With the line up we had it was always going to be a very special convention. I firmly believe that the three magicians we booked for the day each pulled in a certain number of registrants. Certainly there were many that came specifically to see Paul Daniels. I also know that a huge number of the younger magicians came specifically to see American Magician Oz Pearlman, and of course seeing Roy Davenports stage routine has to be one of the (many) highlights of the whole day. The first lecture of the Day was Oz Pearlman (pronounced 'ose' by the way) and as this was primarily a close up magic lecture there was a large screen and projector present so all 166 registrants could see exactly what was happening. This was the first time we have used a projector at any of our conventions and I felt that with the extra number of people watching it was an excellent idea. Oz showed us some nice effects from his current set of lecture notes – all of them in my opinion very strong for a working environment. My favourites were "Perfection" and "21st Century Phantom". "Perfection" is an effect that to the lay person (and I am willing to wager also to many magicians at the convention) is simply impossible to back track. I felt it was right up there with classics like Paul Curry's Out of this World and Simon Aronson's Shuffle Board. It was nice that Oz also taught a couple of very strong and actually remarkably easy, false shuffles that would of course also be useful for many other effects not just this one. The other effect I really liked was "21st Century Phantom", which is an up to date take on Annemann's "Phantom Artist" that you just know will go down so very well in the real world of magic. Leaving the spectator with a giveaway is always a plus point and something as unique as this one makes it doubly so. It was clear from the start that Oz Pearlman's day job is that of full time magician. The only bad thing I could possibly say about Oz's lecture was that it was far too short. I guess this is always a problem for Convention lectures and it certainly made me want to catch one of the other lectures that Oz did around the country after the convention. Sadly I couldn't make any of them so will have to make do with waiting until he comes to England again. The good thing was though that he had his own dealer table set up at the back of the hall and as far as I could tell he always had a crowd of people around it, all the way up to the end of the day so it would certainly seem that everyone got their moneys worth. The second lecture of the day was that of Roy Davenport. I am sure that everyone knows Roy is part of the famous Davenport dynasty of magicians that started way back in the 1850’s when the brothers Ira and William Davenport first introduced the world to their now infamous spirit cabinet. Whilst it may be true that Roy Davenports stage act couldn’t be any further from that of his famous ascendants it was easy to see how his family has remained in the theatrical business for so long. Roy himself has been successfully performing magic since a very early age and is currently better known for his manipulations than anything else. The main points of his lecture were about the theatrics of magic and I have to say that for the hour he was buzzing around the stage like a bee possessed. Although his lecture may not have been for everyone, I feel that anyone present who has performed on the stage or wants to do so must have learnt a tremendous deal from the lecture. Everything from how to make your entrance to how best to take an encore was covered, including many gems such as a discussion on the importance of the “moment of magic”, something that Roy more than demonstrated in both his close up session and later on in the evening show. Roy has my greatest respect as a performer and as such I was going to make sure I took in everything he had to say. Whilst it may be true that at times he came across as being a little bit scatty (and I mean that in a nice way), it is also true to say that there were many wise words spoken and that the lecture was very well received by all present. I know that for many present the Paul Daniels lecture was the highlight of the whole day. Certainly it was one of them and certainly something I personally will remember for a very long time. Paul’s lecture was late in the afternoon and was a mixture of questions and answers, a magic lecture and a demonstration of techniques. Frankly it could easily have been three or four times as long. Paul has been in the top flight of magic for more years than I am sure he cares to remember and for him to have stayed there it is obvious that he has been doing something very right indeed. One of the questions asked was how he could take what many of us would dismiss as an ordinary effect and turn it into a huge stage masterpiece that gets the whole audience involved. Anyone who has seen Paul perform live knew exactly what the questioner meant by this. One of Paul’s many talents is that he can make a large crowd feel like a small group of good friends being entertained in an intimate and private environment, but that isn’t all of it either. He isn’t just one of the greatest showmen alive he is also an extremely skilful magician. A point not to be forgotten. Yes magic is all about being entertained, but as Paul himself said during the lecture, it is also about baffling people. Something we as entertainers should never lose sight of. So back to the question about how he turns a small effect into a large audience pleasing piece. Paul demonstrated the answer by talking us through a ‘mentalism’ effect he was working on that involved a large wall clock and a member of the audience requesting a Pizza. Certainly when he talked about it at first it didn’t sound a particularly strong effect, maybe at best a filler and yet… By the time Paul had explained and demonstrated how he was planning to perform it, it was obvious that this wasn’t just a filler this was something that the whole audience became part of, something that the whole audience would be talking about after the show and something that is guaranteed to make even the slowest of shows pick up pace again. Other things that Paul talked about included techniques for the classic force, something Paul is obviously quite adept at (as he proved when he demonstrated it not just behind his back, but also over his head whilst lying face up on the stage just so we could all see what was happening. In short Paul is a consummate performer that deserves every good thing anyone has ever said about him. I personally will carry on seeing him perform whenever I get the opportunity, but seeing him lecture for magicians was something very special indeed. There were four magicians performing in the close up magic session. Paul Daniels, Oz Pearlman, Roy Davenport and of course Michael J. Fitch, the winner of the 2006 Ipswich Magical Society close-up competition (The Magini Shield). All in all I felt that the four performers had completely different styles and as such the hour whizzed by (apart from the wait for Mr. Daniels to finish at the first table!). Oz Pearlman chose to do an extract from his close up Mentalism set that I personally found very impressive, especially his take on a PK touches effect where one spectator feels the touch applied to the second spectator. Wonderful and very spine tingling Magic. Roy Davenports session was both theatrical and full of magic moments that only went to highlight many of the points he had made earlier in his lecture, proving that what he said in his lecture could equally be applied to any magic performance, and not just that of the stage. Paul Daniels IS Paul Daniels and as such I can’t say much about him except “I am not worthy”. It is easy to think of Paul Daniels as just a TV Entertainer or at best a Stage Magician, so it was good to see that in actual fact the man is of also undoubtedly (and perhaps unsurprisingly) an extremely skilled and it has to be said a very entertaining close-up magician. Michael J. Fitch was as usual excellent, and even in such prestigious company he not just held his head up high but in many ways was one of the stronger close up performers. He performed his award winning close up set plus a few extras and judging by the audience reaction went down very well. It would be interesting to get other peoples feedback on this subject. Due to other duties on the day I really didn’t get much chance to visit the Dealer Halls, which was a shame as I felt we were blessed with some of the best this year. I have heard a few registrants say it was too crowded, and certainly a few of the Dealers themselves complained (good naturedly I hasten to add) that we had too many dealers and so their takings were down, but then I have also heard people say that the choice and number of dealers were excellent and several of the dealers have already been in touch and told be how well they did and have asked if they can come back next year – so obviously the whole subject is one that is going to be very difficult to get just right. If you were there and do have some thoughts, please do get in touch. In my own personal experience, the Ipswich Magical Society Convention Evening shows have always been such a high quality that I can’t honestly say that any one year is better than the previous. I can say though that this years was no exception and certainly was as good as any I have seen. In many ways it can’t easily be compared with other years though because we had Paul Daniels doing the whole of the second half for us. It could be said that this was a huge plus point, but conversely it meant that perhaps there wasn’t as much variety this time because it meant we had fewer acts over all. The show was opened by President Richard Whymark, and compared by full time singer and mind reader Marc Jacobs. Marc very aptly opened with Queen’s “It’s a Kind of Magic” before introducing the first act of the evening, The Great, The Amazing, the one and only Billini. Billini is one of the Ipswich Magical Societies home grown Magicians and in fact has won “The Children’s Entertainer of the Year” award now three times out of the last four. This feat is in fact a lot more incredible than it sounds as the IMS is blessed with many other really amazing children’s entertainers. Billini’s act was a mixture of his normal stand up show (Comedy Magic) and his award winning Children’s act. I guess a lot of the entertainment value from an act like this derives from the choice of spectator involved, and young Sophie, Billini’s lovely assistant on the night was truly adorable making the entire act funny, heart warming and above all truly magical. Everyone was in tears of laughter throughout and it would appear Sophie was enjoying it every bit as much as the rest of the audience. Having seen Oz’s lecture and Close up session already it was difficult to anticipate what he would be doing in the evening show and it has to be said that he was one of the big hits of the evening. His act was for the most part stage Mentalism routines that played very well to a large audience and he ended up with a more magic based Bill to Lime routine. The Mentalism routines in particular I felt were impressive and it fun to see Mentalism playing so well to a stage audience. Everything he did was with humour, but also with enough seriousness to make it believable. His opening routine was a kind of “The Price is Right” game that had a very strong ending and was as fun as it was baffling. Matt flew back from Spain especially to be with us on the day and he is for me always a treat to watch. Matt is one of those performers that you could see perform over and over again and enjoy just as much each time. He has an infectious sense of humour that kept the audience laughing right from the start of his balloon swallow all the way to the end of his talking possum act. Matt was originally booked to do an illusion act which unfortunately had to be cancelled at the last minute due to unforeseen circumstances. In many ways this was a big shame as it is a side to Matt Edwards that not many get to see and yet, it goes without saying that the act he ended up doing was very slick, very professional, but above all else very funny. Another real treat at this years convention was getting to see Richard Whymark perform on stage. Richard is of course no stranger to the convention as he has compered it successfully for the last three or four years, but this year he had a proper slot in the show that proved yet again why he is one of East Anglia’s most prolific performers. Richard started off with a very smooth torn and restored newspaper routine complete with many topical gags along the way, but as good as Richard was it has to be said that his dirty old man stole the show and I look forward to seeing him make an appearance in future Richard Whymark performances. It was obvious that there was a much more adult act lurking there in the background (and it has to be said occasionally somewhat more in the foreground). I know this is only the early stages for this particular part of Richards act and I also know that on the night he was a little compromised as to what he could do, but with that being said it was still an excellent, funny and very professional act that I look forward to seeing it develop more and more in future performances. The only thing I really want to say about Roy Davenports act was that it contained the best Linking Ring Routine that I have ever seen. I don’t care if you are a magician who has seen 1001 other people perform it or a lay person seeing it performed for the very first time. I doubt I will ever see one as good as that again. It was dramatic, stunning, exciting and of course every bit as magical as it should be. Roy has two stage acts that he could have chosen from and I am tempted now to suggest that we book him next year so that I can see the other one! Roy’s entire act, from Coin productions to the Linking Rings Routines was pure theatre all the way. Every move was larger than life and so obviously choreographed from beginning to end that it was more like a flamenco dance routine than your standard everyday magic act. For me this one act would have made the cost for the entire day worthwhile. Bravo Mr. Davenport. Watching Paul Daniels perform was like watching a master class in how to entertain an audience. Paul was booked for the entire second half and yet the time flew by so quickly that it felt like he was just there for a few minutes. From the second he first walked out on stage until the time he took his applause at the end (a standing ovation I should add), he was Mr. Entertainment personified. I heard one man turn to his six year old daughter and explain that Paul Daniels is a very famous performer, to which the young girl replied by saying “I know that. You can tell because he has a sparkly tie”. How good would it be if it was just the sparkly tie. I know that I would be out there tomorrow buying a sparkly ties by the dozen if I thought it could make me that good, but you just know that Paul Daniels success is due to a lot of hard work and 1000’s upon 1000’s of performances. He had the audience eating out of his hand and his act just built up getting stronger and stronger the longer it went on. I would like to say that he got lucky by picking two excellent members of the public to help him, but I have seen this act several times now and I know that luck isn’t involved at all or if it is he is one very lucky man as every single time I see him he always seems to get two excellent helpers. One can only assume is that it is his stage presence and the intimate and friendly way he handles people that is his secret as to how he gets the absolute best out of everyone who is up there in stage with him. It isn’t just the people on stage that he gets the best out of either though, it is in fact the entire audience who I am sure enjoyed themselves every bit as much as I did. For those that don’t know most of his act revolves around his now infamous electric chairs routine that I am sure had the audience talking about for many weeks after the show. To sum up. Paul Daniels still has what it takes to be one of the world’s top names in magic and he deserved every second of his standing ovation. I am not sure really what else I can say about the convention. It was a long day for most people. Not just those that were up early helping but also for the performers, the dealers and for many of the registrants who came from all over the country. Yes it was hard work, but I think everyone who was involved will agree that it was a very rewarding day and we can only look forward now to next years.