talkmagic.co.uk

Thanks Norman definitely looking forward to seeing James perform.

Can I ask if any other Talkmagic members are coming to Bournemouth to support James? Going to be a fantastic show.

Good Luck and lots of it James More. You certainly( even on a 2 year old video) have The Talent. Let us hope the Gods of Magic are with you.
Competition work does, in spite of often non existent or a poorly worked out marking system, still needs Luck on the day and the ability to please judges.

I am always amazed that, with Magic Competitions in particular a written adjudication is rarely, if ever, given to the entrants.

This should detail the competitors strong points and the ones which are either weak or need strengthening. An experienced, and through this, hopefully qualified judge who is/has been a successful performer should be able to provide this.

The verbal adjudication, if given after a performance, rarely stays with the entrant. He/she needs the written word to study, peruse and act on afterwards. Add this constructive criticism to the marks received and the performers have a better idea of their standards.This is the way we adjudicate Drama Festivals.
And the old School Reports of 'Could Do Better' He is doing well' are not good enough. Too ambiguous. In hospital recently for a blood test the nurse greeted me with open arms and quoted the Drama Report i gave on her back in 1962!! Bioth headteachers said they always read ALL my reports which were individual & pertinent to that pupil.

In the Nottinghamshire No. 1 Full Length Play of The Year I even instigated a recorded adjudication; useful to actors as you could point out any vocal highs and lows.
At the very least ALL the marks should be revealed to ALL the Competitors. Not kept secret. Then they would know that the Winner scored 92 out of a hundred and 'I' only scored 78 or whatever. It gives 'me' some idea of how far off winning 'I' was.
Again at one time I used to give the Drama entrants a copy of my marking system so they could SEE what the marks meant; even down to a simple Excellent, Very Good, Good, Average, More work on?, Weak etc. etc.
Though marks are just numbers on a piece of paper, they are a visual idea of what the judge thinks and if he is experienced the marks are worked out over years of compering productions; one with another.
Allen Tipton

Thanks Allen, I really TOTALLY agree with your marking system, for competitions I wonder WHICH Competitions actually use it IF ANY!

Best wishes & Many Thanks for your valuable advice for James that you Pm'd me, which will be forwarded on to him, as soon as I see him!

Thanks again

Mike

I shall be there and am very much looking forward to seeing James perform.

Thanks David!

Momentum is really building for James now! & I would like to thank everyone at Talk Magic for their support.

I would also like to "Publicly" thank Duncan Trillo at www.magicweek.co.uk for his kind support as well!

Thanks everyone!

Just really looking forward to next week now!!

Best wishes

Mike

P.S.

David, your items are in!!

Thanks Allen for your explanation of how the marking is done . We will be leaving for Bournemouth tomorrow and lookng forward to a good weekend and seeing James perform. Good Luck James.

Only a couple of days to go! The weather is improving, very hot & sunny today, & should be the same for the next few days!

Looking forward to seeing everyone on the Night at the Carrington House Hotel, (just around the corner from the Studio) Remember we are open on the Sunday & Monday with 10% OFF!

James is working on some new material, it's gonna be a GREAT NIGHT!!

All Good Wishes & thanks to everyone for supporting James.

Mike

Hi! this is Mike Danata,
It's now 01.07 in the morning, I've just got back from the Carrington House Hotel, where the finals for the Bournemouth Star Trail took place early this evening.

I am so proud & pleased to say that James More WON the final!

More details of how the evening went will follow, but I just want to be the first to break the news!!!

WELL DONE JAMES!

It was nice to see members of Talk Magic, & thank you all for your support.

Best Magical Wishes

Mike

I've just got in myself afer a night at the Carrington but had to nip off quickly after James was announced as the winner. I was disapointed that I couldn't hang aroung to congratulate him but I had to pick my daughter up from a friends house and it had just turned midnight. I did however have a char during the interval and James is a thoroughly nice bloke and very humble for one with such talent.

Anyway, it was a truly excellent show and the standard was sky high. It's all too easy to forget that there is so much talent around locally, wherever you may happen to be. Tonight was no exception.

James took the tenth slot from 20 performers and there had been some magnificent vocalists on before him, and some afterwards as well. You just knew it was going to be a tight decision early on and that the judges had their work cut out.

James was every part as good in his live act as he was in the video trailer. I hadn't realised that he had arranged the music and Choreographed the dance routine himself and it was a real Vegas style magic show routine here in Bournemouth. Now many of you will know that a lot of magic on stage is angle sensitive at the best of times, even when most magicians stand still to perform. James on the other hand, moves around as much as Justin Timberlake and Michael Jackson put together and pulls off trick after trick with such an ease that it's hard to keep up. Every part is put together and then performed with such precision.

The stand out moment of his routine for me was his dancing cane and I'm not exagerating when I say that it was fit for any stage in the world - it was that good!. James' movement with the cane was simply timed to perfection and on the night, I don't think that any magician could have bettered it, and it rightly earned him the loudest cheer of the whole night. It was just awesome

Next stop is the National final in Leamington Spa of all places, on 24th November. I'll take the short trip as I'll have moved by this time

It was great to see a magician win through and shine above such real talented opposition but it was a win that was justified and totally deserved. I'm certain that tonight I witnessed a real star of magic in the making.

Well done James!

Well our James has really moved on since I first saw him as a small kid making cards vanish in Mike Danatas Magic Studio a few years ago.

I can only confirm what has already been said. He was outstanding last night and was a worthy winner. Margaret and I last saw James perform in Bournemouth at this event a couple of years ago and he was good then, but has now progressed so much with his entire act. We are sure he is going to make his dream come true and perform in LAS VEGAS, and when he does we will be over there in the audience.

Well-done James, and good luck in the National Finals in Leamington Spa in November (will try to be there).

We are so happy for you. Norman & Margaret.

Congratulations to James. It seems to be a minor miracle when someone other than a singer wins these contests, no matter how talented.

James did his act just before the interval, & I did say to several people during the break, that I hoped the judges would break with the tradition of voting through singing acts as overall winners, but it would require bravery on their part, & I did wonder if they would be brave enough to do that! I needn't have worried, they were very brave indeed! In fact One of the judges (The Critic for the Bournemouth Daily Echo) was "Escorted" to her car after the event, because of previously being attacked by a women with a handbag!!!!!!) Not I point out at THIS particular event, but something else she attended!

Incidentally James has been recently "Topping The Bill" in some of his summer shows with singers as SUPPORT ACTS! So times are a changing!

James's Performance last night was "Electrifying" he absolutely deserved to win, & I am so pleased he did. It was the whole package, Mime - Dance - Skill - Charisma! THE LOT! It was like Jeff Mcbride on STEROIDS!!!! TRULY WORLDCLASS! Virtually no props, & not even wearing a jacket!! Truly astounding!

Once again Well Done James!

Mike

We were there last night as well and James was sensational. The show was great and the climax nail biting. We are now recovering back in Oxfordshire. Well done James and good luck for the finals. Great to meet everyone.

Any chance of a video of the performance?


By the way the other video is a real thrill. It's extremely inspirational as a new magician to see someone around my age performing magic like that (even if he has done it for longer then I have it's great to see high quality magic from someone near my age)