Archive for September 2011
Lecture at The Magic Circle
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Performances
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Last night I lectured for about 150 members of The Magic Circle in London. In my lecture (which lasts about an hour and fifteen minutes), I teach a few of the tricks that I perform at events, demonstrate some of the techniques from my Master Pushoff DVD set and give a short talk on marketing. It’s a daunting, but extremely fun experience, being able to talk to your peers in that manner.
I received a lot of positive comments after the lecture, which makes the whole thing worth while. Much to my surprise, several very well respected professional magicians told me that they intend to use some of my tricks in their future performances. The lecture was being filmed for an upcoming live lecture DVD of mine and was also being used to consider whether I’ll be promoted to the next, secret level of The Magic Circle.
Here are a couple of photos, snapped by my friend Alan on his iPhone. I’ll hopefully be able to post some from the official photographer too.
Gloucestershire Magician
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Performances
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This weekend, I performed at an event in Newham-on-Severn, Gloucestershire. The downside of being a Gloucestershire magician is the amount of traveling I have to do, so I love working close to home! To be able to finish a show and then be home 20 minutes later is a joy that can’t be explained in words!
Last Sunday I performed at a garden party in Newham-on-Severn, Gloucestershire. Guests were mingling in the garden and sat at tables, enjoying the buffet. Here’s a quick note that I received the next day from Chris, the organiser of the party:
—Chris Saunders, Newnham-on-Severn, Gloucester
Magician Hire
1 Comment | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Hiring a magician
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If you’ve never hired a magician before, you might want to know how it all works. It’s incredibly simple. Here’s the process that I normally follow when someone hires me to perform magic at their event:
- You make an enquiry through my website, or on the phone.
- I provide a price, plus a few details of how I would perform at your event.
- Should you wish to go ahead, I’ll send you my booking form, which asks for a few more details.
- We then arrange for payment, which can either be before the event, or on the day.
- I contact you a week or so before the event to reconfirm the details. If I’m performing at a company event, tradeshow or product launch, before that time I will have been learning about your company or product.
- I arrive at the event (early, of course!), meet with you and then start performing magic for your guests when you’re ready.
Review of my DVD
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Life updates
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I released my DVD set for magicians last year. It’s called The Master Pushoff and on it, for the first time, I teach my secret sleight of hand technique. Since this is a blog for the public, I won’t explain what it is, but I would like to post a couple of snippets from two of the many positive reviews it received:
Magic Circle Card Magician Workshop
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Performances
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Ten years ago, when in my teens, I created an original technique for handling a deck of cards that I feel makes card magic much stronger and more effective. If you’ve ever seen me perform a card trick, you will have seen me using this secret, hidden technique a dozen times or more.
I was recently asked to film a DVD set on this technique (it’s called The Master Pushoff) and since its release have been asked to give live workshops and seminars on the technique. I’ve given this workshop all around the country and a couple of weeks ago, I gave it at the prestigious Magic Circle in London (fact: every magician who mentions The Magic Circle on their website add “prestigious” in front of it, so I decided to do the same!).
As the workshop is very hands on, the numbers were limited to about 15 – 20 card magicians at time. I gave the workshop four times in the evening and everyone there left being able to perform the technique. Of course, everything in magic takes a lot of practice, so they all went home working on what I taught and will hopefully be eventually adding it to their card magic repertoires.
Of the back of the card magic workshop, I’ve been asked to return to present a full evening lecture. That’s coming up at the end of this month and is also being used as my examination to become an “Associate of the Inner Magic Circle”, which is posh magic speak for the next level up in the Magic Circle (I’m told that only a small number of people become a member of this level, but in all honesty, don’t know much about it!). I’ll update you of my progress!
Oxford Magician
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Performances
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This weekend, I performed close-up at a joint 40th birthday party in Great Milton, near oxford. While I don’t blog about every show I’ve performed, this is one that stands out as the crowd were especially fun that night.
I performed for two hours, mingling with the 150 or so guests. I performed magic with cards and coins and got asked back to perform for several of the groups again, which is always a good sign that they enjoyed it.
The day after the party, I received a really nice email from one of the ladies who booked me. Here’s a very small extract from her email:
I don’t work all that often in Oxford, but as it’s not far from Gloucester, I’m always happy to do so! So, if you’re looking for a close-up magician in Oxford, please get in touch!
Corporate Entertainment – Christmas Parties
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Hiring a magician
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It’s that time of year again; the time that companies are looking for some corporate entertainment for their Christmas parties. While many companies don’t start organising their entertainment until later in the year, many start as early as possible to ensure that they get first choice of a corporate entertainer.
I’ve performed magic at many, many Christmas parties for companies all over the country, covering every industry imaginable. That includes web designers, house builders, accountants, lawyers, auctioneers; and the best part is that I get asked to return to many of them year after year.
Therefore, if you’d like to organise some creative, original corporate entertainment for your Christmas party this year, I suggest getting in touch as early as possible to ensure that I am available. Last year I wrote a post with many corporate entertainment ideas, which may be of interest.
So while it seems as though Christmas is miles away, if you need corporate entertainment for your Christmas party, I’d suggest getting in touch as soon as possible!
Magician photos
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Performances
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If you’re looking for a great way to identify whether a close-up magician is good, here’s a tip: check out the performance shots on his or her website. Here are just a few things you can tell from a close-up magician’s photographs:
- Are the people having a good time, or do they look bored?
- Are they reacting positively to the magic?
- Is the close-up magician well dressed?
- What kind of venue does the magician normally work?
- Are the photos recent, or has the magician been using them for ten years?!
You can see from the photos on my homepage, for example, that people constantly laugh and gasp during my act: always a good sign for a close-up magician. I have dozens more photographs to upload to the website as time allows to give an accurate idea of how much people enjoy my magic. Here are just a scant few:
Poker in the Park
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Performances
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Poker in the Park is Europe’s largest Poker event, running this weekend in Hanover Square, London. It attracts over 25,000 people and has become a highlight of the Poker circuit. It’s sponsored by people like Sky, Poker.com, The Star and more and was packed full of card players, casino owners and other industry professionals. It started yesterday and runs all day today.
I was asked to give an interview and performance about magic and card cheating at the event yesterday. The hour-long slot was a lot of fun and while it was a little out of my comfort zone, was incredibly enjoyable. There’s a lot of crossover between magicians and card cheats, so it was great to have the opportunity to demonstrate some cheating ideas and perform some magic.
Thanks to the organisers for inviting me and for making me feel incredibly welcome at their great event! They took lots of video and photos, so I’ll upload some as soon as I get them.
Filming new DVD for magicians
0 Comments | Posted by Andi Gladwin in Life updates
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Part of my job with my publishing company, Vanishing Inc. Magic is to film and teach some of the great new magic that we release. It’s aimed purely at magicians, and is a good way of getting experience talking in front of a camera, and learning to teach magic clearly and concisely.
I spent the day yesterday filming the instructional DVD for a new trick called “Timeless,” which is a trick that I worked on with two other magicians. If you’ve seen me perform at an event recently and I performed a trick using a watch, it would have been “Timeless.” It’s an amazing trick with a very different surprise at the end.
Here’s a quick screen capture from the instructional DVD. We expect to release it by the end of September, hopefully just in time for my lecture at The Magic Circle:
