Latest news from Magicians.co.uk

 Last Monday, eight top Magic Circle magicians competed in the grand final for the Devano Trophy and the title ‘The Magic Circle Close-up Magician of the Year 2011’, in front of a packed house at The Magic Circle Headquarters.

The Devano trophy (pictured left) honours the late great Harry Devano, whose family were in attendance at this year’s event. The Devano rising cards is a brilliantly practical version of the trick portrayed in the eponymous trophy.

Below you can watch a video of finalist James Freedman demonstrating the trick in our offices this morning:

James Freedman performs Devano’s Rising Cards

Congratulations to John Van der Put, who took first place in the contest this year with an act that wowed the judges. If you wish to book John to appear at your own event give us a call.

The Magic Circle is considering mounting a legal challenge to proposals which would see the composition of packs of playing cards dramatically altered from April 2012.

The proposals announced under European Union Directive 27745 / 3665 include the removal of the twelve Jacks, Queens and Kings from every pack of cards manufactured within the EU to reflect modern Republic Member States. A new suit of ‘Stars’ is to be introduced alongside the traditional Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts and Spades making the total number of cards exactly 50 in the new ‘metric’ packs.

Thursday saw the 137th birthday of the legendary Harry Houdini and 85 years after his death, plans are well underway for a brand new Broadway musical in his honour.

The musical, set to hit Broadway next year, will star Hugh Jackman as Houdini; a magician famous for his escapology stunts such as the ‘Chinese Water Torture Cell’ escape and the ‘Suspended Straightjacket Escape.’

If you can’t wait until next year to see the tribute to Houdini’s work then you can watch a clip of the real thing below:

For those who want find out more about this amazing performer, The Jewish Museum has recently released a book called ‘Houdini: Art and Magic’, which is available to buy on Amazon.If you want to add a thrill to your next event we can supply Escapologists and Stage Illusionists that will leave your guests astounded!

Last week, our pickpocket magician ‘The Man of Steal’ was asked to entertain guests at an event held at The Magic Circle Headquarters for charity Groundwork UK.

Groundwork UK is a great cause, which helps people and organisations make changes in order to create better neighborhoods, build skills, self confidence and job prospects. This event celebrated the success of some of the organisation’s younger members.

Guests at the event enjoyed an evening of close-up magic with an intriguing tour of the venue, followed by the hilarious pickpocket cabaret act, ‘The Man of Steal,‘ seen in action here:

To find out more about Groundwork UK visit their website and for more information about ‘The Man of Steal’ click here.

Last week Magicians.co.uk were delighted to perform at a heartwarming event for The Sick Childrens Trust; a wonderful charity that provides accommodation for families whose children are receiving hospital treatment for serious illness.

Our magicians, mindreaders and pickpockets amazed guests with close up and caberet magic and James Freedman conducted a charity auction. We were delighted to receive the floowing magical words from the charity:

“It was a fantastic evening at The Magic Circle Headquarters. We raised over £68,000 which is fantastic… everyone had a wonderful time.”

To find out more about The Sick Childrens Trust you can visit their website or call our team on 0845 00 62442 to find out how we can help with your own charity event.

Following the success of their 90-minute special in January, Penn & Teller are due to reappear on television later this year.

ITV1 has now confirmed a brand new six-part series of Penn & Teller: Fool Us hosted again by Jonathan Ross. The program will be similar to the January Special; a reality competition of sorts, in which aspiring magicians will try to fool the veteran prestidigitators for a chance to perform with Penn & Teller in their Las Vegas show.

If you missed the January Special, here is a great clip of John Archer fooling Penn & Teller and be sure to follow us on twitter for the latest news about the upcoming series:

Derren’s live work continues to dazzle and his 2011 tour promises an all-new show. Derren will perform 6 shows a week from June 8th to July 16th at the Shaftesbury Theatre, London. 

Derren, who professes that he loves writing and performing on stage more than anything else, promises Londoners an evening of mind-melting based around audience participation.

“More than that I wouldn’t want to say”, he says. “I ask audiences to keep the contents of the show a secret so as not to spoil it for others, and I have to do the same. But I hope it’s fun and freaky and a great night out”.

If you’d like to have Derren Brown at your event, call 0845 00 62442

Last week our team of entertainers were delighted to help unite the employees of a new start-up company, at an event held at The Magic Circle Headquarters.

Guests at the event witnessed amazing close up magic and then attended interactive magic workshops, with an exciting variety of the UK’s top performers including magicians, jugglers, mindreaders and pickpockets.

The entertainment was a hit, with employees that didn’t previously know each other laughing and joking as they showed off their new found skills.

Magic has a great way of connecting people, so visit our teambuilding page to find out how we can bring your team close together, or call us now on 0845 00 62442.

Happy Valentine’s Day from all of the team at Magicians.co.uk. We hope you all have something romantic planned for that special someone and if it all goes well, our Wedding Magicians are standing by.

With the Valentine’s Day theme in mind we thought we would share with you one of our favourite clips of a Toronto Magician, who made something very magical happen.

If you would like us to help you create a magical moment call our team now on 0845 006 2447

Last week our team was lucky enough to witness various shows from the vibrant London International Mime Festival, an annual opportunity to see the very best in contemporary visual theatre, featuring cutting edge circus-theatre, adult puppetry and animation, physical and object theatre.

For two exciting weeks in January artists from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, UK and USA animate some of the most prestigious stages in London. With 15 productions taking place across the city, the London International Mime Festival is more than just an exhibition of performance art. It is a cultural celebration which enables international audiences to explore differing modes of thought from across the globe.

If you had the opportunity to see any of the performances tell us what you thought, or if you missed it this time make sure that The London International Mime Festival is  in your diary for next year!