Latest news from Magicians.co.uk

Last week The Man of Steal, Pickpocket James Freedman was invited to perform at a grand dinner for Nic Pothas, the popular Hampshire cricket player, who is now celebrating his benefit year in 2011.

The event was held at The De Vere Grand Harbour Hotel in Southampton, where James amazed guests with his pickpocket cabaret show. The event was a great success and we’ve received some lovely feedback about the show, so we are delighted that everyone enjoyed themselves.

The Man Of Steal adds an unusal twist to all kinds of event. For more information you can view his performer page here or contact our team now on 0845 00 62442.

Don’t you hate it when you go to a wonderful event with great food, a superb atmosphere and interesting guests, only to find it tainted by a substandard performer!

Selecting the perfect entertainer for your event can be a bit of a mine-field, with hundreds of performers jostling to fill the spot and each of them proclaiming to be the best thing since sliced bread.

This top ten list is for anyone planning an event and will hopefully reduce the chances of Billy the Clown scaring guests at the next party we each attend!

1.       Consider the number of guests at your event

If you have a small event, with say ten to fifty in attendance, each guest will see a lot of the performer. Therefore it is very important to have an experienced entertainer with a lot of material. It is also a great idea to have a performer with a second talent; perhaps a magician that is also a pickpocket, to keep things exciting! A good rule of thumb is to have one performer per 80 to 100 guests.

2.       Avoid hiring an entertainer that charges ‘per hour’

Every good performer knows that there are times at an event when guests want to be entertained and there are times when they are occupied, so choose an entertainer that is flexible with their timings. By charging an hourly fee performers put pressure on themselves to constantly approach guests as they can’t be seen to be ‘hanging around’, which can be quite annoying!

3.       Don’t search for THE Cheapest.

If you are looking for ‘THE Cheapest Option’ there are much better ways of spending your money. Just as Super Value ready-meals can often harm your body, a cheap magician will often put a damper on your event. It is much better to consider the points in this article and choose a performer that fits your event, or put the money behind the bar!

4.       Check the testimonials

Don’t just look at the testimonials but also who they are from. Top performers like Luis De Matos or James “The Man of Steal” Freedman will be able to supply a list of testimonials that will make your jaw drop, from A-list celebrities to heads of state. However, even new and upcoming talents that are worth having at your event will have worked with a range of respected companies and individuals. If they are not at this stage in their career they are not ready for your event, so regardless of your budget get an entertainer that has amazed amazing people.

5.       Consider the theme of your event

Think about the nature of your event and how the performer fits in with it. If your event is elegant and traditional then a silhouettist may be the perfect choice. If you are launching a new and exciting product then perhaps something a little different such as a contortionist or a mindreader would be better than a traditional magician.

6.       Be careful if you are approaching individual entertainers directly

Every single magician will tell you that they are the best. Regardless of your event, your guests and your numbers, they will “be the perfect choice.” And who can blame them! They wouldn’t have a job otherwise. With this guide you hopefully have a clearer idea of what you want but it is always good to:

7.       Get ideas from an entertainment company

Regardless of whether you use them or not, an entertainment company will be able to give you expert advice about entertainment that suits your event because they are unbiased towards a particular performer. They can also offer ideas and suggestions that you may not have considered so pick their brains!

8.       For large events have a variety of entertainers

If your event is on the larger scale, with hundreds or thousands of guests, make sure that you have an interesting combination of performers. If you have ten jugglers, guests will see the same type of thing again and again. There are plenty of interesting options, from mind readers and bizarre body magicians to escapologists and pickpockets. Just remember that they should fit with your event, your theme and your message. You may want to consider using an entertainment company, who will be able to handle the logistics and provide you with a selection of reliable performers.

9.       Consider how important the entertainer is to your event

If your upcoming event is action-packed with loads of entertainment, a phone call from your entertainer the day before, with the news that they are ill and cannot make it may not be so bad. But what if it is your wedding, or your son’s Bar Mitzvah and they have been excited about the magic show for weeks? If the entertainer at your event means a lot to you or the guests at your event then use an entertainment company that is able to replace them at the very last minute.

10.   Choose a likeable performer

If you are considering an entertainer that interacts with your guests make sure that they are not just a good entertainer, but also friendly and funny! Try and get a performer that you would quite like to have at your party even if they weren’t a performer. This is especially important at smaller intimate events.

We hope that this helps but if you want any advice, tips and ideas about the perfect performer feel free to give us a call. We’re here to help!

Wednesday night saw the start of another new and exciting magic themed television show “The David Meade Project“.

This new four part series features respected mentalist David Meade, who investigates fear and uses his unique abilities to “create a genuine paranormal experience and conjure up a ghost!” Hmm. Really BBC?

We don’t want to spoil it but this clip will give you a taste of what’s in store and you can watch The David Meade Project on Wednesdays at 10.45pm on BBC1 Northern Ireland or visit The David Meade Project’s official Facebook page for more news and information.

On Friday night we enjoyed ITV’s magic special Penn & Teller: Fool Us. Hosted by Jonathan Ross, the show saw magicians entertaining a studio audience and Penn &  Teller to see whether they could fool them. Both John Archer and Ben Earl managed to present tricks that Penn & Teller could not explain and for their trouble they win a spot on the Penn & Teller Show in Las Vegas.

It seems that TV magic is coming back in a big way, as this show comes hot on the heels of BBC1’s Saturday night series The Magicians, starring Luis de Matos, Chris Korn, comedy magic duo Barry & Stuart and host, Lenny Henry. The David Meade Project starts next Wednesday on BBC1 NI and Objective productions are casting magicians now for a new series featuring magic.

For more information about television magic or to book a magician, contact us on 0845 00 62442.

Everyone on our team is very proud and thrilled that Magicians.co.uk has been chosen to represent Luis de Matos.
 
The BBC recently called Luis “a global superstar” and with his international reputation for stylish and sophisticated magic, we agree! Luis is the man who made an elephant disappear in under five seconds, and a Ferrari melt away whilst surrounded by members of the audience. As legendary magician David Copperfield says, “Whatever Luis does, he does it with style.”
 
In 2010, Luis de Matos was honoured when his fellow magicians around the world voted him ‘Illusionist of the Decade’.
 
You can see Luis in action starting at 7.30 tonight on BBC One and BBC HD in the new Saturday night spectacular series ‘The Magicians’. Hosted by Lenny Henry, the magical brains behind the show include R. Paul Wilson and Alexis Conran to from the BBC hit show ‘The Real Hustle’. The Magicians features Luis de Matos, Chris Korn and comedy magic duo Barry & Stuart. Each week on the show, they’ll be joined by a celebrity assistant and then go head-to-head performing tricks from the classic to never-before-attempted. With no phone lines or judges, the fate of the three acts lies in the hands of the studio audience who’ll decide who wins and who’ll face the losers’ forfeit.
 
Good luck to all the magicians for tonight’s show.
 
For more information about Luis de Matos click here

Happy New Year from all of the team at Magicians.co.uk 

2011 is off to a magical start with the first primetime magic series on UK television for years. Cancel your evening plans for the new BBC Saturday night entertainment spectacular The Magicians hosted by Lenny Henry.

The series stars the innovative magical duo Barry and Stuart, close-up magician Chris Korn and Luis de Matos (pictured) who was recently voted  ‘Illusionist of the Decade’. Starting tonight on BBC 1 at 7.30. Join us on Twitter then and let us know what you think.

Well the big day is over and we hope you had a fantastic time too!

Once again our Mindreaders knew exactly what presents they were getting, one of our Pickpockets gave his cousin seven wristwatches before she realised it was the same one… and then the Escapologists all got out of the washing up!

From all of the team (and Farrah, the Magicians.co.uk bunny) we wish all of our customers, suppliers and friends a happy and healthy new year and look forward to conjuring up something with you in 2011.

Next year will represent the 50th Anniversary of this special competition. Held every two years at The Magic Circle Headquarters, London the competition is open to all magicians aged between 14 and 18 on 1st January 2011 who can present a stage act suitable for a family audience, of between eight and twelve minutes.

Every two years, competing acts feature manipulation, illusion, comedy, theatre, mind reading and more in their performances; the list of previous winners is starting to read like a who’s who of British Magic. Next year’s winner will earn the title “Young Magician of the Year 2011” and enjoy fully paid membership of The Magic Circle at age 18 for 4 years. The heats will take place on 8 May 2011 and the final on 31 July 2011.

This is a very highly regarded competition for young magicians and has helped launch many a professional career with past winners including Dominic Wood and our very own Ben Hart (pictured).

If you know an aspiring magician, click on the social media icons below to share this article with them, or to download an  application form Click Here.

Comedy magicians Penn and Teller are to star in a new ITV1 magic ‘spectacular’ to be fronted by Jonathan Ross.

News of the 90-minute show Fool Us comes after BBC One announced its own magic series, The Magicians, presented by Lenny Henry. While the BBC magic show features professional illusionists, the ITV show takes its cue from its biggest shows X Factor, Pop Idol and Britain’s Got Talent – and invites amateur and aspiring magicians to take part in a big-budget competition.

The guest magicians will perform their tricks to an audience including Penn and Teller. If anyone can fool the professionals, they will win a trip to Las Vegas to open for Penn & Teller.

Penn Jillette said: ‘Nothing would give me or Teller more pleasure than to hand over Vegas tickets to someone – anyone – who has the nerve to stand in front of us, monkey with us, leave us baffled and ultimately blow us away with their brilliance. We SO want that to happen.’

ITV entertainment commissioner John Kaye Cooper said: ‘Penn and Teller have been performing together for over 35 years.  They know trickery but can the world’s foremost experts on deception still be fooled?  This exciting new format… makes terrific “talk about” TV and the ideal show for all the family to enjoy.’

To find out more about Penn & Teller: Fool Us you can visit the ITV website or you can apply to watch the show live here on Saturday 18th December.

Actor and comedian Lenny Henry has been chosen to host BBC One’s new Saturday night entertainment spectacular, The Magicians.

The show will air in January 2011 with an exciting line-up of magicians, including sleight of hand expert Chris Korn, illusionist Luis de Matos, and innovative magical duo, Barry and Stuart.

Each act will perform with a different guest partner each week, with the three pairs performing magic from the classic to the never-attempted-before. The guests include N-Dubz, Ashley Banjo, Chris Tarrant, Rolf Harris, Samantha Womack, Bruno Tonioli, Adrian Edmondson, Peter Jones and Neil Morrissey just to name a few.
 
If you hurry you may still be able to book tickets to the second live recording at Pinewood Studios on Tuesday 7th December at The Applause Store website.