Close-Up Magician blog
Ever wondered what it's like to live the life of a professional close-up magician? No? We didn't think so. But for those of you that have, keep up to date with Andi's happenings here!
Cheltenham Magician and more!
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Performances
25
This last week has been manic. Not just with my own wedding plans, but with performances at weddings and events throughout the UK. I haven’t had time to describe them all to you, so I thought I’d give a quickfire run down of a couple of memorable events:
Cheltenham Magician
I performed at a great wedding, walkaround around performing close-up magic for each table. You can check out my Cheltenham Magician page for more info for my work in this area!
Cardiff Magician
Next up, I performed at a large wedding in Cardiff. I performed for the hour and a half between the wedding breakfast and the evening do, which was the perfect time for magic at this wedding. People are gearing up for a great night and I had a lot of fun!
Hereford Magician
I performed a 45-minute show for a family who were on holiday in Hereford. The family had hired out a massive house and asked me to come along and entertain them. There were three generations of the family there, which made it fun to perform for them.
Gloucester Magician
Another wedding; this time in my hometown of Gloucester! I performed at the Hatherley Manor Hotel; a hotel that I’ve worked at a few times now. I performed close-up magic on the lawn during the photograph period. It was a really nice day and everyone seemed to be really into the wedding spirit. Check out my Gloucester Wedding Magician page for more info on my Gloucester wedding performances.
This will likely be my last post before my own wedding and my honeymoon in the Maldives. I hope you don’t miss my daily dose of SEO too much!
Derbyshire Magician
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Performances
23
This Saturday I made my way up to Derbyshire to perform at a party for about 100 people, who filled various rooms of a really nice restaurant. Derby is a reasonable drive for me, but it was well worth it as everyone at the party was really nice and up for a good time.
Here’s a brief extract from Alicia, the lady who hired me to perform at the party:
—Alicia Turnock, Derbyshire
Once I had finished work for the night, I was invited to stay around for some food. As I was eating a bread roll, I got caught off guard by a table who demanded an encore! Not wanting to disappoint them, I put my roll down, had someone write his name on the card and shuffled it into the deck. “It would be amazing if my card ended up in your bread roll,” the man quipped. He was right … it would be amazing. I didn’t say another word; instead I just nodded down at the roll and allowed him to pick it up and do the rest. The table went crazy, the guy wanted to keep the roll and the signed card so I left on a high … and very hungry!
Wedding Magician
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Magical Weddings
22
I perform at weddings at least once a week and therefore, I’m pleased to take a break next Saturday as I’ll be getting married myself! I’m marrying my longtime, long suffering girlfriend Sarah who has seen me perform more card tricks that anyone else alive!
We’re getting married at the amazing Dormy House Hotel in Broadway, Worcestershire and will be surrounded by many of our friends and family from all around the world. We’ve flown a magician over from the USA to entertain our guests, which will also include fifteen or so professional close-up magicians.
Continuing the magic theme, my two best men are also professional magicians! One is flying over from New York City especially to be there. In fact, even the head bridesmaid is a professional close-up magician so we’re expecting a very magical wedding!
I’ll be reporting more on the wedding once we get back from our honeymoon in the Maldives. I won’t be posting anything the week or so after the wedding as I’ll be busy relaxing! I have someone manning my emails though, so feel free to still get in touch.
100th Blog Post
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Life updates
16
It’s hard to believe (for me!), that this is my 100th blog post about being a close-up magician. I thought it would be fun to list some of my favourite posts over the past ten or so months since I’ve been writing this blog:
- Ten Facts About Magicians
- Magic Circle Magician FAQ
- Unique Experience
- Five Questions to ask a Close-Up Magician
- Wedding Magician Gloucester
- Professional Close-Up Magician
- DVD Shoot for Magicians
- The Nine Faces of Britain’s Got Talent
- An Evening of Deception
I highlighted these posts in particular because lots of them have some great photos of me performing over the past year.
Thanks for reading!
Sozo Design – Cheltenham
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Performances
13
I recently performed for Sozo Design, a Cheltenham-based web agency who were celebrating their tenth anniversary. The party was hosted in a marque in Cheltenham, where I performed walkaround magic and then magic at the tables during dinner. The attendees were a lot of fun and I really enjoyed performing for them. Given that there were a lot of business owners at the party, I received a lot of interest for me to perform at future events, which is always a nice compliment.
Here’s an extract from an email that I got today from James, the chap from Sozo who hired me:
—James Hutt, Sozo Design, Cheltenham
And here’s a nice photo of me entertaining James and some other team members:
No Performance is the Same
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Performances
11
At a recent wedding, a photographer followed me around most of the tables that I performed at and took some great photos.
At the end of the evening, I joked that he must be getting bored of my magic given that he would have seen my act about ten times that night. His response, however, interested me. He said (paraphrased as my memory isn’t perfect!), “Not at all. Every table that you’ve performed at was a different show. The people were different, so your tricks, jokes and presentations were different. The way you changed your style for the table of old people and then brought it back up for the younger crowd was extremely interesting.”
The photographer has essentially picked up my main goal when performing. I don’t just run through the motions of an act, but instead try to create a unique experience every time. I don’t have scripts and I decide which tricks to perform for the audience once I get to know them. This allows me to “play” with the audience and create a unique, interesting show for everyone there!
Meeting of the Mind … Readers!
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Life updates
9
I have recently been corresponding with a legend in the magic and mind reading field. David Berglas is known as the “International Man of Mystery” and is one of the world’s leading mind readers. He was president of the Magic Circle for almost ten years and in my mind, was the key driving force behind taking the club to where it is today.
David was one of the first magicians to appear on British television with his own show Meet David Berglas in 1954 and made a name for himself with such stunts as making London stand still, making everything in a small area freeze for 30 seconds or so (including the traffic, the walkers, the bill boards and more). He caused a sensation whenever he performed on television and is a big inspiration to performers such as Derren Brown and David Blaine.
A few weeks ago, David called me to invite me to meet up with him and a few friends (including some top magicians such as Andy Nyman the co-writer and co-creator of Derren Brown’s shows). We met at what seemed like a secret location in a hidden part of Charring Cross station and spent the afternoon brainstorming ideas and reminiscing on past performances.
It was an honour to spend time with this great magician and a rare treat as David seldom meets with other magicians. He’s an inspirational performer and I look forward to meeting up with him again soon!
Cheltenham Magician – Part Two
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Performances
8
For my second day in a row, I performed in Cheltenham yesterday. This time was for a wedding at the Barceló Cheltenham Park Hotel; the first time I’d performed at this particular venue.
I entertained ten tables of guests throughout the wedding breakfast. During the meal is my favourite time to perform at weddings as I feel as though I am able to make a genuine addition to the day. Normally, when I get to a table, they’re chatting quietly between each other, yet after my ten or fifteen minute show they’re laughing, clapping and cheering, which really creates a great party atmosphere.
The bride and groom were extremely complimentary and for the rest of the wedding, I noticed them clinging onto the card that they both signed for my closing trick at the top table!
Cheltenham Magician – Part One
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Performances
6
I’m performing in Cheltenham twice this weekend. The fist time was today, at the Cheltenham Cricket Festival, and the second time will be for a wedding tomorrow at the Cheltenham Park Hotel.
Today I performed during a luncheon in a private tent at the Cheltenham Cricket Festival. This is the second time in the past few weeks that I’ve performed in a marquee on the fabulous Cheltenham College grounds as I recently performed for their student leavers ball.
I entertained 50 or so guests in a VIP tent today, performing walkaround magic for an hour or so, before performing magic around the tables between the courses of the meal. A photographer was on hand to snap a few photos with the Cheltenham College as a nice backdrop:
Cobham Magician
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Performances
3
During the Farnborough Air Show a couple of weeks ago, I was invited by AMI Metals to entertain their American CEO and some of their most prestigious clients from around the world.
I performed close-up magic in the private room of a restaurant and then moved on to perform close-up magic for the delegates during their meal. I realise that these events are incredibly important for companies like AMI Metals and therefore ensure that I performed the best magic I could to create an evening that their clients will never forget.
One of their clients noticed me from a television show that recently re-aired in America and lots of other clients were incredibly complimentary about my magic. In fact, here’s what the gentleman that booked me had to say after my performance:
—Lee Turner, AMI Metals
Due to my past career before becoming a professional magician, I am more than comfortable being a representative of companies and talking to important company players and key clients. Therefore, please get in touch if you’d like me to represent your company too!
