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Traditionally the last event in the Ipswich Magical Society calendar is the
Christmas Party Night. This year something new was tried and for me at least,
it was very successful. in fact I will go further to say that it was one of the
most entertaining nights of the whole year. It was called the All Winners Party
Night and as well as the expected pre-Christmas party atmosphere we were
privileged to see the winners (and in some cases runners up) of the 2004
competitions.
The evening was compared by Alan Edwards, and although initially somewhat reluctant, he tied together the evening's events with true professionalism. |
First up was the versatile Matt Edwards. Matt won three trophies this year,
proving without a doubt that when it comes to magic "entertainment" is the key
word, and that he really can turn his hand to anything.
Winner of the Magini Shield close-up competition, Matt dazzled and amazed with a stage styled close-up routine that in true Matt Edwards tradition was mixed with humour and a great deal of skill. Matt is a real credit and inspiration to the society and I am sure that in 2005 he will be going on to even bigger and better things. |
Next up was Bill Burch. Although Bill didn't actually win any of the
competitions this year, he did win the David and Doreen Children's Entertainer
Cup last year, and so was the perfect replacement for Peter Holloway (Winner of
the Hickson Cup Stage Competition) who unfortunately couldn't make this
evening.
Bill chose to entertain us with a selection from his popular Children's act where the reluctantly selected child was a Mr. Daren Morgan. I have to say Daren was a perfect choice. When Bill gave him his magic wizard hat to wear it became evident that Daren is still a very cheeky little child at heart. Needlessly to say he played his part very well. Bill treated us to some classic overacting in true pantomime/children's magician style. We had (amongst many things) the breakaway wand, a clatter box and some magically restored ropes. If there were any members thinking about getting into children's magic then Bill's act could be considered a very useful workshop. |
Next up was Richard Whymark. Winner of the Vera Smith Cup (or as Richard always
refers to it, the Vera Duckworth Cup). This is in fact the third year running
that Richard has won this particular trophy. Maybe next year he will actually
win the coveted Hickson Cup itself. Richards short act was a finally tuned
concoction of magic and comedy. It is easy to see why Richard is a long time
professional comedian. Yet again the highlight of his performance had to be the
"Folding Bandana" effect, that though I doubt there was anyone in the audience
who hadn't already seen it performed (probably many times) it was still, in
Richard's hands, a pure joy to behold.
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The fourth performer on the night was relative newcomer Daren Morgan.
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Daren was a well deserved runner up in this years highly competitive Magini
Shield close-up competition. Daren has only been a member of the society for a
year now, and although he lacks the professional experience of some of the
longer serving members, he certainly doesn't lack in the skill department.
Rather than entertain with what we already know he is quite expert at (namely close-up), he chose to mystify everyone with his skills as a mentalist. He performed two effects of his own, the first involved the use of a calculator, whereby he managed to successfully predict the outcome of many processed random numbers (and contrary to many discussions I overheard, I can verify that it was not in anyway a gimmicked calculator. In fact it was a very cheap and cheerful calculator that I believe was purchased from Woolworth's). The second effect was also an original Daren Morgan. This time it culminated with a randomly selected Fortune Teller being phoned by a spectator, and this Fortune Teller being able to predict a card that had not only been completely freely selected by the second spectator, but at the time it was predicted, the card had yet to even be seen by either the spectator or the magician. I have to confess that this really was a quite remarkable effect. It was however the first time Daren had performed it, and consequentially I felt that it needed a little bit of fine tuning in places to make it easier to comprehend what was actually happening. In saying that, I feel this is one of the reasons why the Ipswich Magical Society is such a great place, as it gives us these frequent opportunities to tweak our acts before we take them into the big wide world. I for one though would love to see Daren perform this effect again, and indeed some of the many more original ideas that Daren dreams up. |
The last act of the evening was once again the multitalented Matt Edwards. As
he was winner of the David and Doreen Knott Children's Entertainment
Competition this year (and I have to reiterate that the standard was extremely
high), we were all treated to his cup winning performance that was based around
a milk glass on the head of one of the four children he had up on stage to
assist. (Natalie, Chris, Marc J and Bill). This act was fun and up-beat and
perfect for the Christmas Party atmosphere of the evening. I am not sure that
there could have been anymore laughter (not without copious quantities of
alcohol anyway).
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So, to sum up the evening I would like to say that I am so proud to be a member
of the Ipswich Magical Society, as the performers seen during this evening were
a true inspiration to all that watched and I know that we have many many more
equally talented entertainers. I see no reason why the All Winners Party night
shouldn't become an IMS tradition.
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Matt with some real children at the Children's Competition earlier this year.
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Matt's chosen larger children at the All Winners night.
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Bill Burch and his Wizard friend...
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Reviewed by Simon Shaw |