A couple of days ago I was asked to entertain at a corporate event for Samsung, but rather than being held in an office or bar this was a special night at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.  Samsung staff and their guests were being treated to a special showing of "Shrek - The Musical" (http://www.shrekthemusical.com/) and before the show began they were treated to some excellent free food, drink, a face-painter for the children and some magic from myself.  Being so close to Christmas everyone was in a great mood and the magic went down really well, especially a couple of new routines that I will be using regularly during 2013.

If you want a great night out for all of the family then Shrek comes highly recommended and if you need some entertainment for a forthcoming party or event then get in touch for a quote.

December has been crazily busy as everyone knows a magician makes a Christmas party really special.  On Wednesday I headed up to Camden to do magic for IPA at the incredible Gilgamesh restaurant.  This place is well worth a visit - the whole place is spectacular!  You go in via a long escalator and are immediately met by a huge bar area surrounded by dark wood and amazing carvings and dragons.  The food is also extremely good, so give it a try if you are in the area.  However I was there to do plenty of magic and spent a very enjoyable couple of hours mingling with the guests.  There was also a palm reader at the party and it was interesting to see the different ways that people reacting to the magic and the palm reading - which is more real, more amazing or more fun?

Many thanks to Sophie for inviting me along to the party and to all of the guests who made it such as enjoyable afternoon!

Saturday night and time for another Christmas party!  Being at The Savoy the night before had been a treat but it was nearly as good to be doing magic tonight at the Castle Hotel in Windsor - directly opposite the spectacular Windsor Castle itself.  Some of the parties that I entertain at are quite small affairs, but this was the opposite end of the scale with over 200 guests.  I had a very hectic couple of hours whizzing around making sure that everyone saw something suitably amazing!  There was a meal being served during the evening and it's never a good idea to be doing the magic while people are actually eating, but with so many guests there was always a table somewhere that had finished their course or were waiting for it to arrive - so I timed the magic accordingly and kept busy throughout the night.  The only problem was the number of people who wanted to see more of the magic than time allowed.  All in all a very enjoyable (if very exhausting) evening of party magic.  I've now got a couple of days off before the parties start up again on Tuesday afternoon.

Thanks to Sandra for organising a great party night and see you at the next gig!

On Friday I was invited up to London to perform at a special Christmas party being held for the staff of PR Consultants Wriglesworth (http://www.wriglesworth.com/).  Some parties that I've been to have been held in pubs or social clubs, some at golf clubs or in private houses, but this one was a bit different as it was being held at the world famous Savoy hotel on The Strand in London!  If you haven't been into the Savoy it's definitely worth a look around as the whole place is quite amazing and the staff are extremely friendly and helpful, even if you aren't actually staying there.

The party was held in a private room deep within the Savoy and I spent a couple of hours fitting my close-up magic around the various entertainments that had been organised for the night.  There was a quiz, a Secret Santa present bonanza, a comedy skit and, of course, some excellent food and wine.  It was a pleasure to meet John Wriglesworth, the founder of the company, and do magic for his staff.  One particular mind-reading routine using a random word chosen from a book didn't quite work tonight, maybe because the book being used was "50 Shades of Grey" and proved somewhat distracting to all concerned!  However everything else went really well, even with a couple of people who were very determined to catch me out in any way they could (which is a bit of an occupation hazard in this line of work!)

Many thanks to John, his lovely guests, everyone at The Savoy and especially Jennie for organising it all.

At this time of year I'm very busy entertaining at Christmas parties.  Thanks to everyone who has booked some magic and made this my busiest ever month!  I've also been able to fit in a Winter wedding at the fabulous Beaumont Estate - congratulations to Alison and Christopher.

Once Christmas is out of the way it will be the start of the wedding planning season so, if you are organising a wedding in 2013, please get in touch to book some wedding magic - lots of dates have already gone so don't leave it too late!  I'll be appearing at a number of wedding fairs in the Berkshire area during Spring, look out for details soon.

Last night I drove to Tidworth to do some magic at another army base party.  As I arrived the beer had already been flowing and some of the guests were definitely in a "party mood"!  This always makes things a little more challenging but also a lot of fun and as the night went on everyone was won over by the magic.  I learnt a bit about the British Army's two newest vehicles - the Titan and the Trojan (see pics below) - and also learnt not to get too close to a Christmas tree that is about to catch fire!  "Don't worry", one chap said, "the smell of smoke isn't coming from the tree, it's coming from the smoke machine".  Which got the terse reply - "We haven't got a smoke machine"

Thanks to Lloyd for organising a great night!

Yesterday was the first day of December and this is always the busiest month for a magician.  You end up dashing between parties entertaining as many people as possible - it's very hectic but also great fun.  I started the evening with a short set of magic at a house party in Penn.  We began with some mind-reading using the bookshelf in the lounge - I asked a lady to pick any book, choose any page, look at a word on that page and then told her what the word was!  We then went through some traditional card magic, some more mind-reading and a quick demonstration on the way to always win at poker.  The host Sue told me afterwards that it had been the perfect way to start the evening, but for me there was lots still to come.  I jumped into the car and had a two hour drive over to an army base in Bordon.  This was the location for a big Christmas party with a "James Bond - Casino Royale" theme.  The whole building had been decked out with decorations, an ice bar/chill out room, a casino, snow corridors and giant James Bond logos and props.  With 300 guests my work was cut out for me but as I was there for three hours there was enough time for everyone to see something magical.  The only downside was a loud band playing throughout meaning that I got a bit of a sore throat from having to shout everything - "PICK A CARD - ANY CARD".  The party went on until (very) late so I didn't get to bed until 3am!

It's always fun performing at an army base as you meet all sorts from those who love the magic to those determined to "catch you out".  It's very professionally satisfying to win over the latter group and hearing someone say "I always hated magic but fair play to you mate that was brilliant" made my night.

If you're organising an army base party and would like some magic to amaze all of the guests please get in touch!

Over the last couple of days I've done magic at a 40th birthday party in London (congratulations Nuria!), a wedding in Hampshire (congratulations Mark and Cara!) and at Heathrow airport.

I spent the first hour at the wedding doing special magic and balloon models for the children, they really enjoyed it and it give the adults a bit of time to relax and have some peace and quiet!  I also tried out a couple of new magical routines that went down very well and will now be a regular part of my act - look out for the "Mr and Mrs test" and a plastic toy with amazing powers of deduction.

When I arrived at Heathrow I noticed that they had got a few giant Pudseys for Children in Need and had put up the Christmas decorations - some more impressive than others as you can see here, the one on the right in particualr being somewhat underwhelming!

Every time that I do magic at Heathrow it's fun to meet all the different people flying off all around the world.  This time most were going to Aberdeen, Las Vegas, San Diego and Newcastle.  I met an architect, some accountants, a group of oilmen, a couple of pilots and two cage fighters!  They all loved the magic, which was good (I especially didn't want to annoy the cage fighters!)

If you know someone who is flying out from Heathrow Terminal 5 tell them to pop into Crown Rivers restaurant/bar and they may well see me in there doing magic.  It's a great start to your holiday or business trip.

This last weekend has been a real mix of events.  On Thursday I headed up to London for a Christmas showcase at The Gable bar, just round the corner from the Bank of England.  The place was packed with people sampling the free champage, chocolates, canapes and magical entertainment!  There was also a spectacular ice sculpture, which gradually melted during the evening, and waitresses in Santa outfits to add to the party feel.  A great night and I will hopefully be making regular appearances back at The Gable later in the year.

On Friday I was doing magic at a wedding and on Saturday lunchtime performed at a dual birthday party (for a 3 year old and a 63 year old!)  I was then due to do magic at Heathrow airport during the afternoon and the drive there should have taken 20 minutes.  However due to multiple incidents on the good old M25 it took me three hours to travel 20 miles!  I always allow plenty of extra time to get to events (better to be an hour early than five minutes late) but with hours in stationary traffic there was nothing anyone could do and we had to cancel and rearrange the Heathrow magic, details soon.

This weekend has taken me all over the place and I've been doing magic at a real mixture of events.  On Friday I spent a couple of hours at a party for employees of Progress Software.  The party was held at St Anne's Manor which is just up the road from me in Wokingham, a nice short drive for once!  At the party there were a couple of birthday boys who became the focus of the magic for a while, which was a lot of fun.  I also tried out a new mind-reading routine which works in reverse!  I teach someone how to read my mind - with them able to predict what animal I am thinking of, which got some great reactions.  Thanks to Amy and Lesley for arranging everything and putting on a great night.

On Saturday I travelled up to Chelsea for a birthday party at the rather fantastic Il Trillo Italian restaurant.  Again the main focus was on Mark (the birthday boy) and the magic got a great reaction.  It's always a pleasure to perform at someone's birthday party as they are bound to be in a good mood and ready for fun.  Thanks to Rosita for inviting me to entertain everyone and thanks to the staff of Il Trillo for being such good sports.

On Sunday I was at a wedding fair held at Farnham Maltings.  This is a huge venue and there were stands spread all over the place.  There is also a bookcase in the entrance hall that holds hundreds of books which were used for some impromptu mind-reading - pick a book, choose a page, look at a word and I can tell you what it is!  The stand next to mine at the fair belonged to Tony Hart, an excellent photographer who has a superb portfolio.  He also photographed the wedding of comedian Dave Gorman, which is a nice bonus!  If you are looking for a photographer who will capture your wedding brilliantly then you won't find anyone better, take a look at his website: www.tony-hart.com

After the wedding fair the heavens opened and I had a very wet drive to The Swan Hotel in Streatley.  This was for an 80th birthday party where the guests were a real mix, ranged from under 8 to over 80!  I had a very enjoyable hour performing for everyone and was even shown a new card trick by one of the youngsters.  It was a lovely end to a busy weekend, now for a few days off!