Blackpool convention 2010

I greatly enjoyed Blackpool, as always. It was a different shape for me this year because I didn’t go to many lectures and spent far more time than usual socialising. I met lots of interesting people I had never actually spoken to before, although I’ve known who they were and admired their magic. Among these were Gary Jones from Exeter and John Bannon from Chicago, both of whom I liked enormously.

For me, the Friday evening was dominated by the British Magical Close-Up Championships. Here’s what happened:

First prize was won by Min Hyung Kim from Korea, who didn’t seem to me to be the best but was certainly very good and I liked the way his bottle cap kept reappearing on the bottle.

Second prize was won by Johan Stahl from Sweden, who was fantastic. He set the scene for coffee and cake, and made cups, pens and coffee pots appear, disappear and float in the air with graceful skill and aplomb.

Third prize went to our friend John van der Put. His act was the usual cleverly organised chaos, witty and different.

The other contestants all also put in performances of a very high standard. They were:

Iain Moran, who showed us traditional, skilful close-up magic with cards, coins and ballbearings
Will Gray, who did a great trick with a sealed pack of cards as well as his famous goldfish production
Craig Petty, who did clever close-up to snippets of appropriate songs
Russell Leeds, who revived my soundly dormant interest in elastic bands
Rob James, who gave us high-tech magic and a comedy insight into his thinking, via a voiceover
Stephen Ablett, who remained admirably unfazed after he was interrupted and had to start his act again because the camera battery went dead.

Well done to everyone who took part. It was great fun to watch.


The Saturday evening show was excellent – and more so for being compèred by the marvellous Tony Stevens. The first half was the Intercontinental Stage Magic Championships, five very good acts from Korea, Austria and the UK. I particularly appreciated Dave Allen and Carl Charlesworth’s spoof on an American private-eye sketch. Dave played a ‘magic dick’ and Carl dressed up as the mysterious woman who always appears in such stories.

The second half was Cirque du Magie, an eclectic mixture of acts, mostly from America. I especially enjoyed David Kaplan’s juggling and comedy magic and David & Dania’s incredible quick-change act. I’ve seen David & Dania perform many times now but they’re so good I’m always happy to watch them again.


Those were the main events, for me. It all went very quickly and I’m now looking forward to the South Tyneside convention in the middle of March.

West End Magic

West End Magic, at the New Players Theatre in London on Saturday evening, was a one-off event to showcase the talents of a group of magicians who had all attended the Demon Magic Club, a school for young magicians run by Davenports.

The two highlights were Oliver Tabor and Phil Blackmore, the amazing juggler.

Oliver Tabor's act is my idea of magic at its best: lots of action and no waffle, subtle, clean and intelligent. It involves violins, doves, manipulation of musical notes and a host of other creative ideas, and is performed, smoothly and beautifully, to classical music. I always enjoy it when a whole act is themed and I thought this one was brilliant.

It's nice to see more and more magic shows being put on around the country. Particularly in London, you can find live magic being performed at an ever-increasing number of clubs, cabarets and theatres. Richard Leigh and John van der Put are two of the busiest but there are loads of great magicians out there. We just need a few more doing public shows in Manchester!

Josh Jay's new lecture

Renowned American magician Joshua Jay delivered his new lecture in Manchester yesterday evening and very inspiring it was.

Since he was last in Britain, in summer 2008, Josh has been involved in two nasty accidents that threatened to impair his ability to perform magic but, thanks to good doctors, luck and determination, he has managed to overcome all but some minor difficulties. The tales he told of the weeks spent lying in a hospital bed, thinking up magic tricks he could do with one hand, were reminiscent of Rear Window, that marvellous film by Josh's favourite director, Alfred Hitchcock. A great mind restless in a temporarily immobilised body.

Josh has a profound understanding of what makes magic work. Apart from all the technical subtleties he uses to ensure a smooth performance, Josh's magic always has an engaging story. Even the simplest trick can be transformed into a memorable experience for those watching if there is a good story around it - and Josh has got this down to a fine art.

Although he is an extremely capable and accomplished magician himself, Josh offered us in this lecture some straightforward methods of achieving stunning effects, both new and old. A trick doesn't have to be difficult to perform in order to impress the audience: what counts is the presentation. It has to be well rehearsed, confidently executed and motivated (given a story).

Something else I like about Josh is that he applies all these principles to his lectures as well as his shows. The evening is carefully thought-out, structured and paced, and delivered with the energy and enthusiasm we hope for in a lecturer but don't always get.

It's a short tour this time but Josh has thousands of fans in Europe and I'm sure he will be back soon.