13.16. (Not 'magic' - but I know that
there are a lots of Star Wars fans in the magic community, and this book,
and the wealth of never before seen behind-the-scenes photos, especially
from the early movies, meant that I just had to feature it!) Order from
Amazon.co.uk.
14.4.07
BAFTA
Nominations Announced. In the entertainment program category, the
nominees are Dancing on Ice, The X Factor, Derren Brown:
The Heist and How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?
Click Here • "I didn't take any trances. Exclusive 'We put this girl
to sleep, and when she wakes up she's stuck to the road witnessing her
death in front of her' Illusionist Derren Brown is relaxed about taking
man in trance on 1400-mile air trip" To read the full story in The Daily
Record
Click Here • "And that's renaissance magic ... Compendium of card
tricks, number puzzles and illusions was written by Leonardo Da Vinci's
best friend"
Click Here • "Fraudsters' vanishing trick with magicians' money"
Click Here • Thanks to Colin Peters for letting us know that an extra
date has just been added to Derren Brown's tour on May 25th at the Dorking
Halls - see What's On •
Jonathan Lucia-Wright emailed to say he had donations from Uri Geller,
Derren Brown, Kaymar Magic and Beard Juggling and will now be able to take
a Deafblind man to next year's Blackpool Convention, so many thanks
www.deafblind.org.uk
• Congratulations to Michael and Helen Fitch on the birth of Scarlett Rose
Fitch on April 3rd • "Playing mind games with Kreskin"
Click Here • "New Cirque show dips into the mainstream"
Click Here • Thanks for your news, always welcomed - see you next
week, Duncan. 14.4.07