On Friday 25th June I'm helping out at a charity event in London. "Rock the House" should be a really fun night - it's being held at the "Gramaphone" bar in Commecial Street, East London. Everybody welcome - come along to see the magic, hear some great bands and give to a good cause.
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After a busy weekend I spent Monday out and about enjoying the weather. First I popped into Petworth - an amazing National Trust property full of great paintings and sculptures. Then I couldn't resist heading down to the coast and paddling in the (suprisingly warm) sea. A great relaxing day before going back to the magic on Tuesday.
On Saturday I performed some close-up magic and hypnosis at a 40th brithday party. Lots of fun and Ian, the birthday boy, loves being hypnotised. I don't know why some people and scared of it - it's really relaxing and enjoyable. Happy birthday Ian!
On Sunday I was booked at Ye Olde White Hart in Frimley to do some magic (no hypno this time!) for everyone in the restaurant enjoying their Fathers Day lunch. The inside of this pub is amazing and atmospheric, perfect for a bit of magic - just look at the picture below. The food here is first class so it was very full, with diners aged between 3 weeks (!) and 80 years old. In these circumstances it's important to adapt the magic routines to each table so I went between balloons and magic lights for the children and bamboozling card miracles for the adults. I was going to do a bit of "card on ceiling" but it was VERY high, sloped and artexed so I went for "card on wall" and "card on door" instead. I wonder how long they'll stay there for? I also did some palm reading, which got good responses, and will be back at Ye Olde White Hart on a regular monthly basis. The next one is Sunday 18th July between 12.30pm and 3pm. On Friday night I was booked to do some magic and hypnosis at a party in the Ivory Lounge bar in Reading. Happy Birthday Kat! Lots of fun performing to Kat and her friends with some card magic (Four of Clubs on the ceiling!), mind-reading with the mystical colour box, the "Titanic" routine and a bit of hypnosis. "Why have you got your hand stuck on the top of your head?" A great night out and it made up somewhat for the terrible Engalnd performance at the World Cup earlier in the evening.
Now this is a bar full of people who know how to have a good time! The place was packed and with the World Cup at one end and (suprisingly tuneful) karaoke at the other I spent time looking for people who were up for a bit of magic and hypnosis. And there were plenty of them! In this sort of atmosphere you need to keep things quick and snappy so a few fast-moving card routines and "cards on ceiling" set things off nicely. Then some palm-reading (which is becoming a bit of a speciality) and then a bit of mind-reading with the guys and gals recently back from the "Download" festival and finally some lively hypnosis. Although it was a shame the "you can now only speak Martian" guy wouldn't speak. He said afterwards he knew he'd just say "blib blob blib blob" and was determined not to - the hypnosis meant that his brain was working fine but he couldn't control his mouth so he wouldn't say anything at all! A great night - thanks to Ben and Nina for setting this up.
Once a month a large group of magicians and hypnotists descend on Covent Garden for the day. It's a chance to have a chat, drink some beer, swap ideas and perform a few routines for anyone who happens to be passing. It's always a lot of fun. We usually start out at the Nag's Head pub with a break for food at the nearby TGI Friday. By the end of the day there were playing cards all over the tables, floor and ceiling - if you pop in they may still be up there!
It's always good to have some posters up in a venue a week or two before the magic starts. It helps to create a "buzz" and ensure a good turn-out of people on the night. My new run of posters are just being printed, but here is a sneak preview...
I spent Sunday up in London visiting the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy and having a good look round the British Museum. Lovely weather (again) and lots of amazing things to see. The ten foot high King Kong made out of coathangers was very impressive at the RA and the Sutton Hoo exhibit at the BM is always worth a look. Highly recommended!
What a great night! Things started off a bit slow but as the evening went on the atmosphere got better and better and the magic, mind-reading and general wonderfulness increased dramatically. Lot of card magic and many ended up stuck on the ceiling, which is always fun. The mind-reading was a big success, especially the routine based on the Titanic which I was doing for the first time. Then we went into the "mind-control" section and after a few false starts things really took off with a couple of great subjects. Lots of amazed people and plenty of business cards handed out. Hopefully I'll be back at this pub again after the World Cup has finished.
My first time performing in this delightful pub. You really have to watch out for the wooden beams, they are extremely low in places, and definitely look out for the pub cat, which is absolutely HUGE.
When I arrived there were only 3 people there (!) but it soon filled up and everyone had a most enjoyable evening. I went round the tables performing a number of routines including the "Las Vegas cards", cutting to the Aces, colour mind-reading, "Card on Ceiling", lots of palm reading and loads more. Great fun. Thanks to everyone who came along. I will be back at the W&H on 14th July and 4th September - looking forward to it! |
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