I recently enthused on this aspect about Geoffrey Durham’s new book – “Professional Secrets – A Life in Magic” which offers invaluable information about stagecraft. But at Blackpool I picked up another excellent booklet on presenting yourself called “Get Your Act Together” by Joanie Spina. Joanie Spina is a professional dancer and choreographer who has been the guiding talent behind many top professional magic performers including David Copperfield. To get some idea of the sheer artistry and theatre of her work check out her web site www.spinacreativeservices.com and see some video clips of magicians for whom she has worked.

 But the book that I picked up is packed with information you can’t buy in a magic shop – strengths, talent, staging an illusion, focus, choreography, dialogue, movement, music, vision and scores of other subjects on stagecraft that can be a real asset to the working magician wishing to give a professional performance.

I believe that Joanie Spina is associated with Jeff McBride and his unique school for magicians who has already shown excellent results for magicians attending. Lady magician Romany travelled to the USA to participate, changed some of her act as suggested by McBride, came back to Britain and won The Magic Circle Stage Magician of the Year Competition and has worked consistently since.

I just happened to find a single copy of this book lying on Bob Swadling’s stand but if your serious about improving your act you could check out Joanie Spina’s web site.

Let me tell you a story. When I was seventeen I did a show for a scout troop and performed a sponge ball routine. Two years later after my National Service I was asked to present another show at the same scout troop.

The organiser said “will you do that trick again whereby you put a ball in a boy’s hand and three came out?” “Oh” I replied “you mean the sponge ball trick” “Oh” he said “they’re made of sponge are they!” And I realised I had blown the method.

 Since that day I have never called them sponge balls which we all do in the magic vernacular. If you avoid the noun sponge and call it a ball, the participating spectator may know that they collapse in his hand but there could be a hundred people out in the audience who think they are solid balls. And with the close textured Goshman balls made today it is easy to believe that they are solid.

Some of the great sponge ball workers never called them “sponge”. Don Alan would show a ball in his hand and joke “I have a small red ball – but I do the best I can!” Likewise Billy McComb would say “I have a small red ball – which was of great concern to my parents!”

Similarly when I do the vanishing cane I walk into the booking with the cane already set and make a great play of showing it, tapping the cane on the floor and pointing at things.

Then when it is vanished the audience think where the devil did the solid cane go. If you walk in with a small bag and suddenly appear on stage with a three foot walking cane it could begin to suggest that it’s collapsible. Funny bit with the cane follows.

After vanishing the cane in a newspaper I walk to the side of the stage and say “I’ve been offered hundreds of pounds to disclose the secret of the vanishing walking stick, but as a member of The Magic Circle I cannot reveal the method”.

Then I walk across the stage with one stiff leg!