Well, unsurprisingly, things have been very quiet for the last year or more! Pretty much every event, party and wedding cancelled or rearranged. Hopefully things will get back to normal before too long and the magic will be back in full swing by 2022. Fingers crossed!
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Wow, it has been ages since I updated this blog! I've just been so busy this year and it completely slipped my mind, so I thought I'd better post a quick update.
Thank you to everyone who has booked me for their weddings and parties during 2019 and into 2020. I'm on track to perform at just over 200 events this year and 2020 is already looking like a busy year too. I've also done some free work for a number of local charities such as Save the Children and Thames Hospice. Always happy to help a good cause. What's in the pipeline? Well, we're still in peak wedding season and then it quietens down a bit in October/November before everything goes crazy with the Christmas parties? It's August so why mention Christmas!?!? Mainly because the bookings are already coming in and my diary for that month is getting pretty full. If you're planning a Christmas parties and want to add a bit of magic into the mix then now is the time to do it, while dates are still available. Everyone loves to see a bit of magic - it's the ideal way to entertain and amaze everyone at your party! Alongside the magic I've also been doing some gigs with my band, appeared on a few podcasts and written some stand-up material for a couple of American comedians, which has been great fun. OK, back to the magic. With the success of all those magicians on TV talent shows the demand for magical entertainment has never been higher. People are often suspicious that what they see on TV has been pre-planned or uses camera tricks, but if you hire me to come to your event you'll be able to see these things happen right in front of you - prepare to be amazed! I've written a guide to hiring a magician!
You can find it at this link - How to hire a magician Having done magic for so long I sometimes take it for granted that someone would know how to hire a magician, but it's not actually the case. Unless you run an entertainment agency it's unlikely that you've ever booked a magician in the past and it's easy to get confused or overwhelmed. If you just Google "magician" you'll see tens of thousands of results, so how do you choose one and how do you know that they are right for your event? I have the answers! Hopefully my guide will help and, if you prefer to watch things rather than read them, I've made an accompanying video too. Enjoy! I was doing some magic at a pub in Swindon yesterday. I'd taken along my new GoPro camera and thought I'd try it out during one of the tricks. I sat at a nice outside table with Eileen and James and this is what happened... A few people have asked about my appearance on ITV's quiz show "The Chase" a while back. It was great fun! I didn't end up winning anything in the final team round, but you can see how my individual rounds went here... Why have I posted a picture of Yellow Pages?
Well, the book above came through my letterbox a couple of days ago and if you look at the top right-hand corner you will see that it says "Final Edition". Yes it's true, after many decades there will be no more printed copies of the "good old Yellow Pages" book. For years a huge thick copy of YP has been a feature of every house in the country but, as you may have noticed, it has gradually got thinner and thinner as businesses move away from printed advertising and onto the internet. If you want to look up something in the Yellow Pages from next year onwards your only option will be to use the online version at the Yell.com website. So why am I so interested in this? Well, before I was a magician I spent many years working for Yellow Pages! In fact I led the technical team that built the Yell.com website, during the time that the internet was just starting to become popular. At that point the book was still the main money-spinner and Yell.com was just a small part of the business, but it had lots of potential and it was a pleasure to have been involved with it all. However once Yell.com was up and running I felt that my work was done and decided that it was time to leave the company and try something new. This was 2010 and I decided to go self-employed and run my own business as, of all things, a magician! It was a big change but, eight years later, it has proved to be a great decision. Since becoming a full-time professional magician I've performed at hundreds of parties, wedding and events. I've joined the world famous Magic Circle and Equity, done magic in the UK and abroad, I've performed for stars from the worlds of film, sports, music, comedy and politics, I've been on TV a few times and, best of all, I've had the pleasure to entertain and amaze thousands of people. It's a shame to see Yellow Pages go, but being a magician is so much better! Another great year of magic!
Eight years ago I left my job at Yellow Pages (remember that?) to go full-time as a magician. It was quite a jump and to begin with work was hard to find. But things quickly picked up and I now perform at over 200 events every year, so the career change was definitely worthwhile. I've been to well over a thousand parties and weddings, done magic for film stars, musicians, sports people and politicians (including the Prime Minister) and travelled all over the UK. It's a marvellous way to make a living! All of this means that I'm one of the busiest and most experienced magicians in the UK, so if you're arranging an event and need a magician I can offer a top-quality professional service and excellent magic. During December I was kept extra busy due to all of the Christmas parties, as well as a few Winter weddings. I especially enjoyed doing magic for BP on a boat trip along the Thames and working at the Coppid Beech hotel at their Christmas Day party (alongside Santa himself!) Many thanks to everyone who booked me during 2017 and looking forward to an equally busy year ahead. It's November already, where has the year gone!
I've been kept busy with the magic over the last few weeks, apart from a short break up in the lovely town of Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders. Alongside performing at lots of parties and weddings I've been at a couple of school events, some wedding fairs and even a bingo night, which was a bit different and a lot of fun. See pictures below! I'm now finishing off plans for all of the December Christmas parties. On Christmas Day itself I'll be back at the Coppid Beech Hotel doing some magic alongside Santa! If you're planning a party and need a magician please get in touch soon, there aren't many gaps left in the diary so be quick. By the way I'm currently working on an overhaul of this website, with a nice new layout. Look out for it soon! When I started doing magic professionally a few years ago I had the time to update this blog most days. However now I'm so busy that it only gets done every now and again. The last entry was in early June so I thought I'd have a look back through my diary and see what I've been up to in the meantime. Some people like to keep their events private so I won't list everything that I've done, but that still leaves quite a lot!
10th June - 9th birthday party at Bluegrass in Reading 10th June - 40th birthday party in Wokingham 10th June - 50th birthday party in Reading 11th June - 80th birthday party in Bracknell 14th June - Corporate event for Huber Technology in Chippenham 17th June - Wedding at Trunkwell House in Reading 17th June - Wedding in Farnham 23rd June - School Prom in Swindon 24th June - Birthday party in Bracknell 26th June - School Prom at Trunkwell House 30th June - Wedding in Southampton 1st July - Wedding in Burnham 2nd to 8th July - AWAY ON HOLIDAY! 11th July - School Party in Guildford 14th July - Jason and Carly's wedding in Swindon 15th July - James and Rosalyn's wedding in Tetbury 16th July - Wedding in Dorking 18th July - Wedding Showcase in Newbury 22nd July - House Party in North London 27th July - Wedding Showcase in Ascot 28th July - Liam and Zoe's wedding in Hartley Wintney 28th July - Hen Party in Ascot 29th July - Wedding in Stockbridge 4th August - Wedding in Yateley 5th August - Wedding in Maidenhead 5th August - Wedding Party in Ruislip 5th August - Charity Party in Whitchurch 7th August - 70th birthday party in Chertsey 10th to 18th August - AWAY ON HOLIDAY! 19th August - Party in Wokingham 20th August - Stuart and Kate's wedding in Ditcham I've got five more events booked in for the rest of August and then my diary for September is looking very full, probably my busiest month in a long time. After that October and November calm down a bit before the Christmas Party madness of December. If you're planning a Christmas Party and want a magician please get in touch as soon as possible before all of the dates are snapped up! |
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