Number 458 - 4th April 2009
Spoon,
Jar, Jar, Spoon: The Two Sides of Tommy Cooper. To coincide with the
25th anniversary of Tommy Cooper's death, Rob Brydon explores two
different sides to this unique British performer – his humour and love
of magic. Tommy was keen to learn any trick that came on the market and
was a regular visitor, in the Sixties and Seventies, to
Davenport's
Magic Shop in London's Charing Cross Road and Ken Brooke's Magic
Place in Wardour Street. Throughout his career, Cooper was a member of
the Magic Circle. Today's programme features the last interview with the
late Ali Bongo, who gives an insight into the work of the "Circle" and
how Cooper relished being a member and helped raise its profile. Cooper
never lost his love and respect for the magician's craft, but was wise
enough to recognise it was his humour and comic timing that found favour
with the public. Listeners can also hear from escapologist and performer
Alan Alan, who made sight gags and tricks specifically for Cooper's act.
Additional contributors to the programme include Paul Daniels, Barry
Cryer and Patrick Page. 11.30am on
Tuesday 14th April on BBC Radio Four. 4.4.09
The Cambridge Pentacle
Club's 90th Anniversary celebrations take place on Saturday 9th May,
at
Girtin College, Cambridge. The daytime magic extravaganza boasts
lectures from star performers Geoffrey Durham, Alan
Shaxon, Paul Kieve and William Houstoun and magic dealers
Magic Books
by
Post, Practical Magic and the
Card
Collection will be displaying their wares. Tickets for the daytime event
cost £35.00 from secretary@pentaclemagic.co.uk
- but book early as places
are strictly limited, and many seats have
already been filled.
The evening event is a formal dinner followed by a cabaret,
starring Graham Jolley. Tickets for the dinner cost
£40.00, also available from secretary@pentaclemagic.co.uk.
All friends of the Pentacle Club are welcome. For more info visit:
www.pentaclemagic.co.uk. 4.4.09
Blackpool
Magicians' Club have just launched a great looking all-new website
which includes details of the club's new headquarters, its history,
Associate Membership information, the Blackpool Magicians’ Club
Newsletter, the Convention, and much more... Over 3,500 visitors and
more than 150 dealers from all parts of the globe attend the annual
convention, organised by Derek Lever, every year - a Registration Form
for the 2010 Blackpool Convention (19th - 21st February 2010) is now
available to download from the site. Later this year an archive area
will be added, featuring video clips, photo galleries and reviews of the
Blackpool Magic Convention, over the past 57 years. If you would like to
contribute to this archive Andrew Green,
andrew@modernmysteries.co.uk,
would be delighted to hear from you. Visit
www.blackpoolmagic.com
today! 4.4.09
Joe
Pasquale is in the driving seat on Friday April 10th, when he hosts 'The Paul O'Grady Show'
in Paul O'Grady's absence. Joe's guests include Katherine Jenkins, Uri
Geller and Melvyn Hayes.
5pm on Friday 10th April on Channel 4. See
TV Magic. 4.4.09
Chris
Cross is Escaping From Reality next month onwards, when he takes his
original show to Bath, Brighton and finally Edinburgh. "Chris Cross is a
contortionist and escapologist – I seem to remember a few freaky tricks
involving dislocated shoulders and a straight jacket in there somewhere
– but his real skill is in creating an atmosphere of complete lunacy
which infects your mind and leaves you questioning whether the sane
world still exists. To say he is a natural showman is a gross
understatement – the 19-year-old has already been a street performer for
a decade and appeared on Britain’s Got Talent, and can handle an
audience like a piece of putty. His body-bending stunts merely provide a
vehicle for a comedy act that’s as slick as it is screwball, delivered
in an outrageous, Russell Brand-esque persona. All those who wandered
into this pub cellar hoping for a bit of passable free entertainment
found themselves stumbling back up the stairs an hour later in complete
awe – some of them vowing never to speak of what had happened." Nuala
Calvi, The Stage. See
What's On for dates. 4.4.09
Chris
Hare’s Amazing Mental Deal! Announcing two brand new mental effects from Chris
Hare. Watch the video featuring “Where in the World?” and “Where Next?”
on his website right now:
www.harebrainmentalism.com. Chris Hare's Harebrain Mentalism
Lecture is now listed on our
Lecturers page. Chris
is the creator of
Birthday
Detector and the author of
Sensational
Memory and is able to offer your magic club an entertaining
and informative lecture featuring powerful mental effects that can be performed using everyday items. Chris Hare has been a
professional entertainer for over twenty years, during which time he
performed his Hypnotic Show for a year in The Canary Islands, six nights
a week. During the lecture he also teaches people how to increase their
memory, more than, perhaps, they could ever possibly imagine. Contact
Chris on 01784 453192 or email
chrishare@aol.com for more details.
www.mindboggler.co.uk. 4.4.09
Gregory
Wilson is presenting a lecture at Edinburgh Magic Circle on Friday,
April 10th. The lecture starts at 8pm. "This is a must-see lecture by
one of the best magicians from the USA." Visiting magicians are most
welcome for a fee of just £10.00. The venue is The Royal Scots Club, 30
Abercromby Place, Edinburgh EH3 6QE (Map).
See What's On for more dates,
including The Devon Magic Circle on the 8th. 4.4.09
Mike
Gancia was installed as the new President of the British Magical
Society at their AGM on Tuesday, March 31st. It is the second time Mike
has held this position. For information on the society visit
www.britishmagicalsociety.co.uk. 4.4.09
Cameron Francis'
Killer Gaft Magic has just been released by Big Blind Media. The DVD
features magic with gaffed cards, together with 18 sleights from BBM's 'Sleight
School'.
Eleven routines, sixteen gaffed cards (printed by the USPCC), and over
two hours of content. Featuring:
Pipeline, What The Blank,
Tele-print, Boxy, Washout, Tele-Print, Side by Side,
Switch Jack, What the Blank, The Following, Washout, Paan, Do the Wave,
Halfusion, The Flying Four... together with those 18 sleights. Find out
more, visit www.bigblindmedia.com. 4.4.09
An
Evening of Metaphysical Magic, Friday 15th May, Birmingham. Join Dr
Todd Landman for an evening of mystery entertainment that combines
philosophy, history, politics, geography, and science with the magical
and mystical arts in ways that explore the many hidden realms of human
existence.... There are two shows: 7.30pm to 9pm and 9.15pm to 10.45pm
(magicians who book for the second show can stay for a lecture). Tickets
are £5.50 for either show, contact:
drtodd@metaphysical-magician.com Venue: The Shop, 25 Oak Tree Lane,
Sell Oak, Birmingham B29 6JE (Map).
www.metaphysical-magician.com. 4.4.09
Hornchurch
magician Barry Hicks (www.magicenigma.co.uk) joined the Havering Chamber of
Commerce & Industry recently having been a regular performer at the
Havering Business Awards.
This led to an article being published in the Living Newspaper
on 30th March 2009 – Havering Council’s fortnightly newspaper
delivered to 103,000 households in the borough. For the full article
Click Here and click on
the PDF version of newspaper. 4.4.09
CupsandBallsMagic.com
have added a new section to their site, entitled 'Your Cups', allowing
Cups and Balls' performers and collectors to upload photos of the own
kit/collections. The site also features a newsletter option so that
you'll never miss an update, together with Cups and Balls Reviews, News
and more. Visit:
www.cupsandballsmagic.com. 4.4.09
Congratulations
to Matt Pritchard, winner of the Stage Competition at the annual
Fellowship
of Christian Magicians UK conference last week. During the 5 day conference Matt
also presented his award-winning fringe show "Futurology Live!"
- a unique
multimedia comedy that fuses magic, mentalism and silly pseudo-science.
Conference lecturers included Max Somerset, Mark Shortland and Simon
Williams. The close-up competition was won by Duncan Swan and the "Pete
McCahon Comedy Award" went to Joe Ridgely. 4.4.09
Andy
Taylor entertained VIP guests and theatre goers with close-up
magic, pre and post-show, at the re-opening of the New Crucible Theatre
in Sheffield a week last Thursday. The Crucible, famous for hosting the
annual World Snooker Championships, has just completed phase one of its
£15.3 million redevelopment.
www.atmagic.co.uk. 4.4.09
The
Nail Writer Anthology. Compiled and edited by Thomas Baxter. "This
165 page eBook is packed with routines and tips, and features a
comprehensive history of what must be, ounce for ounce, the most
powerful tool in the mentalist's arsenal." Thomas Baxter kindly sent
through a copy - and it's excellent. Here's a link to order a copy
(which, I think, under-sells the worth of this publication)
Click Here (DT). 4.4.09
Jon
Allen recently lectured and performed at the
Israeli Society of Magicians convention, and then, the day he got
home, flew off to Limerick for the
Irish
Magic Convention. (Now that's what I call a Bagel!) 4.4.09
The
'Care and Share' balloon fun days are back and in full swing, with
the next event taking place in Exeter on Wednesday 22nd April from 10am
to 6pm. "Come along and join in the fun at these very friendly and
formative balloon modelling days - with three lectures throughout the
day including one from the mystery lecturer. There are prizes to win in
the fun competitions that go on during the day, including the one
balloon challenge and the hat competition. More details can be found on
the balloon chat forum,
www.balloonchat.co.uk." The day caters for all levels. As usual the
day is sponsored by Sempertex Balloons. To find out more and to book
visit
www.sempertexballoons.co.uk. 4.4.09
The Magic Collection of Jay Marshall - Part III, April 26th.
"Most of the items in this auction - many of them scarce and genuinely
rare, will be sold at no
reserve. Visit
www.liveauctioneers.com to browse the catalogue and place your bids. A PDF-version of the catalogue will be
available at the Potter & Potter website shortly.
www.potterauctions.com. 4.4.09
"Billy
Zane is the Magic Man"
Click Here • "Interview: Ricky Jay"
Click Here • "'The Great Buck Howard' lacks magic"
Click Here • "Magic man Hugh Jackman"
Click Here • "Now you see it...Owww you don’t"
Click Here • "Brad revels in Mickey magic"
Click Here • Your UK magic news is always welcome, either use
the red 'Submit' buttons (below) or simply email your news items. Please
remember the Friday 12 noon deadline for the following Saturday. Have a
magic week, Duncan.
4.4.09