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well, its day one. I didn't get up to see the children's show, but made it for the excellent lunch provided by the customs house.
following this we had the pleasure of watching Steve Axtell, give what was his first ever lecture in the UK. His fantastic puppets taking centre stage, including his utterly incredible, ( and expensive) robotic chimp, toucan, and smoke belching baby dragon.
also, as an extra treat, we had a sneak preview of his latest ideas, a fantastic ventriloquial rocky raccoon, and a life-sized Paul Daniels..

he’s told us to go to his stand and have a play....

I just might have to take him up on the offer.

I'm being nagged....Keep it short, because a beer is calling


BANACHECK. Gave enormous value in his lecture, covering all kinds of mental subjects, including his now famous pk touches.


Last nights gala, was quite simply one of the best gala shows i have ever seen.. and that’s saying something.

first act opened with Paul Dabek. over the last few years, I've seen Pauls act grow into something that’s darn near perfect. He has some superb silk and dove productions, This act is FISM standard. brilliant!

second act, Patrick g Redford, had some great ideas, and has created a fast paced mentalist act that involved many audience members. Im looking forward to his lecture today
Paul Romhanay closed the first act, with some wonderfully choreographed moments of magic, including linking coat hangers.. Brilliant!

the second act, saw paul dabeck return, this time performing his shadow act, " circle of life" the lay public almost gave him a standing ovation.

americas Bob sheets, then gave us a taste of things to come, with an excelent slow rope thru body, and a card stab.



finaly the one, and only...Paul Daniels.

alongside his famous chop cup, bill/nut/egg/lemon/hot chair routine we all know and love, he performed his new neck chopper effect. bloddy hell... its a real fooler, and i have no idea!

brilliant , absolutly brilliant.


oh, lest i forget.. compare for the evening was our dear old friend John Archer. Hes a fine pair of nipples on him you know!

( don't ask)

the evening was rounded off with a midnight show, with the multi character act of Jasper Blakely.

i can tell that he has a great tallent for creating characters, sorry, but i just didnt like the material.

todays lectures .. something for everybody.

but first, some great close up. In my sessions, dave williams,bob sheets,banachek, and patric redford, performed a range of magic. bob sheets included his shell and pea routine, patric redford did a kind of acr, which i have to be honest and say , it lost me.
and david williamson... well, hes been handicaped by loosing his luggage, so made up an act on the spot, ad libbing some really funny stuff.

after a somewhat late and russhed lunch, patrick redford gave his lecture on his act from the night before.. and the beer finaly caught up with me, as i started to droop.
Paul Romhany, in his lecture, managed to cram in a gigantic range of magic.. brilliant stuff! but once again, the room was warm, and i started to flagg.


after the triumph of the friday night gala show, i was all prepaired for a bit of a let down ..
i mean, two almost perfect gala shows... it never happens does it?

well yes it does!

This evenings gala show started, with a 30 second standing ovation, for our dearly missed Ali.. has it been a week already?

then in fine style, with the sickeningly talented 14 year old Stephen Williams.
Stephen, with whom i spent time chatting with till the wee small hours on friday, gave an outstanding performance, consististing of two fine dove productions, a number of slick candle and cane manipulations, and the Losander floating table.
mark my words.. in a few years time, this lad will be headlining at the Lido, in Paris, or the crazy horse saloon.

second on the bill, was Dave Williamson.
lets face it, everybody knows how hilarious Dave can be when hes on top form.. and tonight, despite having none of his props or costumes around, he was still on top form, with two of the most charming children I've seen on stage for quite a while.
needle swallowings, card magic, and Rocky, kept the lays, and the magicians rolling in the isles.

To close the first act, Paul Romahay, gave us his now famous chaplin act, complete with a stunning floating broom, to the tune of smile.
after a brief break, te one and only Banacheck wowed the audience, with the flashback book test, some clean mind reading, and his dramatic version of the smash and stab. this version using a number of very real dagggers. this is not for the faint hearted.

and finaly, Russ stevens tore the place apart with a series of pacy Ilusions, and some fine, fine sleight of hand.

with that tonights MC,Tim Vine, of not going out fame, wrapped up the evening ..and we retired to the bar. however, not for me.. im afraid the weekend has started to catch up.

last day, and the long journey home.


today's day started with an excellent breakfast, full English naturally, with loads of hot toast and tea.

the digs paid, we headed off to the customs house, for the last chance to part with some cash at the dealers, and 2 lectures.


first up, Bob Sheets.

with the aid of three members of the audience, ( Including Darren) bob sheets shared with us his thoughts on the performance of close up magic in the real world. naturally, a well as his take on vernons 3 balls across, and a number of card effects, he gave us his handling of the scachs dice effect, and the shell and pea.
the time just flew by...

then, a loooooong wait, for the next lecture, thanks to a screw up at airports with the luggage belonging to.....
David Williamson.

it never arrived.

but you would never know.
David is just magical, and spent over 2 hours, sharing personal storys, linked with many of his signature effects.

like all the best acts, its so packed full of Laughter and fun, you have a hard time remembering everything. what i do remember is that it was great!!!

and so ended the convention.

but not the weekends excitement.

lord it took a long time to get back home. And as i type, Darrens still on the road having dropped me off.

its taken the best part of 7 hours, thanks to an overturned lorry on the m1, and incorrect traffic advice from mrs TomTom.

still, it did mean i got to share a few more hours with one of my best mates, Darren, which isnt a bad thing,

which brings me to the long list of thank yous.

firstly, a huge thanks should go out to Martin Duffy, the Magic box boys,
the customs house, and south tyneside council.
in particular one very special Lady, Karri Prinn, who genuinely makes the whole thing happen. She is a true wonder!!!!

Yup, that pretty much summed it up for mke too.

Jasper's kids' show and following lecture were excellent, although I also must add that his 'character act' at the midnight show left me a bit cold - not helped by the fact that it was very late, and I'd spent the day with the worst hangover possible...

The Paul Daniels masterclass was superb, as was Banachek's.

Bob Sheets was a true gent.

Despite being a huge fan of Banachek (and mightily impressed with his masterclass, lecture and gala show performance), it was David Williamson stole the whole convention for me. The man's a loony. He's amazing. Lovely fella too!

As always, Martin and Karri have done a stellar job. I love the South Tyneside convention! All the performers and lecturers were lovely, and had a lot of time for 'the punters'.

I spent the whole time looking at name badges trying to see if I could spot Dale, but only got to say 'Hi' at the very last moment, before I set off for home. Next time, we'll have to wear red carnations!

I also experienced the joy of lorry-induced delays on the M1, gollowed by another wait only ten miles from my house, when two cars collided on the A23 and threw each other across the road...

I'm completely burgered now!

Pete