Latest news from Magicians.co.uk

As we mentioned earlier this month we worked on the film ‘The Brothers Bloom’; the tail of two con-artist brothers and their plight to embark on one last heist.

Magicians.co.uk’s James Freedman worked closely with Oscar Nominee Rachel Weisz on the film at various locations teaching the star sleight of hand and card sharp skills for her role as heiress Penelope.

The long awaited film has recently been released in the US and the official website has posted a clip of her in action. To check it out click here.

Our congratulations to The Magic Circle Headquarters on being shortlisted for an industry award from the Association of Event Organisers. The marketing team at London’s most magical venue is in the running for the title ‘Venue Team of the Year 2009’. This is the second time that the team has reached the finals having been highly commended last year for “living the brand”.

This year’s finalists are Excel, Business Design Centre, Earls Court and Olympia Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre and The Magic Circle Headquarters so it’s a really strong line-up. Good luck to them all.

The Magic Circle Headquarters is a fantastic venue, just 2 minutes walk from Euston Station. You can visit the website here.

Magicians.co.uk is an Approved Supplier at The Magic Circle Headquarters.

As well as live entertainment, Magicians.co.uk also combines it’s unusual skills training and coaching skills with new creative ideas to create magic and illusion for feature films, TV and stage productions.

The latest of these projects to hit the big screen is The Brothers Bloom the latest movie from director Rian Johnson.

The film sees Academy award winners Rachel Weisz and Adrien Brody together with Mark Ruffalo and Rinko Kikuchi as the world best con artists. Brody and Ruffalo play two brothers; Stephen (Ruffalo) and Bloom (Brody) who have travelled the world living a life of hustle and deception, swindling fortunes from the rich.  They decide to embark on one last heist – to entice a beautiful young heiress Penelope (Weisz). They enlist the help of Japanese explosives expert aptly name ‘Bang Bang’ (Kikuchi) and take off on an Ocean Liner heading for Greece. Their scam takes an unexpected turn when a genuine romance blossoms between Bloom and Penelope and Bloom wonders if this scam is one too far.

Weisz and Ruffalo both had to learn to some card cheating moves for their roles and James Freedman was the magic consultant who devised the routines and taught them to handle cards like professional croupiers.

“Working with Rachel was a huge pleasure. We worked together in London and on location in Serbia. She was the most brilliant and dedicated student and her months of practice meant she perfected some very advanced card moves.”

Actor and fellow member of The Magic Circle, Andy Nyman also appears in the film playing the role of Charleston.

The Brothers Bloom opens nationwide in the USA this Friday 22 May although the UK release date is still unknown. We’ll keep you updated on this site but in the meantime have a look at the official trailer.

London magician James Freedman has been awarded membership of the Order of Merlin. This prestigious award was presented by The International Brotherhood of Magicians to recognise Freedman’s service and support of the organisation over 25 years.

The International Brotherhood of Magicians is the world’s largest organisation for people interested in magic and illusion and has about 12,000 members worldwide.

Yes we’ve given in to the world of social Networking! You can catch up with the latest news, gossip, offers and events going on in the wonderful world of Magicians.co.uk on Facebook! We will also be adding the link to our fantastic ‘Trick of the week’ podcasts, where subscribers can see a trick and then learn how it’s done (coming soon)! 

So join us by clicking here and enjoy!

We had a great time at Home House recently where our friend Rick Lowe arranged a stupendous event to raise funds for DebRA; the charity working to assist people affected by the very painful skin condition Epidermolysis Bullosa.

The Rt. Hon. Michael Portillo, who is President of the charity, was the guest speaker and captivated the exclusive audience of about 70 guests with stories and anecdotes from his political career before answering a variety of questions from the floor. Michael is a superb speaker.

Magician Martyn Rowland performed his award winning magic, showing why he is one of the busiest corporate entertainers around and James Freedman, ‘The Man of Steal’ presented his stage pickpocket act, before extracting more money from the audience in his role as charity Auctioneer.

The event raised over £13,000 enabling DebRA to continue its work to find a cure for EB – a condition which affects around 5,000 people in the UK. At the moment there is no cure for EB and as it is so rare, awareness and funding is very low, so all contributions really make a massive difference.

Rick is also running the London Marathon on 26 April on behalf of DebRA – Please support him with a little sponsorship here.

 To learn more about the DebRA, EB or to make a donation please click here.

Magicians.co.uk were out in force at London’s Savoy Place recently. They were entertaining over 300 guests at the ‘Magical Spring Networking’ event as part of ‘Later with London Launch’.  We provided some of our top Magic Circle Magicians who amaze London Launch members with their close up magic and sleight of hand during the networking section. ‘Magicians really improve networking by creating a light hearted, fun atmosphere and bringing guests together to witness or participate in their astonishing tricks. Yet are great at sensing when it is the right time to perform for a group or when they would rather be left to their conversation.’

Magicians.co.uk’s parent company Magic Management were also asked to contribute to the evening and CEO James Freedman gave an innovative presentation on ‘How to Create Persuasive Events’ using the theory behind magic. He explained how using ‘Magical Innovation’ formed from age old magic techniques and summarised into 16 rules, you can improve communication in life and in business. For more information on how Magical Innovation can benefit you and your company or organisation contact Magic Management on 0845 006 1234 or click here.

The Magician of the Year

Guy Hollingworth has been awarded the coveted title ‘The Magician of the Year’ by the Academy of Magical Arts. The prestigious award, presented to Guy at a ceremony in Los Angeles, has previously been awarded to David Blaine, Paul Daniels and Derren Brown. Guy is famous internationally for his outstanding sleight of hand and card technique and is also author of the best selling book, Drawing Room Deceptions. The book includes details of his most widely known trick; The Reformation, where a signed playing card is torn into quarters and reformed piece by piece in front of the closely watching audience. You can see Guy perform ‘Reformation’ here.

We are delighted to announce that Guy’s show ‘The Expert at the Card Table’ has been a sell-out success at the Edinburgh Festival and at the famous Magic Castle in Hollywood as well as other international venues. The show is based on the book of the same name and tells the story of two boys whose passion for card trickery leads them to a dark life of dangerous cons, hustles, deception and death. Guy has just finished performing ‘The Expert at the Card Table’ in an exclusive four day run at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London which finished Sunday 5 April. For information on Guy’s products and appearances contact us on 0845 00 62442 or click here.

Ben Hart, one of our younger performers, who currently holds the title of ‘The Magic Circle Young Magician of The Year’, flew to Cape Town, South Africa this week to film a commercial which will be seen in several countries worldwide. The feature product is still a closely guarded secret but Ben used his talents as an expert Manipulation Magician, combined with the skills of Magic Consultant James Freedman, to create an advertisement that will amaze anyone who sees it. Magicians.co.uk are often asked to advise on product launches and advertising campaigns. We can create tailor made magic with any product to help convey brand values and marketing messages.