After a few weeks holiday to recover from the Convention it was back into the thick of it with my many corporate magic shows and events. I was invited to lecture for Bradford Circle Of Magicians and also appear in their Theatre show at the theatre in Bingley. I love doing these kind of shows as they are always light hearted and great fun to be a part of. The line up of acts were a mixture of semi professional and amateur performers with myself topping the bill as the professional magic act.

I had a my assistant/ dancer Stacey join me again and we had a great show.

With the success of the Blackpool Magic Convention 2009 in the bag I received the exciting news that Derek Lever on behalf of the  Blackpool Magicians’ Club was planning to bid to become the 2012 host for the FISM World Championships of Magic.

These championships held every three years in a different host city/ country each time, this years being in Beijing, China. It brings together the finest magicians across the world who compete in different categories of magic to win the title of World Champion of Magic’

The many areas of magic included are:

Stage/ General Magic

Illusion

Close Up Table Magic

Parlour Magic

Micro Magic

Mentalism

Comedy Magic

Manipulation Magic

So a small delegation including myself was put together to head to Beijing to present the bid for Blackpool at the end of July. We headed over to the Asian capital via numerous long flights and finally reached the amazing hotel close by to the enormous convention centre.

The championships kicked off with some amazing 2000 delegate social banquets and exotic Chinese acrobatic displays Watch Here along with the impressive opening stage and close up magic competition rounds.

We had our exhibition stand and after numerous calls to UPS in Beijing in order to clear our display materials through customs we were able to create our trade show area.

We did plenty of networking and meeting of the many international delegates throughout the week along with catching the numerous competitions in order to spot the quality acts worth bringing to Blackpool in the coming years.

The weekend had four gigs booked in, but I felt like I needed to stop and take breath. After such a manic week I needed a rest but that only came on the Monday. Weekends are often a constant run as I am always chasing the clock to make sure I finish on time at one gig and get to the next on time. 

All the clients were happy and I even managed to fit in a family meal in between shows on Saturday for my brother’s 40^th birthday.

After Sunday’s second gig myself and Ria dashed over to King George’s Hall in Blackburn to see ‘ Mock The Week’ comedian Russell Howard http://www.russell-howard.co.uk/

 He was great even though he was suffering from flu. I now know that a Giraffe can lick the back of it’s head and that wearing a ladies swimsuit the wrong way round turns you into a wrestler… 

A NEW WEEK…
Into another week we go and already it has been interesting. Stacey joined me again on Tuesday for another show. It was a great audience and I nearly ended up doing an hour on stage as I got chatting. Another plus for the show was that Stacey didn’t end up with a bump on her head as she revealed had occurred the week earlier. The dangers of showbiz!!!

In the afternoon I headed over to our new clubroom for the Blackpool Magician’s club.(http://www.blackpoolmagic.com/)  I only caught the afternoon slot as I had to head off to the evening gig at 7pm. But I did manage to catch a lecture by my pal Danny Hunt.
He was demonstrating how to pick locks and escape from handcuffs, strait jackets etc. It was fascinating. Danny really does take it to the extreme and after rehearsing for the Water Torture Cell Escape I know how tough it can be.

   Wednesday and I headed over to see Mark Mason at JB Magic. Mark mainly operates from America now but heads back every now and then to check on the business. www.jbtv.co.uk 
  

I have been producing the artwork for all of the new JB Magic tricks for over 2 years now and I went in to discuss the two new effects being launched for Xmas. One of which I think is great. It is called ‘Blindspot’ and is by Bob Swadling. I won’t give it away as magicians have yet to see it before the release. But it is a cool thing!! 

  It is really great to be able to combine two hobbies into one. Magic and graphic design. I get to see all of the cool new tricks first and play around with making the overall look of it cool and appealing. I mainly do artwork for Mark Mason but I also do bits and pieces for Wayne Dobson, Phil Jay, Chris Dugdale, Paul Roberts, Martin Gold (Comedian) and whole host of entertainment companies and shows.  

              


Anyway back to the thread - Whilst in the JB Magic shop there was a visitor from Scotland who was bringing all of his latest electrical gadgets down to show Mark. There were remote control card shooters (fountains for magicians). Electronic lie detectors and a strange plant pot with micro cameras and transmitters built in!!! Toys for Boys!! It is a strange life we lead when all we do all day to make a buck is stick a plant pot on our head!!?
  

  Mark trying the contraption for size!! 

Thursday and I was invited down to the University of Central Lancashire for a video interview by a journalism student. I arrived at the lecture hall to find it completely blacked out apart from three high powered spotlights on a small area of a stage and a camera set up. Basically Jacelyn wanted to film some sleight of hand magic and visual effects on stage and then follow up with an interview, but it felt like an interrogation at first as all I could see were the bright lights and nothing else! The voice was coming out of the darkness beyond.

The group were really nice though and I hope I gave them an insight into the life of a magician. I didn’t know whether to feed her questions or let her do her own thing. I often have to do interviews and so I have had some of the best and the worst interviewers to compare from. I guess as it is for her Degree course I shouldn’t help her too much. I look forward seeing the finished project. 

On Friday Ria and myself were invited to Laura White’s (X Factor) Homecoming Concert at the Reebok Stadium nr Bolton. Our friends were promoting the gig and so asked us down. One of the support acts was Shaun Rogerson (X Factor 2006). We know Shaun from working on ‘The Stars Of The X Factor’ show last year and I did Shaun’s Album cover. It was good to see him again. He has certainly grown up a lot since his shaky days at Sharon Osbourne’s boot camp.  

    
 http://shaunofficial.info/ 

Laura White came on stage at about 9pm and I have to say she was fantastic. It was obvious she has been gigging for many years already as she did a 1 hour set and really hammered it. Having seen some of the acts remaining in the X Factor competition, something went wrong with the voting somewhere as she should be in the final few.  

We caught up with her after the show and she was absolutely lovely. I’m sure with all of the hype on the show it has turned some of the contestants into monsters, but Laura was truly genuine. As we were saying goodbye she kept hold of my hand to genuinely thank us for coming down and supporting her. I do hope she does well and doesnt disappear into the hoards of reality tv talent show finalists. She is talented and hopefully she will be able to showcase that. 

(Gossip - she did actually suggest that Louis Walsh had asked to sign her 2 weeks before she had been kicked off the show- maybe sour grapes on his part?!!!)

Anyway back to the grind!! The phone is nonstop at the moment with Xmas coming up. I have just booked my 40^th gig in for the three weeks leading up to Christmas! I think I need to go and lie down to build up my strength for the marathon of shows…

Thursday was the opening night of Blackpool Magician’s Club new headquarters. My girlfriend Ria and I headed over early to catch up with all of our magician friends. Club members Russ Brown, Juan Tirado and Rick Green were in a hilarious mood. Escapologist Danny Hunt and Annette were also there as they were performing in the show. It is often the way when all the ‘younger’ magicians get together that it gets silly. All good fun!The show featured Clive Web & Danny Adams (who almost set fire to the ceiling!! Very funny though) Neville King with his off the wall vent routine. Danny Hunt & Annette performing some cool illusions (Danny has a lot of flight cases… you ask him)

The theatre club was officially opened by the Honorary Life President Ken Dodd. At around 9pm I ended up wandering the surrounding streets trying to find Doddy as he couldn’t find the club (it is a little hidden away.)Ken Dodd is a big supporter of the Blackpool Magician’s club and was on good form. He did a spot in the show and cut the ribbon with Press on hand. His comedy spot of course would have gone on all night but the club only being licensed until midnight had to battle to get him to finish before dawn.

On Friday myself and Ria were managing a winter ball for a business club in Preston. This was through our event management company Inspired Events. www.inspiredeventsuk.com

As with these kind of events they often get really hectic but it all went really well. We had a great Sax player performing during dinner. Comedian Steve Royle (my pal who compeered the Magic of the Music Hall show several weeks ago) after dinner, juggling and generally causing mayhem. A top comedian! http://www.ashleyboroda.com/boroda_sroyle.html

Then onto Steve Charles Singer (Craig Charle’s brother) http://www.stevecharlesmusic.com/home.htm who really got the dance floor buzzing. The black tie event was rounded off with our DJ.

Our company has only been running about 18 months and each event seems to build on the last. I think the standard of acts we use is always reflected in the fact that I am a performer myself and have an understanding of what makes a good show. (I hope so…)

So finally I have chance to add this new blog after a crazy week. It seemed to be non stop! Monday started with the normal thousand emails and calls and then I headed straight to an afternoon of rehearsals with a new dancer for Tuesday night’s show. I spent several hours swinging Stacey around and sticking her in boxes (errrm that sounds a bit dodgy…?) But it all went well and Stacey picked it all up great.

I have known Stacey for several years as she comes from my old dance college and she was supposed to work for me a while back but then she was contracted away. We even bumped into each other on a cruise ship in 2005 but only now has it been possible for her to work with me.

The show on Tuesday went well and Stacey worked well. It is always strange for a dancer to do magic at first as they often get bogged down with the technical side of the show and forget about the performance but apart from a few nerves Stacey was great.

OntoWednesday and my first gig was a Children in Need event for the Alliance & Leicester at Aintree Racecourse. It was a lively gig and the event organisers seemed very hectic. Pudsey Bear made his appearance and was nearly dragged to the floor by some over excited children. I always feel sorry for the poor individual who gets roped into wearing the costumes. I’ve done it in Panto shows in the past and it s always the case that the character gets attacked and everyone else thinks its funny (It is… but not when it’s you who’s being mobbed!)

After the event finished I had to dash from Liverpool straight over to Huddersfield to a ladies event for Audi. The traffic was a nightmare which increases the stress of getting there on time but as I have done quite a few events for Audi, I know the organisers and so knew it would be fine.

The event was a ladies night and clients promotional evening for Audi and along with myself performing close up magic there were all sorts of demonstrations going on all around the show hall along with a guest appearance from ‘Strictly Come Dancing’s’ Lilia Kopylova & Darren Bennett who did a short dance workshop with the guests. http://www.darrenandlilia.com/
  

I spoke to Lilia after the event and showed her some magic. I felt a bit awkward as I am rubbish when it comes to celebrities and never know anyone. It’s a good job that Lilia’s name was on the posters as I wouldn’t have known her name. She seemed really sweet.