The next show is Friday 24^th February and it’s in The Pony on Bath Street. The Pony was voted best cocktail bar last year I think so it’s a nice wee modern place.  Tickets can be purchased via an online booking system called Event Brite.  It takes Paypal as the credit card charges were a little too pricey.

It’s a fantastic bill.  I managed to Secure 3 top comedians most notably Scottish Comedian of the Year 2009 John Gavin but to be honest the other 2 are just as good it was a toss of a 3 way coin to decide who would be comepere, headline and Middle Spot.  I also have a Dundee Burlesque troupe coming through.  I asked these girls to send me a video and one of their routines had me literally jumping up and down shouting. “I need these guys they’re amazing!!”

So I’ll be opening the show with 20 minutes of a new routine and then I get to sit back and enjoy the show and mingle with the guests.

If you want to come checkout http://www.enterteasement.com/ or go to http://feb24pony-esearch.eventbrite.com/?srnk=2 to buy tickets.

It’s one of those questions magicians get asked a lot it’s up there with;

1)      Can you make my wife disappear?

2)      What do you think of Dynamo?

3)      How did you get into magic?

4)      Can I be your Debbie McGhee?

And my personal favourite… “Do you know Harry Potter?”

However, my answer to the ‘Can You Make My Belly Disappear?’ has always been.  “If I could do that I’d start with my own”.  However, it’s true…I have actually managed to make my belly disappear…well some of it anyway and I have to say it’s been easier than expected and dare I say fun?   Let me explain; it’s my 30^th in April and at New Years I decided that I wanted to be a healthy weight for my birthday.  So I started running but I managed to pull my hamstring and no I can’t “magic it better” and that’s when it hit me I needed something else, something special I needed a magic assistant…well two to be exact.  So I’ve enlisted the services of Jen & Elle – 2 female Personal Trainers from Forward Fitness Glasgow and I’ve been taking their Pilates classes out in the west end of Glasgow and WOW.  I’ve done Pilates before but nothing like this.  It’s friggin amazing and it’s a full body workout as well as a good laugh.  So yeah it’s unfortunate that I can’t do my running as of yet but I’ve lost 8lb this month and the girls have taken good care of me.  Also, my magic shows as of recent times have been going amazingly well and at these shows I keep getting asked if I’m single which I can only conclude means that I’m wearing way to much aftershave (that joke got 19 likes on my facebook so I thought I’d throw it in_

So I’m not going to give you all weekly updates on how my health is going because who knows I could give up next week and then I’d feel stupid.  However, I have a funny feeling I won’t.  I have a feeling that I’ll actually stick with what I’m doing and lose some weight in the process.  Here are my secrets

1)      Eat when you’re hungry

2)      Eat whatever you want

3)      Stop when you’re full

4)      Go to pilates classes at http://www.forwardfitnessglasgow.com/pilates/

I was going to do this for charity but I’ve decided to be totally selfish and do it for myself.  I’m hoping to lose another 8-10lb in Feb and the same again in March.  Wish me luck folks!!

“Are there any magicians in Scotland like Dynamo?d How Does Dynamo put the mobile phone in the bottle? These are 2 questions that I get asked every night at the moment and they’ve got me thinking about my own magic career and the perception that the public have on not just magicians but entertainers in general.  The thought is that the cream will always rise to the top and that Dynamo is heads and shoulders above the rest of us because he actually has magical powers.   Both of which are not the case and when I try to describe my thoughts on TV Magicians I’m often looked at with a kind of…”aren’t you just jealous?”

Performing Magic on TV

Be honest, if someone slightly weird looking approached you in the street and started staring at you intensely  how would you feel?  I know I’d be freaked out and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone; however, picture the same scene, a weird looking guy approaches you but this time there’s a TV cameras and a sound boom and god knows what else.  The first thing to go through your head is probably –“ I’m going to be on TV” and the second thought is – “hey there’s that guy off the telly”  Now I will add, as far as I’m aware, there are no camera tricks on his show.

The Last I was asked to perform magic on TV to demonstrate if magic could attract girls. Now believe it or not I’ve written a small book on the psychology of approaching groups but all my experience and knowledge could be thrown out the window when you approach with a camera crew behind you…and I’m not even famous.  The girls were happily enjoying their lunch so this situation would normally take two minutes of introduction & rapport building to provide the girls with a pleasurable magic experience (not that type of experience for my normal readers) However, the lights were on, the camera was on and as soon as I approached the girls were more than happy to be on camera. 

What am I trying to say?  If you would like a magician like dynamo to perform at your event you have to ask yourself this question?

Do I want the magician to give my guests a demonstration of magic…or do I want my guests to be entertained via magic?

Magician vs Magical Entertainer

For the last 9 years I have asked my clients, “why are you considering hiring a magician” and they’ve always had the same answers,

• We want something different
• We want some entertainment during the break
• I’m just a big kid and I like magic

However, in all my experience I’ve never had one enquiry asking me to make their guests believe in magic or to do a demonstrations of magic.

Am I better or worse than Dynamo?

In all honesty we’re just different performers.  I do like his show though and magicians love him because he’s made magic popular again so more bookings for us.  So yes Magicians in Scotland do like Dynamo  to find out more about him visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamo_(magician)

I was asked if I could perform a trick for the McCauley & CO radio listeners on BBC Radio Scotland.  Now the tricks I perform are all very visual but I thought “BBC, I can do it”

So  I said, “Yes I could do that”

Then BBC Paul said, “And could you teach that trick to the audience at home?”

Even the books I learn magic tricks from have pictures in them but teaching a trick over the radio – that’s a challenge.  However, my brain said, “BBC, I can do it”

So I said, “Yes I could do that”

And then he said, “And it will be performed close-up to Fred but also to an audience of 200”

By that point I was in for a penny in for a pound.

So I replied “ No problem”

Then he asked if I could teach a trick to Richard ‘The Challenge Guy’ Now this is something I love doing so I was really looking forward to it.

Choosing tricks to perform on the radio

I’ve heard about 5 magicians perform magic on the radio.  All 5 have performed mind-reading and 3 have performed the same trick.  Why?  Because mindreading works on the radio as it happens in the person’s mind.  Whereas magic is more visual.  So I decided I would perform a card trick (as requested) but I would perform it in a mind-reading style.

Teaching a trick for the radio

I was told I had an hour with Richard. As Richard has performed lots of challenges and even a good few magic challenges, I didn’t have to worry about him dealing with stage fright or performance issues.  So what was my goal?  No disrespect to the other tricks that he’d learned but they are what we refer to in the magic business as “Self Working Magic” These are similar to the trick I taught in the original piece.  So I had the option of teaching Richard one of these tricks in 10 minutes and play it safe.  But that’s not what I wanted.  I’ve spoken to a few magicians who have changed careers and I’ve asked them if it was hard to re-learn.  They’ve always answered with…”It’s not like learning how to do x shuffle or y move” And this is what I wanted to do with Richard.  It was my goal to push him and show how complicated magic can be to learn.  So I taught him one of my favourite tricks.  If I had 40 minutes I wouldn’t have taught him it but I knew I could teach him it in an hour.

30 minutes in and I wasn’t so sure but by the time we were on the 40 minute mark he had it and the last 20 minutes we polished it up and added some showmanship and presentation.

Showtime – Woody On The Radio

I arrived and met the team which was weird as the co-host was my friends ex-girlfriend and I met 2 comedians I know as well.  I then Met Fred McCauley who said it was nice to meet me,  I informed him we had met before and I could sense his embarrasement at not remembering my face but I put him at ease by telling him he wouldn’t remember me as it a) it was only a brief encounter b) it was 8 years ago and c) I was dresses as Santa Clause at the time.

When the show started I walked on and started telling my magic story.  When It came time for me to teach the trick Fred semed surprised and asked if the Magic Circle would be annoyed and I replied by saying, “Only if you pay your fees”.  I’d just received a letter saying mine are due so this got an audience laugh.  However after performing my magic and teaching the effect he asked if I could perform some mind-reading.  This caught me off gaurd as it wasn’t in the script at all and I’d given away the pack of cards.  I did however have a dowsing pendulum with me so I brought that out but to be honest I don’t think it’s the type of trick that works on radio.

Push a 10p into a can of irn-bru.  Unbeknown to me at the time, you’re not allowed to say products name’s over the radio but I must have said it 5 times – oops

It was time for Richards performance – we were told we were really short on time and that the piece may be cancelled.  However, we were told we had a maximum of 2 minutes.  More pressure on Richard so he started the trick and he hit the coin into the can and rather than the coin go in the can the can shot halfway across from the stage – Doh!

Now for those of you who know me will know I’m Mr Back-up so behind Richard, I had a spare can of Irn-bru or as Fred referred to it – “A can of a very popular Scottish fizzy drink”.

Richard continued and performed the trick really well and got a great reaction from the audience.  Afterwards Richard said he had performed 900 challenges and this was the one that made him most nervous.  So I feel like I’ve done myself proud and whenever Richard talks about his challenges he’ll always talk about how complexities of sleight of hand.

As the link to the radio will die in the middle of December I’m not going to post it but hopefully I’ll have a link up soon.

In conclusion, magic on the radio was fun!!

On the same bill are 3 of the top comedians in Scotland, 3 beautiful burlesque acts and a cheeky surprise finish

For Chris’ Sake: Sunday 21st 3 sisters (room with a view) 139 CowgateEH1 1JSFree5pm

There are several comedians in Scotland called Chris and one of them, Chris Stephen, decided to put on an event for Comedians Called Chris.  I might be compering this one so lots of stage time.

Rat Ars&d: Friday 26th Rat Arsed 9 Shandwhich place EH2 4RGfree 9 pm

A collection of the up and coming Scottish talent.  It’s free so it might be pants, but you could be pleasantly surprised.

Lou Hickey live at Ghillie Dhu: Sunday 28th Ghillie Dhu2 Rutland PlaceEdinburghEH1 2AD£4 8:30 – 11:00pm

I performed at the launch of this and it’s a fantastic wee night.  I think the tickets are £4 which is a total bargain.  The venue is amazing and they have fantastic acts on.  Lou Hickey is pretty famous, she was Scotland’s most Eligible woman and has had Albums in the charts and all that jive.  It’s a cracking wee show.

Near the end of the show I was having a chat with the Event Organiser, he wasn’t wearing a badge or anything and he just looked like a guest. He asked me how the show was going but before I had time to answer we were interrupted by the videographer.

He was very enthusiastic and proceeded to critique of my performance. You literally can’t pay for advertising like this.

“I’ve been Videoing weddings for 7 years and I must have seen 50 of you guys [magicians] and without a shadow of a doubt you’re the best. None of the others let me film them in case something goes wrong. But you, with that rope, and those cards, I’ve never seen anything like it but you’re also dead funny – can I have your card”

When he left I said to the organizer, “That’s how it went”