Answer to 'Who Is It?' Competition Number 3

To my surprise, a lot of people quickly provided the correct answer. From these correct answers a name was randomly chosen 'out of a hat' and a large bar of chocolate is on it's way to Janis.

The answer is R. Paul Wilson, one of the stars of BBC's The Real Hustle. In the film Shade, he plays Mr. Andrews and is seen only briefly. The film is full of references to card magic (see the review in the latest issue of The LaBaL for full details) and begins and ends with a shot of a pair of hands displaying sleight of hand with playing cards. The film itself is not award winning material but worth a look for people with an interest in the history of card magic for a game of 'spot the reference' in terms of character's names, etc.

Who Is It? Competition number 3

I've decided to make this a difficult one. No picture clue this time; it's all down to your knowledge of British television magicians. He appeared, fleetingly but instantly recognizable, in the film Shade - which is about card players and con men. His name didn't appear in the end credits. If any British magician was going to advise on and appear in this type of film, it would be him. Those are all the clues that you are going to get. A real toughy, this one.

On other matters, I haven't commented on the election because there has been an overdose of the subject in every form of media. Now that we finally know the result here is my only comment:

Welcome to Britain's new sitcom: Dick and Dom in Da House.

Let's hope we laugh more than we cry.
[Photograph the property of Getty]

Who Is It? [number 2]

Here is another 'Who is it?' question. I made it this morning; it's based on the Dragon illusion which can be found on YouTube but I've changed it and added to it to make it resemble a famous British magician. Just to be clear, based on the number of Harry Potter related answers I received in the last 'Who is it?', this has nothing to do with Harry Potter or any other fictional magic character. This is a real person.

The LaBaL Competition Is Now Open!

July is here and for those of us who subscribe to The LaBaL, the July issue will be arriving on our doorsteps very soon. That, of course, means that The LaBaL competition is up and running as of this month. The competition is very easy and the winner will be the owner of their very own paperback copy of A Briefe and Pleasaunt Treatise, Entituled, Naturall and Artificiall Conclusions by Thomas Hill, the text of 1581.

If you do not subscribe to The LaBaL then it is not too late. You can buy a single issue or take out a subscription directly from the publisher, Al Smith. He can be contacted by writing to A. Smith, 17 Osbert Road, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, S60 3LD, UK.

There is plenty of time because The LaBaL is a quarterly periodical and the competition does not close until the 15th of September 2009.

For some more details about The LaBaL read the advertisement on my website. The details of the competition will only appear in the pages of The LaBaL.