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73rd British Ring IBM Convention
23rd - 27th September 2009, Southport
Update 11, July 2009
Bob Hayden, British Ring PRO
In
the Late Night Magic Shows of the past two Conventions there was an abundance of
fine and entertaining magic performed but the atmosphere that had been generated
by the Fringe shows in past years was clearly lacking. The Fringe for many of
the Conventioneers was the highlight of their Convention. Here’s some great
news. It is now confirmed that this year the Fringe is returning. The Fringe is
completely independent of the British Ring and is essentially a series of
additional free shows organised and has been to date financed by Fay Presto.
This year Fay has received some commercial sponsorship from the dealers ‘Magic
Cave’, so it’s a big thank you to them for their support for without the
Magic Cave it would not have happened
Fay takes a lot of trouble to create a good environment for her performers. The
audience do not sit in rows of seats theatre style but around tables as for
watching a cabaret and enjoying a drink. The audience is not entirely made up of
magicians. ‘Normal people’ are invited to the venue to give the performers a
real audience. Another feature that Fay arranges is the Fringe Banquet as an
alternative to the formal Convention Banquet. For this you order your choice of
takeaway food to be delivered to the venue, eat it, and then sit back and enjoy
the cabaret. The Fringe will be taking place in the Southport Arts Centre in
Lord Street. There will be no advance announcements of those who will be
performing at these shows but those with stamina and for whom sleep is of little
importance they will be guaranteed an exceptional and memorable magical
experience. Fingers crossed and ‘Bon Voyage’!
Here’s a profile on Ed Ellis who joins Hayashi, Henry Mayol, Tyler
Wilson, Thom Peterson and John van der Put in the international Close-Up Show.
Ed is a professional magician residing in Canton Ohio and one who travels the
world performing magic. For over 25 years Ed has been performing close-up magic,
sleight of hand illusions and full time table magic for Hollywood and television
stars as well as famous sports figures. He has performed at Las Vegas’s Caesar’s
Palace, lectured and performed at the world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood and
was the star of the Ed Ellis television show in 2005. He won first place for
close-up at the International Battle of Magicians in 2006. His style of card and
rubber band and ring magic is visually stunning with minimal amount of process.
You are particularly advised to watch out for his effect Ringature. It has been
described as a close-up workers dream effect. Ed can blow your mind with a deck
of cards in his hands. He is a master at card manipulation and brings a real
sense of the impossible to his moves.
Ed will also be lecturing. He has marketed several DVDs. His volume two DVD ‘You
Blue It’ was reviewed by the Magic Café as the best single trick DVD they
had seen while his volume five ‘The Castle Routine’ was reviewed by On
Line Visions as being packed with striking visuals that will have advanced card
workers anxious to learn and his volume seven ‘Totally Blue It’ has been
described by the Magic Café as the best colour changing deck routine they had
seen. If you are a card manipulator Ed Ellis’s lecture is a must for you.
The Brits who attended the recent IBM Convention in Nashville and saw Ed Ellis
working speak highly of his work and are sure he will be greatly admired and
respected at Southport.
Since announcing that the Micro Magic Marathon was continuing to be an
event in the Convention programme there have been enquires from those who are
either new members or were not at Eastbourne last year about its purpose and how
it operates. At the Committee meeting in January 2008 Ali Bongo expressed his
concern that magicians whether they be professionals, semi professionals,
amateurs or just hobbyists were forgetting what Conventions were for. The
dictionary definition of convention is ‘a coming together’. For magicians it is
a gathering of like minded individuals who perform, watch, buy, sell, discuss
and love magic; an assembly of enthusiasts who want to meet friends they may not
have seen for a year, to chat, to reminisce, swap ideas, to grumble about the
way things are in the world – in other words socialise. It should be more than
just watching, listening and learning. A Micro Magic Marathon (M.M.M.) would be
such an event that would facilitate the chance to socialise.
He went on to explain how it would operate. Each contestant would be given a
number and he/she, in the hour allocated would have to perform to as many tables
and groups as possible. The Conventioneers would have cards to register their
thoughts and at the end of the session would record on the card just the number
of their favourite performer. After the cards had been collected the performer
with his or her number on most of the cards would be declared the winner. There
would be no official prize so as not to compete with the official close-up
competition but some token presentation would be made together with the glory
and satisfaction of being the ‘Peoples Choice’.
Of course how the performers would approach the challenge would be up to the
individual. The choice of material would be important. Originality, diversity,
brevity, stamina, charm and charisma would be paramount. Ali’s advice would be
to perform a short sharp show avoiding standard items that were likely to be
used by others.
The M.M.M. was included in the programme and the two desirable objectives of the
event were fulfilled – under the nose magic and socialising. Everyone became a
participant instead of being purely a spectator. So come on all you table
hoppers prepare a snappy and entertaining routine and inform this years event
organiser Viv Davies your intention to participate. His telephone number is 029
2079 2789 or E-mail him at
Mysteeny@btinteret.com Last year the M.M.M. produced some serious close
quarter magic and heaps of hilarity for both audience and performers. It will do
so again this year.
These are more good reasons why you should make arrangements to attend this
year’s British Ring Convention in Southport September 23rd to 27th. You can
register immediately using this website. At £125 per person (£100 for British
Ring Members and their Partners) it is real value for money.
Bob Hayden, British Ring PRO, July 2009. www.britishring.org.uk