Archive for June 2010
Ross-on-Wye Magician
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Performances
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Tonight I was treated to the rare pleasure of performing just a few miles from my house. I performed magic for a joint sixtieth party at the Ross-on-Wye Chase Hotel in Herefordshire (not to be confused with the Cheltenham Chase Hotel, just a few miles down the road!).
This was exactly the type of show I love and the reason I enjoy being a close-up magician so much. The party consisted of two tables of fifteen party-goers who were all there for a great night out and to enjoy being entertained by a magician. I was asked to perform for each table for about twenty minutes, which is a luxury that I don’t normally get as with bigger events where I need to move on to cover a lot of people in a short amount of time.
With thing kind of party, I get the opportunity to find out about everyone at the table and customise my tricks and jokes to them. I always finish these kind of shows with my favourite (but most difficult) piece of sleight of hand magic: having all fifteen people at the table pick a card, shuffling the deck and then rapidly finding all fifteen cards in just two minutes! Last night I received some of my best reactions for the trick with loud laughs, gasps and several long rounds of applause; much to the confusion of everyone else in the restaurant!
This week I’m at a family party in Gloucester, then in a studio in Newbury filming a two-volume DVD set for magicians (focusing on my sleight of hand magic) and then performing in Manchester and Reading toward the end of the week. It’s going to be an incredibly busy week!
Hire a Magician Last Minute
1 Comment | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Hiring a magician
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Venue: sorted. Photographer: sorted. Disco: sorted. What about the magician?!
If you’ve left booking a close-up magician to the last minute, don’t fear; I’m here to help. My schedule tends to fill up pretty early for key dates so it’s not always possible for me to perform at your event when you book last minute. However, I have always been able to find a magician last minute for you by contacting my professional magician colleagues on your behalf. I am in constant contact with the best close-up magicians in the UK, so it’s always easy for me to find a magician for you.
So if you’re looking for a last minute wedding magician, or a close-up magician for a corporate event that your boss gave you two days to organise; I can always help. Give me a call and if I’m not available, I’ll help find you a last minute magician!
Magic Circle Magician FAQ
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in About magic
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Lots of people ask me about The Magic Circle and want to know what really goes on behind those big wooden doors. Here are a few of the questions I often get asked:
1. Can anyone join?
No. You have to be an established magician and have to pass an interview and audition stage to be granted membership.
2. Where do you meet?
The club meets at their headquarters in Euston, London. I only get time to go once every three or four months so am certainly not a regular.
3. What happens when the club meet?
To be truthful, it’s mainly just a bunch of old guys sitting around drinking coffee. However, there are also shows and lectures by popular magicians each week. I have a small group of friends that are also professional magicians so we normally share war stories over a pint or two and share the tricks that we’ve been performing since we last met.
4. Who started the club?
The Magic Circle was founded by 23 amateur and professional magicians. The first meeting was at the Green Man pub in Soho, but meetings were later in a room at St George’s Hall in Langham Place, where famous magicians David Devant and John Nevil Maskelyne were regularly seen. This was back in 1905; things have moved on a lot since then!
5. When did you join?
I joined a couple of years ago, when I was living in London. A few years prior to that, I was a member of the junior version of the society and was awarded their close-up magician of the year trophy. To join The Magic Circle I performed close-up magic for about fifty magicians, which was a lot of fun.
Cyprus Update
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Life updates
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My trip to Cyprus has come to an end; I arrived safely back in the UK late last night, thanks to the British Airways employees that decided not to strike!
The trip was a lot of fun and I got to perform and talk about magic non stop! I performed for the Cyprus equivalent of The Magic Circle, which was a great experience. For such a small island, Cyprus has some fantastic close-up magicians.
There’s no time to rest though. In a few hours, I’m filming some tricks for a new magic website and am preparing for an extremely busy month of close-up magic performances.
