I could start every post about a recent gig with this title really. For now, I wanted to let you all know about a recent booking which was slightly different.

The magic community is built up of around 1,500 Magic Circle members all over the U.K, along with many more who are not, it’s difficult to measure the exact number as there are also many ‘hobbyists’ who love magic, perform for friends but don’t actually go out there and perform for an audience as such. This community is a wonderful place, we all share common interest and passion for magic, we chat online, in person at clubs and conventions, we share ideas and thoughts on magic and it is this that helps grow the art further.

On occasion a booking will come up that just is to large for one magician and so the booker, once decided upon the magician to hire, will entrust that magician to find a suitable team for the event. To give you an idea, one magician can handle up to around 100 guests on their own, for walkaround magic over 2 hours perhaps 150, but certainly for tables more magicians will be required for larger numbers. This firstly ensure that everyone experiences some great magic and also that the performer is at the table for a good amount of time, anything from 5-10 minutes (may not seem a lot but certainly with my style, performing fast and visual magic it really is).

So a recent booking came up, not direct to me but I was lucky enough to be invited to be part of a team to entertain guests at a wonderful event. Now this is where the AMAZING comes in. The venue, which I have performed at before was Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane, the room The Great Room (see photos, it’s amazing) and the number of guests around 600. My friend Andy Clockwise contacted me as he thought my style would be perfect for the event and given I had performed at this 5 star hotel before, knew I would make an important part of his team. The team was Andy Clockwise, Me ;), Lee Ferriday, John Bulleid, Lee Bell and Steve White. Looking at that line up, if you have ever seen more than one of us perform, you will understand we are all quite different in the styles we use but we are all fun and entertaining – Andy chose a great team.

So why the PLEASURE, well apart from enjoying what I do every step, this was a particular pleasure given our audience. The event was the Annual Ball for non-other than the The Grand Order of the Water Rats! I know! If, for any reason you are un-aware of the GOWR, please do look them up http://www.gowr.net/ but briefly the Water Rats is an organisation for entertainers around the world and is pretty much a who’s who in the entertainment industry.

Having heard the news of the event I was of course excited but also intrigued as to who would be there. When we arrived we were briefed by Andy on the order of the evening and we were to perform casual stroll-around magic for the drinks reception (which we knew in advance). The drink reception was taking place on the balcony area and so we agreed roughly the sections for each of us to perform. Once guests started to arrive and enjoy their first drink we got to work. ‘Work’ I always laugh internally with that phrase for what I do, because really, it’s not work, it is again a PLEASURE. I must say the guests were all lovely, absolutely lovely. These types of event are always fun, everyone is in a great mood but in particular as most were from the entertainment industry, I got a feeling of enjoyment and respect from them all.

We all weaved our way in and out of group, mingling perfectly and performing mind-blowing magic – the perfect start to an incredible evening. Several people suggested I should myself be on TV (a desire that hasn’t struck me yet) and the focus for me was definitely on having fun yet one comment about one of my effects really struck home. I was performing with a group of 6 people, the finale moment was me carving the shape of Supermans face from a lollypop after one lady described him as her favourite super hero….what she said hit me and made me pause and take the moment in. When I revealed what i had done, the emotions went like this. Gasp, pause, confusion, laughter….she then said “I can’t take it in, I feel all giddy, how on earth have you done that” – now, THAT IS MAGIC!

This is exactly what magic is for me and should be for everyone, it’s more than a puzzle or a moment you can’t explain, it is a feeling. That feeling will stay with you, occasionally you’ll be reminded of the moment and the feeling will come back – for this lady, perhaps now every time she sees or thinks of superman, she will be reminded of what I did with that lollypop, a crazy moment that left her feeling physically giddy.

I hope you liked reading this, I could go on all night long about it to be honest but tune in next time for another blog sometime soon.

😉

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Sam became the highlight of my Saturday afternoon.

I was booked to perform for Eddies 80th birthday at the fabulous Laura Ashley the Manor in Elstree.
If you have never been to this venue, I would urge you to take a visit either for a drink, afternoon tea (which looked amazing), lunch or dinner…why? Aside from the amazing food and drink on offer, the view of London from the many dining areas is stunning.

This party was to be a small affair, Eddie’s immediate family – 8 children and 20 adults all enjoying afternoon tea.

I first performed for the children and then for an hour or so entertained the whole room with some fun, visual and interactive magic…ending with a game where Steve managed to match chosen cards to the numbers printed on a ticket for Saturday nights lotto.

Towards the end, one of the young children came up to me with his mummy and she explained that he has started to learn magic tricks for himself, his name is Sam and he is 8 years old.

Sam is a really confident young boy and was keen to show me his latest card trick he liked to perform. He used my deck of cards and asked me to shuffle them up. Under Sam’s clear instruction I then split the cards into 4 piles and chose any card from one pile and show it to the audience. All this was said with such confidence…which for any magician is one of the most difficult things to learn. It is all very well and good learning a trick but if you cannot perform it with confidence, your audience will be lost. I on the other hand, along with everyone watching, was totally enthralled with Sam. Once selected I was asked to place it back, mix up the cards, shuffle them and hand them back to Sam, the magician.

Now, I was following so far but a few moments captured me as to what was going to happen. Was he really going to find my card after all this?

Sam went through the cards, turning them face up, almost all the way through the deck and in fact, went just passed my card. I thought perhaps it had gone wrong but kept a positive face. Sam then said “the next card I pull out will be yours, would you like to bet?” I happened to have £5 on me, so of course offered this as my wager. Low and behold, Sam then went into the pile of cards, and pulled out the very card I had chosen!!!!! That was a great magic trick!

Now, why is this story so important to me?

I started learning magic at the very same age, 8 years old. I don’t remember if I was as confident as Sam, I certainly didn’t know a card trick to the extent of that which Sam had displayed but what I did have was encouragement. When I was growing up, my family, especially mum and dad, really did encourage me to follow anything I wished. They never pushed me into a direction but let me follow my interests and dreams. I think that is so important in life, especially when so young. Later in adulthood we are steered towards certain goals for various reasons, we really do lose the ability to dream and follow our heart to an extent. To see that encouragement for Sam from his own family was really special.

I told Sam and his family about my own background and how I learned from magic sets and books and that I saw something special in Sam. I then showed Sam and his family the first magic trick I learned and gave him and the other children a set to practice themselves. If he continues along this path I am sure he will make a great magician one day.

I have suggested the family go along to The Magic Circle as a treat one day. Although the club is an exclusive club with the best magicians from around the world being members, most people to not realise that The Magic Circle is also open to public and really is a wonderful experience. Some events do have an age restriction but if you book to go, you get to see some incredible magic. The Christmas shows are coming up and you can find out more here: http://themagiccircle.co.uk/public-events

Thank you for reading this post, Sam really was a wonderful end to a perfect afternoon of magic and entertainment.

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