Latest news from Magicians.co.uk

Arturo Brachetti’s new show ‘Change’ opened at the Garrick Theatre in London on Monday. Arturo is an Italian quick change artist and has twice been named ‘the fastest quick change artist in the world’ by the Guinness Book of Records.

Magicians.co.uk went to the opening night of the show to see Arturo in action. The show is a combination of quick change, comedy magic, shadow puppetry and music with some sophisticated lighting, film sequences and stage design which all come together to form an amazing experience. Arturo takes on over 100 characters during the show from Lord of the Rings’ Gollum to King Kong and many in between (we even saw HRH The Queen in there somewhere!) 

Change is highly recommend and if you are looking for something different and entertaining and suggest you get in quick; ‘Change’ has sold out at venues all over the world and is only in London until 3 January 2010.

For a sneak peek and to book your tickets click here.

A new book published recently has really impressed all our magicians and everyone else here in the office. ‘Magic 1400’s – 1950’s’ features history and posters of great magicians from the middle ages, to the middle of the last century.

Published by Taschen and edited by Noel Daniel, the book celebrates more than 500 years of the dazzling visual culture of the world’s greatest magicians. Featuring more than 1,000 rarely seen vintage posters, photographs, handbills, and engravings as well as paintings by Hieronymus Bosch and Caravaggio among others, this 650-page volume traces the history of magic as a performing art from the 1400s to the 1950s. Combining sensational images with incisive text, Magic explores the evolution of the magician’s craft, from medieval street performers to the brilliant stage magicians who gave rise to cinematic special effects; from the 19th century’s Golden Age of Magic to groundbreaking daredevils like Houdini and the early 20th century’s vaudevillians.

The authors are magicians Mike Caveney and Jim Steinmeyer, two of the biggest names in magic and there are contributions from Ricky Jay, a world class magician and one of our favourite performers. We would like to congratulate them all on such an amazing project.

‘Magic 1400’s – 1950’s’ is visually stunning and equally informative – a must for any magic enthusiast’s collection. To read more about the book and its authors click here and if you want to buy a copy click here.

It is always lovley to hear from our clients that they enjoyed our performaces. Here are some nice word we recieved from  Red Letter Days. The Public could choose from two ‘Experience days’ from them – either ‘Wizards Workshop’ or ‘An Evening of Magic’. We first taught guests a few tricks and then performed a full cabaret show on stage at The Magic Circle Headquarters:

I just wanted to say a big thank you for Saturday, everyone I have spoken to is raving about the event and how much they enjoyed it.  All the feedback we received on the night has been positive which is all down to you, Martin and Nigel… definitely a credit to you all so thank you very much.  Can you also pass on my thanks to Martin and Nigel equally as brilliant and have had many good comments about them both from Saturday!  

Kind Regards

Red Letter Days.

If you would like to unleash your inner illusionist and find out about our training sessions or want our guys to appear (and dissapear) at your next event click here to contact us.

As we mentioned before, James Freedman was chosen to speak at Event UK recently. The event was held at Birmingham’s famous NEC and as well as over 300 exhibitors, there were two seminar theatres with various guest speakers. Other speakers included Rachel Elnaugh of Dragons Den and music mogul Harvey Goldsmith.

James was greeted by a theatre packed with events professionals who were eager to hear his tips and about Magical Innovation. Magical Innovation uses the theories and psychologies of magic to improve business practice and can be applied to any sector. It is formed into 16 rules divided into subcategories which are easy to follow and proven to be higly effective in any business. 

The title of James’ seminar was ‘Unforgettable – thats what you are’ and he spoke about how to make your event memorable. Included in the interactive session was asking the audience to remember a list of ten random objects in a specific order. Many delegates admitted they did not stand a chance, but after James taught a well known memory technique, at the very end of his session everybody there remembered all ten with ease.

To find out more about Magical Innovation and how it can help your business contact Magic Management Limited on 0845 006 1234 or click here.

You may have seen on the TV and in the press recently that illusionist Derren Brown has series a series called ‘The Events’ on Channel 4.  Last week the show involved Derren preicted the lottery results for Wednesday’s draw and then revealing them live straight after the draw. Amazingly he managed to match all six numbers. There have been much talk about how he did it and many people have their own theories, but to watch the show and decide for yourself click here.  To see gossip mongers Holy Moly’s tongue in cheek take on the stunt click here.

Co-writer, director creator and producer Andy Nyman has worked with Derren on many of his shows and also done plenty of other work for TV and film as well as being one of the UK’s top magicans. To find out more about Andy or to book him click here.

Esteemed illusionist Jack Delvin has been made president of world famous magic club The Magic Circle. This comes after the sad death of former president Ali Bongo in March.

Jack has been astounding people with his magic for over 50 years, performing all over the world at many high profile events. Jack also teaches magic and is on the Board of Examiners for The Magic Circle.

We would like to congratulate Jack and wish him all the best in the position.

We are proud to announce that the UK has been chosen as the destination for the 2012 FISM World Championships. FISM or Federation Internationale des Socits Magiques (International Federation of Magic Societies) holds it’s Championships every three years, this years being the 24th meet, was held in Bejing. Winners this year included brit Mark Oberon, who was awarded World Champion of Parlour Magic.

Yes people, the first signs of autumn are starting to show and the evenings are drawing in. Though we hate to admit it, it seems as though summer is almost over.

But don’t be too disheartened, as although winter brings the cold weather, sniffles and makes it that little bit harder to drag yourselves out of bed in the morning (or maybe that’s just me), it also brings the joys of Christmas!! Yes thats right, only 116 days to go before the big day. A time filled with fun, family and of course food! Not only is it our favourite time of year it is also our busiest as you can imagine, our guys are in high demand as everyone wants to add a touch of magic to their Christmas party.

To amaze your guests with entertainment from the worlds finest magicans, mindreaders and card sharps, get in touch soon to discuss your requirements with our team of events experts. We wouldn’t want you to miss out – and although we have the best in magical talent – even our guys can’t be in two places at the same time!

And remember we don’t just provide magic, we can also give you fantastic fire jugglers to greet your guests in style, amazing quick draw caricaturists and sillouhettists to give your guests a personal souvenir of the evening and even contorsionists to put on a unique show.

So what are you waiting for? Contact us to add some real sparkle to your event.

Professional pickpocket magician James Freedman also known as ‘The Man of Steal’ has his nimble hands insured for a whopping £1 million pounds by Royal Sun Alliance! James has used his ‘tools of the trade’ to perform astounding pick pocketing and amazing close up magic at events all over the world. He has even passed on his skills to other aspiring thieves (for performance reasons only, of course) including Ben Kinglsey and co. on the set of the 2005 Roman Polanski version of Oliver Twist. He has also written a book on the art of pick pocketing called ‘Go On …Steal Yourself’ which bonefide magicians can buy here.

James’ act is light-hearted and fun and doesn’t just include your usual wallet and handkerchief steal, James can remove volunteer’s ties, watches and even belts! But don’t worry, everything is returned to the owner safe and sound!

“I will never forget the Inspector’s face when James returned his warrant card… if he had not been laughing so much, James would probably have been arrested” Metropolitan Police – New Scotland Yard.

To find out how to hire James for your event or to read more about him click here.

Magic Management and Magicians.co.uk CEO James Freedman has been chosen to speak at Event UK 2009 in Birmingham. The event is to be held in the NEC in Birmingham on 22 and 23 November and will bring together around 300 exhibitors including venues, destinations, events organisers and suppliers. There is also a free seminar programme in place, at which James will be speaking on Magical InnovationÔ – using the theory of Magic to improve business. You can see a preview of Magical InnovationÔ here.

Also speaking in the seminar programme is Rachel Elnaugh and Harvey Goldsmith.

Rachel is a entrepreneur and founder of Red Letter Days, who started the business from her bedroom aged just 24. After generating a turnover of £100 million, Red Letters days publicly crashed in 2005. You can hear her fascinating story of highs and lows at Event UK on 23 September.

Harvey is one of the UK’s best known music moguls having worked with The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and producing world famous events including Live Aid and Live8. You can listen to his inspirational speech at the event on the 22 September.

James will be appearing on stage on 23 September from 11:30am.

Registration for this event is free so to register click here.