By kind permission of Derek Lever.....
Andrew James and Magic Sam Proudly Present.....
Beat the Wand!
The Idea: A competition that anybody, with any sort of act may enter. Magic, juggling, mentalism, contortionists, ventriloquists, comedy, balloons…. As long as you have a five minute act you can enter. The three judges will be randomly picked from the audience and changed regularly throughout the evening.
The Rules: There will be ten contestants competing. Each contestant has to attempt to entertain the audience for five minutes without being voted off. Each judge will be given a giant wand. When a judge becomes bored or has had enough of the act, they will raise their wand in the air. As soon as there are three wands in the air the act is stopped. Once the acts reach three minutes, a bell will ring, signaling that they have beat the wand, and they will be allowed to complete their act.
The contestants that do “Beat the Wand” and last five minutes will return to the stage and a winner will be decided by ‘Clap-o-meter’. The event will be overseen by the compere’s, Magic Sam and Andrew James to ensure that none of the audience are being over zealous or biased with their eliminations. In the case of any discrepancies the compere’s decision is final.
What will competitors need to bring? Whatever they need to do their act. Performers must bear in mind that the stage is very small and they will only have ninety seconds to enter and exit the stage. There will also be a very minimal backstage area. The performance area will consist of a small stage, a microphone and stand, a barstool and small table. The rest is up to you!
When will it happen? To alleviate the Saturday night ‘Ruskin Rush’, Beat the Wand is taking place straight after the Saturday Night Intercontinental stage show. 11pm – 1am.
Where will it happen? The Theatre Bar, Winter Gardens (The rear room of the Galleon Bar). There will be a small stage with lighting. This will allow us to accommodate a substantial audience yet still provide the raw, informal and intimate atmosphere that we are aiming for.
What’s the big prize? The big prize is pride, honour and the glory of being able to say that you were the one who “Beat the Wand”. As if that wasn't enough, there will also be a trophy, a “I beat the wand” t-shirt, and a gold ticket for next years convention.
Final thoughts: Beat the Wand will give attendees of the convention the opportunity to get up on stage and perform for a substantial, appreciative and energetic audience. We want to encourage new talent or reluctant bedroom magicians to throw caution to the wind and get up there and give it all they’ve got as well as let more seasoned performers experience the feel of being back in the firing line. We want old and young, amateur and pro on that stage, side by side, giving it all they’ve got.
The emphasis is on entertaining an audience. So a dippy duck routine might beat a 38 coin matrix, or a five minute, one balloon routine might beat billiard balls. Or not! We’ll have to wait and see.
Beat the Wand will be a raw, fun, down to earth, ego free evening with a real emphasis on entertaining an audience.
If you would like to be a part of this brand new convention event, send an email with a bit about yourself and a link to youtube footage of you in action. Either doing your five minute beat the wand act or of you performing to give us a flavour of what you are all about.
Email: beatthewand@hotmail.co.uk
