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I went to the last South Tyneside magic Festival, and had a great time. All by myself... with Max Maven and John Lenahan and Shoot Ogawa and Daniel Garcia... but not with any of you. I was so lonely. But I don't hold it against any of you, because I had a lovely time in South Shields and you lot didn't. Nyah!

Anyway, the info for 2008's festival has been posted.

Looks great. I'll be there. All on my own again, probably. Having a lovely time.

The following is copied from the Magic Box website:

South Tyneside International Magic Convention

Thanks to the kind sponsorship from the Magicbox, Newcastle and The Customs House Theatre we are pleased to announce that the fifth annual ‘International Magic Convention’ will take place 14th to 16th March.

Once again we will be hosting the convention from the wonderful surroundings of the Customs House theatre in South Shields and the Sea Hotel will again be the venue for the Welcome evening and the Midnight show.

We have another fabulous line up waiting to greet you.


Lectures & Close Up

Juan Tamariz ~ Spain
A celebrity of television and stage in Spain and South America, known internationally among magicians as a true master of his art, and one who generously shares his time and knowledge, both in print and in person, with the magic community. He is the author of four critically acclaimed best-selling books in English: The Five Points of Magic, The Magic Way, Sonata and Mnemonica. Along with Arturo de Ascanio, Tamariz has spearheaded a school of thought in close-up magic that has produced FISM award-winning champions and deeply influenced the craft of magic world

Charlie Frye & Company ~ USA
Charlie Frye & Company have thrilled audiences around the world --Australia, Africa, Europe, Asia -- in many exotic venues. Return engagements are common; so are distinguished fans, such as the Royal family of Monaco. Besides being one of Europe’s most sought after American specialty acts, they are also in constant demand throughout the United States, where they were named Las Vegas’ Specialty Act of the Year for their star billing in the Folies Bergere. Other prestigious appearances have included opening for Liza Minnelli, starring in the internationally syndicated television special, "The World's Top Shows", and a featured appearance in Tom Hanks' film, "That Thing You Do." Whether it’s showrooms, television, or corporate events, Charlie Frye & Company never fails to keep audiences laughing and applauding all at once.

Alain Nu ~ USA ~ First UK performance
For Alain Nu, magic is no bag of tricks. More a mentalist than entertainer, the renowned magician teaches people to think creatively by tapping into the supernatural. His philosophy is simple: seek to amaze by way of uncanny demonstrations and mind readings, and encourage others to do likewise. The everyman supposedly commands such powers.

Drawing influences from childhood, Chinese qigong and the Fortean philosophy, a theory that documents strange phenomena, Nu unravels mysteries through original techniques. He has, of course, bent spoons with the mind, hypnotised, mesmerised, and visualised all of what appears unreal.

Brando & Silvana ~ Spain ~ First UK performance
Theatrical Magic from Argentina. Their work is based on the mixture of different artistic disciplines like theatre, pantomime, juggling along with the Magic. They will present their act: The Gambler and the Flower seller and also lecture on Theatrical Magic. Dramatic Structure, Justification of our Magic, Motivation, Personage, different techniques to add to the magic.

AWARDS: CHEVALLIER ANDREY, Prize: The Best Magician of the Year 2005. COMETA MAGICO, prize The Best Performance in Gala Show, 2005.

John Archer ~ UK (Midnight show)
Those who think that comedy and mentalism can't be weaved together have not seen John Archer perform. John's comedy is brilliant, fresh and fast.

Terry Herbert ~ UK (Children’s show and lecture)
Recognised by his fellow artists as being one of the leaders in this field, he has lectured on the art of entertaining children both in this country and abroad and has made two instructional DVD’s on this subject.
Terry Herbert has been seen on television many times both in this country and abroad and has appeared in some of the major entertainment cities of the world including Las Vegas. In Monte Carlo he had the honour of personally entertaining Prince Rainier and the Royal Family of Monaco.

MORE ACTS TO BE CONFIRMED.

Midnight Show
The midnight show will be held at the Sea Hotel after the gala show on Friday 14th March. Food will be available from 10.30pm – 11.30pm.
The midnight show is available to registered delegates only and must be pre booked on your convention booking form.

GALA SHOWS
The two shows this year will be held at the Customs House Theatre, Mill Dam. South Shields. If you require extra tickets for your friends or family you can either book them direct with the Customs House, but doing it this way you will not be able to sit together. Should you wish to sit together you need to inform me at the time of booking your delegates place and I shall organise this for you.

At the moment tickets are priced at £12.00 There is a licensed bar at the theatre.

Telephone 0191 4541234 ~ this is an automative service.

If you wish to attend its simple, download the registration form and return to the address shown along with your cheque!

Courtesy of www.magicweek.co.uk:

Mel Mellers has just been added to the Friday Gala show lineup (Alain Nu, Brando & Silvana, Charlie Frye, Mel Mellers and compere Pat Monahan) and Paul Zerdin to the Saturday Gala show lineup (Brando & Silvana, Juan Tamariz, Terry Herbert, Zane, Paul Zerdin and compere John Archer). For information about all the events, and a PDF booking form, visit www.southtyneside.info

I'll be there, having a great time. I'll report back for all those who, for whatever reason, can't make it to sooshiels.

Okay... just to rub your noses in it, the convention was supremely fabby.

So there.

It's a small festival, but a very friendly one. I met a lot of nice people - in particular, a very nice chap who had travelled all the way from Madrid just for the convention.

Here's a photo of me and my new pal (I'm the one on the right).



The festival started with a kids' show - in this case, it was Terry Herbert playing to a theatre of 200 children. The laughter was deafening - and that was just from the magii in the cheap seats. Terry also gave a first-rate lecture straight afterwards. I got the chance to chat with him a few times over the course of the weekend, and found that he's a genuinely lovely fella off-stage as well as on.

Another of my highlights was a lecture by Charlie Frye. His act is a million miles away from my own in terms of tone and style, but I learned a phenomenal amount of useful stuff. The guy is sickeningly talented, massively entertaining, and outrageously inventive. And he's also a really nice person too.

Also lecturing was Mel Mellers - who, surprisingly, gave me a hell of a lot of new ideas for my mentalism work. His lecture was packed with useful stuff, and was pitched first and foremost at getting delegates to think around their tricks and put them into a useful context. No bad thing.

Brando & Silvana gave the last lecture of the festival - in Spanish with interpreters - and placed their emphasis on the theatrical requirements of magic. All useful stuff regardless of your chosen genre of magic.

Alain Nu was the mentalism representitive for this year, and presented a lecture and optional masterclass. The work he presented crossed over into mainstream magic far more than I expected, but there were still some great ideas at play.

I didn't make it along to Alain's masterclass, because there was another one at the same time, being run by my new friend Juan (see above). While at the festival, Juan did a two-hour card magic show, and gave one of the best magic lectures I've ever seen. He also spent every night at the bar doing card tricks and making all the other magicians cry. Througout his lectures and masterclass, I realised that these were the first times that I'd ever felt that I was being taught miracles. The routines Juan had on offer here were really that strong. Jaw-droppingly wow-like strong...

And then there were the performances...

The first gala show was opened and closed by Charlie Frye and Co. And they were fantastically amazing. Charlie and Sherry work really well as a double-act and make the act much more than the sum of its parts. Brando & Silvana did a theatrical cups and balls routine in period dress. Not my bag of chips, but well routined and beautifully performed. Alain Nu seemed backed into a corner - the posters for that show featured him in spoon bending mode, and he seemed to feel obliged to do metal-bending on the big stage. From my vantage point in the cheap seats, it seemed a bit lost. Mel Mellers amazed me - I was amazed that he consistantly gets away with the audience-ribbing that he does. There's no doubt that he's clever and outrageously funny, but there are also a lot of humourless dimwits out there in audience-land...

The second Gala show opened with a l-o-n-g performance by Zane. I've always hated the kind of magic that Zane does, so I don't feel qualified to comment. I'm diplomatic like that. Terry Herbert took the stage immediately afterwards and brought the house down with only a jumbo ID and a cut-and-restored hanky routine. Silvana (of Brando & Sivana) did a solo act, featuring a lovely coloured snowstorm routine, and the most beautiful linking rings routine I've ever seen, with only three juggling hoops. Headlining was ventiloquist, Paul Zerdin, who had some hilarious moments, but greatly overstepped the mark towards the end, in my opinion, with audience humiliation. The compere on the second show was John Archer - and he did a phenomenal job.

John Archer also did a midnight show for delegates at the Sea Hotel. Very clever, very engaging and very funny. Great stuff.

Add to that a load of friendly and enthusiastic delegates (did I mention my mate Juan?), and some great dealers who took a lot of my money, it was a great weekend.

And then there was the seven hour drive up to Tyneside, and the seven-hour drive home.

Big thanks from me have to go to South Tyneside Council for organising the event, Martin Duffy for bringing in all the great acts, and Magic Box for sponsoring the event so heavily. A job well done all round!

Looking forward to next year!

pcwells wrote:Here's a photo of me and my new pal (I'm the one on the right).

Good lord, Jerry Sadowitz has aged.

Hello again,

It was a fantastic weekend.

Tamariz is truly amazing ...