MagicWeek launched during the peak of the now infamous dot-com bubble on Saturday 1st July 2000 (MagicWeek number 1). It was a time when many new internet ventures were based on little more than woofle dust, soon to disappear. But unlike the boo dot-coms of the day MagicWeek luckily required little more investment than a PC and some determination. I first went online in late 1999 and soon realised there was no real focus for magic in the UK. No magic news, no directory of magicians, no list of magic clubs: nothing to bring it all together.

In April 2000, on a short three-week contract performing at Huis Ten Bosch in Japan, I took a "how to make a website" book out with me. Before leaving, I had registered the domain names magicweek.co.uk and magicweek.com and when I returned, I spent ages on various search engines like Yahoo!, AltaVista, Lycos, Excite, Ask Jeeves, HotBot, and new kid on the block, Google, compiling a list of UK-based magicians, magic clubs, and dealers. I was searching for anything that would fit under the MagicWeek strapline: 'Magic in the UK online'. I emailed friends to let them know my plans and asked if they'd like to contribute articles or news, to make sure I launched with solid content. One of the common mistakes new websites made back then was displaying an eternal "Under Construction" promise on their homepage.

So MagicWeek launched with a news page, articles, reviews, 'TV Magic' and 'What's On' sections, as well as links to conventions, magicians' websites, magic clubs, and more. I also included free classified 'For Sale' and 'Wanted' ads. Every news item would have an accompanying photo, and to speed up download times they were kept small. There was no broadband back then; we were typically on a "penny-a-minute dial-up" which was really slow. Design wise I made the decision not to allow any animated dealer ads, or irritating pop-up ads, so that readers could enjoy the site without distraction.

I grew up with Goodliffe's wonderful Abracadabra magazine. My mother paid for the subscription when I was still at school, as she thought it would help with my reading. But I never considered MagicWeek and Abra to be rivals. MagicWeek was only online, and Abra only in print.

What I really liked about Abra was the Editorial, mainly by Donald Bevan and later by Walt Lees, along with the Letters page. Ironically, MagicWeek had neither. I knew I couldn't write a fresh editorial every week, as it would quickly lead to burnout. And no 'Letters' page either, because already the internet featured a number of magic forums and email groups, which in essence had taken over from the traditional 'Letters' page found in magazines. Then Facebook was created in February 2004, and it, in many ways, replaced the forums.

Initially MagicWeek took a while to get going, but I persevered week after week until I got my first magic dealer advertiser after a few months, and some of those early advertisers are still with MagicWeek today, including Merlins, International, Mark Leveridge Magic and Alakazam.

Having been a full-time magician for 20+ years, I then had to make the decision to stop taking bookings if they meant that I'd have to be away for more than a few days. I could then put all my efforts into MagicWeek, and other internet ventures that I started on the back of it.

I offered website design and web hosting. I also launched a directory for Corporate Magicians and one for Children's entertainers. During the early days of Google if you did a search for a magician the results were pretty random. So my two directories, which featured magicians by actual location, did really well. Eventually, Google improved its algorithms, offering more accurate localised search results but also prioritising its own advertisers. So as Google's dominance got bigger, my directory businesses got smaller. I closed the directories a few years ago.

In May 2016, I introduced The MagicWeek Video Archive. Since the early 1980s, I had recorded as much magic on television as I could. I decided to share my collection through MagicWeek and YouTube, uploading a new video every week. I've since uploaded hundreds of magic clips. Combined with 25 years of MagicWeek back issues, they form a fun and useful "who did what and when" resource.

These days, I still really enjoy producing MagicWeek. Most of the news is kindly submitted by readers and magic club secretaries. I upload each new edition late on Friday night, and Chris North emails me any typos on Saturday morning! The main dealer ads keep it all ticking along, together with a loyal band of MagicWeek Backers. I'd like to give them a shout-out, and say many thanks.

MagicWeek is backed by these Magicians:
Adrian Tritton, Alan Chitty (deceased), Alec Powell, Alex Melven, Allan Clarke, Amethyst Magic, Andy Hibberd, Andy Nyman, Arpad Varadi, Art Cogginsbull, Bob Gill, Bob Hamilton, Brendan Lambe, Carl Howse, Carol Lodge, Chris Cox, Chris Newson, Costas Constantinou, Craig Davidson, Darren Filsell, Dave Andrews, Dave Bonsall, David Berglas (deceased), David Budd, David Diamond, David Harry, David Owen, David Redfearn, David Stones, Dean Forster, Denham Holmes, Edward Hilsum, Eoin Smith, Gary Jones, Gordon Astley, Helen Bailey, Ian Black, Ian Fenn, James Earls, James Freedman, James Green, James Hobart, Jamie Raven, Jez Rose, John Davenport, John Holford, John Styles, Kevin Hutchinson, Kevin McMahon, Kieron Lefever, Kyle Sarocen, Loki, Malcolm Fairhurst, Mark Bennett, Martin Duffy, Matthew Blackwell, Matthew Field (deceased), Mike Sharples, Neill Drennan, Nimmo Clarke, Noel Qualter, Patrick Hayden, Paul Morley, Paul Roberts, Paul Stone, Paul Sturgess, Peter McLanachan, Peter Penwarden, Philip Hitchcock, Philip Treece, Quentin Reynolds, Richard Wiseman, Richard Young, Rob Earrey, Rodney James Piper, Stephen Barry, Steve Lobley, Sue Oakley, Tim Lichfield and Westley Evans.

and by these Magic Clubs:
The Blackpool Magicians' Club, The Magic Circle and The Order of The Magi.

MagicWeek is currently supported by these Advertisers:
Alakazam Magic, Castle Magic, CollectingMagicBooks.com, Discount Magic, Enchanted Rabbit Magic Emporium, International Magic, Mark Leveridge Magic, Merlins of Wakefield, My Mind Rocks, Practical Magic, Read My Mind Ltd, RSVPMagic Online, Sven-Force Books and Tricked Magic + Prints
 

One of the nicest side-effects that I hadn't considered when I started MagicWeek all those years ago, is how it has helped some magic careers along the way. Every so often a magician will tell me that they spotted a news item or responded to one of those 'Magicians Wanted' stories, and how that lead to something much bigger for them. That's been one of the most rewarding things of all.

MagicWeek allowed me to stay self-employed, which is what I'd grown used to as a magician, but it also allowed me to be at home with the family, so I do feel very lucky. Louis recently graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering and is now working as a project designer for a company that specialises in huge timber-based structures (imagine those gigantic laminated wooden panels you'll have seen being craned-in on Channel 4's Grand Designs!).

Amelia graduated with a degree in Film Production and worked as a marketing executive in London for a Japanese company for a number of years. She's currently in the middle of a career break, taking a year out in Japan. We went over to see her for a couple of weeks in April. And in recent years Keiko has been working part-time as a freelance interpreter (she translated at a Ron's Day some years ago), and is really enjoying it.

Long story short, we all grew up thanks to MagicWeek… and that was thanks to you!

MagicWeek "Christmas photo" December 2005
 

Amelia's Graduation Day, Royal Festival Hall, London. June 2019

The Magic Circle Centenary Convention.

Appearing on The Paul Daniels Magic Show (photo taken backstage) Thursday 21st July 2005.

L to R: Paul Daniels, Keiko Trillo, Debbie McGee, Duncan Trillo

Mount Fuji, April 2025