Number
1095 - Saturday 19th June 2021
Merlin. World Première, Northern Ballet, Nottingham Theatre Royal.
25th September to 2nd October 2021. Discover how the world's most famous
sorcerer mastered his magic to unite a warring kingdom. Inspired by the story of
the mythical wizard, Northern Ballet's Merlin will take you on a sweeping epic
adventure of heartbreak, hope and more than a little magic. Choreographed by
Olivier Award-winning Drew McOnie (Broadway’s King Kong and Baz Luhrmann’s
Strictly Ballroom), expect an enchanting spectacle. Don't miss the legend
reawakened through Northern Ballet's unrivalled blend of classical ballet and
dramatic storytelling. Choreography & Direction: Drew McOnie, Music: Grant
Olding, Set & Costume Design: Colin Richmond, Lighting Design: Anna Watson,
Illusions: Chris Fisher, Puppetry Design & Direction: Rachael Canning.
www.northernballet.com.
19.6.21
Wonderment transforms into
'Wonderville Magic & Illusion' and adds guest performers to
the mix. From the promoter: Wonderville brings together some of the
greatest illusionists live on stage in a breathtaking display of magic and
illusion that will electrify, surprise and leave theatregoers in awe at what
they are seeing.
Don’t miss this fresh spin on one of the greatest historical art forms, magic.
Five acts will appear at each performance and showcase their incredible talents.
The acts are the multi-award-winning Mind Reader and TV star Chris Cox, star of
Britain’s Got Talent Josephine Lee, stage illusionists Young & Strange and Magic
Circle Champion Edward Hilsum. Amazi and Symoné are our 5th act, each playing
selective performances during the run. Amazi is an international hula hooper and
Symoné combines hula hooping, roller skating and dance, they both currently
hold a Guinness World Record. Be transported to a variety performance like no
other – comedy, illusion, magic, entertainment and mystery make it a fun night
for all the family.
Guest performers:
Kat Hudson (16th-19th July & 25th-30th August)
Magic Singh (21st-26th July & 11th-16th August)
Emily England (28th July-2nd August)
Harry De Cruz (4th-9th August)
Magical Bones (18th-23rd August).
Palace Theatre, London. 16th July - 30th August.
Website: www.wondermentlive.com
Box Office: www.nimaxtheatres.com/theatres/palace-theatre. 19.6.21
Masters
of Magic 'United Magicians For The World' - live this weekend! "We dream of creating something special, that everyone in magic can
remember not only in terms of video screens, but with emotional contact that
allows our love for magic to become a unique experience that combines the
digital world with the real world, and all by helping others" See
www.mastersofmagicconvention.com for full details.
19.6.21
CollectingMagicBooks.com sell new, used and antique magic books for
magicians, historians and collectors. With their own range of quality
magic reprints, a book ordering service for in-print books and an
expanding stock of used and antique books there's something for
everyone. Be sure to sign up for their newsletter to keep up to date
with new and exclusive releases and offers. See
www.collectingmagicbooks.com.
19.6.21
Palmed
Card Trophy/Ornament by PropDog. PropDog's David Bonsall writes: I've always
felt there was a lack of good quality, great looking trophies for magic clubs
and competitions, most are just boring old cups or plaques. So I came up with
the idea of making these beautiful, extremely high quality trophies, which also
make great ornaments or bookends!
They look and feel like bronze, though they are actually cast from a special
resin with bronze powder, which gives that beautiful bronze look, and they are
very heavy. The bases are made from Rosewood and look amazing. We purposely left
off a brass engraving plate in case customers wanted to use them as ornaments,
but if you are using it as a trophy, then any engraving shop, such as Timpsons,
will add a plate for you.
Due to the complexity of making these, we have only created five so far, but
will make more if the demand is there and we may well make additional designs,
such as back palmed cards or palmed coins etc. Each trophy is 270mm tall, the
base is 140mm in diameter at the bottom and 90mm the rest of the way up and it
weights 1.7kgs. See
www.propdog.co.uk for more info and to order.
19.6.21
Derren
Brown A Book of Secrets: Finding Solace in a Stubborn World. There
is a difference between happiness and living well. In his thoughtful and
brilliant new book, Derren Brown, internationally bestselling author of
Happy, considers the value of difficulty in our lives. Perhaps it
is in those times when we are forced to cope with adversity that we find
the most meaningful rewards. As he navigates middle age, love and small
talk, he dispenses with self-help platitudes and wonders if perhaps we
need to more comfortably embrace uncertainty. Is anxiety in fact a
pointer for growth?
In chapters that take us back to the scene of childhood humiliation, to
lonely evenings on tour, to the high stress of a house move, Derren
explores that when we feel most alone we are often most connected to
others and the flow of life. Guiding us through the ideas of some of
humanity's greatest thinkers, he asks if, rather than focusing on
self-improvement, we might instead prioritise a better interaction with
the people around us? Learn how to gather ourselves up when we need to
and make sure we fully appear in our own lives, rather than watching
from the sidelines?
In a book that is both deeply personal and profound, Derren reveals his own moments of anger and frustration, loneliness and loss, and finds surprising sources of consolation and compassion. This title will be released on September 2nd and is now available for pre-order from www.amazon.co.uk. 19.6.21
Wayne
& Mike’s Coffee Morning. This week, Wayne & Mike take a look at Wayne’s
newest version of Echo. Performed live at The Session 2020, Mike discusses with
Wayne how Echo (aka 'Teach a Trick') evolved over the years to a performance
piece that Wayne still performs to this day. Episode 19:
YouTube.
19.6.21
The
MagicWeek Video Archive. A new magic clip or show every week! This
week 'Mississippi Magic' with Paul Daniels from 17th January 1987. See
The MagicWeek Video Archive. To catch up with more from The
MagicWeek Video Archive
Click Here.
19.6.21
'The
Free Selection Collectors' - Mark Leveridge Magic. Mark Leveridge writes:
Most close-up workers have their own favourite card routines and this is one of
mine. It is a pleasing combination of strong card tricks which combine to
produce a bewildering sequence in which the ‘impossible’ appears to happen
several times!
Each of the segments which goes to make up this routine has been carefully
selected and blended with the other parts in order to produce an overall effect
which seems to get ever more unbelievable. How can these cards keep turning up
when the deck is being shuffled so often? Although not a ‘collectors’ type
effect in the more normal card magic terminology sense, cards of all the same
numerical value are magically collected, hence the title of this Master Routine.
Watch a demonstration and find out more. Visit
www.markleveridge.co.uk.
19.6.21
Emotions,
Moods & Feelings - Mr E Enterprises. Emotions, moods and feelings are
psychological states usually brought on by neurophysiological changes in the
brain, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, and behavioural responses,
and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is currently no scientific
consensus on a definition. All of us have experienced them to one degree or
another, so they are familiar to us all. When I came upon some Emoji pictures
depicting these feelings I thought they would have an instant impact with my
audiences if used correctly. As soon as I tried them with the following trick, I
knew I had struck gold.
You display several Emoji pictures cards to your audience describing what they
represent and have a volunteer (I used a lady) step forwards and freely choose
one (no force) without allowing you or anyone else to see her choice. She is
then asked to recall, in her mind only, some past event or occasion when she
last experienced the freely chosen emotion, mood or feeling. Incredibly you
appear to tune into her mind or imagination and slowly reveal not only her
choice, but other details associated with the occasion she is merely thinking
about to the amazement of your audience! No difficult memory work is involved,
and is surprisingly easy to do. Comes complete with a set of Thirteen laminated
Emoji mood picture cards either in Close-up or Table-hopping Pro sizes and instructions. See
www.mreenterprises.co.uk.
19.6.21
Bang
on the Money by Martin Peirce - Alakazam Magic. Instantly and amazingly add
up randomly chosen combinations of coins! Find out what it's all about and watch
a demonstration at
www.alakazam.co.uk.
19.6.21
101
Tips for Magicians - free download. Chris Dugdale writes: A while ago I
published a book entitled 101 Tips for Magicians, which was really genuinely
well received. It retailed at $9.99. I have decided because everyone has been
through an extremely difficult period of time, to give this away for free.
"Excellent, commercial, workable, baffling, these are just a few of the words
that come to mind when I think of Chris Dugdale's material – and this book is
full of it!" Wayne Dobson. A free copy can be claimed from
www.xyabook.com.
19.6.21
E-Club
Pro Select - The June Additions. Each month two new items are added to the
list of downloadable video routines which have been extracted from the Mark
Leveridge E-Club Pro vaults and made available temporarily for individual sale.
Here are the new routines for this month: 1. Silk On Rope. Learn a
devious yet simple way to tie a knot in an examined length of rope and have a
silk simultaneously appear threaded through the knot! This method allows the
silk's appearance to happen at any point in a rope routine. 2. Phone Card.
A freely chosen and signed card magically switches places with a Joker shown to
be initially in the internal pocket of a mobile phone case. No palming or reset,
this can be done with any ordinary phone case that has an inside pocket. Both
these routines cost just £7.00 and come as download videos. To get further
details and to watch dems of these and the other products currently on the
E-Club Pro Select list, go to
www.markleveridge.co.uk/e-club-pro-select.
19.6.21
The
June Mark Leveridge Podcast. The latest 30 minute podcast from Mark
Leveridge offers the usual mix of varied, interesting subjects. Here's the topic
list for June: Humble beginnings are often the starting place for greatness.
The destructive side of social media affects magic too. The different types of
spectators we have to deal with when performing. What does the impression your
website gives say about you? Access to marketed magic is so easy these days.
Magic is more powerful than we sometimes realise. Access to this audio podcast
is free and can be found either at
www.markleveridge.co.uk/podcast-archive, or from
www.markleveridge.podbean.com. And if you enjoy it, there are plenty of back
issues that you can dip into as well.
19.6.21
The Next Great Magician is being repeated on Virgin Media Two. Stephen Mulhern and Rochelle Humes host a show featuring the world's greatest magic acts. Each week, six illusionists display their skills, then decide between them which should go through to the final. In the first episode, Eric Jones performs some close-up magic with the help of Rylan Clark and Suzanne Shaw, comedy double-act Young & Strange bring along a furry friend to help with their performance, Jordan Gomez displays his manipulation act, Ines and Jonathan Goodwin both carry out terrifying escape stunts, and Xavier Mortimer combines magic, circus skills, music and comedy. See TV Magic for details. 19.6.21
Tommy Cooper in 'The Plank'. Silent comedy written and directed by Eric Sykes about two bungling workmen trying desperately to transport a wooden plank through a suburb of London to a building site. Director: Eric Sykes. Starring: Tommy Cooper, Eric Sykes, Jimmy Edwards, Roy Castle, Graham Stark, Stratford Johns. Saturday 19th June on Talking Pictures TV at 6.50pm. See TV Magic. 19.6.21
"'Magic'
playing card signed by Prince William expected to reach £5k at auction"
Click Here • "Pickpocket magician breaks down 12 pickpocketing tricks in
movies and TV"
Click Here • "Uri Geller: Spoon bending magician is going to 'unleash his
powers' during Scotland's Euro 2020 game against England at Wembley stadium"
Click Here • "Rochdale-based hypnotist asks for help using power of thought
to guarantee an England win"
Click Here • "‘AGT': Watch Magician Who Looks Like He’s Straight Out of
‘Saw’ Torture Judges With a Spider"
Click Here • "TikTok magician Joel M signs with HarperNonFiction"
Click Here • "Prime Minister reveals plans for pilot events to test
theatrical performances with fewer restrictions"
Click Here • "‘Hey Presto-n’ to treat Prestonians to a night of illusion and
magic"
Click Here • "Theatres can safely open at capacity
with audiences wearing face masks, UCL study suggests"
Click Here • "Mat Franco’s return to Las Vegas is no Illusion"
Click Here • "Harry Houdini and the Great Copyright Escape"
Click Here • "Experiment suggests that many adults are easily convinced by a
paranormal event, especially if it arouses their emotions"
Click Here • Your UK magic news is always welcomed. See you next week, Duncan.
19.6.21