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by **Allen Tipton** » Jan 26th, '06, 16:07

Allen Tipton wrote::) Well in 1942 (oh dear) my mother qwas on War Work in a factory , near Dudley, Worcs. The foreman's daughter was getting married, to a member of the armed forces, and he invited all the 'girls' & their kids on his section to the reception. feasts were rare at that time. Another worker, Ernie Hadley( stage name Harry Dearne) a semi pro and member of the BMS performed his magic act as the entertainment. I can still see his Stung & Stung Again and the Coffee Vase now. That did it. I was totally gripped, breathless & hooked. As he worked with Mum we use to meet him socially and I was shown a number of simple tricks. Dad then bought me a half crown ( that's approx 12 1/2. pence) Witchcraft Box of Conjuring from paul Clive's Magic Shop on Central Drive, Blackpool. The Chinese Fingercuffs (sort of raffia made) and the Ball In 'Vase' were foisted on the poor victims in the boarding house again and again during the week.Several years later the proprietor used to request when we came on holiday to bring some tricks & the Vent. Doll for Friday night 'Concerts' Then I discovered tall(?) Paul Clive in a sma;ll round turret shaped booth on the Central Pier and watched him for hours demming marvellous magic; most of which I eventually bought. When I found his Big Magic Shop on the North Pier, every holiday in Blackpool was spent inside it, only leaving for meals. never a sun tan but my folks always knew where to find me. I finally met Paul in 1980 still on the North Pier but in a much smaller magic shop. he was so small and didn't match up, except in his wondrous friendliness, to my childhood images. I told him my story and gave him a programme( in which he and his shops were credited) of my 1980 version of the Dante Show.
Back in 1943 I presented my first 'Stage Act' at my Boy's Junior/Primary School. It consisted of 3 card tricks, the vanishing writing with special magic words given to me by Dad from his time in India. Kush nay ookum Touri Peachy.heaven knows what it meant. And my big trick Davenport's Coloured Crayon Mystery; which I still have. The head, a Mr. Teague told me I'd never make a magician! I was also refused a reference for College/University entrance; as 'You will never make a teacher. You belong in the Theatre!' by my grammar school head, Mr.Lloyd. Forward to 1989 when I 'retired' as Head Of Drama I recreated that first magic Act for our first year assembley. At the end (the theme was never Take No For An Answer) I said to the kids, who knew this story, "So to Mr. Teague & Mr. Lloyd , be they in heaven or the other place...2 finger gesture & a rasberry. The Staff fell off theior chairs. The kids gave me a standing ovation. After all some of them had sen my Full evening magic Shows in the School Theatre & in other assemblies and Drama was THE favourite subject in School. Back to the early 40's.One of favourite aunts found me a box of flashpaper and a couple of books which contained magic. Davenports in new Oxford Street & Will Goldston were discovered. In 1946 Ernie Hadley took me twice to the BMS shows then in Dec. 46, to see The Nottingham Guild of Magicians who were bringing a magic Show 'The Hand of Trumps' devised and directed by Peter Warlock to the Staffs Magic Society. Fog prevented thyem getting through. Oh horror!! BUT the SMS put on their own show. I was introduced to some of them Arthur Culpin, Elizabeth, Arthur Ulbrich, John Knox, Roy Billings & Gabrielle Varley, Gilbert Wells.Burtini, Fabian (first ass.editor of Abra) and asked to audition. Early in Jan. 1947, with my parents,who waited 3 hours, in the car, in full snow..I did. And what a wonderful, marvellous lot of folk they were. I was so well looked after; Many were like 2nd.parents to me. Leslie Melville & Don Bevan & Christopher Woodward, also joined,in their early teens. I stayed with the SMS till the end of College in July 1957 then up to Nottm. Volume 2 may come later.
Allen Tipton

The Brotherhood Of Magic still exists. Search and you will find it.

by **Allen Tipton** » Jan 26th, '06, 16:13

Aporia. It also exists in your actions and 'deeds'
Since the days of the Staffs Magic Society's members great kindnesses to me; treating me as a friend, a colleague I have tried over these years to do the same. Pass on some of your knowledge to a Society, particulary to the youngsters. They are The Future.
Allen Tipton

by **Craig Browning** » Jan 26th, '06, 16:54

aporia wrote:As a child I wanted to get free money by snapping my fingers and saying "abracadabra".

Unfortunately, I then found out that real magic like that doesn't really exist. Except in my head ...

Then how is it every time my ex and the kids snap their fingers, my money vanishes?

by **bananafish** » Jan 26th, '06, 17:12

Then how is it every time my ex and the kids snap their fingers, my money vanishes?

Craig. Thats not Magic. It's Tragic. :cry:

by **moonbeam** » Jan 26th, '06, 17:21

bananafish wrote:
Then how is it every time my ex and the kids snap their fingers, my money vanishes?

Craig. Thats not Magic. It's Tragic.

Laughed at Craig Browning's reply, then I nearly wet myself when I read the reply by Bananafish

by **point** » Jan 27th, '06, 10:31

When I was 12 I saw a magician on TV performing card tricks..before that I was amazed with gamblers and their techniques.....Then I grabed a deck of cards and it felt "so right"...Somehow (no internet) I got 2-3 books with some magic explanations.....there were 2 cards tricks in there so I gave them the practise they deserve....after 4 months my father threw away all my cards and those few books because he was afraid that "the kid is gonna be a gambler"...

And that was the end of that...after 13 years (one year ago) and after being a web developer for 4 years one day the thought came to me....well in the age of internet there really have to be some DVD's about card tricks (don't ask me how in the world I didn't think of that before..I just didn't)...and sure enough there was a LOT of material on DVD's and the BIG commuity of people who felt the same way about magic art....

So I became addicted to cards and got CUPS....today my father sees that back then it was something more than just an "interest for cards" and every time he sees me with cards in my hand he feels so guilty for trewing away cards and my books....

by **photius** » Feb 16th, '07, 07:44

A very young magician, former Southern Methodist University head cheerleader (1948) and you beautiful wife had a 15 minute , twice a week television show on a local Dallas, Tx station in the early 1950's called Time for Magic. As a very young child I immediately became enamoured with magic and fell in love with the magicians' wife. (And she is still the most beautiful lady in magic). He and his wife did shows once a week at local supermarkets as part of their deal with their sponsor , Dr. Pepper, and I first saw him in person there. The young couple put together a magic kit in their Dallas apt. and sold it through a local Dallas Dept. Store, where the lovely wife spent many a weekend in person at the store promoting the kit. It was my first magic apparatus, I was inseparable from it. About a year later the young magician was playing a show (without his wife! Gasp) at the church hall of a methodist church in the Dallas suburb of Garland. After the show I got to shake the hand of the man with the $50,000 hands and knew I had just met the most important man in the universe. Mark and Nani Darnell Wilson are still dear friends this many years later.
I was so taken with Mark as a magician, that when on a vacation to California my dad took me to meet one of his relatives, Uncle Harry, and after doing my Mark Wilson cups and balls trick for him (undoubtedly the worst he ever say in his life), Uncle Harry patted me on the back, praised me, and encouraged me to keep practicing and learning. (advise which I took), and the old gentleman then amazed me by making a birdcage disappear between my hands! Realizing Uncle Harry had an interest in magic, I launched into a monologue on how he needed to get a Mark Wilson magic kit and learn magic from Mark Wilson. I was only 6 at the time. Of course in passing years as I met Uncle Harry and learned from him several more times, I came to realize I had been telling the Great Blackstone that he needed to learn magic from Mark Wilson. Oh well ,live and learn. Because of my relationship and last name I have had access to learn form many of the top magicians, for which I am eternally grateful. 50+ years in magic later, I have not lost my love for it that Mark first gave to me in the very early 1950's, and the encouragement an old Uncle gave to a fledgling magician.

by **dracven** » Feb 16th, '07, 09:23

I grew up watching Paul Daniels and then watched Stuff the White Rabbit and just how good Jerry Sadowitz and John Lenahan were. From then on I was hooked, unfortunately life keeps getting in the way so I don't do magic consistently enough to become a worker although I'd love to.

by **IAIN** » Feb 16th, '07, 09:41

early memories of david berglas, chan canasta (just!) and Romark finding a needle in a haystack were what echoed through my head for a few years...

then it was learning the french drop via a hubba bubba advert from a 60s marvell comic (i used to collect them as a kid in 70s - im 34 now and still have a fair few)...then a few oddities in my toy box from my older brother...

a long black box, you place a coin in it and it dissapears and reappears...

and then the mighty paul daniels, with chimps (zoinks!) and that mad german guy with the big wife, lennart green and all the rest...

the wilderness of teenagedom soon came though, booze, birds and being in bands and i forgot all about magic...then in the late 80s early 90s, a certain jerry sadowitz appeared on the box, very funny, and amazing magic...that nice birds eye view camera they used to use in The PallBearer's Funeral...

then onto college, and again i forgot all about for a few years...until...duh-da-duh! that droney DB (not DB as in our Derren Brown) but his initialed cousin, David Blaine appeared...peaked my interest again...

but again, falling in love with a woman kinda pulls you away from lots of things doesnt it, so...when that went wrong and me and my best mate shared a place and went on the rampage together, and then the charming Derren Brown first appeared....i loved what he did so much i thought "ah go on then...see what you can find..."

so i did some half-baked research, stumbled upon 13 steps, read it all feverishly...and discovered i was out of my depth...it went back in my book case for the next year and a bit, as i bought the usual one trick ponies, then came to my senses and book RRTCM and Bobo's book...and took it slowly..but i did become very quickly obsessed...practising maybe 3-4 hours a night every night....

then it was a fine mix of annemann, hugard & braue, green, sadowitz, marlo, bannon, vernon, scarne, cameron and a few others all mixed together...a brief sniff around NLP, but just the basics, a very long inhalation of jermay and knepper (im still breathing that in)..then about 2 years into it, i started peforming...only in pubs and little gatherings...

its now spread through my system, and i fairly regularly work nice little cocktail parties/dinners/small social gatherings...i have a nice little network now of people who can only contact me via an e-mail address...no phone number, no home visits...im lucky to have a decent wage from my 9-5 job, so i dont have the added pressure (or perhaps brass ones) to work the magic full-time...

i'd still class myself as fairly new to it all though...but I'm very happy i started this little journey, cos its helped other more serious and real problems that have happened over the years (not to me, but other people)...and its strange how certain skills you can learn for fun, can have real healing properties for others in the real world...

so there! bet you wish you'd never asked now...

by **Lady of Mystery** » Feb 16th, '07, 10:14

For me, my initial interest was first sparked by watching Paul Daniels' saturday evening magic show in TV when I was a kid.

Mum and dad bought me the Paul Daniels magic set for xmas on year, so I guess for me it all started there. I saved up my pocket money and bought the packs paul daniels card tricks and a few other kiddies magic books.

I used to love showing everyone my tricks. That lasted up until I was about 13, when I discovered boys and other 'more interesting' things.

Only really got back into it again about 18 months ago when I got a call from a friend who works in the theatre. They had a magician performing and needed an assistant, she knew I loved magic and wondered if I'd be interested. I did 2 shows with him and that got my interest back up again. We got chatting and he pointed me in the direction of Mark Wilson's book.

by **themagicwand** » Feb 16th, '07, 10:27

As a kid I used to love Marvel comics (especially Doctor Strange, that master of the mystic arts), and daydreamed of being a super-hero. Believe it or not, as a 12 year old kid I used to "patrol" Sheffield city centre with my costume underneath my street clothes. Luckily I never encountered any real crime or I would have gotten badly hurt. My super power was super agility, and I had a pair of binoculors and a compass.

Then when I was in my early twenties I got into the occult. I led my first seance aged 24 and learnt the tarot. Then the house music scene arrived and things got a bit crazy...

But then David Blaine saved my life! After many years being interested in the occult and "real" magic, for the first time I saw just how conjuring could affect people on an emotional level. I learnt a few tricks and started doing kids shows, but I day-dreamed of doing adult magic where I would combine conjuring with genuine readings.

Then Derren B. came along and did his seance show. "That's my idea!" I screamed at the TV, and since then I've been on a mission! Now 80% of my bookings are for my magic/magik hybrid close-up fun.

And that's it really! :wink:

by **Marvell** » Feb 16th, '07, 12:02

I didn't know proper magic books were available until I bumped into one. I got into magic through boredom with the Rubix cube. It just seemed like a fun thing to try. And here I am, four months later.

by **MattVonFat** » Feb 16th, '07, 13:04

My uncle is in to magic so that and watching Paul Daniels and David Copperfield on TV all blobbed together in to me starting. I entered a talent contest on holiday when I was little and did some card tricks and came second (I'll throw that in because it's my biggest achievement in magic

). It sort of phased out when I got to high school but over the past year or so I've been getting back into it.

by **Mikey.666** » Feb 16th, '07, 13:19

my uncle got me into magic when i was like 10. but being very young you just want to be able to do it with no practice. so i jibbed it. then last summer i got back into. HARDCORE this time :twisted:

but i remember watching david blaine as well. that set me off a while back.

but...cards and such things have always been a part of my family

i always loved cards and play poker regularly. my uncle worked on the cruises as a dealer and has been fired a number of times for being pi**ed as a fart, and my other uncle commited suicide because of debt in gambling.
time to stop me thinks. haha.

by **Lord Freddie** » Feb 16th, '07, 14:30

I had always as a child enjoyed watching magic either on tv or performed live. There was also a family friend who was a member or the Magic Circle and would impress with effects now and again.
As many people did, I often received magic sets for Christmas and bought the Paul Daniels card tricks and sets but always thought I could never perform it to the required standard.
It was only when I performed a few effects on stage with my 11 piece (now defunct) cabaret band that I decided to devote more time and effort into practising and learning more.
That was quite a few years ago now, and brought on some very expensive trips to Davenports and International Magic.
I sometimes performed the odd thing for friends or work colleagues and received many kind compliments, saying I was a good magician, and I felt guilty about this and decided to brush up even more as people thought I was better than I actually was.
Now I perform in my four-piece comedy variety outfit, I include magic and sometimes mentalism in it, but need to use effects that work from a stage perspective. I learn close-up and card magic for my own personal fulfillment and for the amusement of friends and people who dare ask me to show them some magic after one of our shows.

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