Number 390 - 15th December 2007
Blackpool
Magicians Convention, 22nd, 23rd, 24th February 2008 - more names just
announced! Close-up artistes and lecturers: David Solomon - USA, J.J.
Sanvert - France, Helder Guimaraes - Portugal, J.C. Wagner - USA, Kostya
Kimlat - USA, David Stone - France, Martin Sanderson - UK, Shoot Ogawa -
USA, Chris Priest - UK, Shawn Farquhar - USA, Michael Close - USA, Lennart
Green - Sweden, Peter Wardell - UK (with more to come). The Saturday Gala
Show 'United Kingdom v The Rest of the World' stars: Fukai - Japan, Rafael
- Belgium, Roxanne - Germany, Shimada - Japan, Topas - Germany (photo), Bob
Wooding - UK, Scott Penrose - UK, Jon Archer - UK, Danny Hunt & Annette -
UK. The Sunday Gala Show (only 300 seats remain), stars: Mahka Tendo -
Japan, Rafael - Belgium, Valerie - France, Antje Pode - Germany, David
Sousa - Portugal, Topas - Germany, Shimada - Japan, Ken Dodd - UK.
A very special hour has been booked for 'An Audience with Wayne Dobson and
Geoffrey Durham' - interviewed side by side by Terry Seabrooke. The 'After
Gala' Show on Sunday starts Jupiter, Tim Cockerill, Dirk Losander and The
Counterfeit BeeGees as registrants enjoy a Lancashire Hot Pot. You'll
need to book a Gold Card Registration before 31st December, 2007 to
receive Derek Lever's new book (price £25.00) free of charge. Due to
enormous demand with registrations at record levels it is predicted that
Gold Cards will have sold out by early January. To book contact Arthur Casson
arthurcasson@aol.com or ring
01253 393688 or visit
www.blackpoolmagic.com.
15.12.07
Keith
Barry: the Escape - Live. The Irish illusionist baffles celebrities
including Denise Van Outen and Eamonn Holmes, in this special show that
culminates in him being bound to a chair with 100' of rope - bundled
inside a shed packed with explosives... linked to a live fuse! On Saturday
29th December at 9pm on ITV1. See
TV Magic.
15.12.07
Will
Houstoun and Michael Vincent (photo) join Chad Long, Tom Stone,
Matthew J. Dowden and Aaron Fisher at The Session 2008 on January 26th and
27th in Gloucester. Now established as the UK's only dedicated close-up
magic convention, whether you are an enthusiastic newcomer or an
experienced professional, The Session is an unmissable event if you are
passionate about close-up magic and card magic.
www.sessionconvention.com.
15.12.07
Joe
Pasquale: Return of the Love Monkey. Joe Pasquale returns to our
screens with a brand new hour of comedy. Witness a feat of escapology that even David Blaine wouldn't dare attempt.
11.35pm on Thursday 27th December on ITV1. See
TV Magic.
15.12.07
Comedy
Gold. Comedy and magic maestro Pete Firman is headlining at Comedy
Gold, 159 Tottenham Lane, Crouch End, London N8 on Thursday 20th December.
(Tube: Finsbury Park/Highgate) Plus: Joe Wilkinson, Holly Walsh, Jimmy
McGhie, ‘Brian Blessed impersonator’ Matt Earley and MC Tiffany Stevenson.
£6.50 on the door, doors from 7.30pm, show at 8.15pm.
15.12.07
An
evening with Roger Crosthwaite. Nicky Moon emails: "Sussex's
friendliest magic society the ACES in Lewes are delighted to have Roger
join us for a lecture showing his numerous and plentiful card effects and
close-up skills. Roger is a fantastic performer and well regarded and we
welcome visiting magicians at £5. Members from the Southdowns Magicians
will also be joining us as part of our bi-annual friendly get-together.
Full details from President Martin Lewis or Secretary Nicky Moon on 01903
532413 or email thisismagic@msn.com.
We always welcome new members and look forward to seeing you there!" 9th
January 2008 8pm-10pm. Venue: Thomas A Beckett Church Hall, Cliff High
Street, Lewes. Ticket info: £5 for visiting magicians. Members and
Southdowns Magicians free.
www.acesmagic.co.uk.
15.12.07
A
Card Merely Thought Of… is a collection of notes in PDF format,
describing the history and methodologies behind one of Mentalism’s
strongest plots – The divination of a spectator's thought-of playing card.
"The focus of this work is the use of a normal, non-stacked, non-gaffed
pack of cards to determine cards merely thought of by the participants.
Imagine it… a card not touched, removed, or cut-to... The card is merely
thought of and remembered. To the audience, this is real mind-reading.
Included in these notes are a thorough analysis of the Erdnase variations
of 'Think of a Card', with further examination of the published thoughts
of others who have worked with the concepts, such as Vernon, Dingle,
Berglas, and Bowyer. The author's own discoveries and work on the ‘Think
of a Card' theme are clearly described with photographs and illustrations.
As well as the history and theory behind the techniques, several full
presentations and effects are explained." Author Thomas Baxter kindly sent
through a copy of A Card Merely Thought Of and I was very
impressed. Card workers will really enjoy, learn from, and use material
from this well-produced ebook that actually offers much more than a
card merely thought of. Highly recommended. For more information and
to order
Click Here.
15.12.07
Clone
Coin by Mark Lee. "This is a
super clean 'Special' coin that can be shown clearly as a regular coin:
Effect one, is a simple coins across in your hands effect. You start off
by displaying two coins openly, there is obviously nothing else in your
hands. You place the two coins, one at a time, and very cleanly, from your
right hand to the left. You now pick the two coins up with your right
hand, and display them. They are then thrown one at a time into your left
hand (you can even hear them clinking), and you grip them, making a fist
with both hands. You make a magical gesture, and although your hands never
come anywhere near each other, you can now show that you have one coin in
each hand! Effect two, is a coin matrix effect. Using four coins, which
are shown and counted, and two regular playing cards, borrowed if you
wish. The coins are spread out in to a square formation. Two of the coins
are now covered by the playing cards. When one is lifted, a coin has gone,
and when the other card is lifted there are now two coins under it. This
is repeated, until all the coins are now under one card! You can now show
you have only two cards and four coins!" Sold by Merlins since 2006,
available in the 10p version as standard, but you can order it in any coin
required. Standard 10p coin plus instructions £25.00 + £2.95 UK postage or
£4.95 overseas.
Order from:
www.merlinswakefield.co.uk.
15.12.07
"The
magical entrances of the ghosts, who come to haunt Scrooge, are
cunningly devised by illusionist Paul Kieve and had the audience
shrieking, gasping and applauding as well as debating, during the
interval, how they were achieved." Scrooge is currently playing the
Manchester Palace theatre and then continuing on tour till February –
starring Shane Richie this year. To read the full review in the Manchester
Evening News
Click Here. To book tickets:
Click Here (Paul's recently published Hocus Pocus has just been chosen
as one of three recommended books, by the Blue Peter Book Club, for
December
Click Here).
15.12.07
Moonlight
& Magnolias starring Andy Nyman has been nominated for Best Comedy
in the "What's on Stage Theatregoers' Choice Awards". To vote online visit
www.whatsonstage.com (scroll down to Best Comedy and click Moonlight &
Magnolias!). The play looks like it will be going into the West End in
2008. Nyman mid look:
Click Here. "Andy Nyman gives a superb performance in the role,
preposterous, ferociously demanding but also strangely loveable..." wrote
the
Telegraph ("preposterous, ferociously demanding but also strangely
loveable" ... sounds like the Andy we know off-stage as well!).
15.12.07
Past
Midnight - in stock at Alakazam. "Alakazam are proud to release debut
material by one of the best underground card magicians in the world:
Benjamin Earl. For years, Ben has been one of Europe's top professional
performers and innovative creators. Like many of these quiet achievers, he
has previously avoided magicians, conventions and all attempts to get him
to share his original material, until now..."
www.alakazam.co.uk.
15.12.07
Paul
Daniels and Debbie McGee help chefs Nick Nairn and Gino D'Acampo
prepare a meal as if by magic in just twenty minutes on Ready, Steady,
Cook on Thursday 27th December at 4.45pm on BBC 2. Presented by
Ainsley Harriott.
15.12.07
The
A, B, C of Magic. "100 coin, card and classic tricks for everyone to
learn. With a little practice you'll be astonishing friends and family
with your sleight of hand. They'll be wondering what else you've got up
your sleeve." Two 50-trick magic specials, Part One in the Guardian on
Saturday and Part Two in The Observer on Sunday.
www.guardianmarketing.co.uk/magic.
15.12.07
Second
Auction of Jay Marshall Collection announced. A public auction of
ephemera and memorabilia from the legendary magic collection of
entertainer Jay Marshall (1919-2005) will take place in Louisville,
Kentucky, on Sunday, July 27th, 2008 – the day following the conclusion of
the IBM/SAM 2008 Combined Convention. The auction will be held at the Galt
House Hotel & Suites, Louisville, Kentucky. Jay Marshall accumulated one
of the world’s finest collections of magic-related material in the world
and a selection of choice artifacts from his collection will be available
for sale at this public auction. “After the first auction of Jay’s
collection, in May, 2007, we discovered a staggering amount of magic
books, posters, and other rarities remained,” said Gabe Fajuri, President
of Potter & Potter Auctions, organizer of the upcoming sale. “Louisville
was the logical choice for a follow-up auction, since a ready-made
international market of interested magicians and collectors would already
be assembled there. The auction will be open to the public.” On or before
June 15th, 2008, an illustrated catalogue will be available from: Potter &
Potter Auctions, Inc., 1719 W. Leland Ave., Chicago, IL 60640, USA
www.potterauctions.com.
15.12.07
Private
Passions:
Derren Brown. "Michael Berkeley meets Derren Brown, who over the last
seven years has enthralled audiences with his famous experiments in 'Mind
Control', a potent blend of psychology, illusion and showmanship. A
passionate music-lover, Derren listens every day to Bach, especially the
Goldberg Variations and Cello Suites, and many of his choices have a
spiritual nature, including Tallis's 40-part motet Spem in alium and
Elgar's oratorio The Dream of Gerontius. He also reveals that he used the
slow movement of Beethoven's 'Emperor' Piano Concerto in a live stage show
to accompany the slow and painful process of hammering a nail into his
nose!" 12 noon on Sunday 23rd December on BBC Radio Three.
15.12.07
Debbie
McGee, wife of magician and entertainer-extraordinaire Paul Daniels
swaps places with outspoken radio presenter Vanessa Feltz. Debbie spends
two weeks in Vanessa's London home living with her musician fiancé Ben
Offoedu, while Vanessa moves in with world famous TV magician Paul
Daniels.
Celebrity Wife Swap: 9pm on Wednesday 19th December on E4 (repeat).
15.12.07
Magicassette, MagiCD acquired by Lybrary.com. Martin Breese has sold all rights and stock of his magic audio recordings (Magicassette, MagiCD) to Lybrary.com who will make the recordings available as MP3 files (as well as CDs) for download at reasonable cost. (Note that none of Martin Breese's range of CDROMs, Digital Magazines, or DVDs have been sold - only the audio material has been moved over to Lybrary.com). www.lybrary.com. 15.12.07
"Blaine fears new stunt will damage brain" Click Here • Brian Miller reviews Mel Harvey in Dick Whittington this week, Click Here and Freddie Wilkinson reviews Safire in Aladdin Click Here • "Magic Stephen does Japanese appearing trick" Click Here • "Review of the year - TV" Click Here • Magician Criss Angel is 40 on Wednesday • "Pamela Anderson Cozies Up with Criss Angel" Click Here • That's it! See you next week, Duncan. 15.12.07