Festival fringes

It's been a while since I posted because I've been away but I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed seeing Piff the Magic Dragon in Buxton. Piff is a marvellous creation by John van der Put, a comic genius as well as a brilliant magician.

If you're in Edinburgh, you can still catch the grumpy old princess-kidnapper at the festival fringe and I highly recommend you do so.

The dragon on the fringe

Piff the Magic Dragon will be appearing at the Buxton Festival Fringe on 22nd, 23rd & 24th July. If you live anywhere near Buxton, this is an opportunity not to be missed!

On 23rd July, High Peak Magic Society is putting on an evening of close-up magic at the Buxton Pavilion. Since Piff is performing from 5.30 to 6.20pm and the close-up extravaganza doesn't start till 7.30, you can easily do both.

As well as the magic, let me recommend Operatastic!, which takes place on 23rd & 24th July at 7.30 and Saturday 25th at 2.30. One of the stars of this great show is Helena Leonard, as seen on Britain's Got Talent.

The magic of Facebook

I've been a member of Facebook for a week now and I must admit it has become a bit of an obsession. It's just so endlessly fascinating to be able to connect with people from all over the world, in such a relaxed and casual way. I've found several friends I thought I'd lost for ever.

In this technological age, it's amazing what we can do - although, as John van der Put pointed out, we take it for granted. Why is it that when a magician finds the four of diamonds it feels like magic, while chatting online to a friend in Australia doesn't? I've talked about this in the blog before but I find it a very interesting question.

Got to go now and check whether anyone has written on my virtual wall in Facebook :-)

Welcome!

Hello everybody and welcome to my blog. I've been thinking of setting one up for some time, as a space to write my thoughts about magic, the magic books I've read, the magic conventions I've been to, the magicians I've seen/met... and also about how conjuring fits into the great big scheme of things. I'm interested in what magic is, to what extent real magic exists, to what extent conjuring should be presented as if it were real magic and issues of this sort. I've talked to several magicians about these questions but it occurred to me that, if I write some thoughts in a blog, people might comment and that we could sometimes get some discussions going.

Anyway, what prompted me actually to get this blog off the to-do list and into cyberspace was the arrival this week of my niece Jemima. I've never been an aunt before and it's absolutely wonderful! Magicians tend to use the word 'miracle' quite loosely but childbirth: now, there's a real miracle. Because it's been happening every day since the beginning of time, it's easy to take it for granted but those of you who've been close to it will know what I mean.

Jemima

John van der Put said something similar in my interview with him (click on the link to read it). It's interesting what people consider to be magic and what they take for granted. Automatic doors, mobile phones and palm-top computers are (at least, in our culture) accepted as standard. Occasionally, we may say, "It's clever what they can do these days, isn't it?" but it doesn't feel like magic. And yet, as John says, when he takes a signed four of diamonds out of his wallet, everyone goes wild because it's 'impossible'.

One man's instrument of magic is another man's everyday gadget - but what makes it amazing is not just not knowing how it's done (how does a mobile phone work?) but unfamiliarity with the whole concept. My cousin's wife, Cassie, wrote a fascinating book about the Congo, where they lived and worked for a few years, before moving to Bangladesh. (My cousin, Mark Dummett, is a BBC journalist and I've put a link to his website in the Links section.) Cassie's book is called Brazzaville Charms: Magic and Rebellion in the Republic of Congo and it describes several instances where things happen - and people die - for reasons that make no sense to a Western mind.

So there we are. A few thoughts for the first day. What do you think?