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.

Yesterday I spent a very enjoyable afternoon entertaining the guests at Jenna and Matt's wedding.  The hotel was full of guests of all ages and so I mixed some balloons for the youngsters with plenty of card tricks, mind-reading and metal bending for the adults.  The weather was a bit cold (Winter is definitely on the way) but it stayed dry and everyone was in a great mood.  I had a bit of a chat with the Best Man, who wasn't really looking forward to giving his speech, but a bit of special magic for him took his mind off it.  Many congratulations of Jenna and Matt - all the best for your future together.

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!

Over the last few days I've performed magic at two more weddings, an 18th birthday party and back at Heathrow airport - see pictures below.

It has been a great magical Summer but as the weather starts to turn slightly colder thoughts turn to Autumn, Winter and Christmas.  If you want to hire a magician to amaze your Christmas party guests please get in touch soon.

I am also taking bookings for weddings in 2013/2014.  If you want to have a chat and see me in action then I will be appearing at the following wedding fairs, come along and see a demo of the magic!

23 September - Farnham Maltings
7 October - Englemere, Ascot
21 October - Village Hotel, Farnborough
28 October - Bearwood College, Wokingham

The last few days have been some of the busiest of the year and, combined with the return of hot Summer weather, have meant a very exhausting time for Mike Stoner magic!  On Friday I travelled up to London to perform on a four hour boat trip down the Thames for the staff of A.A.Thornton.  It was a lot of fun and, inbetween the magic, I learnt plenty about patents and trade mark law!  I then drove over to Reading to perform a couple of hours of close-up magic and mind-reading for people at the Genting Club casino.  It's always an interesting atmosphere in a casino and topics such as "luck" and being able to influence and read "tells" feature high on the agenda - meaning that my magical demonstrations take on a special significance.  I'll be back at the Genting Club again soon.

Over Saturday/Sunday I performed magic at four different weddings and parties, again with temperatures in the high 20s!  There were a number of youngsters at the weddings so a few balloon animals were called for, especially to help keep them quiet during the speeches and let the adults relax and enjoy themselves.  As I perform at weddings so regularly I often meet people who have seen me doing magic before, and it is always fun to have a chat and show them some new magical routines.  I also met a very talented silhouettist on Sunday who produced the picture below within about two minutes using just a piece of paper and some very sharp scissors - amazing!

Thanks to everyone who has booked magic for their wedding/party this Summer and if you are currently planning a Christmas party now is the time to get in touch as December dates are going fast.

August has been a very busy month for weddings and I've been travelling around doing lots of magic.  I'm based in Wokingham, Berkshire but happy to travel anywhere in Southern England (and beyond sometimes) to entertain at parties, weddings and corporate events.  Some close-up magic is a great way to add something amazing and memorable to the day and guarantee first-class entertainment for all of your guests.

I'd like to say thanks and congratulations to Charlotte and Chris, Grant and Jennifer, Alison and Luke, Jackie and Phil and Billy and Kate.  It was a pleasure to entertain at your weddings.

My diary for 2013 is filling up quickly so, if you are planning a wedding, please get in touch soon to book some wedding magic.  If you would like to see a live demonstration of my magic and mind-reading then I will be appearing at a number of wedding fairs during September/October - details soon.

Last Thursday I was back at Crown Rivers restaurant/bar at Heathrow T5.  As I now work there regularly I've been given a security pass which means I can go through the staff security gates and avoid the queues, which is nice.  It's always a bit strange to be wandering around an airport on "airside" but not be going off on holiday!  You are surrounded by excited and nervous people heading off all around the world, but you are there to entertain them for a few hours and then you head back home.  It's fun though and I love meeting different people and showing them some magic while they wait for their flight.  I'm back doing magic at Heathrow 30th August, 14th September and 29th September.

Over the weekend I performed at a birthday party and two weddings.  Near the end of the birthday party there were a few speeches, during which I kept the youngsters entertained so that the adults could have some peace and quiet!  I spent the time making plenty of balloon animals, swords, hats and even a giant octopus.  The weddings were both blessed with glorious weather and one of them featured a rather ambitious human pyramid (see below)!  I'd like to say many congratulations to Hannah and Richard and Ryan and Trudi, all the best for your futures together.

The last month has been very busy.  I've performed at eight weddings, two school proms, four parties, three corporate events and back at Heathrow airport - and also managed to fit in a week in the (very rainy) Lake District.

A couple of highlights were meeting a J.J.Abrams lookalike at Heathrow and doing magic for legendary newsreader Anna Ford.  Pictures below...

By the way, Christmas party bookings are now coming in so if you are arranging a party in December 2012 and would like to add a bit of magic then please get in touch soon.