Latest news from Magicians.co.uk

We said goodbye to Zubair Ravat last week as he disappeared (without so much as a puff of smoke) to take up a new senior sales role with some muggles.

Zubair, who knows more amazing magicians than Dumbledore, was our sales guru and without his special kind of magic, we couldn’t have delivered as much of ours.

So congratulations on your new role Zubs and HUGE thanks from everyone at Magicians.co.uk for everything you did. You “smashed it”!

In the last 12 months he’s been a presenter on CBBC and starred in ‘Breaking Magic’ on the Discovery Channel. Now Ben ‘Magic Boy’ Hanlin will be appearing in ‘Tricked’, a brand new hidden camera show premiering on ITV2 next week.

Using sleight of hand, mentalism and mischief, Ben pranks a series of unsuspecting celebrities and members of the public with an added element of magic! “Victims” include TOWIE’s Arg and Diags, members of boy band Blue, Helen Flanagan, Joe Swash, Christine Bleakley, Stacey Solomon, Robbie Savage and Emma Willis. Illusions and magic were created by Nigel Mead and Martyn Rowland.

Here’s the trailer

Set your reminders – Episode one will air at 9pm this Thursday 10th October.

You know how much we loved The Illusionists here at Magicians.co.uk, so you can imagine our excitement when we heard about the next generation of brilliant stage performers joining up for the sequel, Illusionists 2.0.

Again we have another line-up brimming with magical potential with our very own Luis De Matos at the Master Magician, Aaron Crow as The Warrior, Raymond Crowe as The Unusualist, Yu Ho-Jin as The Manipulator and many more.

We’ve already been promised The Illusionists 2.0 plans to propel the audience into the future of magic and illusion using cutting-edge visual effects including giant 3D interactive projections, and with every performer at the pinnacle of their powers this show will certainly be one to remember.

The next generation kick start the show on 19th January at Concert Hall, Brisbane. Keep your eyes peeled for the UK dates!

The brilliant John Carney will be presenting his one man show for the first time in the UK at the Bridewell Theatre as part of the International Magic Convention in London in November. A charismatic performer and outstanding technician, John is a true link to the past as a student of Dai Vernon, Charlie Miller and Faucett Ross.

The show features close-up magic and stand up routines and yes, Mr Mysto will be making an appearance too. Mr Mysto is John’s wonderful character magician – a small time magician with delusions of grandeur and hysterically poor manners who seems unable to stop some thoughts coming out his mouth!

Trust us, tickets will sell out fast. For more information or to book yours, click here.

Hustling America, the new show by Alexis Conran is premiering tonight on Channel 5 at 7pm. The ‘Real Hustle’ star will be taking his skills to the US, and following in the footsteps of some of the greatest hustlers in history including his hero, Titanic Thompson.

The first episode will see Alex travel to Dallas and attempt a series of ‘Titanic’ inspired proposition bets to measure himself against the great man.

He also has the opportunity to meet Tommy Thomas, a former card cheat turned preacher and the son of Titanic himself, who gives Alex a first-hand account into his father’s exciting and so often dangerous world.

To book Alex to speak at your event give us a call or send a message here.

One of the most anticipated events on the magic calendar each year is the International Magic Convention at the Mermaid Theatre in London. This year we are particularly excited that that Rob Zabrecky, twice Academy of Magical Arts Stage Magician of the Year will be performing and delivering his lecture “An Exploration at the Intersection of Magic and Theatre”.

The eccentric American’s performances include his unique stage show based around his character “Odd Man” as well as magic at the Close-Up Gala.

For a taster of Rob’s artistry have a look at this.

With a long history of International performers demonstrating their skill at the convention (remember the one-man show by Juan Tamariz last year!), this year is proving to be no different with tickets disappearing even before the latest great announcement about Rob. You’ll have to book yours fast. Click here for more information.

We’re just back from the Edinburgh Fringe festival and once again, there were hundreds of acts competing to put ‘bums on seats’.

Several magic shows added to the mix this year but our favourite show (by a Royal mile) was the brilliant Slightly Fat Features, a seven man cabaret troupe who are very funny, very inventive and had something for everyone in the packed house.

Go and see them live if you can. Until then, have a gander at this video

Every day, every magician on our team creates magic for clients. But on Saturday night, there was a real magic moment and luckily, someone caught it on their smartphone! Check out this video:

Huge congratulations to Gavin & Louise from all of us here. x

If you would like a magician to create a tailor made magic moment for you, just give us a call for some free ideas – we love doing what we do!

Richard Wiseman, magician and Professor of Public Understanding of Psychology features in the hit show “Your Bleeped Up Brain” currently airing on H2 in the US.

When we hear something on the radio, read a book or see something on TV, we rely on our brains to tell us whether something is true or false. Most of the time we tend to get it right, although there are times when this is not the case.

This four part mini-series will take you through an array of experiments using magic, mis-direction and psychological experiments. They are designed to show that history is full of examples where we have been duped by simple tricks designed to confuse the brain. Learn how Adolf Hitler employed deception during WWII and understand the conspiracy theory behind the moon landings.

See the episode guide here and watch how everything in history can be traced back to “Your Bleeped Up Brain”!

And for a taster watch the mind-bending “Assumptions” video below

With the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this month, we’re thrilled that SIRO-A, winners of the 2011 Spirit of the Fringe Award are returning to the UK with a new “barrier-breaking, technodelic show.”

Often described as Japan’s answer to Blue Man Group, SIRO-A fuse theatre, mime, an electro dance beat and spectacular lighting & video projection to produce an amazing and incredible visual treat.

Tickets to see them perform at the Leicester Square Theatre can be found here and for a taster, check out this performance at TEDx Tokyo