Latest news from Magicians.co.uk

We’re very proud to entertain on match days at the home of our national sport, Wembley Stadium.

Since 2008, our magicians, mindreaders and caricaturists have entertained over 150,000 guests and other VIPs at Club Wembley and in that time we’ve seen some real magic on the famous pitch too.

Last week our team was back at Wembley for the FA Cup Final sponsored by E.ON, between Portsmouth and Chelsea. Before the turnstiles were opened, one of our magicians snapped this picture of the empty pitch and (if you look carefully!) the man marking the white lines.

If you’re involved with a venue and would like to find out how to add a touch of magic to your regular events, contact our venues team and ask about our regular booking deals.

Magicians.co.uk is an approved supplier at a wide variety of venues including The Magic Circle Headquarters, Home House, Glaziers Hall, The Grove, The Natural History Museum and Wembley Stadium.

The Essential Magic Conference is just around the corner now and the excitement is building. This unmissable event will be the world’s very first web conference for magicians, taking place on 15, 16 and 17 of July 2010.

With 33 of the worlds most exciting and important thinkers in magic discussing ideas and sharing thoughts this event really is ‘Essential’. You will see what you mean when you see the Lineup of Speakers.

We would like to thank and congratulate Luis de Matos for creating this great event and we know that with his name behind it it will be a fantastic success. The Essential Magic Conference will be packed with lectures and demonstrations, with plenty of opportunities for you to interact with the conference speakers.

For more information and to get your access pass visit The Essential Magic Conference Website, but do it now as spaces are limited and we guarantee that you do not want to miss this.

Starting tonight, Derren Brown’s new three-part series will be shown on Channel 4, where he will investigate various claims by individuals who believe that they have paranormal abilities. Derren Brown and his team have created a new genre of mind reader. You only have to type ‘psychological illusionist’ into Google to see all the copycat performers out there but there are only a handful of really original ‘mentalists’ entertaining today and Derren is certainly one of the best.

During this series Derren will explore the abilities of a psychic medium, an unusual Russian treatment that claims to cure blindness and also an American ghost hunter, who believes that he can record messages from ghosts and even photograph them! The series Executive Producers are Derren Brown and Anthony Owen. Anthony Owen is the leading producer of television magic in the UK and an old friend of Magicians.co.uk since he co-founded our company over twenty years ago!

Set your video recorders and find out more at the Derren Brown Blog.

James Freedman, ‘The Man of Steal” was invited to entertain last week at the famous Lakeside Country Club by the club’s founder Bob Potter OBE.
 
The venue has played host to a veritable Who’s Who of world class entertainers over the last 30 year and has hosted events for famous high-profile celebrities and guests including The Duke and Duchess of Kent, HRH Anne The Princess Royal, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and and HRH Charles Prince of Wales who is also a Gold Star Member of The Inner Magic Circle.
 
James was delighted to perform on the famous stage in aid of the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice and MacMillan Cancer Care. To find out more and donate to these wonderful charities please visit the websites above.

Penn and Teller, the jaw-dropping “bad-boys of magic”, are due to perform at The Hammersmith Apollo from 14 to 18 July. The show is only scheduled for five nights and tickets are selling out fast, so be sure to get yours as soon as possible!

Direct from Las Vegas this show is an absolute must-see in the world of magic. It’s over fifteen years since the pair last performed in the UK and with an array of excellent reviews and the duo’s wonderful reputation this is guaranteed to be an ingenious and provocative evening of entertainment.

Penn & Teller modestly call themselves “a couple of eccentric guys who have learned how to do a few cool things.” They are both illusionists and comedians and have performed together for over 30 years, pushing the boundaries of magic and enthralling audiences across the world. With numerous awards for TV specials and outstanding reviews for their Broadway shows, the duo are undoubtedly one of best and most loved acts in the world of magic.

Follow this link to buy tickets for Penn and Tellers live magic show in London.

We were pleased to be invited to perform for Phillips Lighting at two glamorous events last week. The international audience did not all speak English and although we can supply multi-lingual magicians, there were guests from many countries and the organisers wanted visual entertainment that did not need translation.

Our solution this time was a team of magical entertainers that included Alison Russell, the finest silhouette artist we know, Martyn Rowland the incredible mind-reader, who successfully and silently duplicated drawings that everyone could understand and James Freedman, The Man of Steal – international comedy pickpocket who spent several hours elegantly pinching wallets, watches, ties and passports without saying a single word – quite a trick if you know him!
 
Several of our entertainment ideas are suitable for audiences who do not share a common language or do not speak English. If you have a tricky (groan!) event to organise, give us a call and we’ll share some ideas with you.

The team at Magicians.co.uk were recently lucky enough to see the new show Ghost Stories.This spectacularly terrifying theatrical experience was written and directed by Andy Nyman (co-creator and director of Derren Brown’s television and stage shows) and Jeremy Dyson (The League of Gentlemen.)

The show has had a bombardment of excellent reviews and we think that it deserves another one! Actor andmagician Andy Nyman gave a fantastic performance in this extended version of the spooky show and everyone that we spoke to afterwards said they absolutely loved it as well.

We don’t want to give away any spoilers, but there are now very few tickets left so do whatever you have to do to get one! (One member of our team is considering trading in her own Grandmother to go again… poor Betsy!) You can buy tickets on the lyric website but keep the in mind that you may get a big electricity bill after sleeping with the lights on for a month!

Each year, at the end of March, magicians compete for the Devano Trophy and the title The Magic Circle Close-up Magician of the Year. This year the finalists competed in front of five judges and a packed theatre at The Magic Circle Headquarters in London on Monday March 22.

Congratulations to Matthew Garrett, who took first place in the contest this year, performing traditional magic with his own twist. Like many of our performers, Matthew is a member of The Magic Circle, the most exclusive club in the world. The Magic Circle is dedicated to advancing and promoting the art of magic, which is as mysterious and exciting today as it was when the society was founded in 1905.

For information about our world-class performers call our team now on 0845 00 62442 (MAGIC)

We all enjoyed watching Sports Relief last week and it was good to see Dynamo amazing Robbie Williams, Davina McCall and James Corden with some excellent magic on the show.
 
If you missed it you can watch Dynamo in action here:

Dynamo has pioneered his own style of hip-hop magic and illusion. He’s performed for pop stars, royalty and celebrities including Will Smith, Jay Z, Sir Paul McCartney and even Prince Charles who probably knew exactly what Dynamo was up to because HRH is a Gold Star Member of The Inner Magic Circle!

To book Dynamo for your event contact us on 0845 00 62442.

The Essential Magic Conference is the world’s first web conference for magicians. 33 speakers over 3 days of conference streamed live worldwide.

The EMC will be the first magic conference designed exclusively for broadcast over the internet where delegates all over the world can sign up and learn from the industries great minds, from the comfort of their own home. The idea was inspired by the popular TED conference format, which is watched by millions and includes speakers on any subject; they just share inspirational ideas and amazing knowledge.

The EMC is organised by Luis de Matos, Marco Tempest and David Britland. It is a not-for-profit venture designed to bring together magicians of all kinds via the internet to learn, share and collaborate.

The EMC is set to lead the way for networking magicians from across the globe to share their expertise. For more information on the EMC and to find out how to sign up click here.