IBM Magic Convention 2008

Stu's final thoughts

2008-09-29T13:48:00.002+01:00

We were accused of not being edgy, but to be honest as far as the shows, competitions & lectures that were on offer I can't find much to complain about. On the whole it was a great convention.

So what was wrong?

Dealers, Mat has mentioned this so just quickly. IBM please be aware dealers come to these conventions to sell, so if you don't leave some gaps in the programme for we magis to go puruse then at some point they won't come anymore, I see this year there were already quite a few empty stalls and missing faces.

Mistakes, there were quite a few errors in the program and the mini program didn't quite match the main one. Also I booked 3 tickets for the gala, I was only given 1 (really bad seat) then when complained I was given more more (bad seats) but not with the orginal, so the friends (yes I have some) I invited had to sit elsewhere.

One last point to make, I heard that if numbers of conventioneers doesn't increase then the money may run out in two years and no more conventions, I don't know how true this is as it was just gossip, but surely it's a good reason for you to support the next one. JMHO.

Gala Show - Stu's Views

2008-09-29T13:10:00.004+01:00

This show was emceed by Jeff Hobson who did a fantastic job of keeping it all running. There were some super gags.

Jason Byrne, made doves and budgies appear from every orifice, finally producing a duck.

Raymond Crowe, borrowed a jacket from an audience member then brought it to life and danced with it, wonderful. Then he went on to perform his hand shadow routine which is remarkable. If you missed it or want to see it again http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KW-3KwXpkkM

Michael Finney, very funny guy. I was worried when the audience member who was asked what she did for a living she said she was a carer for her husband which a lot of performs may have lost the audience with a gag at that point, Michael managed to show true professionalism and the audience seemed to love him for it. He performed 6 card repeat, rope routine and card on forehead.

Norm Nielson, started with card juggling then coin productions and finally his signature violin zombie routine.

Tony Chapek, is a multi award winning magician and it shows, his timing and originality is impeccable. If you haven't see his act live, you need to, in the meantime http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CchMwxHJ188

Claudius Specht, a very entertaining juggling act with a wonderful assistant (a remote control bin follows him and throws out clubs on cue). In disagreement with Matt here, jugglers often drop a club when they attempt their hardest feat to emphasise how hard it is, I think on this occasion he did that, then dropped the second attempt, third time lucky.

Kalin & Jinger, I may well be hated for saying this but I thought this was the weak act of the evening. It may be down to the fact that Kalin got his foot caught in rope attached to an illusion and fell over, but it just seemed that the patter at times was strained and there were long silent gaps. The illusions themselves were performed okay featuring an orginal sawing the lady in half & slide puzzle illusion. The billard ball routine to music was slow and laboured and the gozinta box was an odd choice. The lighting cues went wrong too, which meant half a minute of Kalin asking, pleading then begging in pitch black for a follow spot. Last moan is I had dodgy seats so I was right up top, please illusionists eveywhere consider the people upstairs when you produce the girl from the back of the theatre, we can't see and don't know what's happening, find somewhere else to produce her from, or be more descriptive, a "and there she is" and long silence till she runs thru the isle doesn't work for us.

(Sorry but Mr Hudson told us to be more edgy).

Final Thoughts Video

2008-09-28T14:11:00.000+01:00

Coming Soon Final thoughts video!

The Dealers

2008-09-28T13:42:00.003+01:00

So what were the dealers like? Well they were good but.... just like everyone else was saying why were they shutting so early? There wasn't even an evening dealers session! I think the dealers were a bit angry with this and so too were the shoppers! Price wise I really can’t understand how 1 stall can sell loops for £5 then at the other end of the hall someone's selling them for £9 which quite frankly is InZane! (hint hint)

There were 2 stands that both me a Stuart went to and had a really good chat with the people on there! First off was Razamatazz, I do not perform kids’ magic but if I did this is where id be buying from. These are MODERN!! Yes I said the word all magicians seem to hate! These are modern looking tricks!! Which are made from quality materials. BIN that 1960's looking rabbit and get 1 of their props! You will not regret it!

The next stand was. Craig Petty! With The Magic Company team and oh my, can this guy! do some sick moves! (Again for the older readers sick is like cool! - Oh and cool is like really good - make sense? :D ) He was selling his coin effects mostly the split coin and his flipper coin and DVDs of course! Genuine guy, he is also a very nice, bloody brilliant stuff! Book him for your club, jus remember Craig 25% will do nicely, oh and come to our club first :P

Overall good dealer stands but can’t compete with Blackpool but then again who can?

International Gala Show Scores Fri 20:00

2008-09-28T13:11:00.002+01:00

Jeff Hobson Hosts 9/10

Jason Byrne 8/10
Raymond Crowe 8/10
Michael Finney 7/10
Norm Nielson 6/10
Tony Chapek 7/10
Claudius Specht 6/10
Kalin & Jinger 8/10

Well what can i say! it was in all a very good show! and was very well put together! i even had a better seat than Ali Bongo and Alan Shaxon, that might have been because some 6'4 tall man was sitting in front of them in the 3rd row1.... oh it was me (evil)hahaha!

I had seen Tony Chapek and Raymond Crowe before but both were very entertaining.

I had been asked to be a bit more ruthless in my reviewing which i think i was already even more so on the Blackpool blog so this is me being ruthless...

Only 2 things really, 1 Norm Nielson performed very well for a 70 year old guy (so I overheard) but he looked far too old in my opinion and I don’t think he blinked once it was quite scary! 2. Claudius was good and very entertaining and his juggling was excellent but he dropped FAR FAR too much! we all have bad nights! But he must have gone off stage thing god that was awful! Shame could have been excellent!

Juan Tamariz Lecture 14:00

2008-09-28T12:59:00.002+01:00

Juan man was back again, to send crowd into frenzy! lol (laugh out loud - to some of our older readers) ok... can you imagine a frenzy of magicians, now that would make for a comical video for the blog!

Tamariz started off by talking about the 44 degree foot position where he stands so that everyone in the room feels involved which i think they were! he then moved on to reveal his jumbo 3 card monte routine which he had performed the previous day! it was very clean! I'm still not sure if he was talking about wax or ear plugs though?!?!?

After this he performed the trick 'exactly the same' which in my opinion is a very nice routine and idea!

Juan is very good this was the first time i had seen him! and i was very impressed but seeing him 3 times in the space of 26 hours was prob jus about enough! Shuffle shuffle SHUFFLE!! Hilarious! But after 3,457 of them (yes i counted) it was jus a tad repetitive.

Still good though 7/10

Childrens Showtime Fri 10:30

2008-09-28T12:50:00.003+01:00

Review from SMC president Andy Hart Coming Soon as this is neither my, Stu or Geoff’s style!

Michael Webber Fri 10.00

2008-09-28T12:41:00.001+01:00

Michael performed a range of different tricks starting with card effects using a stacked deck which he all taught us in apparently 2 mins! I can still remember it, so it must be ok (note the word OK). Then he moved onto some optical illusions using the idea of a folded piece of card with the area of a shape of a spoon cut out to bend. Michael then moved onto a mentalist effect where he invited 4 spectators to join him on stage, 3 of them drew a picture of there choice and the other spectator was then handed all 3 drawing and was asked to think of 1 and Michael correctly drew the house that was being thought of who would have thought it ….. a HOUSE. It was a strong effect all the magic was quite strong but Michael came across a bit arrogant and bossy at times!

6.5/10

The late night gala -Fri 22:00 video

2008-09-27T17:02:00.000+01:00

Video review! Coming soon

Juan night with Tamariz

2008-09-27T16:37:00.000+01:00

Ok so this was one of the pay extra sessions which frankly did not
please me seeing the price of this years ticket has gone up in price
anyway! So was juan worth £20? Well no.... It was worth alot more!
This was 1 of the greatest evenings of magic I had seen by 1
performer! If you wernt there or couldn't get a ticket! Shame on you!
For the 60 people in the room this was a truly magical experience. So
what did he do? Well I'm not saying! You should have been there! 10/10.

Geoffery Durham - Jeffrey Atkins Memorial Lecture

2008-09-26T17:00:00.004+01:00

I have seen Geoffrey lecture 3 times now and every time he has such useful and wonderful advise. If you haven't read his book or seen a lecture then do! Every lecture is different but still focuses on his main beliefs the first of which is be yourself. He shared 7 rules to perform by all of which are spot on. Great lecture, great magic, great magician.

Friday - Eddie Daws, Jubilee Jubilations

2008-09-26T16:55:00.002+01:00

Eddie Dawes intrduced the following acts:

Roy Davenport performed the extended version of Lewis Davenport's act including doves, a female assistant with costume changes, billiard balls, a mutilated
parasol and more.
Matt Says: Now that lit match was cool! He placed a large match box on the back of his fist gave it a little flick as it took its downward motion towards the floor he lit the match! - now thats HOT STUFF - Chortle!

Alec Proctor then peform magic of the 1950's with effects including, ropes, silks, linking rings, a lovely levitating zombie without foolard. Unfortunatly it
was very slow paced and all the effects only really received polite applause.
Matt Says: Techno mixed with classical music! Interesting!

The Great Nardini. I have had the pleasure of seeing this acts several times and every time it's as good and funny as the first. One of my favourite acts.
Matt Says: Loved it - it was like watching clay pigeon shooting - but a fun version! Great Stuff.

Romany. Again I have seen Romany many times and unfortunatly shes wasn't quite up to her usual high standard (but still much better than most acts). A few mistakes
including a wardrobe malfunction did seem to put her off.
Matt Says: Went to the toilet.

Amethyst. Danny & Annette and not only a fantastic act, they are also really nice people, there acts was new and included a new illusion I hadn't seen before which was
fabulous, well done you two. Also in there acts was the empty box appearance, the samllest sub trunk in the world, a walk thru steelplate, colour changing
records, drink in the news and the snowstorm set to Annette singing "What if".
Matt Says: they get better and better each time I see them. Today I was very impressed. With an illusion I had not seen them perform before it was a 360 version of the zig zag lady!

Juan Tamariz Lecture 12:00

2008-09-26T16:51:00.001+01:00

Wowzers! What a great lecture! This guy is pretty screeching hilarious.
He started off with a jumbo 3 Card Monte Trick. Then moved onto an affect of a card jumping out of the card box and he performed it twice but this time he… revealed it in his wallet.

After a few card effects later he performed 3 variations of oil & water, which in honesty made my jaw drop – they were sweet!

Juan then did a prediction with somebody over the phone! This was entertaining and modern!

His last trick used a blue deck and a red deck. the decks were shuffled and cut many times the red faced cards were placed into there corresponding boxes and the black cards were placed on the table and shuffled and mixed again. A card was picked from the blue pile and who would have believed it at the same location of the red back cards was the matching card. Not only that but every card matched in order. Finally the card boxes were brought into play and the cards matched again! The show ended to a partially standing ovation! 1 Word Quality!!

9/10

Thursday Night Show & Late Night Show Video

2008-09-26T16:50:00.002+01:00

Thursday Review

2008-09-26T14:12:00.005+01:00

Bill Herz
Unfortunatly I only caught a little of this, but in essence it was mainly concerning the business side of magic and how to market yourself, including useful tips on business cards & websites.

Mike Bent
If you're a kids entertainer and you missed this, you missed a treat. This lecture was full of great tricks & tips. I'm not a kids entertainer but even I really enjoyed this. In particular was the rabbit production which was great.

Close-up Competitions
Mat s doing the main write up for with scores etc, but in essence for me it's between John Van Der Put, Rob James & Will Gray for first second & third.

And here are our scores:
Rob James M=9 S=8
Mark Shortland M=7.5 S=7.5
Paul Ray M=5 S=5
Ali Shelley M=7.5 S=5
John Van Der Put M=9 S=9
Andrew Melia M=6.5 S=5
Dave Allen M=7 S=6
Michael Jordan M=8 S=8
Don Simpson M=5 S=4
Will Gray M=7 S=8
Find out later on if we are right!

Bob Kohler
This lecture was interesting & entertaining although I did think the explaination of an old marketed effect (aces in their faces) and a blister coin were rather pointless, but I did enjoy it.

Thursday Night Show
Great show! There was Oscar Munoz who used ropes, rings & balloons. Levent was excelent, bazarre but excellent. Mark Mitton was as funny as they come, and bordering on insane (in a good way). And Michael Webber predicted & phone number in an amazingly open maner, I have no idea how he did it??? John Archer did an awesome as emcee.

Late Night Show
Jeff Hobson took the helm for this and even 'dragged' the show to a frenzy in Oscar's second act that evening. Nic Einhorn, John Armstrong & John Lovett also took part. I must say Armstrong didn't look too happy to be there, maybe it was too late for him?

Thursday Events

2008-09-25T13:21:00.005+01:00

Thursday September 25th

9.30	Meet the Dealers	Exhibition Hall
11.00	Lecture: Bill Herz	Congress Theatre
11.45	Lecture: Mike Bent	Floral Hall
12.00	Workshop: Bill Herz (Corporate Magic)	Congress Theatre
13.30	Special Venue Shows	Various
13.45	Close-up Competitions	Tennis Centre
14.00	Ladies Afternoon	Gold Room
14.00	Egg Bag Workshop: Jeff Hobson	Floral Hall
16.15	Lecture: Bob Kohler	Floral Hall
19.00	Micro Marathon	Floral Hall
21.00	Thursday Night Show	Congress Theatre
23.00	Late Night Show	Floral Hall

Video Blog Wed Evening Stage Comp and Late Show

2008-09-25T13:07:00.001+01:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDQbdiTDHO0

VIDEO POST Wed Evening

2008-09-25T11:59:00.004+01:00

Video Review of the Stage Competition, and the Late show! Same as Youtube 1 we like to give you a choice!

Wed Afternoon - Oscar Munoz, Nick Einhorn, Michael Finney

2008-09-25T11:54:00.002+01:00

No-one attended Oscar Munoz 15:00 – So if you did leave your comments here!

Nick Einhorn Lecture 15:30

I was looking forward to this lecture and was a tiny bit disappointed, over hyped myself I guess, oh well, this is what you missed!
Nick started off with a book test which I missed; he then went onto a coin in bottle routine his coin is from Tango magic PLUG!!! It was a very polished routine with a flashy appearing and vanishing bottle. The next effect was a matching watch routine using the PK time principle. A signed card effect was next with the prediction of the chosen card actually on the signed card if that makes any sense?!?! And it was in a wallet! Wow sounds amazing! I guess it was actually… now I think of it! Haha ha.
Then Nick went on to his version of lethal tender which he had specially made for him by Bob Swaddling (who is a legend!!!!) The routine was in a word – Cool! Moving on the last effect that Mr Einhorn performed was a mentalism feat where he predicted the 5 ESP cards mixed into identical envelopes – blindfolded! Strong Mental effect!

7/10

Michael Finney 16:45

Unfortunately Michael’s wife had fallen, briefly before the show and was taken to hospital, so Michael had a bit of a shaky start – all our thoughts are with Michaels wife and hope she makes a speedy recovery.
Michael started off by talking about travelling light and showed us his stage table made from a computer stand. He then went on to show us his 6 card repeat with a glittery finish, then straight into his working of the professor’s nightmare. He then went on to talk about comic timing and his charity ‘The Michael Finney Charity’ which raises money for kids that require open heart surgery. Finally the lecture finished with some of Michaels stand up act which was very funny. Overall 6/10.

Arrived at Eastbourne and levent lecture

2008-09-24T19:31:00.002+01:00

Finally arrived here at 13:30 so thats me missing the opening show!

But Geoff was there to give you all the latest...

Acting President John Styles with his usual humour settled everyone down. John Pye introduced the mayor of Eastbourne who said a few words his humour was good too. He also introduced the FISM President and the Canadian lady president of IBM.

On with the show…

Gene Anderson, a famous American magician using only newspaper for his effects any of these would fit into your act or as a quick opener. I have seen him before but will watch his lecture again.

Next up… Mel Mellors, The whole audience laughed like a drain at his jokes, taking the mick out of everyone in sight. The tricks he did were in no particular order were: 3 in 1 rope (hilarious), Needle thru balloon, balloon models, arm in box (brilliant and very funny). Oh how I wish I could remember just one of his jokes, no sooner had he told one, or made a clean remark, he was onto the next.

The closing act was Sapphire with some very novel bits added to standard illusions a very enjoyable, fast moving, colourful and modern act.

Michael close was the compare who kept the show going at a smooth pace (funny at times).

- Geoff

I was on time for the levent lecture, and in my opinion it was a
good kick start to the convention. Levent was showing his working on
stage magic and handling! Showing his pocketing and secondary object
stealing techniques. He then moved on to a diminishing card effect
using a normal deck. The next effect he showed is was the salt pour,
using his own gimmick he had created which was very practical. Finally
he moved on to his misersdream routine. This routine had some
fantastic ideas, like grabbing someones appearing ear and "picking"
someones pocket. But in my opinion the engineering of the pale was
well a bit crazy and over the top, but hey it works! So far so good!
Stuart had to work but will be blogging with the team tomorrow!

- Matt

About The IBM Magic Convention 2008 Blog

2008-09-18T16:38:00.004+01:00

Hello and welcome to the first ever Live IBM Magic Convention Blog! This Blog will officially start on Wednesday 24th of September, and will contain reviews, news, photos and even VIDEOS.... yes i said videos, of this year's programme. Please leave comments and questions about the convention here (please not as anonymous) and we'll try and get back to you as soon as possible! Enjoy the Blog!