Mandrake wrote:How about some details for those of us who don't do Facebook please?
Your wish...
Review of ‘An Evening of Mystery’ 4/7/13What have we started?“What we need is a few performance videos of our stuff. I know! Why don’t we invite a few people down to a local bar and put on a small show and film it to get some promo footage?”Well, that is how is started!
Two weeks later and we are putting on one of the biggest magic shows in the goddam country with Peter Turner, Dee Christopher, Fraser Parker, Don Hardy and Britain's ugliest female magician Antonia Black, all of this with guys like Anthony Jacquin, Ian Harvey Stone and Costos (Magic Tao) in the audience.
So much for our 'intimate performance' to get a demo shot. It feels like we are chasing a huge snowball down a mountain.
Still, we are hell-bent on nurturing the beautiful monster we have inadvertently created. We know where this is going, and it could be a real phenomenon. Basically, we are structuring the coolest underground place for magicians from across the country to meet up; share ideas hang out, and perform together in a real laid-back atmosphere in what can only be described as an ‘open mic night’ but with Magicians. A great place to develop new ideas and test out material in a context were risk taking is part of the night. We just all had such a good time; I know that Peter, Dee, Fraser and Anthony (J) will be back for more, as well as the 'regulars', Anthony Black, Don and I.
Before I put down some thoughts on the last show, I really want to thank everyone involved; Pete, Dee and Fraser obviously. These are all top pro performers who not only did they give up their time freely, but had to find their own expenses too.
I also want to give a big thanks to Don, for being one of the team of regulars, as well as other people, unknown and un-thanked who also got around and did some table entertaining.
Also great big thanks to Sam Higgins, who worked as hard as anyone there behind the camera, as well as being on stage! (I have a feeling this guy will be joining the rather odd rank of the Magico - god help him!)
Thanks too to Anthony Jacquin for hypnotising the doorman at the local Curry-House into opening up and phoning the chef up to come back in (after he had gone to bed). I got to lean this hypnotism s***, it comes in so handy!
Both Anthony and I have some serious thinking to do now that it has 'gone big' - we want to retain the rather spontaneous Tizzwazziness of it all, and continue to have it as a free experimental event where friends can meet, hang out and perform. But we also have to face the facts that if we are pulling in some of the biggest names in the industry, we need to get a bit more structured. Both Peter and Anthony J had wise words for us on this.
So for all of you pro performers out there, all I can say is, it would be really great to see you all down here on one of the months. We are not going to pay you anything! But we can offer you the coolest evening you will have for some time. An opportunity to hang out during the day with other 'Goodfellas', exchange ideas, have a chat, a few drinks, and just have some fun. All this leading up to a performance in a great venue with the best audience you could possibly hope for.
So for those of you that were not there, here is a taste of what you were missing.
The evening opened with Mr Black. This first routine should have been a real blast; the idea was a knock-out. But, opening for these big names is one hell of a thing, and Anthony's nerves got the better of him. What should have been a great routine was cut a little short and people did not see the full glory of what was planned. Although it was a very funny routine and got some good laughs, so I doubt anyone noticed and it kicked the show off great all the same.
Then we had a break for table hopping. Fraser worked like a demon on the tables with some amazing routines that had the audience gasping for air, including his now famous ACAAN routine!
Next up was Don Hardy.
Don performed some classics of Magic in his own unique style! He really enjoyed himself and was very relaxed.
He was originally planning to perform one of his classic Bizarre pieces, but changed his mind at the last minute as he did not wish to over-run on time with all of the other performers on stage, so perhaps this showed a little on stage.
Anybody that knows anything about performing Bizarre Magick knows how important the storytelling aspect is, which can take time.
Maybe we can convince Don to perform a longer slot next time; because it is in this area he excels in.
After Don we had the phenomenon that is Peter Turner. I have to say here that up until a couple of months ago I had never even heard of this guy. Someone tipped me off that I should check out his work. I did, and I really have never been as excited by one guys thinking. He was simply light years ahead of anything else I had seen or read. I managed to get one of his limited edition DVD's (and only because of contacts I have, the DVD sold out in one day). I managed to meet up with him in Whitby, and the guy made my brain bleed! I got a lifetime of ideas from him in about 10 minutes; I am still trying to process it all.
Still, I had never seen him perform in front of an audience. Few have. This is because he works full time as a consultant for some of the top names in the industry and does not get that much time to perform. Pete seemed to come from nowhere and just take over the scene like an out of control fire. Now, there are those in magic who become legends but have no visible existence as performers, who turn out to be all hype and no substance. I had seen Pete perform to other magicians but had not seen him on stage in front of a live audience. I need not have worried! Pete is a giant, in every sense of the word. His presence on stage is almost overpowering. When Pete performs he has you just where he wants you and the entire audience were mesmerised. He looks like some magical conductor of the audience, who are his orchestra for the time he is on stage. Sure, he totally blew them away with the routines (this I knew would happen) but he also has them in an emotional grip and his scripting and staging is so very tight, so spot-on. I got some quality time to talk to Pete and he is a seasoned performer who has played all over the world, and in some of the more challenging clubs in his own neck of the woods. This is totally evident when you see him perform. Our fantastic audience was a push over for him, and man, did he fly! On stage it is well paced magical poetry. Those lucky enough to see him close-up saw a totally different Pete, the fast paced twenty miracles in 2 minutes version.
Pete is very generous with his advice and in sharing ideas with other magicians - too generous in my opinion. He sat with the other magicians all day explaining his signature principles and idea. Result? I am still thinking 'how the hell did he do that?' If you ever get a chance to see this guy perform or lecture, you just have to.
I’m Proud to call you a friend Pete, and I know Anthony Black feels the same.
I am not gushing here; statement of fact, Pete was amazing. But he insisted he went on early so he could enjoy the rest of the show, this left me with the totally unenviable job of following.
So I had to do some serious work to put my nerves in a box at this point. In the end I just thought 'sod it' there is no way I am going to follow that, so why worry? ‘
I did a routine based on coincidence (which was odd as by coincidence I had decided to do such a routine yesterday). Well, it was the usual affair of a half decent idea executed in a half decent manner. The aim of it was to get one person on stage to transmit a random card to a second person without knowing what the card was. So a stupidly hard thing to pull off, perhaps I should have stuck with my original idea of the balloon dance.
The second volunteer (Sam) did not get a direct hit - the card transmitted was 3 Clubs, and he picked up on a 9 of Clubs. But in terms of coincidence, it was pretty interesting all the same (9 being 3 times 3). But what was really weird was that afterwards, when doing a bit of table stuff the 3 and 9 of clubs came up every time. I am still scratching my head over this. I am sure that the tables I performed to thought I had a very clever trick to pull this off. But believe me it was a bigger miracle than anyone there could have suspected. How do you bottle this stuff up?
OK, back to the real thing again now. Next up was Dee Christopher. It was fantastic to just sit back and enjoy, knowing that my trail was over!
Like Pete, Dee has an enormous stage presence. First thing that hits you is that this is a guy who has done this many times before, he knows exactly what he is doing, where to stand, how to manage the space and the people on it and how to control the flow of events. A short note here, magicians have a far tougher job than any other performer in my view. What happens on stage is totally unpredictable. You do not know if the people you pull up on stage are going to be out to upstage you, or are going to be too dim to 'get' their cues, or just fall off! A magician has to be always thinking ahead and managing a shifting situation that just cannot be fully rehearsed.
Although absolutely nothing went even near going wrong on Dee's set, it was clear to me that he knew exactly what he was doing and was in total control all the time. If anything had have gone wrong, no one but Dee would have known about it. Again, I am watching with my internal notepad scribbling away. First thing to say is that Dee looks different. He looks like someone who is outside of the normal; someone who could well be the 'real thing'. He started with some pretty standard spoon bending, but the grace and flow of the performance was a joy to watch. I cannot say too much, as it would expose the method, but I was looking with a real sharp eye, I 'knew', but could not spot 'the business' or when it happened. Was this guy doing it for real? As a conclusion, he brought two people up on stage and did some pendulum work; now this certainly is for real and real risky too. There is absolutely no guarantee that they have the sensitivity (particularly in a stage context) to make the magic happen. Needless to say that under Dee's guidance; it went like a dream! The better of the two was chosen for the final climax of the show, which is a real nice subtle technique. (I will say no more!). The finale was to get the spoon to bend between the volunteers hands. Now excuse me, I was watching like a hawk and I am sure that damn thing went in without any bend in it. Dee had a wonderful method of justifying the magic, which brought in the whole audience and magnified the effect. The volunteer opened her hands, held up the bent the cutlery, and the expression on her face was priceless.
I have seen Dee performing on video several times but to see him perform on stage was a total joy. As with Pete, if you ever get to see this guy perform, you really should. I must get out there and see his full show.
Come again real soon Dee, it was great meeting you too.
Following Dee we had another break for table hopping. Fraser is going to have to wait until next time before he gets a review, as I did not get chance to get to see him working close up. However, the first thing I thought when I met him was, 'I like this guy!' Fraser has a quiet introspective manner that really draws you into his performance. We are hoping to have him on stage real soon. It will be one to look out for.
Finally, we had Anthony dressed as a woman ‘Antonia Black’.
Now both Pete and I were saying 'no man, don't do this, it will fall flat and you will look like an idiot on stage. However, Anthony was 'locked in' this is what he was going to do and no one was going to stop him!
So, there he is getting dressed and putting his lippy on outside on the street. He told me that he was going to come up to the window when he was ready and give me the cue to introduce him. So I am sitting by the window waiting, and sure enough, up he comes and gives me a little wave. Now this singular vision has stopped me from getting a full night’s sleep. I still wake up screaming at the 'face at the window'.
So what happened?The guy absolutely stormed the place! The audience were hooting, and crying with laughter (I am not exaggerating; some were actually wiping the tears away!). The whole performance was the funniest thing I have ever seen on stage, and I have seen a hell of a lot in my time. The contrast between this great big bloke with the Brummie accent, the piss-funny delivery and the dress had me clutching my sides.
Nobody knew what was happening; they were all too busy laughing.
At the end, Anthony raised the roof and put a great big exclamation mark at the end of the night. Perfect!
Well, Anthony is the co-organiser and a friend, so all I got to say is WELL DONE that man! I am seriously so proud of you, so glad you did not listen to me or Peter; you pulled it off BIG TIME.
In short, everyone had a fantastic evening; they saw some of the top performers in the country, some pretty dodgy stuff from the old guy in the hat and a storming performance from Tamworth's greatest ‘female’ Magician.
See you next month - boy, have we got another fantastic night already lined up. Here is the bottom deal - The Evening of Mystery is now established as THE coolest underground place for magicians to hang out once a month and THE most amazing evening of magic you are going to get anywhere. Get there early, seriously, we will not fit everyone in next time. If you are travelling and booking a hotel, make sure you contact the Wherever Bar and book a table. We only have a couple of tables that were not booked last time; it's going to be hard to get a seat if you have not booked for the next one.
Brilliant night, huge big hug for everyone involved.
