I just returned from the World Magic Seminar, a fantastic convention in the greatest magic city in the world. I perform in Vegas a lot, but usually only for a night, privately, and then I’m off again. What made this trip exciting was that I decided to go all out, and see a show every night I wasn’t working. I stayed an extra week to do so, and what follows is a short summation of the things I loved, and how you as magicians might like them, too.

Bear in mind that I’m honored to say most of these people are friends of varying degrees, so I wanted to like the shows. And without exception, I did.

Also, two tips. This is a great time to see shows in Vegas because attendance is quite low and literally all the major shows are offering half-price tickets. Second, after a show one night, pop into the Paris hotel and have a drink at the dueling piano bar. It’s a cool, fun, mindless, free way to wind down after a show.

Luke Jermay’s Mental at Osheas. Luke’s style of mindreading works for me; he’s an intelligent, edgy guy, and his material has always intrigued me. I’m elated for him that he has a show on the strip, and he told me some exciting news about the next step in his career. I enjoyed seeing this show immensely, and he dealt with the difficult task of a very small crowd the night I attended, and he handled this and another unexpected problem with aplomb.

Jason Alexander as Donny Clay. Related only to magic in the sense that Jason does some, and that he kindly blurbed my book, I attended so that I could have the great honor of hanging with him after the show. My good friend Jon Lovick techs the show, and the three of us had a nice conversation backstage that made two things abundantly clear to me: Jason Alexander is a humble, kind man. And, he has a refined, mature outlook on magic. The show itself, “Donny Clay,” is an hilarious spoof on crackpot “motivational” speakers (think Tony Robbins, but even moreself-serving). It’s a topic that begs for satire, and this is the best I’ve seen. Alexander dances, sings, and does improv with audience volunteers, and as magicians we can appreciate the skill required for all three things.

Penn and Teller. The hippest guys in the room, no matter the room. This show is, as it has always been, boundary-pushing, self-expressive, political, and extremely deceptive. It’s a magic show for the most refined magic tastes, and they have loads of new material. Teller’s production in the beginning of the show is pitch-perfect, and every routine is a high-point. It’s obvious that these two gentleman are always hard at work on new material, refining their show, and giving value for the ticket (Penn accompanies a jazz pianist for a jam session before each show, and both Penn and Teller stay after to sign autographs). These little touches help make this show an easy recommendation, and there’s one more omission to the show that makes it even more palatable. Penn has dropped the F-bomb completely. I’m no prude, and this word never bothers me onstage or off, but when I last saw the show (eight years ago), he was peppering every sentence with it two or three times. It was more annoying than it was “blue,” and with this minor pretension gone, the show is, put simply, a perfect, artistic magic show.

Criss Angel’s Believe. This show is about to become good. You’ve read all the biting press, and cab drivers and bell men all over the city cautioned me (without prompting) not to see this show. Indeed, magicians I attended with who had seen it before said that the previous incarnations were sloppy and ineffective.

I’m happy to say I liked the show. There are problems, I think, but these are fixable. Criss came across very likeable onstage, and the people surrounding us in the theater were Angel “loyals,” and very happy with the performance he gave them. The show now contains eight illusions (up from a measly three he opened with). I’m told that by April, all the dance numbers will go (no big loss, trust me), and there will be thirty illusions in what will certainly be considered a full-on magic show (rather than a Cirque collaboration). This is a smart move, and as Criss works in the new material, I think it will turn out to be a great show.

Ka. The must-see show in Las Vegas. Worth every penny of its expensive ticket price, it has nothing to do with magic, but it’s an evening you’ll never forget. I first saw the show with Rune Klan, Joel Givens, and Raj Madhok, and it nearly melted our faces off it was so visually arresting. Eight years later it’s tighter, a bit shorter, and has an even clearer story-line.

David Copperfield. I grew up on Copperfield, and saw him often as a child. But it has been too long since I have had the pleasure, and it was great to see him again. This particular show was great for me, because it contained the perfect balance of “vintage Coppa” as well new things that fooled me. Of old favorites, he closed with my favorite grand illusion: The Fan, which he now does alone (indeed, there are no assistants or dancing in the show, which gives the whole production a more intimate feel, and is a wise decision as Copperfield’s persona in now well into middle-age). He also did the Scorpion card location, which is wicked cool, and Kenner’s ring flite to the miniature shoe—always a crowd pleaser. He did James’ Floating Rose, and my girlfriend loved this; it always looks amazing when David does it.

Of the newer material, there is a car production that I did not expect at all, and it happened right in front of my face: fabulous. He does a beautiful locked-box prediction routine with many layers of deception, filled with good interaction. He also penetrated a solid sheet of metal, and this looked marvelous. Copperfield’s show just gets better and better: fabulous writing, wonderful choice of material, and now, more than ever, we get a sense of his humanity (his background, his father, his passions, etc.). Another amazing evening.

Amazing Johnathan. Straight from Copperfield we zipped in a cab to the anti-Copperfield, The Amazing Johnathan. I had seen this show more recently (but not in this theater), and it was largely the same fun, hilarious set. If you’ve never seen AJ before, see him in this new venue; it’s conveniently located and a good space for him.

Love. Another non-magic show, and another feast for the eyes. If you love Beatles music you’ll adore this show. If you’re like me, and like Beatles music, you will like this show. If you can choose one Cirque show (and you might have to, as tickets for all of them are 150 bucks or so), I still think Ka has moments that shine brighter than Love. But my girlfriend would dispute this assertion because they’re both so good.

Phantom of the Opera. It would seem that this is a non-magic show, but see it for two reasons. First, if you’re a fan of the play, the Venetian is without question the place to see this show. They built the theater from scratch, and it has the best production values of any play I have ever seen. Second, there are some great magic special effects in the show, with the Phantom appearing and vanishing in startling, unexpected ways. A very family or wife-friendly show, you will enjoy it.

We asked stars of The Session 2010 (Jan 16 – 17 2010) to talk about their all new lectures that they’ll be performing at The Session. Here’s what they had to say:

I’ve been to LA five or six times before … but never left the airport. This time though, we hired a car and drove across the desert to see it for real. Our first stop, like true tourists, was to take a tour of celebrity houses and hang-out points. There was a problem though – our tourist guide made stuff up. Yup, he was just making stuff up throughout the entire tour. He lied about some of the places that movies were shot and then even worse, he lied about magic. He pulled up outside of the Magic Castle and gave us the history for it. “The Magic Castle was built for Houdini who performed there several times during his life. It’s where the rich and famous go to see magic.” Well, unless the seances actually worked, I’m pretty sure that Houdini hasn’t been around to perform at the Castle since it opened in the early 1960’s.

We were lucky though; Aaron Fisher had invited us to visit the Castle and find out the real history. He was the perfect host and arranged for his friend Josh Saks to give us a tour of the place while he performed his parlour act. We got to see Aaron’s act too and I have to say, he was on top form with a great act and some really creative magic. I’ve seen Aaron perform several times before and it was really great to see him work for lay people.

I also managed to hang out with a few magicians while I was there, but as this was a social visit with my girlfriend more than an opportunity to session, I kept it to a minimum! Along with Aaron and Josh, Tom Frank, John Lovick and Dan Sylvester were all around to hang out. Dan showed me some really creative magic, including some of his card work which I’ve never seen before.

The day after the night before, we continued with the magic! Tom Frank and Aaron Fisher took us to Malibu for a day at the beach, including sun, sea, food and magic! We sessioned on various ideas including some moves, poker deals, presentations and other effects. I’ve not had a session on a beach for a long time, so this was definitely fun! Tom and Aaron are both great magicians, so it was a lot of fun discussing ideas with them.

After Malibu, we made a start on the long drive to Lake Tahoe, where we stayed for a couple of days. I’m afraid to say though L&L fans that I didn’t get to see John or Dave. Sorry to disappoint.

And finally, we visited San Francisco. The city itself was nice, but didn’t appeal as much as I had hoped. However, I did notice something interesting: the homeless people and charity workers had way better introductions than most magicians I’ve seen! For example, I was happy to see the famous “Bush Man” who apparently earns $60k a year (tax free!) by jumping up on people from behind a bush that he crafted himself and then asking for tips. Another guy stopped me in the street wanted me to bet him $10 that he could tell me where I bought my shoes. And my favourite told me he was a member of the “Fun Police” and gave me a full rundown of what he and his team do … then he asked me to donate to homeless people. I’d love to see magicians apply some creative introductions in this kind of way. It’s been a long and tiring three weeks. What was originally a fun holiday turned into a magical one too.

That’s the end of this series of posts. Things are back to normal now and I’m firmly back into my normal life … but not for long hopefully! I’ll be posting twice more this week so be sure to come back!

What happened in Vegas stays in Vegas … and on the Clog.

After an exhaustingly early start that followed at stupidly late at the IBM – SAM convention, I found myself en route to Las Vegas to meet my girlfriend who was flying in from the UK. We’ve been to Vegas a few times together (this was my ninth time and her third), so we’d pretty much seen all of the magic shows out there before. However, we did see two non-magic shows that have interesting content that applies to magic.

The Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian is Andrew Lloyd Weber’s shortened adaptation of his classic musical. The singing and acting were great and as far as the set goes, this was the most unsubtle show I’ve ever seen: they know they have great scenery and they’re keen to show it off. I wasn’t expecting to see any stage illusions, so it was a nice surprise to see the Phantom vanish from a De Kolta Chair and appear in a flash (which, by the way, looked amazing). The illusions were designed by Jim Steinmeyer and fitted well into the show. The fact that the illusions were used as part of the story and never actually focused on created an interesting reaction from the audience who looked at each other in confusion as to what just happened. It seems that when magic happens without announcement, it creates a totally different (and perhaps stronger) reaction.

The other show also followed the “we’ve got great scenery and we want to show it off” rule. KA at the MGM Grand is a Circ Du Soleil production and in my opinion comes only second to O; their show at the Belagio. There’s no magic in the show, but there is a lot than a magician can learn from this and all the other Circ shows. I’d like to delve deeper into one of the things I came out with in another post, but there was something else that got me thinking too: I realised that in Circ Du Soleil’s world, the show doesn’t start and end; it’s going on right from the moment you enter the theatre and continues until you leave. The ushers are in character, the theatre is congruent with the show and special effects are going off everywhere and that’s before you’ve even found your seat. Most magicians on the other hand are either on or off and they tend to only turn it on when the show has started. I wonder whether there’s something to learn from that. I’m not sure how yet (although I have a few ideas bouncing around), but I have always thought that it was an interesting structure for a show.

That’s just the magic run down. We went to the Grand Canyon twice (after our first helicopter had to make an emergency landing), beat the system by winning $42 on the slots (take that Steve Wynn … you’re going down!), eating far too many buffets and realising that the National Lampoons lied (there isn’t a door in the middle of Hoover Dam afterall). Then we moved onto LA. I’ll post about that tomorrow – stay posted as this is going to be a busy week on the Clog.

Sometimes things just work out. I hadn’t planned to attend the IBM – SAM convention in Louisville, but things fell into place a few weeks ago. I had booked a two-week holiday on the west coast of America, but at the last minute, a number of things fell into place that allowed me the time to fly ahead a week early.

As I have reviewed the entire convention for MAGIC Magazine (more on that in a future post), I wasn’t intending on posting a great deal on the Clog about the convention, but after reminiscing, I realised that I had a lot of stories to share and most importantly people to thank so I had to write something.

With a large British contingent flying over to Vegas, being one of the few in my group of friends that couldn’t originally make it, I decided not to tell them of my attendance and instead surprise them when I got to Louisville! They were (luckily) happy to see me and along with my roommate Joshua Jay and good friends Rune Klan and Karl Hein (who, despite the name, isn’t actually German), they made the whole convention incredibly worthwhile.

There was plenty of time between events at the convention, which gave me the opportunity to spend time with friends. My closest friends in magic come from all over the globe, so this convention meant a lot in that respect: for some, it’s the first time I’ve seen them for over a year. Others live on my doorstep (it’s not too comfortable, but they manage), but it was still a lot of fun hanging out with them.

Richard Hatch and Charlie Randall of H&R stocked my books at the convention and did an incredibly good job as I met a lot of people who had purchased them and wanted to see some of the items performed. 52 Memories was the most popular of the books and I was thrilled to be able to perform Jack’s magic for people who wanted to get a sneak preview. One night, I had a two-hour long session on magic from the book and that was a lot of fun.

Weirdly for me, I didn’t perform as much magic as I normally do at a convention. The social aspect took over and I relished the time with my friends. The whole convention felt a lot more social and with just a few events each day it made it easier to just hang out without having to worry about what you may be missing.

The magic was great too though. With lectures on close-up magic from Jim Steinmeyer, Jon Racherbaumer, David Ben, David Williamson and more, all close-up guys had a great time! I’ll be covering all of that in great depth in MAGIC Magazine, so I think it’s time to address some of the real scoop* that’s not fit to print in a magazine convention review.

- Rune and I had noticed that magicians can’t stand in an elevator without making a joke about something. So, I decided to get my own back and do a one-man stand-up routine every time I used the elevator. “Just to let you know, the button for floor six is broke, so you need to hit three twice.” “Wow, are we in an elevator or is gravity failing again?” Yup, I got my own back with those; potentially the worst gags of all time.

- Like many people at the convention, my name badge had a misprint. Mine, however had a 6,000 mile misprint as it said that I was from Nevada. I, of course, kept up with my new identity and convinced half of the magic world that I now live in Vegas. So, if you’re coming to see me there, I’m afraid you won’t find me.

- I needed to use the bathroom and so did Karl (still not German) and Rune. They’d finished before me and were talking about false shuffles. I could hear the riffles, but being in a stall made it difficult for me to see the actual move. So Karl obliged and reached under the door to show me the move. Unfortunately, I still couldn’t see it; it turned out that he got the wrong stall and someone else got to see the show instead! Sorry; whoever you were.

That’s all for now. I was away from home for over three weeks and am just settling back in. I hope to be posting more about the magical portions of my holiday soon.

* Shame on you if you thought that was the interesting stuff. That stuff just ain’t fit to print!

Having friends from afar over to stay for a few days is the perfect excuse to be a tourist in your own back yard. That’s exactly what has been happening over the last few weeks while Joshua Jay has been staying with me at various intervals on his two-month long UK lecture tour.

Amongst all the castles and museums that we have visited, Joshua was keen to see the Bizarre Bath Walk – an evening show by magician and comedian Noel Britten. I’ve always wanted to see the show too, but that’s the problem when such great things are on your doorstep; everyday life takes over and you never get round to doing them. But I’m so glad that Joshua wanted to see this show – it’s fantastic.

There’s plenty that makes the Bizarre Bath Walk interesting and unique. Firstly, “magic” is not once mentioned throughout the entire two-hour show. There are five or six pieces of captivating and well-considered magic, but Noel presents them in such a way that leaves the audience thinking (and often saying to each other), “What just happened there?!” It’s a fascinating tactic that really works well in this context. The effect of this is that the one hundred or so audience members that were on the same walk as us didn’t appear to see Noel as a magician but instead as a hysterically funny tour guide that probably didn’t pay too much attention in his history lessons at school. This makes everything he does feel so much more magical and unexpected.

To my knowledge, the show is the only of its kind: a street comedy magic show where the audience join in by walking around a city with the performer. There’s no real historical content about the city of Bath – just plenty of anecdotes, tricks/stunts and comedy. Noel Britten is the perfect host and makes the whole event feel fresh and original, even though he told me that has been performing the show (in an almost identical format) for seventeen years. Everything seems spontaneous, yet polished – even when Noel is interacting with random passers-by who have absolutely no idea what is going on! He’s truly got the show down to an art and has managed to avoid that gruff feel that many street entertainers have: the whole thing feels much more like a welcoming show instead of a tour, or piece of street entertainment.

I could write for pages on the content of the show, but I’m reminded of the time I tried to explain the Blue Man Group to some friends: there’s no way of summarising it. The only way to understand such a show is to experience it for yourself. And I highly recommend that you make the effort to do so.

So, to Josh – thanks for giving me an excuse to see the show. Last weekend we saw Mark Shortland and Tim Vine at the Cheltenham Town Hall which I enjoyed equally as much. It’s great to experience so much great magic as a layman in disguise; it’s the perfect opportunity to see what really makes audience’s tick.

Every January I organise The Session – a magic convention in the UK. This means that I probably spend more time thinking about magic conventions than most people! The subject of my thoughts recently have been how magicians can take the most away from a magic convention and learn the optimum amount of magic. I estimate that at least 90% of magicians don’t actually perform any of the tricks they learn or buy at a convention and think that with The Session, I can help to change that.

We’ve made some great changes to the convention format for The Session 2008 that I think will really help, but unfortunately most magic convention organisers don’t consider this kind of thing. So, given that not everyone on my mailing list will be able to make it to The Session 2008, I have put together a list of my top five tips for learning the most at a magic convention:

1. Make a list of the tricks and moves that you’d like to learn
I estimate that at The Session 2008, approximately 100 tricks will be performed and taught. You’re never going to learn that many tricks, so during each lecture, why not take note of the tricks that you would eventually like to learn? That way, you won’t get home and slip back into your daily regime and totally forget about the tricks that you wanted to learn.

2. Introduce yourself to the performers
When I lecture at a magic club or convention, I make myself available for as much time as possible. I know many of my friends do the same too. So, if you saw something in a lecture that you’d like to learn, why not hunt down the performer and discuss the trick in more detail with them? This is especially useful if you’re at a smaller convention, where you normally get to learn more anyway.

3. Buy any gimmicks that you need while at the convention
If you don’t own a double-backer, but need one to perform one of the tricks from a lecture, why not buy the gimmicks at that very convention so that you’ve got everything you need to learn the trick as soon as you’re ready. This is the prime reason that I like to have a few dealers at The Session – so that people can get exactly what they need without any hassle.

4. Don’t wait until you get home
Everyone has the good intention to learn certain tricks when they get home from the convention, but eventually time goes on and you forget important details, or entire tricks! So, why not use the breaks, or evenings at a convention to spend ten minutes running through a routine to make sure you know everything you need. And if you don’t, go back and familiarise yourself with the second item on my list!

5. Make notes, or buy them
At magic conventions, you get so much information pushed into your brain that you will definitely forget the details. Why not take your own notes so that you remember the important details? And of course, you can support the lecturers by purchasing their lecture notes too.

Come to The Session 2008
The Session 2008 is the magic convention that I co-organise. It’s held in Gloucester (South West UK) on Jan 26th / 27th 2008. We have a long list of performers, including Chad Long, Aaron Fisher, Tom Stone, Michael Vincent, Matthew Dowden, Dave Forrest, Will Houstoun and many more. More info available at: http://www.sessionconvention.com.

The fact that more than a month has passed since the MAGIC Live! convention in Las Vegas serves only as a reminder of just how little spare I have had since the convention. With a busy day job that taunts me for many more hours than one man should work, topped with adding the finished touches to 52 Memories, I almost forgot about sharing my thoughts of this wonderful convention. And as I begin to reminisce, I remember just how much fun I had.

For me, the convention started a few days before most when I touched down into Las Vegas. As I walked through the large arrival doors, confronted with the fact that I had to battle the taxi queues in the punishing Las Vegas heat, I noticed my three favourite Canadians, Tyler Wilson, Ryan Pilling and Donovan Deschner (oh yes, even Dai Vernon doesn’t get a look in when these guys are around). The three of them stood united, holding a sign with the name “Andy Leviss” on it. Normally I’d be somewhat annoyed if somebody deliberately confused me with my old A Squared Productions buddy as they did, but their friendly banter was welcomed as I confirmed that it was me that they had come to surprise at the airport!

After quickly checking into my room, I was ready to have fun. Forget that I hadn’t sleep for 24 hours; I was in Vegas! Through somewhat of a coincidence, my three Canadian friends and chauffeurs were in the room next door to mine. If that wasn’t lucky enough, my friends Joshua Jay, Rune Klan and Joel Givens were all immediately opposite. I knew this was going to be fun! The sessions began the moment I arrived and they went on constantly throughout the whole event.

We all decided to celebrate our room arrangements with a visit to the Las Vegas strip, which started with the New York, New York rollercoaster and then straight on to see Lance Burton’s show. Josh and I appeared on Lance’s Young Magician’s Showcase television special six years ago, so that theatre always brings back memories of our red suits, cheesy haircuts and week-long sessions. It was great to spend some time with Lance before moving on to the Monte Carlo bar and then later back to the convention hotel, The Orleans. I think I managed around 35 hours before I decided to call it a night and get some sleep.

I could stop here and sum the convention up as exactly the same as you’ve just read: great friends, great magic shows, constant sessions and a whole lot of fun. But you’ve read this far, so I should at least tell you a bit about the convention. I’ll list some highlights of the official events:

Johnny Thompson’s talk on Charlie Miller was a great insight on a man that I have studied a lot. His Magicana columns in Genii magazine are a collection of some of the most insightful parlour and close-up magic tricks and essays I have read and his other published work is equally as good. To hear someone like Johnny, one of Charlie’s closest friends, tell stories about the man was a real thrill and I thoroughly enjoyed this event.

Michael Weber hosted an afternoon that really made the convention special. He started with some incredibly funny observations about the convention and magic in general, taught some of his own fantastic close-up magic and then interviewed Cyril of street magic and YouTube fame. MAGIC magazine have a certain influence that most other conventions do not, so to have someone like Cyril there was really a unique experience.

Another highlight was Joshua Jay’s informal Talk About Tricks session. Josh called on his friends to stop by and perform for a large group of avid close-up magicians. I performed three or four sets, including a trick with Rune Klan that made me feel somewhat alive, while feeling somewhat numb inside. It’s a long story for another day, but it will always stay with me as one of my most interesting convention performances to date.

It’s easy to sum up any convention with just details of events, but that’s like listing the ingredients that you might eat at a restaurant. For me, the most important thing for this convention was the people. I managed to catch up with many old friends, meet with some business acquaintances and customers, talk business with other publishers such as Todd Karr (Miracle Factory) and Gabe Fajuri (Squash Publications) and session with lots of different groups. In all, I had the time of my life and it was great to be around so many like-minded people for a week.

MAGIC’s sweet sixteen celebrations were a blast. I can’t wait to see what Stan and his team have planned for their next milestone (perhaps twenty years old?). If they do organise another convention, in the words of Shakira, “Whenever, wherever we’ll learn to be together. I’ll be there and you’ll be near and that’s the deal my dear.” Or something like that. Basically, if Stan puts on another convention I’ll be there!

Having attended 100’s of lectures of the past few years, there’s something that I think really needs to be addressed if people are actually going to learn something from the lecture. It’s not a problem with the lecturer, but with the audience:

Where are their notebooks, their pens, their cards and coins? How are people really going to learn from the lecturer if they don’t bring props to actually try the tricks out, or in the very least notebooks to write things down in?

Lectures are a great opportunity to learn in a way that should be far more effective than learning from books and DVDs. Of course, many lecturers make lecture notes available to learn the tricks at a later date, but they then become nothing more than normal books … and a wasted opportunity. I’m convinced that the best way to learn from a lecture is to try things out at the lecture. Then you can ask questions and get them answered by the expert immediately.

Lee Asher and Aaron Fisher are masters at this form of lecture, but I think the onus should be on the participants just as much as the lecturer. So, my advice is simply this: if you want to take something away from a lecture, take something to the lecture … a deck of cards, for example. I’m sure the lecturer would be delighted if you followed along with their explanation. I know I am when people do this in my lectures.

So, the next time you go to a lecture, be like that guy from the picture above and take a deck of cards with you and follow along. He came to one of the lectures on the T&A Tour and actually went away being able to perform some new tricks. You could too.

I’ve been living in London for a little over a month and am really enjoying having so much magic on my doorstep. Last night was a good example as I was able to stop by International Magic to see Paul Wilson lecture.

I first met Paul at the Blackpool Convention four or five years ago but have never managed to see him lecture. In Janurary this year my girlfriend and I took Luke, Tyler, Robbie Moreland and Paul Cummins on a trip to London and when we went down to breakfast one morning I saw Paul sipping coffee on the table next to us! It turned out he was filming something for his Real Hustle TV show in that same hotel. He was pretty busy but we managed to session for an hour or so once we got back from hanging out with the Queen at her house (well, she wouldn’t actually let us in, but that’s another story).

The lecture had a good turnout with around 40 people attending and was held above a pasta resturant just down the road from the International Magic shop. Before the lecture I spent a little time chatting to Michael Vincent (who lives around thirty seconds from my appartment!), Noel Qualter, Andrew Murray and then later on Dynamo, Myles Nakouzi, Will Houstoun and a few others. It’s always fun to hang out with all of those guys so that alone certainly made it worthwhile.

Anyway, onto the subject at hand – Paul’s lecture. The one thing I constantly forget about Paul is how versatile he is. I always see him as a card magician, but in reality he only explained three or four card tricks. A couple of the card tricks that he taught came straight from his Unreal Work DVD, which I am looking forward to watching tonight.

As for his non-card material, I particularly enjoyed his Jardine Ellis Ring and stick routine. Like most people, I played around with routines using this prop when I was younger (mainly trying out routines from the long treatise that appeared in Pentagram magazine) but never found anything I was happy with. Paul’s routine, however, is pure eye-candy and extremely fooling. If you ever want to learn such a routine, Paul’s should definitely be the first place you look (with the Pentagram being second). Also, Paul’s handling of the Thumb Tip was a lot of fun too. I was completely fooled by some of the moments in the routine and thought it was incredibly well structured. The same applies to some of Paul’s coin magic too; especially his Crowded Coins / Scottish Fly routine.

Paul doesn’t lecture very often any more so I was pleased to get this opportunity to see him lecture.