JUST BACK FROM THE EASTBOURNE CONVENTION and down to earth with a million emails to check out. There were many great highlights at Eastbourne and so I think to give justice to them I’ll blog news day by day rather than give you a whole book of reviews. Big, big on the wow factor was the gala show on the Saturday. Put together by producer Paul Stone it was mainly U.S. acts from Las Vegas but it showed. Solid class , stylish entertainment all the way. Compere was my favourite comedy magician Jeff Hobson – oo ah! – oo ah! Brilliant camp comedy AND magic, he scored two hundred per cent right throughout the show. A stunning dove act from Canada Jason Byrne with unbelievable dove productions and stylishly presented so typical of Las Vegas. From Australia Raymond Crowe who stole the show at the Royal Variety Performance in London recently doing hand shadows (many in the audience had never seen this intriguing art that I first saw fifty years ago by Edward Victor) plus some brilliant mime with a floating jacket borrowed from a member of the audience.

Then Michael Finney. I’d only seen clips of his act but wow – what a lesson in entertainment with a six card repeat, a rope routine and a comedy card effect.  A lovely laid back folksy style of humour – sort of a Will Rogers of magic – but again a lesson in real entertainment with magic. I’m a 100% fan  – a lovely man with a lovely personality. Norm Nielsen as slick and as smooth as when I saw him at The Lido in Paris some thirty years ago and then the sheer novelty of Tony Chapek with his most original act with interaction with himself on a big TV screen. For variety the high speed juggling of Swiss artiste Claudius Specht and closing with the amazing illusions, and I mean really amazing of Kalin and Jinger from their show in Reno. Just about the most baffling “Sawing Through” I’ve ever seen. Truly. A stunning show and a great end to the convention. There’s so much more to tell so I’ll continue tomorrow.

Filed under: Magic Miscellanea