The Magic Cavern

On Sunday I went again to The Magic Cavern, the little theatre in Barons Court in London where Richard Leigh demonstrates stunning magic at least once a week. I'm surprised this show is not more widely known about because it really is excellent. Richard is a very modest and unassuming performer but his magic is strong and very well executed. It's great entertainment for all the family and I recommend you experience it next time you're in the capital. Check out Richard's website for show times and to buy tickets online.

Richard Leigh after another great performance

There's a more extensive review of The Magic Cavern on We Love Magic and, to find out more about the main magician, you can also read my interview with Richard Leigh.

The language of magic

My friend Iain Moran has just come back from Italy, where he performed magic at a dinner party and gave a lecture to Italian magicians. He did all the former and most of the latter in Italian and, as his teacher, I feel both proud and impressed.

Helping Iain to prepare for this trip got me thinking about the importance of language in magic. Often there appears to be no need to speak at all, since the trick is visual and can be readily understood without words. However, the reason for speaking in these cases is not to explain or to amplify - or even to entertain - but to provide verbal misdirection. The seemingly throw-away comment has to be carefully honed in a foreign language so as to achieve the desired effect.

It's always more polite if, when visiting another country, we can make some effort to speak the language. As I have learnt, it can be difficult for a magician to do this because there's already so much to think about when performing magic that delivering the patter in another language requires a great deal of brain power. But, as with the magic itself, it gets easier with practice - and it is so well worth it. Whether you need to communicate what the trick is about or whether it's for misdirection, if you can speak to your audience in their own language, they will really appreciate it. (This is particularly true if you're a native English speaker!)

If you're going to France to perform or watch magic, there's some language on my Paris Magic website to start you off.

The magic of Facebook

I've been a member of Facebook for a week now and I must admit it has become a bit of an obsession. It's just so endlessly fascinating to be able to connect with people from all over the world, in such a relaxed and casual way. I've found several friends I thought I'd lost for ever.

In this technological age, it's amazing what we can do - although, as John van der Put pointed out, we take it for granted. Why is it that when a magician finds the four of diamonds it feels like magic, while chatting online to a friend in Australia doesn't? I've talked about this in the blog before but I find it a very interesting question.

Got to go now and check whether anyone has written on my virtual wall in Facebook :-)

Derren Brown, mentalist extraordinaire

On Thursday evening, then, I went to The Lowry Theatre in Salford Quays to see Derren Brown. What an amazing man he is!

As I’ve said before, mentalism is a branch of magic that doesn’t particularly excite me but I found myself drawn into this show, simply because Derren is such a marvellous actor and presenter, a consummate showman. (In fact, as I’ve written on my Public Speaking Skills blog, he is an example to anyone preparing to address a crowd.) From the moment Derren bounded on to the stage until the standing ovation at the end, the whole audience hung on his every word and gesture.

I won’t tell you about the effects because it will spoil it for you if you’re seeing the show yourself – and besides, Derren swore us to secrecy. I can tell you, though, that there’s a good mixture of ancient and modern, funny and serious, quick-fire and involved. Derren and his friend and director Andy Nyman have evidently put an enormous amount of thought into the pace and structure of the evening, so that it stands as a cohesive whole and not just a series of tricks. It builds to a spectacular finale that is the crowning glory to a top-quality theatrical experience.

Considering Derren’s immense fame and popularity, this Enigma show could have been much less than it is and got away with it. But there is no question of pot-boiling; Derren has gone to great lengths and created something extraordinary.

The house was full on Thursday (2000-odd people) and will also have been for the other three performances Derren did at The Lowry. I imagine it’ll be the same everywhere he goes. Derren Brown takes mentalism to a new, astonishing level and I’m proud that he’s British!