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Once again, it was my pleasure to attend the British association of mystery entertainers Tabular Mentis 4.
In a packed room, we were treated to 4 fascinating lectures on the subjects of séance, and Bizarre magic.

First on the bill, founder member Roni Sachnaye performed part of his Rogovia séance. The story of the two Romanian sisters, one good, the other evil, was illustrated with some very special magic. Candles flickered, slates wrote them selves, and you could hear the chalk moving, tarot cards burned, and smoked, and the dearly departed.. Departed in a very visual way. Even if you don’t do this kind of performance, you can get plenty out of watching a master of his craft working. And Roni most defiantly is a master, as well as a very nice man, who I am glad to call a friend.

Secondly we had the pleasure of the company of special effects genius our very own... Tom Lauten. Tom, gave an insight into how to age props, making them look, feel, and smell appropriate for the story you’re telling. As an example, why would an old gypsy woman, use new bikes?
It was a brilliant hour or so.

Next, a break for lunch, which gave many people there an opportunity to browse through the books and items on offer from Magic books by post, Tabulars first dealer stand, followed by...
Jon Randal, and his successful lecture on Fraudulent mediums, and the Houdini séance.
Jon also touched on psychic surgery, and gave a brief demonstration of it. Its at this point that I'm reminded of one of the best things about the Tabular meetings, that being that each lecture is more than a lecture, it’s a discussion session, and a lively debate soon sprung up when the dreaded word exposure popped up.
Following Jon was Dr Steve Murray, who performed and explained several pieces of Bizarre magic, including a living and dead test, and a routine around wartime Paris.
Finally, we were treated to the one and only David Berglas, who gave an illustrated talk on his life, and experiences. Highlights included some rare footage of his shows in Holland, His African adventures, and his ground breaking show the mind of David Berglas. David was then presented with the Griffin Award, the society’s highest honour.

All in all, I can say that this gathering gets better, and better.And our thanks should go out to Todd, and Roni for making it all possible.

If magic of the mind is your thing, it would be well worth joining this wonderful, friendly society. And believe me; they don’t get much friendlier than this. Keep your eyes peeled for the next meeting, which should take place in April

I have to agree with Dale. What a friendly bunch they are. For an obvious newbie I was made to feel most welcome by everyone there.

F x

I think tripping over the step at the beginning, kind of hepled everybody to remember you

( Ive done it twice.. Its a silly step)

yeah - thanks for that lol........

Hey nothing wrong with making your prescence known - in the spirit of seance obviously ....

F x

It was a great day - and one of the friendliest - meetings of that sort you could go to. I love that everyone there is equal - no matter what rung of the performing ladder they are on.

Nioce to see a lot of new faces - and nice to see some of the old as well. As Bizarre/Seance isn't everyones cup of tea I wasn't sure how many would be there, but personally I think there are things we can take from any meeting like this, whether or not it is our cup of tea.

A great day - well done Todd and Roni

daleshrimpton wrote:I think tripping over the step at the beginning, kind of hepled everybody to remember you

( Ive done it twice.. Its a silly step)

The only reason I've not tripped is that, the first time I went, I was walking right behind someone who did stumble over it!

bananafish wrote:It was a great day - and one of the friendliest - meetings of that sort you could go to. I love that everyone there is equal - no matter what rung of the performing ladder they are on.

Well said, and entirely true.

Again, thanks to Todd and Roni for another excellent event.

would have been there been there but i was signed off sick... shame as I really do enjoy them and like dales said.. always very friendly...

fingers crossed for the next one...

I was gutted i missed this and after reading this thread i feel even worse,

I cant wait for the next one, all gigs are being put on hold next time.

David was then presented with the Griffin Award, the society’s highest honour.

At this point I was convinced I was in Hogwarts lol

I must agree that Toms lecture was superb, and my favourite part of the day....In regards to performances, Although they were absolutley fabulous and used ingenious props, thats were it disapointed me slightly...I was hoping for a slightly more real seance, invloving physcology rather than story telling with special effects...Just to make a point I am in no way saying that it wasnt a great performance from Roni etc, cos it was...But I think I was expecting something a little more real...Will defo be at the next meeting...and this time I will talk to people, and not be so scared

You wouldnt get that experience at meetings like this, because

A... Its just goe ten in the morning
and
B, unlike a client you know it's gimmicked, and will be explained afterwards.
I suspect that if you had the opportunity to see Roni do this in front of a live lay audience, you would probably have the willys scared out of you.

chatting to him afterwards, I asked a bit more about the seance.
he spends ten minutes inducting the sitters , so they become responsive. Also this enables him to learn a few things about them, so the seance can become personalised.

you have to imagine what it would be like to see the lamp flicker in an almost dark room, or see the smoke pour out of the box when your not expecting it, or to have that photo suddenly drop...

and on top of all this, the room gets cold, and people feel touches in the dark....
also.
the trouble is, the atmospheric touches that your after... are largely down to sitting in a quiet room, and waiting for something to happen. and that wouldnt make for an interesting talk. But next meeting ask about it. Im sure who ever is lecturing will be happy to talk, because thats what these sessions are all about

I loved the seance, and particularly that box !! But then i did watch it as a show ...... as opposed to you mage types who just wanted the dirty dirty secrets lol...

F x

Part-Timer wrote:The only reason I've not tripped is that, the first time I went, I was walking right behind someone who did stumble over it!

Crowley homage!

I'm going to have to get things moving over here

Undoubtedly most of you noticed the rather tall silver-haired yank hanging around Roni... Richard.

If ever I can get him and Jon Stetson to stop working long enough to plan things out (and formalize the effort) there will be a U.S. TM gathering each year as well... and yes, it is an official aspect of PSYCRETS in that Richard and I are the unofficial/official founders of the U.S. Chapter

I'm glad everyone had a good time. I so wish I could make the journey and enjoy in the fun... but maybe, once we get things rolling, we can get some of you to come over here instead.

We also have the late great charles cameron's ladyfriend in attendance..she was a lovely woman...

Roni had his reading system transmuted onto a cloth, which i thought was very clever...and his hurricane lamp was beautiful...