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British Magical Society Centenary Convention Feb 5th 2005

I saw the details on this only a few weeks back and wondered if it would be a worthwhile event but, on the basis that you don’t get Centenaries very often, I decided to apply for a ticket – at £30 for the day including an evening meal (bangers & mash followed by apple pie and cream!) it seemed to be good value. I was wrong. It wasn’t good value at all - it was stupendously phenomenal value and, with hand on wallet, I reckon was worth at least twice that amount, possibly more. OK this is the first event of this kind I’ve been to but it was certainly excellent!

So what did we get for such a piffling sum? The day’s timetable was:

Morning – Lectures from Gavin Ross, Daryl, John Lenahan, Max Maven
Afternoon – Close up routines from Sean Carpenter, Paul Hancox, Gavin Ross, Allison (Mrs.Daryl!)
Evening – Gala Show with Paul Dabek, Tino Navas, John Lenahan, Max Maven, Amethyst

Dealers in attendance included Keith Bennett, Albion Magic, Daryl and Gavin Ross.

Gavin Ross said his day job was a Policeman and nobody doubted it at all – just in case! He had the unenviable task of kicking the day off – at 10.00am - and he did a fantastic job. I didn’t realise that the ‘Lectures’ actually consisted of performing a trick, then explaining how it’s done in great detail and answering any questions on the routine before moving on to another trick. Lecture notes were on sale afterwards which covered all the effects (plus some additional ones) and were very modestly priced at £10.00. All excellent value – just try getting 13 or so easy peasy yet very impressive effects for a tenner elsewhere!

Daryl was on next and boy is he a professional or what! OK, it was a presentation of his Fooler Doolers to fellow magicians but his act was top notch, thoroughly entertaining and simply enjoyable - this aspect alone was worth the entrance fee. His explanations of each trick were very good and it was so simple to follow the plot, the method and the ‘sleights’ – which he hardly ever uses as there are easier ways of achieving the same effect. My kind of approach to magic! Again, the notes were available at a fiver each.

John Lenahan was the next lecturer, he was introduced as the guy who’d been ejected from the Magic Circle a while back and the spontaneous burst of cheering and applause was a good indication that this didn’t matter at all! It was great to see a third approach compared to Gavin and Daryl and again, John demoed effects followed by the explanations. He was on a passionate crusade to get us all using the Top Change as one of the slights which hardly get used at all. A quick show of hands from the audience showed about 3 out of 180 or so who said they used it compared to about 40 who used Double Lifts. Great stress was placed on Miser’s Dream and John showed several tips and hints to make this classic of magic even easier and sparkling to an audience. John’s irreverent approach suited his style of magic very well and, as there was time left for several questions, the topic of the BBC Secrets of Magic programme arose. Without going into a great deal of details, the basic premise behind these shows is that the BBC don’t show big magic any more and the decisions in previous years to drop shows such as Stuff The White Rabbit etc are not based on common sense or audience reactions. The slightly angled approach presented with the ‘Secrets’ programmes seemed to get around this attitude and has certainly worked well enough to show some proper, big style magic effects on BBC. Ignore the first versions and the explanations, these are only a joke and are not to be taken seriously at all – even if they do seem to work! Sadly, one audience member seemed to miss the point and started a bit of criticism for revealing secrets but it was all dealt with in a friendly manner. On this basis, Mr.L gets many Brownie points!

Next on was Max Maven and it was only at this point that I realised he’d been in the audience most of the morning – without the trademark black stage garb, pulled back hair, and so on, he was a different guy! Again he performed his miracles and explained them with lecture notes on sale afterwards for a fiver. I see that these notes refer to things which he explained in the lecture but aren’t explained in the notes themselves. You had to be there to understand them – a very nice idea and one which will keeps the information as secure as possible. The routines he gave to us were of the highest standard and, although a little more complex compared to the previous three lecturers, he made it a very straightforward process. The highlight of this bit for me was when Max was about a third of the way into explaining a stunning mentalist routine and he actually confessed to all and sundry, ‘At this stage I know nothing, I have no idea which cards these people have selected’. OK, he soon did things to change that state of affairs but it reassured me that he could put on such a confident performance and still be totally ignorant of the true situation – a master class in every sense of the words.

After a break for lunch, we reassembled ready for the afternoon – the Close Up Sessions. These were of a similar high standard although these were performances only with no explanations – to have expected any more would have been very greedy! Alison was of particular note as she was the very first lady member of the BMS and went on to entertain on cruise ships etc before marrying Daryl. Let me tell you now that Daryl has very good taste! A wide variety of card effects, rope tricks etc were shown and it seemed like only 10 minutes before that session was drawn to a close ready for bangers & mash – which really were also rather tasty!

The gala show took place in the evening and Amethyst (http://www.amethyst-illusions.com), consisting of Daniel Hunt and Annette Claire, presented big stage illusions at various points throughout the show. The unfortunate Lovely Assistant was variously decapitated, pierced with objects strongly resembling large stainless steel waste bins a la Zig Zag Lady, locked in a Perspex trunk as in metamorphosis but she got her own back at the end when their version of Houdini’s Milk Van escape was performed with Daniel doing the locked in wet bit.

I had a great start to the show when Daryl and Alison came over and asked if they could sit at my table - the Mandrake jaw hit the deck so loudly most of you folks must have heard it and I only just about managed to mumble an incoherent 'yes please' in reply. Paul Dabek is the current Young Magician of the Year and did a fast paced silent act in traditional style – canes, flames, doves, silks and so on. Very skilful and one which even the more seasoned performers would have difficulty in beating. John Lenahan was on next – eventually! I say eventually as he thought he was the one after that and was somewhere else in the building when he was announced so there was great comedy over the late arrival etc. John did a frantically energetic version of cards across (10 cards in one spec’s possession reduce to 7 whereas the 10 in another’s possession increase to 13) and he used one of the slip slide exercise mats to travel from one side of the stage to another. In some aspects this was a very loud and brash act and it suited the mood and style perfectly. Even more Brownie points for that.

Next came Tina Navas, originally from Ecuador and who is a juggler of clubs, rings, knives, and also a spinner of plates. Very energetic stuff! Max Maven then appeared in his stage persona and simply amazed the socks off everyone with an act full of wit, comedy and sheer brilliant magic.

To be fair, not everyone's tricks worked, it was easy to see the method of one of the big effects, one of the doves went walkabout in the audience instead of sitting obligingly on his perch, the juggler dropped a few clubs here and there, and the caterers ran out of cutlery at one point but it didn't matter one bit!

I’ve had to prune out a lot of what I wanted to say but from 10am to 10pm we had a very wide range of enjoyable magic and all due credit goes to the organisers and performers for a superb day. I hear on the grapevine that they’re already looking towards the next one on Feb 5th 2105 but there’s a strong possibility that it’ll cost more than £30.

sounds like it was a great day... BUT i dont believe you had Daryl at your table and you didnt ask him to autograph something??


Seriously though it must have been a hell of a shock...how he must have felt when you ALLOWED him to sit next to you... poor guy was probably awestruck..... hehe

didnt ask him to autograph something??

Oh dear! I never even thought of that! John Lenahan autographed his lecture notes and Gavin Ross had already signed/authenticated the CD Rom which contained the PDF fles of his notes but I didn't think to ask the rest of them! Daryl is a very nice guy and was so freely helpful to all and sundry, I almost forgot it was the way he makes his living. I bought a few of his gaffed cards and have already thoght of a different way of using them. Max Maven's complex routine has been buzzing around in my head since Saturday and I've just figured out a way of doing it 'my' way which would be much simpler for me and this is exactly what Max suggests - don't copy, go find your own way - it's easier.

Yes, it was a fantastic day and one which will be forever ingrained in my miniscule brain - I'm now working on a cryogenic vault so I can freeze myself ready to be awakened for the next event in 2105.

Wow. What a day. What a line up! I tell you once you have been to one convention you get a bug. I think you will find yourself going to more and more. The syndrome is called Obsessive Compulsive Convention Attending, and once you are there of course with all the dealler stands, you will undoubtably get OCCA-CUPS which is the worst kind discovered. OCCA-CUPS can seriously (and I am being serious. thats why I used the word serious) damage your Wallet.

Be warned...

OCCA-CUPS? Isn't that where you have to hold your breath, drink water from the other side of a glass, get someone to startle you, or you breathe in and out of a paper bag? Or all 4 at the same time?

Actually you're quit right. The dealers on Saturday had a very tantalising range on offer, fortunately I had most of the interesting items already (I'm a Registered CUPS sufferer, y'know!) but I noticed that the price levels were higher than those available on-line. OK, on-line prices incur P&P so are about the same level in the end but I kept trying to remember what I paid for an item and figured it was less than the price sticker on the dealers' items. Having said all that, I did spend about £20 on various bits and pieces so I wasn't totally put off!