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.

Bristol Day of Magic and 'Who Is It?' Answer

This year the 50th Bristol Day of Magic is being held on Sunday the 9th of May at the Winter Gardens and Playhouse Theatre in Weston Super Mare. The performers include Geoffrey Durham, Michael Vincent, Rafael, Pilou, David Stone, Ian Keeble, Etienne Pradier, Ray Davenport, John Kimmons, Graham Jolley and Tony Stevens. During the day, at the Winter Gardens there will a one man show, lectures and close-up shows - as well as a Dealers Exhibition which includes some of the leading magical suppliers in the UK. In the evening the Gala Show takes place at the Playhouse Theatre. For more details and a downloadable application form, please visit the website of The Bristol Society of Magic.  I attended the Bristol Day of Magic last year and I have to say it was absolutely fantastic and I fully recommend it to anyone interested in magic.

On Tuesday I posted a photo of Kong impersonating a famous British magician and asked who is it? The answer was Max Somerset (Kudos to Max Somerset, Sophie Evans, Paul Cooke and everyone else involved in The Sorcerer's Apprentice) and a large bar of chocolate is now on its way to the person who was the first to provide the correct name. For some reason, a lot of people said it was Dumbledore. What are you people like? Eh? If Kong and I get bored next week, we might post another photo of him doing another impersonation.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Who Is It?

Here is a photograph of Kong. We were both feeling a bit bored with all the paperwork we've been doing and so we did this photograph.

Kong is impersonating a famous British magician. Who is it?

PETERBOROUGH MAGIC DAY

The Peterborough Society of Magicians are holding their 21st Annual Sale, Exchange and Lecture Day on Sunday the 28th of March 2010.  Doors open at 10.00am and close at 5.00pm and it is to be held at the Millfield Community Centre, Lincoln Road, Peterborough, PE1 2PE. There will be lectures by Martin Cox and Christian Lee and a workshop by Al Smith, the editor The LaBaL. For more details, including on how to register, please visit the website of the Peterborough Society.

Sand Art

Way back when, at a time when the BBC still had the good taste to include magic shows as part of their output, Paul Daniels would include unusual acts as part of his show; one of those acts was sand art.

Fortunately these days, the internet provides access to examples of sand art.  Ilana Yahav is a world renowned sand artist appearing on television from Europe to the Far East. Of course due to British television companies' perverse stand, in complete contradiction to the rest of the world, to avoid broadcasting any act that might come under the label of variety we're unlikely to see her on British television. (Years ago, the then person in charge of the BBC who said that 'variety is dead' further demonstrated the 'accuracy' of his knowledge of public opinion by also saying that Doctor Who was unpopular and cancelled the show, apparently with the view that it would never be aired on our screens again. Hmm.)

Anyway, below is a video of Ilana's work entitled One Man's Dream. Ilana Yahav's website can be found at http://www.sandfantasy.com/

Patrick Page Memorial 1st March 2010

I received an email today informing me that there will be a memorial for Patrick Page on Monday the 1st of March. For details please visit the Facebook page RIP Pat Page where you will find posts by Sharron Rose, who is assisting the Page family with arrangements. She provides details about the memorial, where to send flowers or how to make charitable donations to St. Christopher's Hospice in memory of Page. Anyone wishing to attend the memorial should contact Sharron Rose using the email address she provides on the Facebook page.

Patrick Page 17 March 1929 to 11 February 2010

Patrick Page died on Thursday the 11th of February after a long illness. Tributes have begun to appear on the internet; Magicweek have a short article on him this week and social networks such as Facebook have had messages expressing the sadness felt at Page's death. Among those were messages by professional magicians such as John Lenahan, Ali Cook, John Archer, Pat Fallon, Paul Gordon and many others.
A Facebook group called RIP Pat Page has been created and the number of members quickly went into hundreds. Some of the members knew Page as a colleague or friend; others, like myself, were inspired by his writings. Like a lot of people interested in magic I bought, as a child, his book The Big Book of Magic (which I still have). If I remember correctly, at the time it caused a bit of a grumble amongst some magicians because it revealed so many secrets to the general public. Page, I am told, was a quick wit ready with a funny remark for all occasions. One Facebooker related the memory of Page being in an audience watching a magician pulling a seemingly endless amount of flowers and other items out of a box. Page dryly remarked "I hope he finds what he's looking for."

Ultra Balloon Modelling

When it comes to balloon modelling the best I can do is make a little dog, teddy bear or squirrel. Even with those, it takes a lot of imagination to picture what they are supposed to be. Balloon modelling tends to be scoffed at by some people interested in magic but it is easy to forget how advanced balloon modelling has become. Here are two photographs of dresses made by balloon modelling. More pictures can be found by clicking here. [The photographs are copyright by the website given in the link.]

The Immaculate Card Magic of Walt Lees

I’ve had a fortunate week for finding and buying second hand books. Among them was The Immaculate Card Magic of Walt Lees edited and photographed by Lewis Ganson. The modest appearance of this thin book doesn’t prepare the reader for the amazing quality of the card magic it contains. There are four card routines explained step by step, in great detail, and illustrated with photographs of each step. At the moment my favourite is the one called Four Blank Cards. The phrase ‘jawdropper’ gets used a lot these days to describe the effect some magic tricks have on an audience. Well the four routines in this book truly are jawdroppers. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a DVD out there somewhere based on the routines in this book.

Another book that is a treat is John Fisher’s Magic Book. This book was written for the general public and not for magicians, for this is a magic book with a difference. Rather than teaching the readers magic tricks to perform to their friends, this book is the magician. The reader simply chooses a trick, gathers together the list of props (household items) and then follows the instructions. A mini-miracle or puzzling swindle will then take place before their very eyes. Some of the tricks have now become familiar to us, many have not and some are variations on tricks we thought we knew all about. They are all very simple and intended merely for the entertainment of the reader. It’s the sort of thing that Lewis Carroll would have loved to have written.

John Fisher's book is, sadly, long out of print. Walt Lees' book is still in print and available from Magic Books By Post.