Thoughts after South Tyneside
The magic convention that's been held in South Shields, near Newcastle, for the past few years is going from strength to strength. There was an excellent line-up again this year and some of the highlights for me were:
Paul Daniels, who, as we all know, is an outstanding magician and entertainer and is also a very nice, straightforward man. Paul performed some wonderful magic at the gala show. It was the first time I'd seen him live and he was great. I was also lucky enough to be standing in the dealers' room at the right time and had a little chat with Paul about Manchester and the theatres he's played there. I'd thought he might be a bit scary to talk to but not at all.
Banachek, the amazing mentalist. During the gala show, he picked a few audience members at random and divined facts about them that he couldn't possibly have guessed. Unless he set this up in advance, which I know he didn't, I can't begin to imagine how he achieved this. I'm not normally very excited by mentalism but this was truly astonishing.
Paul Romhany, whom I didn't know before but whom I liked very much, particularly his lecture. He is from New Zealand, lives in Canada and travels almost constantly, so he knows a lot about packing small and playing big, as well as how to cope with airlines losing one's props. He gave us some nifty ideas for how to create the same effects with everyday objects rather than expensively gaffed equipment. Apart from the nightmare of losing one's luggage, this is handy for those of us who can't afford to buy pricey props in the first place.
Bob Sheets, who is famous for his three-shell game (find the pea under one of the walnut shells) but also does a lot of other cool tricks. I particularly enjoyed his lecture and was inspired to make my only purchase of the convention, a version of the three-card monte, done with jumbo cards.
John Archer was at his best compering the Friday evening show and his friend Tim Vine compered on Saturday. Tim Vine is not a magician but he is a great comedian. I went to his show at The Lowry Theatre in Salford a few years ago and John Archer was his warm-up. My friend and I had a drink with them afterwards, which was lovely. My sister really wanted to come to the show but she was in the middle of exams in Oxford so she couldn't. I told this to Tim and he wrote her a long and friendly note wishing her good luck. What a nice bloke!
Paul Daniels, who, as we all know, is an outstanding magician and entertainer and is also a very nice, straightforward man. Paul performed some wonderful magic at the gala show. It was the first time I'd seen him live and he was great. I was also lucky enough to be standing in the dealers' room at the right time and had a little chat with Paul about Manchester and the theatres he's played there. I'd thought he might be a bit scary to talk to but not at all.
Banachek, the amazing mentalist. During the gala show, he picked a few audience members at random and divined facts about them that he couldn't possibly have guessed. Unless he set this up in advance, which I know he didn't, I can't begin to imagine how he achieved this. I'm not normally very excited by mentalism but this was truly astonishing.
Paul Romhany, whom I didn't know before but whom I liked very much, particularly his lecture. He is from New Zealand, lives in Canada and travels almost constantly, so he knows a lot about packing small and playing big, as well as how to cope with airlines losing one's props. He gave us some nifty ideas for how to create the same effects with everyday objects rather than expensively gaffed equipment. Apart from the nightmare of losing one's luggage, this is handy for those of us who can't afford to buy pricey props in the first place.
Bob Sheets, who is famous for his three-shell game (find the pea under one of the walnut shells) but also does a lot of other cool tricks. I particularly enjoyed his lecture and was inspired to make my only purchase of the convention, a version of the three-card monte, done with jumbo cards.
John Archer was at his best compering the Friday evening show and his friend Tim Vine compered on Saturday. Tim Vine is not a magician but he is a great comedian. I went to his show at The Lowry Theatre in Salford a few years ago and John Archer was his warm-up. My friend and I had a drink with them afterwards, which was lovely. My sister really wanted to come to the show but she was in the middle of exams in Oxford so she couldn't. I told this to Tim and he wrote her a long and friendly note wishing her good luck. What a nice bloke!
Tim Vine (my own pic, not very good - sorry, Tim!)Apart from the magic convention, I always enjoy visiting South Shields. It's a smallish town on the north-east coast, with a few good restaurants (we had an excellent dinner at Pacino's) and a relaxed atmosphere. I love the sea and it's also handy being 20 minutes on the metro from Newcastle. If I didn't live in Manchester, that area would definitely be my second choice.
South Shields park and harbour Labels: conventions, family
posted by Georgie at
10:17
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