Magic seen enero 2017 by Magia Enigma

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MAGICseen

Issue No. 72 RRP Â£5.50 Vol 12. No.6 January 2017

How to get to the Next level... The Magic Interventionist Magic's Highest earners

ANDI GLADWIN

The Expert at the BOARDROOM table! TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY....UNTIL MAGICSEEN ARRIVES!

EDITOR’S LETTER A

lthough this is our January issue, due to the printer's holiday dates over the festive period, we need to get this issue out to you just before Christmas itself. Makes it a bit hectic for us but hopefully for you it means you will have the time to enjoy this issue over a glass of wine and a mince pie! It did lead us to wonder what famous magicians do over Christmas and who they would ideally like to spend the time with, and you can find out the answers on page 16. Andi Gladwin appeared on our cover back in January 2011, and so exactly 6 years later we are delighted to welcome back again the workaholic lecturer, inventor, dealer and event organiser in order to go a bit further behind the man to see what really makes him tick. Andi is a hugely successful person, and if you want to learn how you too can make the next step in your magical pathway to stardom, then heed the advice starting on page 50 of Boris Wild, Mark Shortland, Andy Nyman and others as they explain how they have made the leap. Do you get disappointed sometimes when you purchase a close up trick that the blurb assures you is commercial only to discover that it isn't? Well, we help to keep you focused in Perfect For Table Hopping by setting out the 6 main things to look for in a worker close up effect. We also take the opportunity on the 20th anniversary of the Magic Circle's Young Magicians' Club to take a look at how this organisation is still proving to be an important stepping stone for young magical development. Trivia alert! Who are the top three earning magicians in the world? We have the answers in this issue. Where was the recent hit TV drama mini series Tutankhamun filmed? Surprisingly, it was not in Egypt, as 40p's worth of conversation In The Phonebox reveals. Who needs crackers when you have Magicseen, eh? What else do we have for you to digest after the turkey? A Mexican Masterclass, a very strong batch of products this time in the Reviews section (lots of 4 and 5 stars!), a great article by Eoin Smith on the range of magic podcasts now available to us all, a brilliant piece on the work of a Magical Interventionist who uses magic skills to reach out to disenfranchised young people, and of course other bits and bobs to keep you informed and entertained. So, our 12th year and volume comes to a close, thank you to everyone who reads, enjoys and supports Magicseen. Everyone associated with the magazine would like to wish every one of our readers all over the world a Happy Christmas and a cracking New Year and we'll see you all again in 2017! Mark Leveridge

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Editor’s Letter............................................................... 5 Andi Gladwin.............................................................. 6 News.......................................................................... 13 Letters...................................................................... 14 It's Christmas ............................................................ 16 In The Phonebox - Waleed Elgadi...............................18 5 Props You Can Throw In The Bin!............................ 19 Highest Paid Magicians 2016......................................20 International Masterclass - Mexico.............................. 22 Picking The Perfect Podcast.......................................24 Darren Way - Real Street Magic!................................. 28 Perfect For Tablehopping............................................32 Shout Outs................................................................. 37 Mel Mellers' Comedy Magic Academy Review.........38 Product Reviews........................................................ 42 How Do You Get To The Next Level In Magic?..........50 Magic Careers Start Here........................................... 54 Next Issue.....................................................................58

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

ANDI GLADWIN The Expert at the BOARDROOM table!

Andi Gladwin is best known as a lecturer, performer, creator, convention organiser, or author. He has performed at many high-profile events, on TV (including the recent “Next Great Magician”), co-organises The Session in the UK and Magi-Fest in the USA, and has wrITTEN several of the best-selling magic books this decade. An impressive CV, but there is a whole other side to Andi’s life which he rarely speaks about. I wanted to hear about his previous jobs - from the lavish parties to the 32 hour work days. Then there is His current job, co-running Vanishing Inc., an online magic shop that has quickly become ONE of the of the largest in the world. It turns out that there’s much more to Andi than meets the eye.

ndi is sat across from me in his purpose-built office: a top floor loft conversation that serves as his own little retreat. Off to the side is a wall, or it would be, were it not completely covered by thousands of books. A custom-designed blackjack table sits at one end of the room while the remaining space is furnished with modern sofas and shelves which adopt the colour scheme of a deck of cards - red and black. Andi looks content as we talk. Andi enthusiastically tells me about a programming project he is currently working on where he has reduced the manual work required by warehouse staff to almost nothing; cutting their work down to seconds instead of minutes. I can only marvel at the complexity of it all but I also question whether I am more impressed with how casually he talks about a skill which, to an average person, is comparable to becoming fluent in another language! As Andi minimises the window on his computer, I notice a picture of his young son, Joseph. I ask about him: “Yeah, nice bloke, I like him a lot.” Andi has a very dry, but sharp sense

of humour and he clearly doesn’t intend to ease me into it. Though he does continue. “He is one and a half years old. He has changed everything for us. He loves nothing more than running around my office, hiding various props and playing with decks of cards. I taught him to do his first trick

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

when he was two-months old and he still does it now! And I’m not joking when I say that he fooled everyone he showed it to, including himself I think!” How has parenthood changed your life? “It has changed everything … a lot.

Travelling is much harder as I want to get home to be with them both [Sarah and Joe]. It’s not uncommon for me to leave a magic convention early to get home [to my family], or even for me to turn down shows if it will take me away from home for too long.” I enquire whether Sarah works. Immediately, the answer comes:

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not uncommon for me to leave a magic convention early to get home [TO my family], or even for me to turn down shows if it will take me away from home for too long.

"All in all it is a huge benefit, because we are able to experience so many beautiful things together, both professionally and personally."

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MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

I think the globalisation of people, and the ability to instantaneously share magic makes the industry better, not worse. For most people, magic is a want, not a need. That is the most interesting market to serve in my opinion.

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

“Nope. Lazy cow,” Andi laughs, and quickly praises Sarah for being such a fantastic Mum. I ask whether he is enjoying fatherhood. “I am” he says before reiterating how life changing it has been for him. “Sometimes I have to remind myself that I’m the dad, not the kid! I was recently shopping in the bakery aisle and had the sudden realisation that I could buy a cake, even though there was no occasion to celebrate! “It’s not your birthday,” Sarah protested. “Why are you buying a cake?” My answer: Because I can”. What cake was it? “A caterpillar cake.” I laugh. Andi does too but continues. “Trust me. It’s the mark of adulthood. I felt freer for it. I’m my own boss!” Andi’s humour is inescapable but cake shopping aside, he is his own boss: the co-founder of Vanishing Inc. Magic, an online, curated store which caters to professional magicians and hobbyists alike. “I was recently at a convention when someone whom I respect a lot asked me how magic shops are relevant in the digital age. I actually take a strong standpoint on this. I think the globalisation of people, and the ability to instantaneously share

magic makes the industry better, not worse. For most people, magic is a want, not a need. That is the most interesting market to serve in my opinion.” The collapse of so many magic shops in the last five years led many vendors to cite people’s financial circumstances as the reason for their exodus. I asked Andi how he felt the magic world was holding up in such a shaky economy. “Wants typically ride along with the economy so recession will inevitably take their toll. But magicians are a tenacious bunch and I don’t think something like the economy would affect how they learn magic too much. Vanishing Inc. was started in a recession in a time where lots of other businesses were blaming the downturn for their failures, but I suspect that there were other reasons in play too for the most part. The magic industry needs to move faster. I come from a world of technology and startups and so am always pushing Vanishing Inc. forward in that direction. Other magic shops are often slower to develop. For example,we’re still the only ones with an app, and one of only a few that offer more than 200 of our own self-produced downloads.” I interject in order to steer Andi onto the subject of downloads.

Andi's son, Joseph

“Other major magic shop owners have told me that downloads aren’t the future of magic, but I disagree; in the next ten years magic DVDs will be gone and we’ll be in a world of downloads and props.” Downloadable content accounts for a growing percentage of sales in the magic marketplace but Andi sees more far reaching potential. “Technology isn’t just about downloads though. For example, our warehouse is a digital haven, and our website allows customers to view the location of their order on a map and we are often able to despatch orders within minutes. Our goal isn’t to be one of the best magic shops in the world; it’s to be one of the best online shops in the world, period.” Such grand ambitions could be mistaken for naivety were it not for Andi’s previous career. His insatiable appetite for improvement appears to be rooted in his early start in business and his work with the British-based web giant, Fasthosts. “As a teenager, I had two interests: magic and computer programming. I wasn’t good at either but I obsessed over both. During the last year of sixth form, our teachers arranged for us to spend a week at a workplace that interests us. Mark Pierce [a magician friend], worked for a technology company and so I joined him for a week as that seemed like a great way of combining my interests.”

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As he continues, Andi gives the impression that the two of them did more card tricks than they did programming in their time together. “That week changed everything. I was offered a full-time job there and then … and I wanted it badly. I battled with leaving school but decided to compromise. I started my new job the day our school broke up for study leave. I had to take vacation days from my job in order to sit my exams.” Over the following six years, Andi worked for three different IT companies before becoming the UK Product Manager of Fasthosts. The CEO, Andrew Michael - who had founded the company at age 17 - recruited Andi in 2003. He saw enormous ambition in him. “I was told that I would never be promoted and that nobody in the history of the company had ever moved department. I told them that would have to change as the company grows and that if they gave me a chance I'd be the first person they ever promote. Six months later I got my first promotion!” What then informed the decision to leave a job which provided security for his family, an impressive salary and more perks than one could wave a stick at? “I won’t ever complain about my previous career. I loved it. There were many benefits to working for a big company. Great companies

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

Great companies hire great people and therefore I learned as much as I could from my colleagues that I apply to the work I do now.

hire great people and therefore I learned as much as I could from my colleagues that I apply to the work I do now. For example, I learned programming techniques from the best coders in the company, design and user interface concepts from those who had studied it for many years and took marketing lessons from some of the best in the industry. All this came simply by working alongside them every single day and asking questions. It’s a wide-reaching education that I could have never received from a college or by studying alone. These people were world class and I made it my mission to soak up as much as I could.” Andi continues, “But that’s not all, when you work for a great company, you’re surrounded by people who you can call on for advice, turn into possible clients and maybe you’ll even people that you might want to employ yourself one day. A perfect example: two of the companies that I worked for book me at least twice a year to perform at parties and events. They’re the easiest shows I’ll ever book!" Fasthosts quickly garnered a

reputation as one of the more bullish players in the world of corporate hospitality. “We worked hard, but played hard too. Fasthosts was famous for throwing the most lavish Christmas parties. I joined in its start-up era, but as it grew, the company started spending crazy amounts on having fun. One Christmas party cost the company £10,000 per employee! Over the years I was driven to events in Maybachs, flown around in helicopters, private jets and even spent New Year's on the world’s most expensive private yacht in the Bahamas. I don’t imagine I’ll have many experiences like that again and it all came from having a great boss who loved to reward his employees (and I think his interest in magic helped a little!).” These privileges came at a price, though. Andi’s love for magic got pushed to the back. Though he continued to find enjoyment in practising as a hobby, slavishly long days behind a computer screen eventually took their toll. “I once worked forty-two hours, in the office! I realise just how

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unbelievable that sounds, but it’s sadly true. It was during that work marathon that I realised something: winners do quit. Contrary to every motivational quote on Facebook, quitters move things forward. Quitters evaluate and find better ways. Quitters don’t settle. It felt unfulfilling to work hard to allow someone else to achieve their life goals. I can’t imagine looking back when I’m retired, if I ever do, [Andi laughs] thinking, “I’m pleased I progressed things for that rich guy and not my own family.” Or perhaps more selfishly, “I’m pleased I put the security of a desk job over following my passion.” I just can’t compute that.” In many ways, breaking out of the ‘corporate cycle’ has given Andi more than he thought it could, but not always in the ways he would have expected. “I’ve found that I work harder now than I have ever done. In my new life there is no nine till five, there are no weekends, public holidays or paid holidays. Every day is a work day, every minute is an opportunity and I embrace that. Running a business is an opportunity to shape the world in

the way you want it to be. And now, with Vanishing Inc., I get to take several of my friends along for the ride; while also helping them achieve their goals too.” The break from Fasthosts was not immediate. It became a carefully planned few months. “The goal was always to find multiple sources of income (Vanishing Inc., performances, my online backup company, and a few other things) so that there was no stress when I finally left. None of the income sources were bringing in the big bucks, but together they could support my wife and I. We’re not high fliers who need lots of money to survive, but luckily we managed to make the jump without changing our lifestyle. “I actually tried to convince my boss to allow me to work part time but sadly we couldn’t work it out. But that was perhaps the best thing that could have happened for me — my own projects got to the point where it was all or nothing and I think secretly, my boss knew that and was encouraging me to go it alone for my own interests.”

Vanishing Inc. now consumes much of Andi’s time as he and Joshua Jay strive to build “the best magic shop in the world” and innovate how magic is shared and produced. Their small team, based across three continents, is managed remotely in spite of the main warehouse being a twelve hour flight from the UK (in Sacramento). Andi’s response: “We’re digital, baby!” One cannot help but wonder how any company can successfully operate so. “Josh and I Skype almost every day. Everyone in our team is a selfstarter, workaholic! With a company like ours, there’s just no room for slackers. Nobody has specific working hours; they work for as short or as long as they think they need to. With the right kind of people on the team, it’s that kind of approach that creates a successful company, over a slow, bloated company full of middle-management! It’s all part of shaping a company how we think it should be, instead of trying to conform to traditional ways without ever asking why.” Thus far, the business model has served the company well and it appears that their laissezfaire approach to management has sculpted some of the most innovative advances in the magic marketplace this decade. I am given a glimpse into one of Vanishing Inc.’s projects as Andi summarises the company's approach to piracy. “It’s gone crazy in magic”, he states as he reels off a list of books that were duplicated by pirate

companies, some within hours of their official release. “I often tell myself that if Hollywood can’t solve the problem, we won’t be able to either. But that’s not a reason to not try: we owe it to our customers and creators to do something. Our big stride forwards recently was registering Vanishing Inc. as a trademark in Asia, meaning we now take legal action against Asian ripoffs. It was a long process, but already we are seeing some really important results. We work with the pirates (often companies and not just individuals) to find out how we can adjust their focus to doing positive things for magic. The real challenge though is always finding a way that doesn’t punish honest customers for the wrongdoings of others.” This approach may not be new in business but for the magic world, it has broken an important trend. Andi appears to be completely intouch with the globalised nature of business in the twenty-first century and is able to integrate the positives while improving the negatives. He admits that this approach is taken by his constant eye on companies of all types: magic, technology, and more. This learning process is invaluable, Andi begins to summarise. “I often play back my late teens and wish I went to university but then I conclude that my reasons for wishing that are probably all wrong. My friends who went to university had the time of their lives; and it sounded like it was a non-stop party. I’m sad that I didn’t get those experiences but by not going, I

had many doors opened for me, both professionally and socially. I’ve come to the conclusion that most employers who rely on university education aren’t really the kind of places I’d want to work anyway.

“Nope” comes the immediate reply. “I’m my own boss now. I don’t have to worry about getting a job so I can go with an open mind and just learn because I want to learn. That’s how the best ideas begin.”

“The important thing is being able to learn to learn. I’d argue that in the future the most successful people will be those who find a way to teach themselves the skills they need. For example, I wanted to have a Vanishing Inc. iPad app, so I learned to build one. I wanted to publish a book, so I learned everything I needed to about print design. That’s what running a company forces you to do; for the effective management of our team, it’s vital that I know a little about everything everyone in the company does. That is the only way that I can properly support them when they need it.”

If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering how one person can fit so much into a day whilst still working in all his other areas. “I don’t sleep!” Andi jokes. “Actually, I’m surrounded by a wonderful team. I try to batch things together as much as possible; for example, on my next trip to the USA I’ll be doing a few lectures, stopping by the warehouse and organising Magi-Fest. I’ll work on the plane and I’ll practise magic and work on new material in my downtime. It can be exhausting, but I love what I do and wish I could fit even more in!”

It comes as a surprise when Andi admits, in the same sentence, that he does eventually plan on going to university. “Hypocritical?” I contend.

Andi’s new book, Going Pro focuses on how he made the jump from employee to professional magician (plus more!) and will be released in January 2017.

A few words from Josh Jay... "We tend not to notice exceptional people when we're around them every day. This is only natural, since it's hard to continually exceed our own expectations. But having worked with Andi for 7 years, speaking nearly every day of that time, I can tell you he is exceptional in all sorts of ways. He is intuitively intelligent, has great magic instincts, and he's a truly incredible magician. What’s more, he is a tight, funny, charming performer, who is doing innovative magic. He constantly is developing fantastic new material and moves, all the while juggling the lion's share of responsibilities at Vanishing Inc.”

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MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

ERDNASE THE HUNT FOR

& the path to Edward Gallaway

A century old mystery has been solved. Erdnase has been found.

Dr. Chris Wasshuber

The hunt to find the true identity of S. W. Erdnase, the author of The Expert at the Card Table, published in 1902 in Chicago, has been raging for more than a hundred years. The book is revered by gamblers and magicians like the bible by Christians. One of the first and most active hunters was well-known science writer, puzzle expert, and magician Martin Gardner who erroneously thought he identified cardshark and murderer Milton Franklin Andrews as being Erdnase. After him many other candidates were proposed, but none could make a case strong enough to withstand scrutiny. Nobody of the candidates writes like Erdnase. None even had sufficient opportunity or a good motive to write the book. In other words these were candidates largely based on wild theories built on little evidence held together by flawed assumptions. Dr. Chris Wasshuber, a trained scientist, engineer and hobby magician with an interest in puzzles and hard problems, took on the challenge to try to find Erdnase. Rather than to continue to massage the same old evidence he decided to look for new evidence, new documents which may help us find Erdnase. In a breakthrough discovery he found the James McKinney and Jamieson-Higgins bankruptcy files from 1903. James McKinney & Co. was the printer for the self-published The Expert at the Card Table. In this book Wasshuber tells the story how the bankruptcy records were found, and how they allowed him to zoom in on Edward Gallaway. Over the course of two years Dr. Wasshuber has inspected and searched in countless newspapers, archives, and genealogical records, to piece together the remarkable life story of Edward Gallaway, a learned printer, entrepreneur, who was fluent in German, with an insatiable appetite for reading and knowledge, who most surprisingly also had a three year circus career. Every new piece of evidence found about Gallaway further confirmed that he was S. W. Erdnase. Chris Wasshuber hired renowned forensic linguist Dr. John Olsson to conduct a detailed study of the writings of Erdnase, Gallaway, Roterberg, Hilliar, Sanders, and Wilson, which resulted in Gallaway being most likely the elusive Erdnase due to his very similar linguistic profile. His entire report is included in this book. This book includes all the primary evidence on which Dr. Wasshuber bases his conclusions, except the bankruptcy records which are available separately. A century old mystery has been solved. Erdnase has been found. Read the fascinating story and learn everything we know about a man revered by gamblers and magicians who made quite a name for himself in the print industry.

LYBRARY.COM

http://www.lybrary.com/673843.html

$45 ebook

IN THE NEWS MADNESS! MONKEY BUSINESS!

Magician Martin Rees, 28 from Hemel Hempstead, England, broke the WORLD RECORD for performing a minimum of ten magic tricks on a 15,000ft skydive! We are not sure how many magicians have actually attempted performing tricks during a skydive, but it can't be many! He should have performed Losander's Floating Table!

A curious orangutan was left captivated by a magic trick and appeared to try and copy what he had just seen with the same card.

BULLET CATCH

Rajang the orangutan looked transfixed as Essex-based magician Matt G performed the card trick at Colchester Zoo recently. The 48-year-old great ape watched the performer shuffle a deck of cards, choose one and place it on the window of his enclosure. Matt G then managed to 'transport' the chosen card from one side of the glass to the other. Rajang examines the card before apparently trying to send it back through the glass by tapping it with his stick. “A touch of magic can fuel anyone's curiosity. Here's a clip of me performing a little magic for Raj the Orangutan at the amazing Colchester Zoo in Essex,” Matt G wrote in a Facebook post. You can see the video clip by visiting: telegraph.co.uk

ERIC'S ON TOUR! Close-up expert and cool dude Eric Jones is touring the UK in 2017 and dates have been announced for around 20 lectures so far. Visit ericjonesmagic.com to get the full list!

Mysterious David Blaine told Australian Reporters that his bullet catch performance in his new TV Special was to counter “America’s dangerous obsession with guns.” He said he hoped “the risky feat might ‘demotivate’ his countrymen to think twice about turning weapons on each other.” He wanted to bring the reality of gun violence home. “I’d like this to be something for people, when they watch it, to really experience how dangerous and how scary it actually is and maybe in some strange way it would demotivate people from firing guns on other people,” Blaine said, adding with a laugh, “hopefully, they won’t think I’m invincible and just shoot me when I’m not ready.” As for bringing frogs up from his stomach, we suppose that is not as big a risk for copy-cat performers, says Insidemagic.com. It was an interesting effect and not one yet available in the internet magic stores! Blaine's new TV show received praise from critics for its 'high drama and top notch production values'.

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MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

letters looking rubber house brick. Do you have any ideas what I could use it for? Steve Birchall via email Hi Steve, we've had a chat in the office and the best idea we could remember is from the brilliant US creator Andrew Mayne. This idea was in one of his very early pamphlets - possibly from a lecture tour. Andrew uses 2 of these rubber bricks, along with one real brick to perform a great gag. From what we recall, he holds a brick in each hand (one real and one rubber) and uses these to toss the other brick in the air and catch it. When he's done this, he accidentally drops the real brick - which psychologically shows the audience they are all real. After picking up the brick, he carries on 'juggling' the extra brick, and then pretends to trip up - and a brick flies into the audience... this of course is a rubber brick, but the audience think it's real! Alternatively, you could just throw it out to select a member of the audience....

There is so much magic on TV these days, but where are the magicians who can actually talk to an audience? OK, there is Penn & Teller in the US, but in the UK there hasn't been anyone since Paul Daniels and Wayne Dobson who can command an audience with wit and charisma. Close Up magicians such as Dynamo and David Blaine can't be made into stand up performers as that's just not their natural style. I think that this area of magic in the UK especially has suffered because

of the lack of venues for magicians to develop. I have seen one or two in comedy clubs but that's about it. Every magic show on TV seems to revolve around performers being judged in some way rather than just giving them a spot to perform as pure entertainment. OK, time for me to go back to my cell now I've got that off my chest! Henry Abbott via email

RUBBER BRICK! Hi, I was recently going through my boxes of magic tricks which I had never used, and I found a realistic

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

THE CLAIRVOYANTS Great to see SMALL TALK > MASTERCLASS > LETTERS > PROD UCT REVIEWS this Austrian duo featured in Magicseen (last issue). The TV talent shows are not my favourite type of TV They know what show, but we’re thinking! Paul Merton’s EDINB URGH'S IAIN MORAN's at least NING'S MAGICSEEN: TAKING MAGIC INTO THE they bring 20TH CENTURY... acts such as this into the mainstream and get them the exposure they deserve... K.J via email from Canada

MAGICseen

MAGAZINE

Photo: Casablanca Photography at Chris Cross’s Quayside Cabaret Club

HAVE YOUR SAY

WHERE ARE THE GREAT 'STAND UP' MAGICIANS?

If you have anything you would like to tell us, whether it’s about the magazine or anything magic related, please email: grahamhey@ magicseen.co.uk

Issue No. 71 RRP £5.50 Vol 12. No.5 November 2016

THE CLAIRVOYANTS

PERFORMING TIPS!

BEST ONE LINERS ! MAGIC MYTHB USTERS MAGIC CHAT

AMNESIA!

I'm thinking of holding a seance - any thoughts on things I could use? I like the idea of using unusual props which fit in with the theme of contacting the dead! G.M via email

Dear Magicseen, I always look forward to receiving your magazine and I especially like your reviews which are honest and reliable. I often make purchases after considering what your reviewers say about a product. I read your review of The Amnesia Deck by Steve Gore and bought it after it received 4 stars. However, I am a bit disappointed, as after receiving the effect and playing with it for an hour or so, I found the effect to be EVEN BETTER than in the review! This is a great effect and I love it!!! GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!! :) Liam Halsworth via email

Hi, this is becoming a very popular area of magic, and you could try Blackhart.co.uk who have some great effects and they specialise in the unusual! The Spirit Cabinet has always been a favourite of ours, and is a great stand-up effect... Penguin magic also have a 'seance' section....

Graham Hey writes: Liam, I am so sorry! I reviewed that trick, and had to meet a very tight deadline, so I didn't fully consider the effect as I hadn't had enough time to play with it! Now, I think like you - and I'm amending my review to FIVE STARS!! Nice one Steve Gore!!!

SEANCE!

IT’S

CHRISTMAS!

Who are you going to have around your table this festive yuletide? Anyone interesting? Anyone you actually like? We decided to ask a load of magicians who they would be having around their own food-laden table if they could choose anyone - and why... Living or dead! These are their replies!

Mike Mcclean

Ali cook

The handsome magician guy off the telly. I’d have Jesus, Buddha, Satan, Ganesh, Krishna, Allah all around the table - it would make for an enlightening conversation. I’ll be spending xmas with my family in London and New Year in Edinburgh.

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

Comedy mentalist and TV actor/ presenter. I would have Les Dawson, who for me was one of the best comedians ever, along with Tommy Cooper, Diego Maradona because I think he’s the best footballer ever and I would love to know why he cheated us out of the World Cup! Oh, and my mum and dad who are the funniest people I have ever met. My mum would cook for them all and it would be Spanish food so everyone would like it! If not they can call for a pizza. I know they would all have great stories to tell. I will be in Panto in Ipswich at the Regent theatre …before you say it .. Ohh yes I will … appearing in

Sleeping Beauty. Christmas is a hard time for me as its two shows a day… Ohh yes it is ….. you know the rest!

Mark Shortland

Award-winning comedy magician. I will be spending my Christmas this year on a posh ferry, running between Helsinki and Stockholm. My guests at the dinner table? If I could have anyone living or dead, I would have them living, it is more likely - but not necessarily - to be a better conversation.

Joshua Jay

Magician and Magic Circle big cheese! Magicians - Billy McComb, Ali Bongo, Mac King, John Lenahan, Francis Menotti (or Charles Dickens, instead of one of them if you meant non magicians too!) I will be spending Christmas Day and the day after driving to and from a hotel on the other side of London where I will be performing balloon modelling during the champagne

reception, close up for adults during lunch and a children’s show afterwards. I have been doing this for about ten years now.

Alan Rorrison

Magician and co-owner of Vanishing Inc JUST Dai Vernon, because I never got to meet him, and he’s my hero. And I’ve always felt that a oneon-one jam session is a lot more enjoyable than having a lot of people around.

Magician and magic consultant I think I’m one of the select few performers who won’t take a gig at Christmas or New Year so I can sit with my family and enjoy the time BUT if I where to cast my loved ones aside who would I put in their place? The first is non magic but it would be Robin Williams. I’m very much an advocate of looking at other arts for inspiration and he was a massive one for me. The man would change emotion in a heartbeat and make it look flawless and effortless. A lot of magicians need to look at how actors approach things. A lot of us would learn so much from it. I’d love to pick his brains about it even if it was just over a meal.

Tim Shoesmith

Top close-up performer I would give a great deal to spend a Christmas with Steve Evans. He was the most remarkable man. Like all professional magicians I have met great men and women. Back in the nineties I met the Queen and soon after Senator John McCain. Both of whom I have enormous respect for. However, towards the end of his life I became aware that when I stood next to Steve I was standing next to true greatness. As Shakespeare said, “some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Steve achieved greatness, and although we talked about it often, neither of us could work out how he did it.

Mandy Davis

Second would be Dean Dill. I love how the man carried himself. Everything was thought out and deliberate. Such a smart man, taken too soon.

Just imagine how much fun it would be if he was still here. I know it is selfish but I would rather like to have him to myself, so no other guests are invited. Christmas day will be a family day. I stopped working on Christmas Eve. I had a nice and lucrative residency, which I passed over to very capable hands a couple of years ago. The children are still small and I don’t want to miss a minute of it.

Andy Nyman

Actor, and magic hobbyist! My family. Honestly, no-one in the world I would rather be with. We will be at home in London. X

William Ellsworth Robinson would be next. It was an image of him that sparked my interest in magic beyond getting a magic kit when I was a kid. It would be interesting to have a chat about the dedication to one character that man had. My Wife. Might be of little bearing for the readers but that poor woman puts up with so much and always stands by me in whatever I do. I can’t not have her next to me. Wayne Dobson. Where would we be with out Dobbo? Every chat I have with this man I guarantee two things. One: I’ll learn something new and Two: I’ll be laughing so hard I cry by the end of it. The man has always been an inspiration for me growing up and I’m proud to call him my friend now.

Charlie Frye,

Ace juggler/slapstick ace and magician Stan Laurel, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, George Carl, Fred Kaps, and Cardini, if they all promise not to smoke. Unfortunately there will be no Xmas dinner for us ‘cause the show goes on three times that day.

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MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

This is where we send the editor into a phonebox with 40p and challenge him to ring someone of interest and have a chat until the money runs out. This time he chats with brilliant actor Waleed Elgadi who stars as Selim alongside Max Irons and Sam Neil in ITV's 4 part mini series Tutankhamun. Waleed is known for his work in high rating shows like political Danish drama Borgen, Fox’s Tyrant and Ridley Scott’s Killing Jesus. Hey! Waleed... so you must be very pleased about this job! Did you have to go to Egypt, or was it all done on Blackpool beach or something? I would have loved to have filmed in Egypt (my heritage is Sudanese/ Egyptian) so to film there would have been an honour. I would’ve also loved to have filmed on Blackpool Beach of course! But our show was shot in South Africa, mainly in Capetown. The external desert scenes were filmed just on the border between South Africa and Namibia - an extraordinary location and hopefully the sweeping majesty of that terrain translates to the screen.

IN THE

PHONEBOX WITH...

WALEED ELGADI 18

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

How did you get the role? I auditioned for it. Sometimes you know you are gonna get a role straight off the bat. It's just a feeling you get in the room. Often you’re wrong of course! But there was an instant rapport with the team when I auditioned. I think the fact that I also had Egyptian heritage and it was such an Egyptian role helped. The ‘Cups & Balls’ magic trick apparently originated in Egypt! Is there any magic in the series? None that I can think of but there was certainly a lot of treasure in the sand. Does that count? There’s also the famous curse of the tomb which is slightly touched upon on our show. We are a magic magazine have you ever seen any magic performed live? Yes. A friend had a magician at their wedding and he made full bottles of wine go through the table we were sat at. He was incredible. We kept on

asking him to come back to perform more tricks but he had to cover the whole room. It inspired me to get a magician as a gift for another close friend’s wedding present. What’s the toughest thing about being an actor? The knock backs. You learn to deal with them better as you get older but they still smart when it's something you really want. Unfortunately so much is outside of your control as an actor. You can give a faultless audition but it doesn’t go your way because you are the wrong age, or ’type’ or a myriad of other things that don’t match the director or producer’s vision. So much of it is down to personal taste, so all you can do is give it your best shot and then let it go. That’s a skill in itself. What other jobs have you done when not acting? Like many actors before me and particularly at the beginning of my career I did a variety of day jobs in between gigs. A lot of it was in call centres. I’ve rescued many Snow Leopards for charities from within the boundaries of a call centre cubicle. And sold Toner Ink. Lots of Toner. Thankfully nowadays I can support myself mainly from acting work. When I can’t, I try to do something that’s relevant to my main job - like being a drama practitioner with young people. Who would win in a fight: Teller (the little one from Penn & Teller) versus David Copperfield? Teller. Sure Copperfield can fly but never underestimate a weird small man!

Have you seen the finished Tutankhamen series? Is it any good? It’s just come out on DVD actually. Yes I think it's rather good. Max Irons - how nice is he on a scale of 1 to 10. Is he the sort of fella who would fetch you a sandwich? Max is a top bloke. Not only would he fetch you a sandwich, he’d do it with relish. Best part of being in this drama? Getting to visit South Africa for the first time. A stunning country - it's like it has God’s greatest hits: the beaches, the mountains, and ALL the animals. And working with a really wonderful talented bunch of actors whom I’ll keep in touch with. Have you seen Dynamo on the telly? What do you think of him? I’ve only ever caught bits of him. He’s incredible. What’s next for you? I’m currently auditioning for a couple of things but way too early to talk about them without jinxing it. First ever experience of magic? It has to be the old removing your thumb trick. I remember it so clearly the first time I saw that as a child. Mind blown. Tell us three things about yourself that we won’t know…. 1. I write - hoping to produce content soon for the stage first and eventually film. 2. I love to cook and eat everything. 3. I have a large birthmark on the back of my left ankle. My mother told me as a child when I was born, an old man came to our house in Sudan (he was a distant relative I think and considered a wise elder type). Before seeing me he asked my mother if I had a mark on my body. She told him about the birthmark. He told her that he’d had a dream about this boy and that he would go on to become famous. True story. He never said what for though. Probably selling Toner. Thanks Waleed! Thanks to Londonflair PR

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PROPS YOU CAN THROW INTO THE BIN!

We’ve all got a pile of rubbish in our drawers or special ‘magic box’ that we will never use. We bought it while we weren’t thinking properly, we were taken in at a weak point in our lives... and paid a frikkin’ fortune for it! Well now it’s time to have a clear-out and cleanse your magic soul. There are some tings which you JUST WILL NEVER NEED... and here are five of them!

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Your ‘Appearing Candle’

Everyone says you have to have a reason for everything you do on stage to make it believable. There can NEVER be a reason for an appearing candle - c’mon, get real! Anyone who uses this prop should be locked up in a dimly-lit padded cell indefinitely. Oh, you may need a candle to provide some light!

Your ‘FIRE FROM WALLET’

Oh, how hilarious! People do not care about this. You may think it makes you look really magical. but it doesn’t, it makes you look like you’ve bought a magic trick, which you have. And it’s a fire risk.

ANYTHING MADE OUT OF SILK

Let’s face it, no one aged under 100 uses a handkerchief these days - paper tissues rule the world. A coloured silk means nothing, apart from “he’s going to bring out something from underneath it!” Crap!

MULTIPLYING bottles & glasses Tommy Cooper was good at it, but every single person in the world knows that this is a magic prop and they all slot inside each other. it’s not magical, and it makes you look like you’ve just arrived from a sh*t time portal circa 1970.

Bow Ties

Unless you are doing a tribute act, NEVER wear a bow tie. You are not a dandy living in London in the 1890’s. Wearing one is the best way to ensure that you get beaten up on your way home.. and quite frankly, you deserve it!

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

HIGHEST PAID MAGICIANS OF 2016

...ACCORDING TO US MAGAZINE FORBES

1ST DAVID COPPERFIELD comes in first earning a mind-boggling $64 million for his 17th year in Las Vegas, tours of his 11 islands and lucrative corporate gigs... 2nd is PENN & TELLER $31.5 million thanks to a residency in Las Vegas at the Rio, a Broadway run and a fourth season of Fool Us in the US has just been commissioned. Mindfreak star CRISS ANGEL comes in third. In May Bloomberg, the US financial institution, put his annual earnings at $70 million, but upon closer inspection, FORBES determined that Angel earned $19 million in our 12-month scoring period. Angel made most of his millions from headlining two Las Vegas shows at the Luxor. Criss Angel Believe closed on April 17th after more than 3,000 performances, and Angel’s second show with Cirque du Soleil, Mindfreak LIVE!, opened in June. The entrepreneurial magician also owns two manufacturing facilities and a television studio in Sin City.

2ND This is the first time FORBES has ranked the world’s magic acts in 12 years. Combined, the world’s seven highest-paid magic acts earned $157.5 million between June 1, 2015 and June 1, 2016, before management fees and taxes. Figures are based on data from Pollstar Pro as well as interviews with agents, managers and other industry insiders. The demographics of magic’s top earners haven’t changed much in a dozen years: the majority of names among the lucky seven are white and male. English magician DYNAMO (No. 4, $18 million) is multiracial, while THE ILLUSIONISTS (No. 5, $11 million) include a handful of performers who buck the trend, such as JINGER LEIGH (“The Conjuress”) and YU HOJIN (“The Manipulator”). But overall, the ranks of the highestpaid magic acts reflect the lack of diversity within the magic industry. In 2013 The Atlantic publication investigated this gender gap and found that industry observers

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

3RD generally estimated that less than 10% of magicians were female. The top three magic acts are big stars on the Las Vegas Strip, but corporate gigs are a serious moneymaker for many magicians (though decidedly less glamorous). MICHAEL CARBONARO (No. 7, $6 million) is currently on a hot tour and stars in TruTV’s The Carbonaro Effect, and still makes nearly half his income from boardroom magic. One of the world’s most famous magicians is missing from the highest-paid ranks: DAVID BLAINE, known for burying himself alive for a week, holding his breath for 17 minutes and other death-defying stunts. How did the endurance artiste manage to escape our list? During our 12-month scoring period, Blaine cut down on public and private performances in order to develop his upcoming ABC special, David Blaine: Beyond Magic, and another special project. In an exclusive interview, FORBES

has learned that Blaine plans on launching his first worldwide tour in 2017. “David’s been working many years on this tour,” says Guy Oseary, Blaine’s manager. “He’s always had a big show in him.” Blaine has already turned down on a number of such opportunities. “He’s passed on $100 million deals in Vegas,” Oseary says. “But David’s very picky on who he associates with. David makes his decisions based on art, not commerce.” Though the modern-day Houdini didn’t make the Forbes $6 million cutoff this time around, a tour should make it relatively easy for Blaine to summon enough cash to make the list next year. Magicseen editor MARK LEVERIDGE comes in at 13,578th on the list thanks to his regular work at Pizza Hut.

MUCH MORE

THAN A WORK ON LAPPING

RP MAGIC

MAGIC & SUCH

PEGANI

MJM MAGIC

MAGIC WAREHOUSE

HOCUS POCUS

INTERNATIONAL MASTERCLASS

MEXICO

UNUSUAL ASSEMBLY Jorge Betancourt

This is Jorgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s version of Roy Waltonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Strange Assembly. The four Kings are stripped out of a deck and left face down on the table. Three indifferent cards are dropped on top of each. One at a time three of the Kings are shown to have disappeared from their piles, but when the fourth pile is turned face up, it is seen to consist of the four Aces! Ribbon spreading the deck face down reveals the four Kings spread out face up throughout the deck.

1 Set-Up

Put three of the Aces on top of the deck and then insert the four Kings spread out through the pack. Simply make sure that there are at least 9 cards between the third Ace on the top of the deck and the first King in the deck. Slip the fourth Ace immediately below the King which is nearest the face of the deck. Fig.1 shows the position of the various set cards in the deck.

making sure that your left thumb prevents the card(s) from falling flush with the deck. Fig.4.

Without a pause use the right fingers to grip the card(s) again against the underside of their spread pile, but keeping them jogged over to the left so that the card back is still in view. Fig.5.

Two things now happen at the same time. The right fingers secretly pull the underneath card of the pair (the King) to the right so that it remains hidden under the spread cards, while at the same moment the left thumb pulls the visible face down card (the Ace) away from the right hand. Fig.6.

Working

Start to spread the deck face up between your two hands, tilting the deck so that the faces are towards you rather than the spectators. When you see the first King, push over the Ace that is below it and then insert your left little finger beneath that Ace. Fig.2.

Keeping the right hand still holding the spread cards, use the right fingers to lift up the King and Ace together as one card using your right fingers under the spread. Fig.3. Flip the card(s) face down onto the balance of the deck still held in the left hand,

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

The left hand takes its cards down to the table top and leaves the face down card there. Fig.7. The spectators think this is a King, but the King is actually hidden reversed under the cards in the right hand and the card on the table is an Ace. Once the face down card is on the table, the left hand brings its cards back up

to the right hand and slips them under the spread, immediately starting to spread further through the deck looking for the next King. Keep the card faces more horizontal this time. Fig.8.

When you reach the next King repeat the double turnover manoeuvre and apparently place the second King face down on the table. Fig.9. Continue with the other two Kings in the same way until you end up as in Fig.10.

three Aces) and drop them casually onto the first tabled card (the other Ace).

Square the deck and turn it face down. Explain that you will now drop three indifferent cards onto each King. Spread off the top three cards (the other

Spread off three more sets of three cards and drop them on the other tabled cards. Place the deck squared to one side. Up to now it looks like a standard card matrix but as the magic happens there will be a double surprise.

Snap your fingers over the three piles nearest you and then turn them face up one at a time to reveal that the ‘Kings’ have vanished and each pile consists just of indifferent cards. You then say,"So you may be wondering where the Kings have gone?”

At this point you reach over to the last remaining face down pile and flip it face up spreading the cards to reveal the four Aces as you comment,”Well, they’re not here, as that’s the four Aces!”. That’s the first surprise. You then pick up the deck and ribbon spread the cards face down across the table to reveal the four Kings all face up and spread out throughout the deck. And that’s the second surprise.

WATER ONLY WATER Mago Spider

The magician takes a styrofoam cup and pours some water into it. Placing his hand over the top of the cup, he inverts it and then removes the hand to reveal that the water has vanished. Then, the magician turns the cup upright again and taking a knife he pierces the cup before crushing it between his hands and throwing it into the audience, thus proving that the liquid really has completely disappeared.

1 Requirements

You require two styrofoam cups, some Slush Powder as supplied by many magic dealers, a knife and a bottle of water.

Thanks to the Slush Powder, within a few moments the water will gel into a solid lump.

As the left hand turns the cup the correct way up, the right hand falls away secretly concealing the small cup.

Holding the bottom of the cup in your left hand and squeezing the sides a little, place the flat of your right hand over the top of the cup and invert the whole lot. After a moment’s pause, remove the right hand and the water will seem to have vanished. The left hand pinching the base of the cup also prevents the small inner cup from falling out.

The right hand then goes to your box, leaves the palmed cup behind and comes out with the knife. The knife

Having allowed the effect to sink in, bring the right hand back to the inverted mouth of the cup and release the pressure of the left fingers so that the small inner cup falls down onto the right fingers.

Preparation

Cut one of the cups in half and discard the top half so that you are left with a small lower section only. Fig.1. Fill this with Slush Powder and then drop it into the larger cup. The size of this smaller cup should be such that you can conceal it comfortably in one of your hands. Have the knife in your performance box along with the bottle of water.

Working

Show the cup and the bottle of water and pour some of the liquid into the cup.

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can then be placed down inside the cup and thrust right through the base, and then the entire cup can be crushed and handed out to prove that it really is empty.

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

Picking the

A GUIDE FOR MAGICIANS

Perfect Podcast BY EOIN SMITH

In days gone by, families gathered around the wireless to hear the country’s best and brightest talents entertain the nation. In today’s informationoverloaded society it can be easy to forget the pleasure of simply listening to the spoken word.

little slice of radio has, however, found a home on the internet: the podcast. But with millions available on services like iTunes, Podbean, Stitcher and Acast, where do you begin? For magicians, the list is somewhat narrower but can still be daunting. We’ve tracked down some of the best magic podcasts around, and spoken to the people behind them to help find the perfect podcast for you.

Featuring interviews with some of the world’s most popular magicians, as well as some rising talents, each hour-long episode gives an insight into the lives of performers we have all grown up watching on TV, at conventions and in lectures. Over the podcast’s three seasons, the diverse roster of guests has included Nick Einhorn, Luke Jermay, Michael Vine, Paul Gordon and even Dynamo.

The Magicians’ Podcast

Hosted by Richard Young – one half of popular double act Young and Strange – The Magicians’ Podcast has become one of the most talked-about magical podcasts over the last two years.

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

Richard says, “There were two projects that inspired The Magicians’ Podcast – Stuart Goldsmith’s Comedian’s Comedian podcast and Pete Wardell’s Magic State of Mind. I wished there was a weekly podcast out there for magicians with different guests,

and I thought it would give me something to do while not working. I’m a busy full-time professional magician, which means I’ve got nothing going on most of the time!” It was Ian Keable who pointed out to Richard that what he was doing wasn’t just providing entertainment for entertainers, but creating an archive that would be of interest to magic historians for years to come. Each episode took Richard around 12 hours to complete, and all bar one was recorded in person. By visiting magicians’ homes, he says, he got a fascinating insight into their personal lives. Richard continues, “There are some extraordinarily wealthy magicians

Richard Young interviewing Paul Daniels who have done really well in their lives and are quite unhappy. One of the happiest, most content magicians I met lived in the smallest house of them all.” Throughout the podcast’s three seasons, Richard has interviewed some of the world’s greatest magical minds. His interview with Paul Daniels is, he believes, the final interview the legendary performer completed for the magic community before he passed away in March 2016. But Richard’s most memorable guest often surprises people: “My favourite episode is the interview with Richard Cadell. What he said really connected with me; his journey from turning dodgems to running his own fairground and being the frontman for Sooty. He’s a really great storyteller and a really likeable person. “There were some things that were said and people that I met that changed my outlook on things, and opened up some amazing opportunities. As Young and Strange we’ve just been on the Next Great Magician, and our relationship with executive Andrew O’Connor began when he was a guest on the podcast.” With the final episode of season three a bumper interview with Derren Brown, Richard feels that now is the perfect time to bow out – despite regular emails from new listeners who have discovered the podcast for the first time. He will, however, leave the archives available to listen to online for as long as he can.

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Richard Young interviewing Michael Vine (live at The Magic Circle)

“Although I did it as a hobby,” he concludes, “I spent two years making 72 episodes and it began to take over my life. I was genuinely interested in every magician featured, and that’s why I was happy to take the time to capture their stories. It was an amazing adventure, and maybe somewhere down the road I’ll make more, but I have no plans for now. I spent the last two years speaking to other people about their careers; now I need to focus on my own!”

The Magic Word

With a college degree in radio and television, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Scott Wells moved into the world of podcasting. After working with Dodd Vickers on the

MagicNewswire podcast for around a year, changes in the show’s makeup led him to start out on his own. And with help from friends Alex and David Rangel – and business partner Banachek – The Magic Word podcast was born. Scott says, “I have been fortunate enough to have lived a long life in the magic world and to have performed with many other professional magicians. As a result of working at Houston’s Magic Island for over 20 years, plus the Magic Castle and dozens of conventions, I got to know many magicians both on a personal and professional basis. So when I attend conventions or work at the Magic Castle for a week, I see a lot of friends: it’s an easy and natural thing for us to casually talk about our business and our personal lives, so I just ask if it’s okay to turn on the microphone.” It’s this conversational style of presenting that keeps Scott’s listeners coming back for more. He’d like his listeners, he says, to feel as if they are eavesdropping on their conversation rather than having a regimented structure.

Scott continues, “I want listeners to feel as if they have learned something about my guests so the next time they see them, they don’t feel timid or intimidated and will have something to ask them. “I’d like for the listeners to learn with me about how my guests are inspired to create their routines and acts. I like to talk about the business side of magic more than the sleights, because it’s the why rather than the how that I find interesting.” From Shawn Farquhar to Tom Mullica to Lance Burton – who also got his first taste of Facebook Live while recording the podcast – The Magic Word has featured some of the biggest names in magic. But Scott often doesn’t know who will appear on the next episode: it all depends who he runs into on the convention floor. Over the years, though, there have been some stand-out guests for the likeable host. He says, “I often say my interview with David Stone is a ‘gateway’ podcast, because he gave me an answer to a question that led me

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

it’s not always the magicians that stand out as the most memorable interviews. Asked to pick out his favourite three, his answers are diverse and perhaps a little surprising. He says, “Firstly, the Hanson Family, who lived literally in the cornfields in the USA, created a thriving library show business with the whole family – Mum, Dad and four kids all riding unicycles and juggling.

Scott and Michael Dardant

I’m a talker and I love visiting friends, so I see no end in sight unless the technology changes. Listeners tell me they don’t always know the people I have on the podcast, but they always learn something from them and feel as if they have made a new friend. down a different path. When I asked him what he lacked, he answered ‘confidence’ which stunned me and we went down a different road. Similarly, my chat with Noel Britten was unexpected as he talked about how he now finds it hard to see humour in a world that mistreats animals. That was not where I expected our chat to go. “The controversial podcast series that started with Gregory Wilson was also… fun and challenging. After he opened the door and gave his side of the story, I felt it only fair to get the other side from his accusers. That led down a road that was unexpected, and nearly doubled my listenership.” As for the future of The Magic Word? Scott reveals, “I’m a talker and I love visiting friends, so I see no end in sight unless the technology changes. Listeners tell me they don’t always know the people I have on the podcast, but they always learn something from them and feel as if they have made a new friend. I have magician friends the world over and feel as if I have barely scratched the surface.”

Kids Entertainer Podcast

It’s often said that children are the most difficult audience a magician can ever face. With that in mind, it was only natural that someone, somewhere would begin to podcast about how to perform for them properly. But for host Julian Mather, the Kids Entertainer Podcast wasn’t his first foray into the medium. He begins, “Ken Kelly and I produced the Magician Business podcast for 56 episodes and realised only a small percentage of magicians truly wanted to take their business to the next level. We pivoted to the kids’ entertaining niche because that’s what we do ourselves.

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

“We also knew that kids’ entertainers came in all shapes and sizes and disciplines, but they never knew what each other did because we all work at the same time. You could never go and see what others were doing and talk and learn. So we started the Kids Entertainer Hub as a way to bring all kids’ entertainers under one umbrella and cross-fertilise our ideas.” When selecting guests for each episode, Julian says that it’s not just the perceived experts that have the most to give. He explains, “We look for people with something to share; anyone with an idea or a way of working that others can learn from. We work on this saying, ‘It’s amazing what you don’t get when you don’t ask.’ We just email people and ask; some jump at the opportunity, and others start a dance around payment and what they get from it all. If there is a happy point in the negotiation that works, that’s great. If not, we just move on.” Of all the guests who have appeared on the podcast, for Julian

“Then there was Max Marshall, who worked as a Disney pop-up performer in Hong Kong. After 9,000 shows, you get really good at what you do and Max had so many disciplines to draw from and talk about. “Finally, Doug Scheer is an educational school assembly show performer. What he opened a lot of people’s eyes to is that educational performing is not just schools. It’s corporate, trade show, dental… anything where you want to get a message across. He started out as a magician for a major car manufacturer educating people as to why they should buy these particular cars.” Producing the podcast can sometimes be challenging. Based in Australia, Julian Skypes Ken every Monday to record the intro and outro to each episode. “It’s early evening in Australia,” says Julian, “so I’m moaning about being tired, and it’s early morning in the UK where Ken is in his pyjamas, eating toast and drinking coffee. It makes me laugh every time!” But despite the logistical challenges, the future is bright for the Kids Entertainer Podcast. Julian concludes, “We now have a team of five lecturers at our Kids Entertainer Academy who do the interviews for the podcast: Steve Wickenton, Michelle Uulf, Zivi Kivi, Andrew Ready and Rob Ruthart. With this team on the hunt, and them all bringing their own insights to the interviews, the podcast has a promising future.”

Do It Yourself

Inspired to start your own podcast? We asked Adam Martin, global director of content at podcasting platform Acast, for his top tips… Commitment

Kenneth Kelly and Julian Mather

The Best of the Rest

There are dozens of other magic podcasts out there to discover. Many of the major magic retailers produce in-house episodes to update their customers on the latest releases and offer interviews with their creators. But here are some more independent podcasts that you should consider…

The Mark Leveridge Podcast

A name that should be familiar to all Magicseen readers, editor Mark Leveridge’s monthly podcast has become a fixture of many magicians’ listening schedules. Unlike many other magic podcasts, Mark veers away from interviews to present his own views on a wide variety of topics related to the art. From self-promotion and gig etiquette to thoughts on TV performances and the latest magic news, the podcast offers a fascinating insight into the mind of one of the UK’s most experienced magic professionals.

The Magic State of Mind

Although no longer produced, the Magic State of Mind is an amazing archive of interviews conducted by Peter Wardell. Stars including Joshua Jay, Tina Lenert, Marvin Berglas and Geoffrey Durham are amongst those who sat in Pete’s hotseat. What’s most interesting

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is that each podcast is available not just in audio format, but also in video – allowing a different kind of connection with each interviewee.

Magician Business

The original podcast produced by the team behind the Kids Entertainer Podcast, the Magician Business podcast offers an insight into the business of showbusiness. Focusing on topics as diverse as branding, writing a magic book, social media and even outsourcing, the podcast featured a host of interviews designed to help magicians the world over think about how they do business. While Ken and Julian have moved on, the archive of episodes is still available online.

Discourse in Magic

The theory of magic is discussed in depth each week on the Discourse in Magic podcast, with recent episodes centring on creativity, relating to your audience and adding comedy to your performances without resorting to hack lines. Hosts Jonah Babins and Tyler Williams invite performers with something interesting to say to share their experiences in magic, in order to help others improve theirs. And with guests including Patrick Kun and Mathieu Bich appearing on the show, the expertise on offer is extensive.

Firstly, decide whether you can commit to starting your own podcast. While podcasting is exciting and appears easy, don’t be fooled by the fact that it is audio only. Podcasters take time to curate their content, making sure it flows smoothly from episode to episode. The most successful podcasters upload regular content and set themselves deadlines.

Discover Your Niche The great thing about podcasts is that you can add your unique perspective and find a distinctive audience that will be interested in the things you have to say. Even if you are talking about something already covered by someone else, adding a new spin will make the content brand new. Think about who you want your audience to be – their age, interests and passions.

Create Your Identity

Choose a name that informs the audience exactly what you want to talk about; not only will it be easier to find and remember, but it will also come up in their suggested lists. Decide what your hosting format is: will you be speaking solo, will you interview guests, or do you want a co-host?

Equipment

The most important piece of equipment is a good microphone

– this is essential to retaining your audience as listeners will come back if your content is easy to listen to. Next, you will need a computer for recording, editing and uploading your podcast. Most microphones can be connected through USB and there are plenty of free editing programmes available.

First Episode

Your first episode gives you a great opportunity to introduce yourself, your interest and what your podcast will be, as well as helping you master your nerves. Don’t worry about what you sound like or if you made any pauses as you can edit those out. The important thing is to be natural, enjoy yourself and not read off a script as your audience will want to hear natural flowing conversation.

Review

Once you’ve finished your first episode, and shared it amongst your friends and social media accounts, it’s time to debrief. Think about what worked well and what didn’t, and implement this in your next episode. Reviewing after each episode will help you improve how you sound and figure out what your audience really loves about your podcast.

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

Darren working with a young adult.

Darren Way Real Street Magic!

When it comes to close up table or street magic the format is pretty much set with the audience allowing the magician to be the one in control with the sleights, and in exchange they will be left amazed. The magician then exits as smoothly as they arrived, rarely ever to see or have anything to do with that same audience again. But, imagine if you were using close up magic in the completely opposite way, where instead of walking away, you were actually striving to initiate a 1-3 year relationship helping those who are socio-economically stuck? Yes, intentionally using magic to initiate relationships that allow you to go into dangerous contexts and settings to specifically target and help disenfranchised inner city young people escape a life of poverty, gangs, drugs, crime and violence? 28

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

Darren refuses to be branded as a youth worker or a magician. He uses magic to do intervention work with young people and has conjured up his own title of Magic Interventionist, which is a brand and approach he and his charity have trademarked Darren uses his adapted magic tricks to make change relevant.

ell, for the past two decades that’s exactly what Darren Way has committed his entire life to. His ground-breaking work was little known in the magic fraternity until a mutual friend and retired Waterlooville goalkeeper Rob Stokes introduced Darren to Lee Roberts - president of the Portsmouth & District Magic Circle (PDMC). Lee, who himself develops ways to bring a new edge to the field of magic, was so fascinated when he heard Darren’s story, that he invited him to do a one-off 90 min presentation this summer at PDMC’s headquarters in Portsmouth. The event attracted a standing room only packed audience who were gripped by Darren's every last word as he revealed how he built a multi award winning youth intervention charity on the back of a Ten Pence coin trick. Darren shared how he had adapted gang intervention models into his magic when doing intervention work with young people and how the types of characters drawn to gangs are the very character types who often get drawn to becoming magicians. The parallels astounded the audience, and as he concluded with a simple card routine that has helped Darren remove over 200 weapons from London’s streets, his lecture left the audience filled with questions as they were challenged and inspired to rethink their approach

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to magic and their relationship with audiences. Darren refuses to be branded as a youth worker or a magician. He uses magic to do intervention work with young people and has conjured up his own title of Magic Interventionist, which is a brand and approach he and his charity have trademarked. Magicseen chats to Darren to discover what magic looks like when it is taken beyond performance and showmanship and the wider possibilities it has for its future and for community development and neighbourhood regeneration.

Darren, welcome to Magicseen!

Thank you for inviting me here. What an exciting opportunity to share my journey with a global community of magicians.

Could you give a bit about yourself and your own background?

Certainly. I was born in East London and brought up on one of the most socially deprived boroughs in the UK. Growing up on tough council estates makes you learn how to become streetwise very early on in life or you got severely picked on, bullied or caught up in law breaking. When it came to violence I only used it as a last resort to defend myself, but many on the estate used it as their first and often only option for settling disputes. I never liked or

used weapons but still remember vividly when I was 14 years old and a lad from another estate came to fight me, and a friend handing me a knife because he saw the other lad pull one out before I arrived. Thankfully the situation dissolved but these scenarios are far more common for today’s younger generation living on council estates.

What was school like on these estates?

During my secondary school years, I struggled terribly despite being a smart kid. Everything seemed to be taught in fragmented parts with history on one floor and science on another. I don’t remember any teacher really sitting me down and helping me grasp how it all connected or how it related to what I was experiencing struggling to grow up on a council estate, so I lost interest. As an alternative I pursued a hobby in breakdancing after seeing a video clip back in 1979 of boys in the Bronx, New York spinning on their backs and heads using a piece of kitchen lino or flattened cardboard boxes to perform on. I remembered thinking “that’s fantastic. I can learn to do something that costs no money, doesn’t need batteries and I can perform something that gives me a chance to express my own uniqueness to others.” Something I help other young people going through similar situations to achieve using everyday objects like coins, cards and spoons etc.

What did you do after leaving school and how did you become involved in magic?

I left school in 1984 failing my exams and followed a best mate into painting & decorating. However, after nearly losing my life after an accident caused by faulty scaffolding I quickly knew this was not the career for me. However, I met a carpenter on site called Adam who showed me a coin trick routine. It astounded me so much that I pestered him to stay back after work and show me some more. Adam was a hobbyist magician and had collected a vast array of close up tricks over the years, which he kept neatly filed in the builder’s store room in the basement of the church yard where he was a maintenance man. We became friends and he introduced me to my first two magic shops, International Magic and Davenports Magic, both in central London.

Where did the idea of being a Magic Interventionist originally come from and how did you get it up and running?

It was by complete accident and misfortune really. In 1994 I Ieft the construction industry and auditioned for a one-year intensive course in Acting and Theatre Studies. During the interview I used magic to help convince the selectors I was right

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

Mid centre is Koyes who is now one of Darren’s Youth Interventionists coaching a group of young adults to progress into the construction industry. for the course, and it worked. Just as I was about to branch into the entertainment industry, a part time job was presented to me developing a new youth development centre in my neighbourhood. I initially thought it was something I’d do as a stop gap. However, the more I learned about the background to the lives of the teenagers coming into projects, the more I started going out into the late nights on the streets to help them avoid getting involved in drugs, petty crime and postcode gangs etc. You could say I became a ‘street mediator’ by default. It isn’t easy going up to troubled or troublesome teenagers hanging out and challenging their harmful lifestyles with alternate ways of engaging. The projects our Centre was offering didn’t always attract

Steven

now aged 20 years 30

such peer groups so I started to experiment with using close up magic and found it most effective in starting a relationship of trust. This was when I first linked the field of magic with the field of youth intervention and community regeneration. Three years soon passed until one defining night when I went out to engage with a youth who was caught up with an older group and when the situation turned nasty so that my own safety was in danger. Magic wasn’t going to change this scenario and I'd used up all the interventions known to me. I went home that night with the realisation that I was out of my depth. I was about to quit, when two anthropologists from the Carnegie Foundation were visiting the Centre I worked at and invited me to see best practice projects

in the USA. I was blown away with some of the advancements I witnessed, even though none were using magic in their intervention models.

"It’s hard living in these ends (areas) and staying out of trouble. If you don’t get involved you’re seen as a pussy (weak), if you do, then you’re always looking over your shoulder from the feds (police) of other gangs.

the street. I told him to f*ck off. He returned the following night around 10pm watching us play football and then did some magic stuff. Oh my days the man was sick (good).

Before I met Darren our other local youth club was sometimes shut on nights it should be open so we lost trust in professional youth workers. Some are just in it for themselves and the money. When Darren first came out onto my council estate I thought he was just trying to get me on another project that gets kids off

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When I returned to the UK I applied and won a Sir Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship in April 2000 to fund a trip researching some of the best international practitioners transforming the most deprived neighbourhoods in New York’s Bronx, Philadelphia, and Boston. This provided me with the time and reflective space to advance my magic interventionist approach into a cutting edge organisational charity. And, on the morning the twin towers collapsed in New York, I opened a shop right in the heart of my own neighbourhood crime hotspot and started a charity called Streets

He invited me and four others to meet him at his shop base the following day where he helped us learn a street trick and showed us that if we can do that, then we can achieve anything to become successful in life. He also gave us each a pack of playing cards to practise with. I went on a programme with Darren,

"My audience is far MORE insecure and disconnected to mainstream. Disengaged youth often have poor relationships with adults and indeed the very organisational professionals fail to engage them." Of Growth, which specialises in connecting youth intervention work with community regeneration, working with young communities who get left behind or feel ignored by the changes going on in their neighbourhoods.

Do you know of any other magicians who have used magic in the exact same way? No, not in the exact same way. However, I have read of magicians and teachers who have taken magic into schools and used it in classroom sessions as a way of helping young people with numeracy, literacy, memory, and dexterity. My use is far more controversial and at times dangerous. For example: I don’t solely go into institutional settings

he went to where we hung out and started asking how school was and how he could help the older ones in my group to get into the construction industry. I aint gonna lie bruv (brother), I still was sceptical because other organisations let me down, but he kept in our lives for 2 years coming into our flats to help steer us away from troubles. If he didn’t see me through school and into work, my life would be nothing. I’d be dead or in prison."

YVONNE aged 16 years

Above is the specially designed postcode model where Darren and his team strategise their street intervention work. that have captive and willing audiences such as school pupils. My audience is far more insecure and disconnected from the mainstream. Disengaged youth often have poor relationships with adults and indeed the very organisational professionals fail to engage them. My method involves going out beyond the 9-5 challenging and transforming the very anti-social behaviours that keep young people in harm’s way and make their neighbourhoods dangerous. There have been times where I have intervened and removed weapons, had to call and work with the police, I’ve citizen arrested a young person street robbing a woman, and stood in trials as a witness and as an advocate for young people who need fair representation. This ventures into a more underdeveloped field of work that many professionals and even the very community residents themselves fear to tread. But this is the extreme end. Most young adults we work with are trying to move on and escape such realities and the magic part of my intervention helps them to build confidence, set new goals and to develop a new version of themselves that changes habitual ways of thinking that block them.

If these young social groups are so hard to engage, why do they trust you and your role of Magic Interventionist? Because although I am very clear on what side of the law I stand, young

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people know I am in it for the long haul with them. I also understand that simply locking people up is not the fundamental solution to youth disorder. Those more prone to joining gangs can see that I go out of my comfort zone to engage them on their turf and starting point. In return, they go out of their comfort zone by letting me in to help them. It’s a transposition of power, vulnerability and control that I have achieved interweaving magic and interventions without causing any harm to the field of magic or its secrets.

What is it that draws you to working with ‘higher risk’ young people?

For me it’s a no brainer. Not all young people are in gangs, but gangs affect all young people. It only takes 3% of any young community to cause 53% of a neighbourhood's problems. Where others see danger, I see opportunity and that’s why many young people deemed as being unchangeable respond to my belief in them and the confidence in my own ability not to lie or let them down in the process.

What is one of your proudest moments as a Magic Interventionist?

I’d like to share two if I may. First, two young people I helped years ago are now senior adult Programme Directors who now lead the street intervention work at Streets Of Growth. The second, is where a young person who was struggling at school was sent to our charity for help in the final year

of their schooling. This lad was literally bouncing off the walls with energy but couldn’t find an avenue to channel it. Then, one morning he came in and did a card trick which helped him find his sense of belonging with us. He went on to help fundraise money to develop a life skills project using magic at Streets Of Growth. Bill Davenport at Davenports Magic in Charing Cross was so impressed, he gave a discount. Martin at International Magic has also journeyed with us from the start as he and his family knew my late friend and magician Adam Dean well, who was a catalyst in all this.

What do you do today and where can our readers/ magicians donate and find out more?

I run an external consultancy within Streets Of Growth training a new breed of 21st Century youth intervention workers in the field. I am a motivational speaker and continue to do international research in youth intervention. You can donate to our charity by getting in touch via our website or direct details as follows - www. streetsofgrowth.org or contact me direct on 07841111903 or email darren@ streetsofgrowth.org to also find out what introductory courses we run on the subject. We offer tailor made lectures and workshops across the UK and abroad to magic associations, individuals, groups and wider organisations.

"I’m ashamed to say this but I used to wreck (damage) my estate. I didn’t see a future for myself there, or a way out. So I ran with the wrong people coz they were exciting. I didn’t care if the community didn’t like it. I just wanted to please the other 6 pairs of eyes that were in my crew. At the time Darren tried to work with me and my peeps (people in my group), I thought why should I go on some dumb training course for a job that pays less than eight pounds an hour when I can deal weed and get £50 a day. But Darren wouldn’t give up. Coming to my house, chatting to dad. I never forget one Christmas when Darren came around at a turning point in my life. I was going to run away as I couldn’t see a way out, life was sh*t, home was sh*t, and he did some magic in our living room and my younger brothers and sisters were smiling and screaming. We had no presents or decorations but boy the room lit up. Darren said it had taken him months to learn those tricks and told me that life was like learning magic where you practise, practise and practise again to give yourself more than just a second chance. Darren linked me to another person in his team who helped with my CV, and professional skills. I am now a Business and Administration Worker and have my own child and flat. My father is proud of me as we lost our mum when I was young. My brothers and sisters have someone to look up to in me. I always return to Streets Of Growth to let Darren and the team know I am still good and go to support their annual events."

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

Photo © KBK Photography

Professor Todd Landman

Perfect For Table Hopping By Mark Leveridge

Six things to look out for in the ideal commercial close up magic trick

If the blurb found on dealer websites or product packaging is to be believed, the vast majority of close up magic offered to the buying magic public will be perfectly suitable for commercial work. Phrases such as ‘perfect for table hopping’ or ‘this is a real worker effect’ or ‘ideal for strolling magic gigs’ are used at times too freely and without due regard for what actually does go to make for a suitable commercial close up trick. So as this is the case, we thought we would take a look at six of the criteria that any potential worker effect ideally needs to fulfil if it is to be true to its hype, in order to help you to avoid the ‘turkeys’. Jon Allen

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If you are smart about your choice of effects, you can do tricks that require several props, provided that those items can be used in more than one trick. 1. No set-up or secret re-set

Most commercial close up workers would expect to be working one group or table after another with little or no gaps in between. Although some events do offer a break opportunity at various moments, such as when everyone is eating at a dinner perhaps, most of the time the performer will be expected to finish with one group and turn and immediately perform again to another. This means that there is no time for lengthy set-ups or re-sets of tricks, and so in an ideal world any effect that you carry with you should be ready to perform again as soon as it is finished with on the previous occasion. So, tricks that require you to set up a stack in a deck after a performance, or that need props to be re-set in private (as opposed to being something that can be comfortably and quickly sorted in front of spectators or while moving from one group to another), should really be avoided. The only exception to this might be if you have a special signature effect that you like to perform just occasionally in an evening, such as for the top table at a wedding, or for a table of important clients at a business event. If the trick is outstanding enough you might take the view that as it will be only used once or twice at a gig, you will find time during any lull to do the necessary re-set, but otherwise you are best off avoiding tricks that cause too much work after they have been performed.

2. Easy to carry

Most experienced walkabout magicians will tell you that, if at all possible, you should carry everything you need to perform on you. Trying to drag around a bag or, God forbid, an attache case full of magic props, is a bit of a nonsense and just not practical. We are often

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Jordan O'Grady

required to work in the tightest of spaces where there can sometimes be only just about enough room for us to stand and work, never mind trying to find the space for anything extra. The most sensible solution to this is to only perform magic that uses props that you can easily fit into your pockets. Bear in mind also that you can’t afford to stuff your jacket with countless bits of apparatus because you need to be able to take out and replace everything that you use easily and smoothly if you are not to get in a hopeless muddle. So, good pocket management dictates that you should only work effects that have props which you can transport with ease, and as few props for each trick as possible too. If you are smart about your choice of effects, you can do tricks that require several props, provided that those items can be used in more than one trick. Apparatus such as decks of cards, coins, handkerchieves etc might well be needed in more than one effect, and so this justifies you carrying them. But a single trick that requires a collection of one-off props might be best avoided.

Paul Gordon

3. No consumables

Given what I have just said about pocket management, it also makes sense to avoid tricks that require props to be completely replaced after each performance. If it’s a case of simply putting a single gaffed card again into a deck, that shouldn’t be a problem, but if a trick requires you to carry around a pocketful of more bulky spares, it’s not really a good use of the limited available storage space. For example, if you want to perform a note in lemon/kiwi routine, you can’t really easily carry around spare fruit. This means you either have

to restrict the number of times you perform the effect, or you have to be resigned to returning to a bag or case to replenish supplies, which could be inconvenient/impossible. Effects such as ones where a signed card ends up in a block of ice, or other similar miracles, should not perhaps be considered as a carry around trick for repeated use, but more as a special occasion effect, if you still think it worth taking to a walkabout gig in the first place.

4. Being aware of bad angles

The big disadvantage for the would-be magic purchaser of only seeing effects presented as online video dems, is that the camera can give the impression that the effect is brilliant from all angles, when in fact, in practical terms, you can only perform it with very specific spectator view management. There are a lot of tricks available that don’t have even 180 degree

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

Steve Rowe that just the presentation requires tweaking so that it plays big at the dinner table but then also small if the group is intimate. Tricks that can be adapted in this way are wonderful, but not all tricks have this flexibility, so I would recommend that you either search specifically for magic that you can adapt, and/ or that you accept the limitations of certain effects and only try to use them when the performing situation allows. If you do this well, you will have more success.

6. Clear plots that are easy to follow

angle security, which means that for most working performers, they are useless. When you perform commercial close up regularly you get to know what can and what can’t be covered. Some tricks have restrictive view issues but an experienced worker will know how to distract his audience in order to cover the handling and thus get past the bad angle moment. But there are some tricks which you simply cannot do this with, and if you are looking to carry material on you which is suitable for use in almost any circumstances, you need to avoid magic that simply doesn’t measure up. This can be hard to do on occasions, because it’s easy to get seduced by how amazing a trick looks on camera when filmed from a very carefully controlled angle, but you need to try to be more pragmatic and see past the illusion created in the dem and think more about the practicalities of you having to perform the trick for real.

5. The right trick for each occasion

To my mind, the holy grail of close up tricks is to try and find those

effects which are equally effective in all of the working situations that I find myself in. But the list of genuinely suitable material is actually relatively small. The type of trick that I need to work at a large dinner function, where everything needs to be up in the hands and visible at a distance across the table, might be very different from what I require when entertaining just two people standing at a drinks reception. The first performing circumstance almost requires a cabaret style effect and presentation, the second is much more intimate and truly is up very close. Accepting that most tricks may not be suitable for all circumstances is quite an important hurdle to get over, in my view. Walkabout magic where you mix and mingle with people who are all standing requires a specific type of magic that may not translate to a larger group of 12 sitting around a dinner table. But the same magic might well be perfectly suitable for use in a restaurant where you are entertaining tables of 4 or even 6 people. Knowing your working environment is key to good trick selection. It may not always be the tricks themselves that need to be changed, it can be

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

A common characteristic of most commercial close up gigs is that the magic is not likely to be the main feature. Unlike the cabaret act or stage performer, the close up magician usually provides a more background form of entertainment and therefore has to compete with other things that are going on at the same time. So, at a dinner function we are performing while people are trying to eat a meal, at a wedding we may be asked to entertain while the guests are being called for group photos or trying to catch up with family members they haven’t seen for years, at trade shows or business events, we may only be there to help facilitate business conversation. The upshot of all this is that often our audiences are distracted. We may not be the centre of their attention, and even if we are, the length of time that we are granted their concentration may be severely limited. What this means is that your magic needs to be reasonably quick and to the point, and it should ideally be easy for the spectators to understand and to follow. Long winded presentations where little or nothing happens for several minutes, or tricks that require a long build up to a magical moment aren’t always the best choice for these circumstances. So when you are considering a new trick, although it doesn’t have to be an effect that is literally over in a couple of seconds (which so many marketed products these days seem to be - how are these ever suitable or practical for a real

world performing situation?), it does need to have the capacity for an engaging presentation that will hold the fleeting attention span of the average spectator and which offers magic effects which they can immediately understand. Simple plotlines (a ring vanishes and appears in a keycase, a signed card jumps to the top of the deck, a coin penetrates a handkerchief etc) work best in most commercial situations, and bear in mind that multiple phase card effects which magicians love so much, can leave a lay person completely confused as to what the actual trick was! So, don’t necessarily choose a trick that you happen to like, instead try to select material that your lay audience will be able to fully appreciate.

To sum up...

There can be a myriad of reasons why we choose the material that we do, and what is right and works well for one person may be a dismal failure for another. However, I think by bearing in mind the six criteria laid out above you will stand a better chance of including magic that will work in the demanding situations that close up can provide. Also, remember that there are some sellers of magic whose idea of what makes a commercial close up trick may be very different from yours or mine. It may not necessarily mean that they are deliberately trying to mislead you, but the performing conditions that they envisage the trick being used in, or their definition of ‘table hopping’, ‘walkabout magic’, ‘street magic’, or ‘strolling work’, may differ from your understanding of what is meant. So the skill is to look past the hyperbole and instead to try and look analytically and realistically at each trick you are considering using and see how many of the important criteria it satisfies, and then make a decision based on that. Hopefully in this way you will be more likely to select material that will work well for you.

JOE MOGAR

Knives and Coins www.joemogar.com

MAGIC BY POST www.magicbypost.com

Shout Outs HERE ARE SOME SPECIAL ‘EXTRA’ ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM A FEW OF OUR REGULAR ADVERTISERS NUMBER 23...

If you need a website creating but haven’t a clue where to start, then why not get in contact with Number 23? They are offering a great deal to all Magicseen readers. For just £300 you could have your very own 3 page website designed to suit your needs. This also includes FREE hosting for the first 12 months. Contact Phil on 07885 521486, or email philshaw@numbertwentythree.co.uk

CARD-SHARK... OK, this is weird. Our busiest year is behind us, while our busiest year is ahead of us! 2016 was a banner year for us. Our business grew by a huge 50%, and I think I figured out why: YOU. Without YOU, there would be no business. And there would be no magic. (It is like showing card tricks to yourself; it just doesn't work. You HAVE to show the effects to someone else to create the magic.) So first of all: Thank You very much for your ongoing support and trust in Card-Shark. Just being Card-Shark and offering tricks is not enough to gain your interest and trust. We would be standing alone behind the tables at conventions, just offering some decks of cards or one or two packet tricks. So why is the Card-Shark dealer booth always packed? I think we found the right mixture over the years: • Working together with the Greatest Minds in magic, like Jörg Alexander, Joshua Jay, Pit Hartling, Dani DaOrtiz, Christoph Borer, Tom Stone, Henry Evans, Alexander Kölle, Martin Lewis, Boris Wild etc. • While working on the creation of a new effect, I add the 'Card-Shark Touch' to it. For every creator I am his sparring partner. By adding minor modifications with the creator, it is our goal to make a strong effect even stronger and as easy to perform as possible. • No compromise in quality. • Only effects that are worthy of being added to the repertoire of a working magician will be released by us. We not only care about how the effect looks on camera; we also care about how it looks in actual performance, in front of a real audience. The next several weeks will see a lot of new releases. So if you have not yet signed up for our newsletter, now is the time: www.card-shark.de/qr/nl I think the biggest (about 50%!!!) change will come very soon to our Phoenix Decks. If you have seen us at a convention in the past few months you may have already seen the love child between our Poker and Parlour Decks. The Large Index Phoenix Decks will open new avenues for close up and parlour magic in general. Magicians like Shin Lim, Hector Mancha and other top names already added them to their arsenal and work with them. But don’t worry, we will continue our regular Phoenix Decks as well.

CARL DE ROME...

First may I wish you all a happy 2017, and to bring in this New Year, I have decided to have a very special SALE OFFER on my HEAT LIQUID. For those magicians who have not used HEAT before, you really don’t know what you have missed out on! This OFFER IS ONLY AVAILABLE from my website www.cdrmagic.com/heat. Normal price is £28 per bottle including p/p worldwide, but for a limited period only on the website, click the Buy 2 bottles option, and not only will you save £6.00, but I will also send you free of charge the special HEAT PDF Booklet worth £10.00, making a massive saving of £16.00. The price still includes 1st class postage/packing worldwide. Heat The Booklet is an extra special booklet with 12 great routines devised by the UK's top magician Martin Allen. HEAT is a must have item for any strolling magician, perfect for mentalists and essential for any hypnotist. As performed by DYNAMO on Magician Impossible, and highly recommended by top magicians from all over the world.

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MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

Mel Mellers' Comedy Magic Academy REVIEW Mel Mellers is a man well known within the magical fraternity. His acerbic wit and caustic putdowns, all done with a glint in his eye, have been experienced by many. “I like what you did with your hair...nothing”.

What people don’t necessarily appreciate is the work put into the routines, jokes and witticisms. Comedy writing is something that is a struggle for many of us and is a very useful weapon in any performer’s armoury. At the end of October, in an idyllic hotel just outside Colchester, Mel hosted his Comedy Magic Academy with 30 or so delegates. The event was superbly organised by Steve Short and lasted well into the evening culminating with ‘An Audience with...’ We were also introduced to his occasional writing partner Catherine Jarrett, a lady who knows how the mind of Mel Mellers works more than most and who often colludes with him on projects. The course was extremely in-depth, covering the mechanics of comedy and how Mel goes about writing his ‘gems’. He explained how he fills several journals of ideas in a year and the tips he uses to turn an idea into a routine. An insight on how idea generation evolves into workable routines was littered with great ‘eureka’ moments which saw the fog lift in one’s comedy brain. Delegates were asked to bring a routine from their repertoire to perform: either an established one that could be examined, critiqued, polished and improved upon, or a new one where the performer needed help in turning an idea into a professionally polished performance piece.

This was a masterclass by a successful, hard-working performer at the top of his game. During group exercises, the comedy do’s and don’ts that Mel was keen to highlight became apparent, and each person understood more about the principles behind convergent and divergent thinking. The ‘Joke Web’ is something that was scribbled down by many, as everyone could see the simplicity, yet the importance of utilising something that could help structure the plot, gags and script for any routine. One particular nugget of information that was imparted was the concept of ‘branding’. This is about how, through branding one’s act, we can turn from being ‘A’ comedy magician to ‘The’ comedy magician that our bookers want. A fair proportion of the time was spent on the importance of the plot. Without a decent one, all the comedy writing becomes a jumble of gags loosely linked to the trick being performed. By working out the necessary plot, the script becomes easier, and more relevant, but there was also a lot of fun with the gag writing portion, where delegates came up with some very funny alternative meanings to words. During one exercise, we were each given a card at random with a commonly performed magical effect, such as uneven ropes, or torn and restored newspaper, and we were asked to ‘re-imagine’ the standard trick and come up with our own routines. It certainly got the creative

juices flowing and some genuinely good, workable ideas came out of it. With lunch and dinner thrown in, and opportunities to chat with performers from across the genre, the day was an extremely worthwhile venture for anyone wanting to improve their comedy writing skills. It was a great way of seeing how the Mel Mellers character and brand thought and worked, and the methods he uses. This wasn’t a lecture. It also wasn’t like an acting class by someone who no longer treads the boards. This was a masterclass by a successful, hard-working performer at the top of his game. There is a train of thought that puts a value on conventions, lectures and courses. That particular way of thinking subscribes to the belief that if you come away with one significant trick/routine/piece of information, it’s value for money. Well I came away with a completely new routine, plus the potential for another, and 2 major improvements for something I do already. More importantly, the tools and mindset to be able to sit down and formulate an original and funny take on anything I put in my act rather than relying on the stock routine that comes with it that everyone else will be doing. So from me, the course gets a big extending thumbs up. *Anyone interested in the next event can contact Mel at: melvynmellers@aol.com

Review by Wyn Jones, a professional comedy magician and also a children’s entertainer who performs as Mr Merlin.

Graphology

Handwriting Analysis for Profit

Graphology is a fantastic way to earn money and our exclusive system is designed to make you do just that! As you would expect from Black Artefacts our system is simple, easy to use and very effective. You do not have to commit huge amounts to memory as our system provides you with everything you need to produce quick and highly accurate handwriting readings right from opening your Graphology kit. See what just one of our customers says: “Just a little feedback on the Graphology system. I have been using and advertising this for only a few months now, and have already done several gigs worth $2100 total. It is getting me booked into events that would never consider a Tarot reader. I'd say the return on investment is excellent. The system is easy and plays very well. Thank you!” Dennis Perez (USA) You will receive everything you need to go out into the corporate world and do entertaining Graphology readings and you can get your money back in just ONE Graphology session! The Black Artefacts exclusive Graphology system was especially designed for professional use and costs just £180.00. If you want something different to offer your bookers AND you want to make extra cash - you need the BHP Graphology System.

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PRODUCT REVIEWS A QUICK LOOK AT WHAT’S HOT AND WHAT’S NOT!

DEAL $EALER Cody Fisher Available from any Murphy’s retailer or dealers contact www. murphysmagic.com Price: £20.00 approx Cody Fisher is a great thinker and the advertising for this effect relies on his reputation, with no description of plot, but emphasising the impact and commercial strength of this piece of card magic. If you are likely to be upset at paying £20 and receiving a well known gag card and a 30 minute online video then avoid this trick. If however you believe the real secrets of magic lie in the routining, psychology and scripting, you will be richly rewarded with a solid gold crowd pleaser. This trick works because it is a piece of minor drama, from the initial framing as a legendary effect, through apparently impossible conditions, mild confusion and potential failure, through to a punch finish. Cody Fisher understands the

spectator’s internal dialogue and feeds it carefully with a well timed script and acting. The mechanics of the effect are simple, with bullet proof handling of a shuffled deck and two clean forces, one “Force Golden” was new to me and makes a nice alternative to the slip cut or riffle force. If you use this then it will have been very good value for money. In an earlier era this would have been a strong item in a lecture, nowadays it could have been marketed as a cheaper download as the gag cards are widely available. If the enigmatic advertising and full cost means this trick rapidly sinks without trace, then the outlay will have been justified for the few that invest. CP

What’s Hot: direct, high impact,

memorable, commercial card magic. Excellent psychology and routining. What’s Not: many purchasers will be disappointed at the use of an “old” gag card. No rocket science. Arguably a tad expensive. ★★★★

DO YOU HAVE A PRODUCT YOU’D LIKE US TO REVIEW? 42

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

loading the coins is very easy, so in situations where repeat performances are required the re-set takes only a moment.

BLACK BIRD

Jeff Copeland Available from any Murphy’s retailer or dealers contact www.murphysmagic. com Price: £50.00 (approx) Blackbird is a precision made gimmick that when locked holds a coin securely. Typically the gimmick is worn strapped to an arm under a sleeve and firmly attached by Velcro. When required, a light touch unlocks the gimmick, releasing the coin into the sleeve ready to be retrieved. If you don’t wear a jacket, the Blackbird gimmick is versatile and can be placed in almost any convenient place. It will fit easily under the hem of a top, a lapel, shirt, hoodies or any other similar garment. The gimmick will hold almost any coin. The base unit is designed to operate with an American silver dollar but each gimmick comes with a purpose made insert designed to take a half dollar or similar sized coin. For anything smaller you can modify the holder by adding a small piece of shaped plastic or cardboard. This ‘hack’ is fully described in the instructional video. Experimenting with British coins shows that an old English penny and most current UK coinage can be made to work with the exception of a £1 coin which is a fraction too thick to release easily, though it may be possible to overcome this by easing the gimmick a little. What you get in the box are two gimmicks and more than sufficient elastic Velcro to make two arm bands. The units are designed so that one can be worn on the left and one on the right, though in practice it is more than possible to place these in whatever position most suits you. An aspect that I liked was that re-

With the product comes access to three hours of studio based video featuring Jeff Copeland. The first hour is devoted to introducing the gimmick, explaining how it should be fitted and once fitted how coins are loaded and retrieved. There is really no aspect left undiscussed in what are probably the most comprehensive instructions I’ve ever seen with any product. In the second two hours Copeland performs and explains six coin routines, each of which uses the Black Bird to introduce a coin. Even this section has further advice, about the kind of sleeves that work well, troubleshooting tips and where and how he stores and carries the gimmick. There is also a PDF document available dealing with any potential problems. This product is very good at what it does, but it is worth remembering, and I don’t mean this in a demeaning way, that what it does is quite limited. Black Bird holds a coin securely and with a minimum of effort delivers that coin to the performer. What you then do with that coin depends upon your skill. The six routines performed and explained on the video are all quite technical. At some point in each the Black Bird is used to retrieve a coin, but the routines themselves all depend on very good sleight of hand. You are not going to perform these without developing that ability. The gimmick is a utility gimmick. A very good one, but only if you have something good to do with it. At the price you do need to be sure that buying this will give you value for money. SB

What’s Hot: A practical well made gimmick, fully explained and highly functional. What’s Not: Only value for money if you have the skills to exploit the potential. ★★★★★

Items for review can be sent to either of the following addresses: Phil Shaw: 23 Stock Close, Norton, Malton YO17 8BE. Mark Leveridge: 13A Lyndhurst Road, Exeter EX2 4PA.

★ POOR | ★★ OK | ★★★ REASONABLE | ★★★★ GOOD | ★★★★★ EXCELLENT

The Best Tricks At Low Prices From www.zanesmagicshop.com

For Mail Order - Non Internet users please send a SAE for a FREE detailed price list of all our latest Tricks/Products to - 29 Pegwell Avenue, Ramsgate, Kent, CT11 0NL Tel: 01843 850036 of magicians and researchers, particularly as he (nobody has yet suggested a woman) is clearly knowledgeable and the book is so well written. A whole sub genre of Erdnase related books has been published, annotating and expanding the original descriptions and speculating on the true identity of the author.

THE HUNT FOR ERDNASE: AND THE PATH TO EDWARD GALLAWAY by Dr Chris Wasshuber 152 pages PDF download Available from http://www.lybrary. com/the-hunt-for-erdnase-p-673843. html Price $45 (US Dollars) (approx £38) “The Expert at the Card Table” was published in Chicago in 1902 under a pseudonym of S.W. Erdnase. The author’s anonymity has proved tantalising to generations

Several names have been suggested over the past 50 years, including an assumption that the author’s true name was E. S. Andrews – his pseudonym in reverse. Chris Wasshuber describes in this book how he was gradually drawn into this feverish and opinionated world, pursuing new leads and presenting a highly credible new candidate – Edward Gallaway. The hunt began with the bankruptcy records of the printer James McKinney, Wasshuber noticing that one of the employees, Edward Gallaway, was owed a reasonably large sum of money and that Jay Marshall had listed him as an owner of a first edition of “The Expert”. Edward Gallaway was a well regarded “Print Estimator” and published two books on the topic 20 years later. When Chris Wasshuber obtained a copy of these books he was struck by the strong similarity of writing style.

ALL ABOARD! Tom Swift Available from www.propdog.com Price £26.99

Dan Harlan's Card-toon effect, which was re-popularised recently due to Jamie Raven's performance on Britain's Got Talent, is a great visual effect that's easy to do and gets great reactions. All Aboard is a take on Dan's classic effect but instead of using playing cards it uses train tickets for various major city destinations around England.

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A large part of this ebook describes a linguistic analysis commissioned from Dr John Olsson, an expert witness and barrister at the Forensic Linguistic Institute. The text of “Expert” was compared with Gallaway’s later books and text from four other possible candidates, including Roterberg, Hilliar, Wilson and Sanders. The conclusions from the analysis are that “Expert” was written by a single author, probably as two separate books (one on cheating and one on card magic) over a considerable time period. Out of the five candidates the most likely was Gallaway. The linguistic analysis forms the core of this book but there is much more information presented on Gallaway, including evidence of an early interest in magic, a peripatetic early life, including considerable exposure to the world of the circus and likely associated scams and cheating. Wasshuber also uses photographs to estimate Gallaway’s height and compares his appearance with the description recorded from interviews of the book’s illustrator by Martin Gardner in 1946. The book concludes with a rather full set of document extracts covering the whole of Gallaway’s life – a useful resource for further research.

he has found the true identity of Erdnase. I will leave that debate to more informed commentators. My personal impression is that Gallaway is a highly credible candidate but the evidence presented does not amount to conclusive proof. Many pieces of evidence presented could have alternative explanations, for example similarities in cover design, unusual placement of price on the title page and even the similar style of the introductions, could be explained by admiration of Gallaway for the Erdnase book – or even these being part of the “house style” imbibed by Gallaway during his spell at James McKinney printers. The linguistic comparison appears impressive but only concludes that Gallaway is the most likely author out of the five candidates. CP

What’s Hot: Compelling account

of the unearthing of fresh evidence on the true identity of Erdnase. A must read for anybody gripped by the mystery. Valuable and painstaking research. Evidence and further source material presented in a full manner. What’s Not: No tricks! Argument presented in a discursive and intellectual manner. Certainty of conclusions probably overstated. A bit pricey for an Ebook. ★★★★

Chris Wasshuber is convinced

A spectator is asked to select a destination from a map (also supplied). The tickets are turned over to reveal a cartoon drawing of a train. Riffling the stack of train tickets like a flick book the cartoon train is seen to move and where it stops at a final destination proves to be the exact city chosen by the spectator. This is super easy to do and it requires no forces or sleights. Any of the cities on the map can be named and the train will always stop at that very destination. The animation really does look good as the final train

station sign has the chosen city name written on it. The cards look exactly like real train tickets apart from the fact that they have been laminated to last longer. Instruction can be found via a URL supplied when you purchase All Aboard. PS

What’s Hot: Good alternative to a classic visual effect. What’s Not: Cards stick a little due to the laminate ★★★★

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

Sharpie and can be used as normal to write or draw. Because the pen attracts no particular attention, it makes it easy to secretly mark a spectator’s card or other object during a routine. This opens up possibilities that are not available if objects can only be marked in advance.

SENTIO

Alan Rorrison Available from any Murphy’s retailer or dealers contact www.murphysmagic. com Price: £20.00 Sentio is a card punch built into a regular Sharpie pen which makes it possible to create a pinprick bump in a card or other paper object. The indents are so small they are

almost invisible to the naked eye but can easily be felt by the finger tips, making it possible to identify a card, or multiple cards, by touch alone. Once used the marks can be rubbed out using your finger nail. Prior to a performance punch marks can be created using any small sharp object, but the benefit of this utility item is that it can be deployed, unobtrusively, during live performance. The pen is a regular

In the box you get a gimmicked pen and the address and password for the video instructions. There is a one off set up process required to set the punch up but this is easy to do and full instructions are given. The gimmick in the pen is microscopic so there is nothing for spectators to see and everything can be handled normally. Once set up, Rorrison offers a life time guarantee should you encounter any problems.

notes and cards for a drawing replication. The same gimmick can be used to mark envelopes and will also work on plastic bank notes. If you are interested in using punch marks this gimmick makes it easy to do during a live performance and although a pin or other sharp object would do for pre-show work the gimmick does make preparation easy and quick. SB

What’s Hot: reliable easy to

use gimmick to mark paper objects during and before a performance. What’s Not: if reading the bumps is your thing then nothing. ★★★★

The thirty five minute video shows exactly how this utility gimmick is used and Rorrison teaches three different routines using cards, bank

balance of the time is devoted to a variety of techniques, of which only the Eddy Taytelbaum count is required for the effect. The rest are interesting, probably useful, but seem only to be there to pad out the DVD.

Peter Pellikaan Available from any Murphy’s retailer or dealers contact www.murphysmagic. com Price: £14.99

Although the Taytelbaum count is not difficult, following the instructions on how to perform it is about as confusing as it gets. The count is a version of an Elmsley, which I use on a regular basis, but despite copresenter David Loosley doing his best, I still found Peter Pellikaan’s instructions confusing and difficult to follow.

If you are a packet trick fan then you will probably like Transcendence. As performed by Peter Pellikaan the effect is very clean and almost instantaneous. Four spot cards are shown, mixed and flipped over to reveal the transformation into four court cards. In performance the whole effect takes about thirty seconds.

The effect can be done with any cards, though the ultra thin set included with the DVD help to make this close up effect more convincing. Transcendence is very visual, fairly easy to do, requires almost no re-set, but provides only a few seconds of magic. If it had been included as one of a number of similar effects it would have made a better value DVD. SB

With the instructional DVD you get a set of cards and a small packet of magicians’ ‘stuff’ required to prepare the cards. The DVD runs for about thirty minutes and the section dealing with the preparation and handling of the effect take up about ten. The

What’s Hot: technically a not too

TRANSENDENCE

challenging transformation of four cards. What’s Hot: instructions are quite difficult to follow. A fairly expensive thirty seconds of magic. ★★★

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

WIN A DECK

OF DMC ELITES PLAYING CARDS Thanks to Phill Smith, we have 5 packs of the brilliant DMC Elites playing cards to give away to 5 lucky readers (one pack each). All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning one of these decks is answer the following question: The card under the box in the above photo is the ......? (You should be able to work it out by reading the markings on the cards in the spread. Email your answer to philshaw@magicseen.co.uk by 25th January 2017 to be in with a chance of winning. Good luck!

★ POOR | ★★ OK | ★★★ REASONABLE | ★★★★ GOOD | ★★★★★ EXCELLENT

NARCISSUS Chris Philpott Available from any Murphy’s retailer or dealers contact www.murphymagic. com Price: £55.00 (approx) This is Chris Philpott’s third DVD release in the 100th Monkey series and for those familiar with the 100th Monkey principle, little explanation will be necessary, except to say that the 100th Monkey principle now goes close-up. For those feeling left out of the loop and about to lose interest please hang on because I’ll now tell you a few things about the 100th monkey effect! First of all you’ll be glad to know that it has nothing to do with monkeys. Secondly because of a recently developed optical effect, ‘100th Monkey cards’, which are specially printed postcards, will read one way to one spectator and another way to others, distance being the important factor. So a spectator on stage will see a word or words printed on a card and the rest of the audience will see something different, opening up endless weird mind control presentations. This can even work when everyone is looking at the cards at the same time! Narcissus differs from previous 100th

Monkey effects because these effects are primarily designed for close up with your entire audience less than 5 or 6 feet from you (with some workarounds for stage), but most importantly the magical revelation is on a borrowed locked phone. Basically the spectator holds and/ or reads the special postcards which are photographed or videoed on a borrowed phone and magically they change when viewed afterwards. Video is probably more convincing because you can have the volunteer read what they see on the card which doesn’t match what they see on the video. It dispels any possibility that you switched the card. Imagine the fun of seeing someone reading something on the video which isn’t what’s written on the card! What you receive in the package is a double DVD set with 90 minutes of video instructions on one disc along with 12 special postcards, 2 or 3 for each of the five effects. The other disc has additional jpegs so you can print your own 100th Monkey cards at home or at a print shop, plus 65 pages of written instructions and fully written scripts. There are also two bonus effects (for over 18s only), extra cards and updates when you register by email. Effect one is The Fortune Teller where your volunteer holds a card with a picture of a “haunted” fortune teller machine on one side and ‘Romany’ writing on the other. You borrow a cell phone and take a picture of the spectator holding the card but when they look at the photo, the foreign looking words have changed to

DMC ELITES

Phill Smith Available from www. sovereignplayingcards.com Price: £13.50 per unit (1-11 decks), £10 per unit (12 decks or more) When the original DMC Marked deck (see review in Magicseen Issue 62) was released back in May 2015, the marking system was something that had never been seen or done before and quite frankly it was brilliant. The markings are completely invisible,

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English and predict the spectator’s fortune and can even predict a lucky number or chosen card! The second, Unhypnotized, involves the spectator reading an insulting word on a card to camera but then the video recording shows the card actually says something quite flattering. In The Pledge the spectator pledges to assert his free will on camera but the video recording proves the exact opposite. In I Want to see my Future the spectator holds a card that says those words which when viewed actually predict a possible future for the spectator. Finally No Art has the spectator hold a card saying “I am thinking of a thing”, but when viewed the writing actually says what they are thinking of! The principle of all these routines is an optical effect and is therefore subject to optical laws, the most important being that the illusion can change with different light levels. Consequently the cards and jpegs supplied come in different variations to suit different lighting levels, dim, middle and bright. The other variable when doing these effects is that some people may see these optical effects in different ways according to the quality of their vision. So basically due to a few variables this might work better on some occasions than on others. The use of the phone adds one more interesting wrinkle to the method, plus there is more latitude with light levels in Narcissus than in previous 100th Monkey releases for one simple reason - you control how you frame

unless you know how to read them. Once you know how to read them you cannot unsee them they are so clear. The major downside to this deck was the finish of the cards. They just did not handle like cards magicians are used to using. Also because the markings are large it made it impossible to read them when the cards were spread on the table. Both these factors have now been addressed and corrected in the brand new DMC Elites deck.

the picture making for a dramatic moment as you slowly reveal a startling secret as you gradually zoom in on the card in the picture they are holding. This produces a very different form of effect to most other things we do and creates a bizarre experience for the lay audience and one that is quite inexplicable. It’s an investment for the active performer rather than the mildly curious and it’s both futuristic and can touch the emotions in a personal and ghostly way. The spectators are left with the outcome on their phone that they may want to post online so make sure they tag you when they do! Modern mentalists should love it and fans of previous 100th Monkey releases will welcome its close-up possibilities. If you want to enter a new world of apparent mind control this is definitely it. Just so you know, the 100th Monkey principle is actually 3 things: a controversial scientific theory (Google it!), a mentalism effect that explores this theory and Chis Philpott’s title for the method used to achieve the effect. PP

What’s Hot: A strange but very

modern effect that is left on people’s phones. Wide choice of effects and cards. Pre-written scripts included. A fascinating new principle where you can easily invent your own presentations. What’s Not: You may have to get used to the effect of different lighting levels and differing levels of eyesight. ★★★★★

The DMC Elites are smooth and handle beautifully and the marking system has been adapted so it can be read either as the original deck or with the cards in a spread. They still cannot be read if the spread is tight but this is a huge improvement. For me this is currently the best marked deck on the market. PS

What’s Hot: Brilliant markings. What’s Not: Spread has to be fairly wide to read the marks ★★★★★

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

SPELL-O-MATIC DECK Liam Montier Available from any Murphy’s retailer or dealers contact www.murphymagic. com Price: £19.99 I have an aversion to spelling tricks. On the magic to puzzle spectrum they sit too near the puzzle end for me and equally on the fun to tedium spectrum . . . well I think you know where I’m going. There is, however,

THE JOURNEY

Matt Johnson Available from any Murphy’s retailer or dealers contact www.murphysmagic. com Price: £35.00 For years magicians have been obsessing about Any Card At Any Number (ACAAN) and there have been a wide variety of solutions to the ‘problem’ both published and marketed. So whether the magic world needs yet more methods is debatable, but if you still have not found a version that you like and you still think that this plot is one that will intrigue an audience, then you could do a lot worse than give this DVD a careful study.

something delightful about the principle of the Spell-o-matic Deck and it’s a routine that gets straight to the point. The principle, buried for decades, was originally created by Hen Fetch in 1947 and was revived by Ken de Courcy in 1980. A few decades on again and Liam Montier revitalises the idea with a three phase routine which makes for a surprising if not puzzling interlude and despite my ‘spellaphobia’, I quite like this one. So, a spectator names any card and you can immediately spell to it through the deck and turn it over. Actually part of the process isn’t quite spelling per se but more on that later. Another spectator can do the same and you repeat the effect. Finally one spectator secretly chooses a suit and another a value. Despite the deck remaining on the table before the suit and value of the new card is announced, you just pick up the deck, deal the cards and spell once again exactly to the named card.

Matt Johnson admits that he has been besotted by the ACAAN plot for years, and that he has spent an inordinate amount of time working out different ways to achieve it. This DVD collects together several of Matt’s solutions and they range from the good to the miraculous! The version that you may decide to adopt will differ depending on a) your skill levels, b) the performing conditions and c) how pure you want the effect to appear. Let’s take a quick look at all three possibilities. a) Skill Level. Arguably the strongest of the methods requires you to master a particular tricky card sleight. Matt performs it amazingly well and is so natural in his execution of the move that you would fail to believe that he’s doing any special handling at all. So, the key here is that you really do need to put in the hours of practice that may be necessary to master this move and to be able to perform it under intense scrutiny, otherwise you will have to discard some of the best looking versions. b) Performing conditions. If you are using the sleight alluded to above, you will need to control the audience’s viewing angles as

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

This doesn’t involve any sleights, just some very easy handling for which some cards are ‘prepared’ and then it works automatically. It can be performed in the hands without a table and works with as many cards as you want to spell. The ad claims no reset but to be fair it actually resets in your hands with a cut. The deck provided has some ‘prepared’ cards but is otherwise normal and once the trick has ended can be shuffled up and used to do other card effects leaving nothing to be found. To return to Spell-o-matic again after a shuffle entails a 5 minute reset of the deck. I mentioned an issue above with the ‘spelling’ and here there is a slight inconsistency as you count the card value and spell the suit. I suspect only magicians would comment on this and real people won’t think anything of it. I don’t think it’s a major issue especially if you state “I’m going to count and spell to your card”,

otherwise they may catch a glimpse of what you are doing. Matt goes into detail on the DVD about how to shield the dirty work in as natural a manner as possible, and I would suggest that any performer capable of mastering the sleight itself will not have a problem achieving the necessary concealment. c) How pure. There are several slight variations on the plot. You can choose to have the performer handle the cards when dealing down to the chosen number in order to find the named card, or you can elect to have the spectator do all the dealing! You can go for a full blown miracle by having both the number AND the card chosen by spectators, or you can select a route in which the performer provides one of the two elements. These are all small and sometimes subtle differences which change the plot a little, but which often change the method a lot. By providing so many different solutions, Matt is giving you the very best chance to find a mix of plot and method that suits your personal needs. In his hands, every single one looks totally amazing, and the combinations of subtlety and skill

thus being accurate about what you actually do. You receive written instructions and a link to stream or download a fully detailed video. I’m far from cured of my spelling trick phobia but it’s hard not to like this for its ingenuity, commercial application and ease of performance and it will surprise you the first time you do it too! PP

What’s Hot: easy to do, with

an ingenious method that makes it automatic, and makes the routine builds nicely to the last phase. What’s Not: slight inconsistency with the apparent spelling but it doesn’t spoil the effect. ★★★★

show terrific attention to detail. He explains everything very well on the DVD and the live performances of each of the different versions give you the perfect way to assess which you think looks the best. You receive the DVD along with some custom made gimmicks to enable you to do some preparation that some of the methods require, and if you are keen to have a selection of ACAAN methods that are all practical and which all work equally well, then even given the relatively high price, I think that you will glad you bought this. ML

What’s Hot: well thought out

methods and subtle handlings are provided along with several good presentational variations. What’s Not: do not be tempted to try the sleight of hand versions unless you can really perform the required move well ★★★★★

★ POOR | ★★ OK | ★★★ REASONABLE | ★★★★ GOOD | ★★★★★ EXCELLENT receive a faked US quarter coin and an instructional DVD.

THE JAR Kosmo Available from any Murphy’s retailer or dealers contact www. murphysmagic.com Price: $50 (approx £42) American street entertainer Kosmo has released this concept which has several different applications and it could therefore appeal to both mentalists and close up performers. What you receive is a squat clear glass jar measuring 9cm in diameter and 5cm high, and a black screw on lid. The jar and lid will stand examination even though there is some subtle gimmicking. You also

THE END OF MY ROPE TRICK

Chris Philpott Available from any Murphy’s retailer or dealers contact www.murphymagic. com Price: £34.00 approx Chris Philpott’s version of the classic cut and restored rope seems to have fooled a lot of well-known names in magic. I’m not surprised as it’s visual, clean and catches you by surprise, not only the first time, but many times.

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Those readers who were magically active back in the 1980’s, may remember a marketed product of mine called the Visible Marked Coin Into Bottle. The principle that I used in that effect is the same that Kosmo is using with the supplied jar, but the applications here are far more varied. The main idea that Kosmo uses the jar for is as a means of creating a convincing switch. Reminiscent of the recent clutch of transparent Mystery Boxes that have appeared on the magic marketplace, the Jar makes for a perhaps more natural looking receptical than a perspex box that is hard to explain away. The Jar enables you to switch a folded (even paperclipped) card, or prediction billet, or banknote, or in fact any reasonably flat small object, and there are two or three different ways to handle the switch, all of

The magician coils a long piece of rope into six loops and has a spectator cut through all of the loops. The magician then throws the cut pieces out over the audience or across the stage and the rope is instantly restored. The ropes are genuinely cut and the sudden restoration is quite unexpected, visual and natural. The ends can even be tied to your wrists. It’s a great moment of magic. The principle of the idea isn’t new but the adaption of it to cutting multiple loops is apparently original. It can be adapted to string, streamers, party

which have their merits. The Jar can also be used for coin magic. You can achieve the above mentioned coin into bottle effect with it, or use the gimmicking of the Jar as a subtle tool in other types of coin routine, such as coins across. On the DVD Kosmo is joined by Garrett Thomas who offers several suggestions for moves with coins and the Jar, including ways to incorporate Flipper Coins with it too. The jar supplied might be a little big for strolling magicians to carry around on their person, but if you have a small extra bag it should fit in that. For parlour or platform performance, especially where the Jar is being used for one of the prediction effects, the jar itself is of the perfect size. Big enough to be visible and to use with reasonable sized objects, yet small enough to be practical to handle. In fact on the DVD trade show magician Scott Tokar shows how it can be

used with a version of the classic Alan Shaxon effect Confabulation, a routine that he uses in his commercial work. I think the Jar is a practical prop that many performers will find a place for in their repertoire. Some dexterity and timing will be required to use the prop convincingly, but any performer worth his salt would soon get to grips with one or more of the suggested handlings. Because of the number of different ways that it can be presented, the Jar makes a sensible investment for most magicians. ML

What’s Hot: well gimmicked

prop that looks totally normal and which provides the means to present a variety of magic and mentalism effects What’s Not: for the coin routines you will need to use a gimmicked coin to take advantage of the main principle offered by the prop ★★★★★

decorations, even a string of beads or a pearl necklace and I’m sure ideas for this will grow and grow.

Hangman which is available from Chris on registration of the product by email, but only for over 18s.

The basic method can be used impromptu, fully prepared or even more gimmicked as it is highly versatile. Use it as a stand-alone effect or as the climax to a longer routine. It could be an opener or an act closer. You can do it in a tee shirt or jacket and whilst the handling will need some practice, it isn’t difficult. You will need to prepare ‘something’ which anyone will be able to do without any special tools.

I hope purchasers will protect the secret as it’s too good to casually share plus I would really like to be the only one doing it, so please don’t buy it. For that reason I wish I could find something wrong with it! PP

It gets full marks for the practical method and suitability for most audiences from stage, cabaret, parlour down to a very small number. The DVD is a bit on the long side running to well over an hour, partly because of the number of variations and versions, but also because Chris Philpott has an amiable but unscripted style.

What’s Hot: far too many

superlatives apply which might make you want to buy it! What’s Not: no rope, scissors, gimmicks, batteries, beer, threads, magnets, or mirrors are included! And it’s a very long one trick DVD. ★★★★★

For some reason quite unconnected with the rope restoration, he adds some of his own Ring and String moves on to the DVD. There is also a free ‘rope through neck’ trick called

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

have attained. So when he decides to reveal some of the thought processes behind his performances, it would pay anyone who aspires to similar success with their magic to sit up and take notice.

A THEORY OF MAGICAL CHOREOGRAPHY

This 125 page hard backed book, which has been written for Marc by Paul Hyland, consists of two main sections. The first 50 or so pages are dedicated to a scholarly dissection of magical choreography. In essence this offers a detailed explanation of how the way we handle our props, the way we move about our performance area and the way we use our eyes to connect with the audience and to direct their attention, can impact on the effectiveness of our performance. The remainder of the book gives brief but sufficient details of ten effects that Marc uses in his shows. So let’s look at these two sections in a bit more detail.

Marc Oberon is well known in magic for his highly successful competition acts which have won him the European Close Up Magic Championships, the IBM British Ring Competition, the Macmillan International Competition, the IBM/ SAM Close Up Competition and the FISM World Championship for Parlour Magic. Much of his success has been down to the way that he has crafted his competition acts, forever fine tuning every aspect of his performance in order to achieve a level of excellence that few others

Trying to break down the intricacies of any performance into its component parts takes considerable insight and understanding of what lies behind even the most mundane of actions, and Paul has made a good attempt at drilling down to the very core of Marc’s thinking and to then present it to the reader in a way that is clear and understandable. Although the overarching aim of this section is actually quite simple, the detail and definitions required in order to dissect the thinking accurately will, I suspect, leave some readers wondering exactly what the point is. This is not the fault of Marc or the author, but more that the level of

GRIPS, LINES AND LOOKS

Paul Hyland Available from www.marcoberon.com Price: £39.99

is very rare that I put the effort into learning new routines. Last week, however, I was sent a copy of James Went's new DVD 'Meditations' and I have to say that it has re-lit my fire for learning new card magic. The 2 DVD set is packed with excellent routines and sleights that you will want to learn and do.

MEDITATIONS

James Went Available from www.bigblindmedia.com Price: £29 approx After watching literally hundreds of card magic DVDs over the years it

While watching many of the other DVDs I have seen over recent years I found myself simply skipping from one performance to another missing out the explanations. With Meditations I wanted to learn each of the effects straight after watching them. To me that shows how strong each of the 10 routines taught are.

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

thinking and analysis required is more than many performers may feel they need. However, those who are prepared to persevere and give Marc’s ideas due thought and attention and then apply them intelligently to their own performance will be rewarded by possibly small yet important gains to the quality of their work. So, this is not lightweight theory for the mildly interested reader, but something important for those who truly aspire to make the incremental changes and improvements that will take their performance to the next level. The trick section of the book is not just intended to provide magic to add to your repertoire, although the effects described are all workable ideas taken from Marc’s commercial acts, but Marc wants the reader to see them as practical examples illustrating the theory from the first section of the book in action. The greyscale photo illustrated routines cover close up and parlour, with a mix of mentalism and regular magic effects. The book also comes with a DVD on which Marc performs and explains, with reference to grips, lines and looks, each of the routines. This is helpful for those performers who prefer to learn from video rather than the written word.

apparently reveals a chosen symbol or image by staring into a small crystal ball, and Ring Away, which is a nice method for stealing a borrowed ring from a jeweller’s box. There are also coin finesses for 3 Fly and an Okito Box move, as well as Marc’s handling for the floating banknote, but as stated above, much of this magic should be seen principally as good examples of Marc’s choreography theory rather than ground breaking effects or ideas in themselves. This is probably not really a book that you would buy just for the tricks because the real meat of the publication comes in the first section. If you are someone who wants to understand how the choreography of a magic act can be analysed and improved, then I think this book will prove interesting and useful. But be warned - Marc provides the understanding and insight, but the true value in his tome can only come from the correct use of that knowledge by the reader. ML

What’s Hot: an intelligent

analysis of some core elements that go to make up a well choreographed performance What’s Not: not to be confused as a book featuring a large number of Marc Oberon’s routines only ★★★★

Highlights include Another Night At The Bank, which is a fooling and practical twist on the Just Chance classic using envelopes containing currency, Clear Thought, which is a clever effect in which a spectator

Amongst the effects are sandwich, poker, triumph, and collectors type effects. If that's not enough there are also 12 techniques taught from productions, controls to peeks.

The DVDs are excellently produced (as you'd expect from BBM) and run to around 3 hours. The explanations for each effect/technique are clear and thorough.

From watching the performances it is clear to see that these are all effects that James uses and not ones manufactured just to make a DVD. He has a very watchable performance style which is fun and a bit cheeky. He reminded me a little of Derren Brown in his mannerisms.

Meditations is my favourite card magic DVD of 2016. I have lots of new material to get my teeth stuck into and I'm looking forward to it and to James' next DVD project. Highly recommended. PS

As previously mentioned, all of the effects are worthy of the time to learn them, but a few of my favourites are: Inevitable, Poker Fun and For Krenzel.

What’s Hot: Good selection of effects and techniques What’s Not: Nothing to report ★★★★★

★ POOR | ★★ OK | ★★★ REASONABLE | ★★★★ GOOD | ★★★★★ EXCELLENT be cleanly wiped away to enable a repeat performance.

PRICELESS Michel Huot and Richard Sanders Available from any Murphy’s retailer or dealers contact www.murphysmagic. com Price: £50.00 approx This is a collaborative effort between Michel Huot and Richard Sanders which offers you a nice commercial, easy-to-do effect for a parlour or stage show or even for a close up performance. It is based on the old gag in which you reveal that your jacket still has a plastic shop security tag attached to it, thus implying that you have stolen the clothing rather than bought it, but it extends the premise to incorporate a strong bit of magical mentalism too. Like all the best tricks, the plot can be described in one sentence. A

The tag itself has a quality reel within it which enables the price label to be extended away from the security tag and yet when released it will return back to the tag so that the ticket appears to be attached to it. The tag itself can either be attached via the integrated safety pin to the outside back of your jacket, or if you prefer to remove the jacket to reveal the tag, you can have it attached somewhere to the inside lining. spectator selects any amount of money and when the performer removes his jacket, a sales ticket is seen attached to a security tag on it that bears that exact price. There is no force of amount or any control of selection, which makes this very open and fair to perform. You receive a specially created plastic security tag to which you fasten one of the two provided sales tickets. One is a regular looking price label, the other is a ‘sale’ ticket. These are made of thin plastic rather than paper or card and so should last indefinitely. You also receive a wet wipe pen which you use to secretly write the price onto the labels during the performance. This type of pen ensures that the price does not get smudged or partly erased during the handling, but with a damp cloth or piece of kitchen roll the writing can

The instructions are supplied via a significant number of short online videos (26 to be precise!). To access these you use the provided URL but before you can unlock the videos, you need to enter an email address and create a password. I suspect that this is a not too subtle ruse for the manufacturers to harvest the email address of every purchaser of the trick in order to add them to a database for future email promotions. Good practice from their point of view, possibly an irritation for the customers. The streaming videos are all short but I found there is a bit of delay before each begins (despite the fact that I have the fastest broadband speed currently available to man!). With 26 different videos to wade through, I found this method of getting at the

video content somewhat clunky and slow. When you have a DVD you can quickly jump from one section to another via a menu which avoids this otherwise rather convoluted arrangement. Once you get to the videos they feature several live performances plus provide very clearly presented information. This includes instructions for how you can adapt the reel slightly to reduce the potential noise. I liked the fact that the reel itself was attached to the tag via velcro, as this means it can be removed if you wish to doctor it or, presumably if the reel should malfunction, to replace it. This is a very good quality product. The trick itself is quick, very baffling to lay people and has the potential for either a comedic or a more serious presentational approach. The props supplied are top notch, the method is super easy and the video instructions are comprehensive. This will suit both the commercial performer and the hobbyist. ML

What’s Hot: good quality props,

simple handling, commercial effect What’s Not: the slightly laborious online video instruction system ★★★★

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MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

How do you...

get to the next level

...IN MAGIC?

It’s a question that many performers ask - but what is the answer? The experience is different for most magicians, but you might be able to spot a common thread running through the answers from the brilliant performers below... © Philippe Tempez

Boris Wild

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

The sensational French magician From my personal experience, I think it must be done in two steps. First, you need to perform as much as possible to get a maximum of exposure and multiply your chances to meet the right people who will allow you to get higher profile gigs. Then, when you start moving a little higher in standard, adjust your fee by raising it accordingly so it is coherent with the new places and people you work for. Otherwise, it will lack consistency and you will not be taken seriously. From then, you must start to learn to say “No” in order to stick to that standard and not go back to the gigs and remuneration from before. It is not something easy to do and it is probably the hardest period to handle because you do not have many high profile gigs yet. ...But it is worth it because if you optimise your contacts at every one of these gigs, people will

recommend you to other people from the same socio-professional group and you will then meet new clients with the same high profile. By multiplying contacts like them at each of your performances, you will then be able to create your own market of high profile/well-paid gigs and this is also how your reputation will grow among agents and professional performers around you.

Ali Cook

Award winning magician, TV performer & movie actor If only there was a strategy or method!! That’s why it’s so hard.

Mark Shortland

Briliant comedy magician To get to the next level in the magic world you have to beat the boss on Level 5. It’s tough but you just have to keep hitting him with your CV and date sheet, eventually he gives in!

mandy davis Magician and Magic Circle big cheese! I started by not being paid at all - just working alongside my life partner when he was performing at his residency on a Sunday. My membership of The Magic Circle helped me enormously as I was booked by other magicians I met up with at our weekly meetings when they had spare gigs or needed more than themselves on a job. (This still happens and I’ll be doing a gig in December as part of a team from TMC.) It built from there really - agents learned about me, being a female close upper was more unique back then. I applied to agents too, sent my details to about forty of them every month and around eight would book me eventually on a serious basis.

Joshua Jay

World class magician I don’t have a great answer for you, but I can tell you that I rarely said “No.” I see a lot of magicians decline too many good opportunities. I tried to always say yes to performances and opportunities, no matter how insignificant they seemed...

Alan Rorrison

Ace magician, creator and consultant How did I or how would someone take what they do to the next level? Oh my, now there is a double edged sword and here comes an answer that no-one in this ‘instagram-giveme-everything-now-and-in-shortbites- world’ wants: WORK! Just be prepared to work and work hard if you want it. You will notice I’m not on Facebook or twitter every day with a picture of an empty hall saying “time to work” and that is because I don’t have time. I have already done 2 gigs and I’m on my way to the third. People need to stop trying to show people they are working and get out there and ACTUALLY WORK HARD!

Mike McClean

TV presenter and Stand Up comedy mentalist To get to the next level you have to have likeability and be entertaining.

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I started out doing magic and I wasn’t the best magician, but I was entertaining - and people liked me because I was funny. I think some magicians forget that. When I got into television I made sure that I never lost that. I know that people want to be entertained, for me it’s about making people laugh and if that means me making fun of myself whilst doing a mind reading trick then so be it. I know a lot of companies who have employed magicians only to never book them again, because even though they were amazing they didn’t entertain enough. I get lots of corporate work because I make sure that during that 20 minutes I am on stage they do not stop laughing. My corporate work is either word of mouth or re-booking me again.

Joshua Jay

Andy Nyman

Actor & magic hobbyist! Because I have always looked at magic as my hobby, when I was gigging I chose to ignore the fact it was how I was paying my mortgage whilst I was out of work as an actor. I would set a rate that I thought was fair - that way if I got it I was happy, and if I didn’t, I wasn’t bothered. I felt like I had nothing to lose as it was only my hobby.

Charlie Frye

Outstanding magician and unbelievable juggler In an ideal world good shows lead to the next, and along the way the offers get better. In the real world, the path is seldom that direct, and much of it is beyond your control. You are in control, however, of taking yourself to the next level artistically.

Tim Shoesmith

Close-up expert I’m not entirely sure. I rarely compromise my fee which means the work I do get is well paid. When others wish to book me, they are likely to know the fee before they discuss their event. This maintains the price. I think getting to the next level, if indeed that is what I have done, was through competitions. In the corporate world, good competition wins and being a member of the Inner Magic Circle do add credibility.

Andy Nyman

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

Making magic affordable.

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Thoughts, tricks, scripts and routines from the world’s most travelled comedy magician.

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With his hilariously sharp yet playful put down lines and quirky comedy plots, Mel Mellers has rightly established himself as one of the nation’s favourite stand up performers. Equally at home in front of lay people or a theatre full of magicians, Mel’s individual performance style, which has been honed over many years as a pro and through countless performances all over the world, is a delight to experience. Now you can go behind the scenes with this truly inspiring performer and learn how you too can become a top flight entertainer. Mel gives freely of his advice on all aspects of performance, including audience management, misdirection, how to put an act together, creativity, the 6 rules of comedy, practising, hecklers and entertaining children and families. He shares with you scores of hilarious one liners covering all manner of performing situations that you will be able to use in your shows too. Plus he gives full details of over 50 of his feature routines and ideas, most of which are simple to do and which come with Mel’s presentations and patter lines. Mel Mellers is one of magic’s real largerthan-life characters, and this book will also explain some of his background, give you various anecdotes from his closest friends in magic about the antics that Mel has got up to over the years, and will provide you with a thoroughly entertaining and instructive read.

MAGAZINE

MEL MELLERS

152 pages, softback, produced in colour throughout and featuring routines, comedy lines and advice from the UK’s top comedy performer.

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Ben Hart

Andi Gladwin

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Matt Edmondson

Magic Careers Start Here

The continuing success story of the Young Magicians’ Club By Mark Leveridge

ack in 2010 we did a feature on the YMC which took a look at the club and what it had achieved. Now, as it celebrates 20 years of existence, we return to find out how things are going a further 5 years on. And the short answer is - very well! Since this would make a rather short article (!), we turned to YMC Chairman Kevin Doig to fill us in with more details, including with reference to J-Day, the club’s excellent one day convention. But first, for those who may not know much

about the YMC, let’s give you a little history.... The Young Magicians’ Club was a concept that had been discussed in the Magic Circle Council as far back as the early 1980’s. The Magic Circle already had a track record for trying to help young up and coming magicians to achieve magical excellence because from 1961 they had been running the bi-annual Young Magician Of The Year Competition, and many subsequently illustrious performers, starting with the initial winner Johnny

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

Hart, first came to prominence by doing well in this event. But this competition was for stage magicians only and outside of the event itself there was no other support on an ongoing basis for young magicians generally. The initial attempts to create a junior section of the Magic Circle did not progress past an initial consultation paper which looked at the practicalities of setting up such a club. But when the Circle moved to their new permanent premises in 1995, Council member

Richard Stupple accepted the challenge of actually finally making it all happen. Richard immediately appointed fellow Council members Janet Clare and Anthony Owen, along with Monday Night Host Marc Paul, as a steering team, and literally within days the group had produced a template that, with only minor alterations at the next Council meeting, became the blueprint for the YMC. The launch of the new club got a lot of media attention and with the full support of then Magic Circle President David Berglas, who was also the President of the new

club itself, the Magic Circle finally got its long awaited youth section. “I became a member of the YMC from the age of 13 and it was probably the best thing I did. There are many opportunities to be made, if you give yourself the chance to shine (but that can only come from you) I wanted to give myself that chance and the YMC gave me the platform to do it! It’s the foundation of where I am today. So thank you to the YMC for all the hard work you do, for facilitating a place of learning and helping the magicians of tomorrow flourish.” Troy So what actually IS the Young Magicians’ Club? Well, the Magic Circle did not want to undermine the many youth sections of regional magic clubs, as these provide an important stepping stone for young people looking to become part of their local society, and so it set up the YMC to be a postal club, in which members were linked by a monthly members’ magazine called Secrets, and as a forum for member-only workshops run by Magic Circle experts. It’s aims are “to promote the art of magic to, and encourage the interest and performance ability of, magicians under the age of eighteen, and to ensure continuance of magic in the future of entertainment.” Although youngsters in the YMC are not fully fledged members of the senior club, they do come under the umbrella of the Youth Initiative of The Magic Circle, thus providing a strong link to the main society. The Magic Circle HQ in London is the venue for the monthly member magic workshops, and a healthy regular attendance of 90+ young magicians benefit from expert tuition provided by some of the Circle’s top performers. The range of topics for these events is wide ranging, covering everything from moves, tricks and techniques, right through to presentation skills and magic history. The Circle also encourages the YMC members to bring their families along to the regular Ali Bongo Saturday Shows, which is a great opportunity to see some top close up and stage performances

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from established entertainers. Those members who are unable to attend the workshops in London can still get great membership value from the previously mentioned Secrets magazine, as well as emailed newsletters from the Chairman, access to a members only Facebook group, which is a lively forum for discussion and advice, plus of course the YMC website. “I joined the YMC aged 10, and loved it so much that over 8 years I only missed 3 workshops! The club gave me the chance to learn from some of the world’s best magicians, really helped me to improve both my technical and presentation skills, and it boosted my confidence in general. I have had so many wonderful opportunities in magic, and I have the amazing foundation that the YMC gave me to thank for that - I certainly wouldn’t have become the Secretary of The Magic Circle without it!” Megan Knowles Bacon The high point of the year for all YMC members is the annual J-Day Convention. Originally it was the Home Counties Magical Society (HCMS) who, thanks to the drive and energy of Keith Churcher and other HCMS members, organised a Junior Day devoted to helping young magicians. In fact the YMC was officially launched at one of those events in 1996 and the first YMC Close Up Competition was held for the first time on that particular day. After many years of running the Junior Day, eventually the HCMS decided to call it a day, and it was at this point that the YMC took over the reins completely. Renaming the convention J-Day, they have continued to provide an exciting mixture of events, including both stage and close up competitions, a lecturette, a celebrity interview and a Gala Show incorporating an Awards Ceremony. For many of the members this is a once in a year opportunity to mix with fellow members and to get a magical buzz off the excitement that the day creates, and as such it has a major benefit for the young members.

Luke Oseland

Here is a roll call of the various competition winners from the 2016 J-Day YMC Member Of The Year Trophy Winner - Dean Leavy

The Mark Leveridge Magic Close Up Cup Winner - Luke Oseland 2nd place - Charlie Hewish 3rd place - Dean Leavy

The Home Counties/Alakazam Stage Magic Trophy Winner - Dean Leavy 2nd place - Sam Saffron 3rd place - Fletcher Ransberry

Dean Leavy

The Marvin Rising Star Award

Winner - Richard Jones

The Kaymar Komedy Kup

Winner - Fletcher Ransberry

The Pete McCahon Originality Trophy Winner - Luke Oseland

The Fox Technical Ability Award Winner - Charlie Hewish

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

Troy

Richard Young

“As a 13 year old kid who’d just gotten into magic, the YMC was an absolute dream. The opportunity to meet up with other young magicians, swap tricks, learn new ideas and have a ready-made group of mates who were into the same thing was invaluable. The calibre of magicians who took the time out to come and inspire us was incredible, and I have so many fond memories of my time at the club. I can’t recommend it enough.” Matt Edmondson Chairman Kevin Doig is rightly proud of everything that the club can offer aspiring magicians, and he was keen to point out one particular aspect of the club which he feels provides an extra important benefit to the members. “We have a very effective mentor system in place (rather like school prefects.) Carefully selected older members, who have been attending the YMC workshops for some time, are made into mentors (and wear badges showing this.) They are chosen from regular performers at workshops who have also shown themselves to be very responsible, helpful to workshop staff and supportive of younger members. “New members at their first workshop are allocated a mentor

who will keep an eye on them throughout the day ensuring that any questions they have are answered and that they are not sitting alone like lost lambs. Parents have regularly complimented us on this system and we are very proud of our mentor team.” The impact that the YMC has had on the careers of some of its members can be seen by the number of past YMCers who have gone on to enjoy great success in their magic lives. Here are a few names that you will surely recognise.... Dominic Wood, who went on to become one half of the Dick ‘n’ Dom TV double act Troy, whose success in recent times as a TV magician needs no introduction Matt Edmondson, Radio 1 DJ and presenter of the ‘XtraFactor Live’ Ben Hart, appearing on the BBC’s ‘Now You See It’ and ‘Killer Magic’ as well as performing on the show ‘Impossible’ Laura London, appeared on ‘Penn And Teller: Fool Us’ and ‘The Next Great Magician’ Plus Andi Gladwin, Richard Young, Edward Hilsum, Will Houstoun, Megan KnowlesBacon, Steve Dela, Dave Loosley, the list goes on and on!

Megan Knowles Bacon

And with well known names such as Stephen Mulhearn and a certain Dynamo being long term supporters and contributors to the club, you can see that it is an organisation that is held in high esteem. “I highly value my time at the Young Magicians’ Club. The organisation, teaching and lectures are all world class. Without it, I wouldn’t be the magician I am today. I highly recommend this club to any budding magicians wishing to progress within the art of magic.” Steve Dela After 20 years it is clear that the YMC is now woven into the fabric of magic in the UK and so if you know of a young aspiring magician between the ages of 10 and 18 who you think would benefit from joining, here are the details: Annual subscription: £30.00 Joining Fee: £10.00 (but this is waived if you sign up for two years at the start)

The Young Magicians’ Club organisational team are:

Chairman and Workshop Organiser: Kevin Doig Secretary: Clive Hyams Treasurer: Dave Andrews Secrets Editor: Will Houstoun Webmaster: Chris Wood Workshop Team: Dave Loosley, Megan Knowles-Bacon, Rob Page Honorary President: Scott Penrose

Kevin Doig

Full details from: www.youngmagiciansclub.co.uk

or by emailing the chairman at chairman@youngmagiciansclub.com or by writing to The Chairman, Young Magicians’ Club, The Magic Circle, 12 Stephenson Way, Euston, London NW1 2HD. On joining, members receive a membership pack containing an enamel club badge, a certificate signed by the President and the Chairman, a membership card and a free gift of a magic trick. Each year, on renewal, another trick is sent.

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

WAYNE DOBSON THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION EBOOK VERSION NOW AVAILABLE! WWW.MAGICSEEN.CO.UK

CRAFTED WITH CAREY EBOOK VERSION NOW AVAILABLE! WWW.MAGICSEEN.CO.UK BY JOHN CAREY

Next Issue...

LISTINGS

ALAKAZAM MAGIC UK. www.alakazam.co.uk BLACK HART. www.blackhart.co.uk CARD SHARK. www.card-shark.de CARL DE ROME. www.cdrmagic.com DISCOUNT MAGIC. www.discountmagic.co.uk EL DUCO’S MAGIC. www.el-duco.se JOE MOGAR. www.joemogar.com

BIG FIGHT SPECIAL

LYBRARY.COM. www.lybrary.com

There's a whole load of talented magical hard men in issue 73, including at middleweight Chris "The Hitman" Congreave - a man so clever that when he dies, the government have requested his brain be donated to medical science so they can see exactly what makes him so special! Well, that's what he told us - and it could be a pack of lies for all we know! His fight record so far is 25 knockouts, 1 draw... and one win! Anyway, he's featured in one of the main bouts. And so is another fellow who's so cunningly clever that he sent a sealed, recorded letter to his mother to predict the date of his own birth! It's the Dark Desperado of Mentalism: Devin "floats like a butterfly, stings like a newspaper prediction" Knight!

MAGIC BY POST. www.magicbypost.com MARK LEVERIDGE MAGIC. www.markleveridgemagic.co.uk MARC OBERON. www.marcoberon.com MURPHY’S MAGIC INC. www.murphysmagic.com

MAGAZINE

Issue No. 71 RRP £5.50 Vol 12. No.5 November 2016

Peter Pellikaan

The voice of 2016!

Neil Henry Indecent Proposal!

SO OLD IT'S NEW

Caroline Ravn

Don't Look into her Eyes!

MAGICWEEK A BRITISH INSTITUTION

COLIN MCLEOD One Step Beyond! MAGICSEEN: WHERE ANTICIPATION MEETS DISAPPOINTMENT!

THE CLAIRVOYANTS

They know what we’re thinking! Paul Merton’s EDINBURGH'S IAIN MORAN's NING'S PERFORMING TIPS! BEST ONE LINERS! MAGIC MYTHBUSTERS MAGIC CHAT

MAGICSEEN: TAKING MAGIC INTO THE 20TH CENTURY...

MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE JANUARY 2017

Reviewers: Mark Leveridge, Paul Preager, Stuart Bowie, Chris Payne, Phil Shaw, Graham Hey, Wyn Jones

General enquiries and comments:

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Back issues of Magicseen only £4.00 (UK delivery) www.magicseen.co.uk £5.00 (Airmailed to Europe), £6.50 (Airmailed worldwide outside Europe)

Plus TABLE HOPPING GRUMPY OLD MAGICIAN NEWS AND MORE...

Contributors: Andy Nyman, Alan Rorrison, Boris Wild, Joshua Jay, Tim Shoesmith, Mandy Davis, Mark Shortland, Mike McClean, Charlie Frye, Ali Cook, Jorge Betancourt, Mago Spider, Eoin Smith, Darren Way,

PROPDOG. www.propdog.co.uk

SMALL TALK > MASTERCLASS > LETTERS > PRODUCT REVIEWS

MAGICseen MAGICseen

Issue No. 70 RRP £5.50 Vol 12. No.4 September 2016

Advertisement Enquiries: Mark Leveridge markleveridge@magicseen.co.uk Website Design: Number 23. www.numbertwentythree.co.uk Circulation: Sarah Logan Circulation Assistants: Frankie Shaw, Edward Shaw, Jessica Preece

Magicseen’s management board consists of: Graham Hey, Mark Leveridge & Phil Shaw

BACK ISSUES KENNEDY > MASTERCLASS > LETTERS > PRODUCT REVIEWS

Editor: Mark Leveridge Deputy Editor: Graham Hey Design Editor: Phil Shaw

NUMBER 23. www.numbertwentythree.co.uk

THE PEEK. www.thepeek.co.uk

On the same bills, there are other bouts to be announced, from heavy weight clashes to fighters making their magical debuts!

MEET THE TEAM...

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Thanks to: Andi Gladwin

SUBSCRIPTIONS

On-line at www.magicseen.co.uk, or sending your details and a cheque payable to ‘Magicseen’ to Magicseen Subscriptions, 13a Lyndhurst Road, Exeter EX2 4PA, UK. £30.00 for annual subscriptions, Europe £42.00, worldwide £51.00. USA/Canadian subscriptions (one year) are also available from our Distribution Partner in the States www.lybrary.com Copyright. The views and opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is strictly prohibited without the prior consent of the publishers. Colour transparencies, manuscripts or discs are sent at the owners’ own risk. Neither the company nor its agents accept any responsibility for loss or damage. All unsolicited material should be accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope. Published by MSUK Publications

all order despatched the same day before 4pm!

From the creative mind of Tom Swift comes a modern and brilliant twist on the classic Card-Toon routine. A set of used train tickets are displayed, each a different destination in the UK. The spectator chooses ANY destination, the tickets are then turned over to reveal a doodle of a cartoon made by the magician on one of these journeys. Like a flicker book, the train is animated on the track and finally it stops at a station. It's the spectator’s chosen station!

EASY TO PERFORM NO FORCING NO SWITCHING QUICK RESET

With special thanks to Dan Harlan!

The UK’s largest Brick & Mortar Magic Shop with over 3000 products ‘IN STOCK’! If it’s on the website, it’s in stock!

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