* Mel Mellers who tore ‘em up in the opening show with his acerbic but very entertaining magic and comedy.

* The entertaining act of Levent packed with a thousand very funny sight gags but an artiste whose depth of magic thinking is profound as witness his brilliantly devised  Miser’s Dream that he showed in his lecture. Also the man who put so much work and respect into the outstanding Roy Benson book.

* Congratulations to Jonathan Shotton, former prizewinner in The Magic Circle Young Magician of the Year, now maturing into a seasoned professional entertainer and winning the British Ring Shield competition with a well conceived and presented act built around – clocks!

* One of the best presentations I’ve seen of the classical Rising Cards by Bob  Kohler in a close up show dominated by a chorus line of Las Vegas card men, demonstrating gambling deals and routines. And included in this show, the refreshing, diverse programme of magic and originality by Nick Einhorn with a stunning, every which way but loose coin matrix sequence, a new twist with a borrowed ring on key ring  and some excellent card effects finishing with a completely blank deck except for the selected card. Very Nick Einhorn.

* The workshop, in depth thinking and performance handling of the Egg Bag by Jeff Hobson that brought this timeless classic into the 21st century.

* Admired the artistry of Richard McDougall’s act with a goose – sheer theatre.

* Had an enjoyable talk with Marvin Berglas,  one of magic’s most successful business entrepreneurs and still a bubbling enthusiast  about magic to the extent that he performs regularly in the corporate suites at the Arsenal Football Club (another of his passions)

* Finally, congratulations to Ian  Keable on the publication of his excellent book “Stand Up – A Professional Guide to Comedy Magic” possibly the most comprehensive work on this most individual and diverse subject. Years in the writing, its 280 pages says everything you need to know about comedy and entertaining. Worthy of a PhD on the subject.

That’s it. Apologies if I’ve missed your favourites out but they were all good.

*

At Eastbourne, Nick Einhorn confirmed to me and a thousand other visitors just how good he is in his stunning lecture created especially for the convention  -“Very practical stuff you will probably want to do!”  Packed with gems of practical, diverse magic that are currently in his professional repertoire. Some brilliant twists on the historical Coin in Bottle including the production and  vanish of the bottle. An excellent development on Steve Duscheck’s “Lethal Tender”using a small purse with the gizmo instead of the usual playing card. A impromptu book test that’s so simple and ever-ready that Annemann would have been proud to have claimed its origin.

Again an ever -ready mental effect in which two watches apparently match without any input from the magician. Spooky! A really excellent card effect based on “Triumph” combined with a prediction in a wallet in which the signed card appears on the reverse side of the previously shown prediction! Outstanding and worthy of some of the best card men in magic. Finally an ESP stage routine that is dynamic, baffling and simple that adapted for a trade show could be dynamite.

Six baffling, simple, diverse items of magic proven in performance by one of the best brains in the business. All these were beautifully presented in the lecture notes in book form with excellent descriptions, photographs and graphics and included in the low price is a specially made gimmick that is used in the Coin in Bottle routine. At £10.00 it’s a steal!  Unreservedly recommended. 

Well, for thirty years I ran an international advertising agency and I learned the art of winning big name advertising accounts against much bigger agencies. And it was successful. I won Airlines, Cruise Lines, National Tourist Offices, Nikon cameras, Garrard the Crown Jewellers, New York Times and other name companies and organisations.. It was largely achieved using a marketing strategy called “The KISS Principle” and when I retired I applied the same technique to the business of selling magic.

So for the last twelve years I’ve worked as a professional magician and performed magic in Paris, Athens, Estoril, Marbella, Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, Istanbul, Morocco, Florida and Osaka. I’m not a star in the mould of Michael Ammar, Greg Wilson, Nick Einhorn, Martin Sanderson and other giants of the corporate field,  but I am a competent middle-of-the -road performer who because of my advertising and marketing background  knows  something about selling oneself and generating business. And that is what KISS is all about and I have had many letters from magic club members who’ve derived ideas and inspiration that’s taken them to a new and profitable level of entertaining with magic.

The members of the Chester Guild of Magicians, both established performers and hobbyists gave me a wonderful evening in which many ideas and practical suggestions were freely discussed and adopted and they were most generous in their comments.

If you’d like to know more about the KISS principle lecture you can always contact me through this web site or by email on europro (at) tiscali.co.uk [please replace the (at) with @].

Nowhere was this philosophy more confirmed this week when I read that Nick Einhorn, one of our busiest, skilled and most  successful performers did a high profile gig for a bank in the South of France – and scored with the 20th century bra trick! When I  know some of the brilliant things that he does that  I am sure he presented for his audience, I am heartened when I hear that he also included what many dismiss as old time music hall magic, below the interest of many of our magic elite.

This was also confirmed when I saw an interview given to the media by Paul Daniels, unquestionably one of our most successful magicians of the last century, when asked to do a trick to promote his forthcoming variety tour - did the long card!

These tricks may be passe to many but to magicians who know the public and are paid to entertain them – they are gold dust.

I’m thinking here of Nick Einhorn, today one of our busiest and most creative professionals who has picked up a clutch of awards for his work both at The Magic Circle and at FISM.

Then there is Andrew Murray, again a most accomplished working professional who has won many competitions and lastly Paul Kieve, who started life as a working magician but who today is Britain’s leading theatre,TV and film consultant, devising original magic effects and illusions for world class productions. He first secured fame with his incredible work on the play “The Invisible Man” staged in London which received rave reviews.

With this in mind I wondered what lay in store with the contestants lined up for this, their latest contest for club members. All the entrants showed originality and magic ability beyond the average but it was David Perez from Spain, now living in Britain who presented an original Ambitious Card Routine followed by Richard Saunders Ring on Shoelace on Shoe.

Everything he did was neat, precise and his handling was excellent but it was his Iberian accent and charm that won him extra points to be declared the winner. Magicians who have the benefit of a Continental accent always enjoy a bonus in presentation which adds a certain piquancy to any performance of magic. This is where French magi Etienne Pradier and David Stone score, adding an allure  to their excellent magical skills.

He  reminds me of Juan Tamariz without necessarily copying Spain’s leading magician but it is the inherent gestures and mannerisms of Spanish nationals which makes his performance and that of others from his country so attractive.

Watch his name. I am certain he’ll turn up and win again I believe in future competitions as he seeks to further his career.