Sunday was the final day of the convention and started out in a great way, with the second of the Flicking Fingers lectures. Again this was a joint lecture between Pit Hartling and Manuel Muerte. Manuel performed and explained a Coin and Marker routine that saw the coin and the marker magically grow in size. Pit performed his Cupid routine, and along with a great spectator and Pit’s well scripted trick it made for a great performance piece. Essentially it is a matching card effect in three phases, the final phase is where all the cards pair up, helped by the Joker who plays the part of Cupid. Manuel was back with a very clever impromptu card-in-shoe idea, that incorporates a glass from shoe production. Pit then performed Unforgettable, a memory effect where the properties of Orange Juice allow him to remember the order of the cards. Finally Manuel performed and explained a bill in cigarette. A fantastic lecture, and its just a shame it had to be a bit rushed because of time constraints.

Before the Close-up Gala came the Awards Ceremony, as has already been reported the Awards of Merit went to Andost, Rene Jensen and Paul Sommersguter. The results in reverse order were 3rd – Alexander Hansford, 2nd – Kim Min Hung and 1st – Matthew Wright.

First on the Close-up Gala Show was Tyler Wilson, he bounded on with his usual ebullience and launched straight into a Story Deck with a borrowed pack, I won’t spoil it for you but if you ever see Tyler ask him to show you! A trick and gag with an iPhone turned out to actually be a low-tech prediction and finally Tyler showed us his version of Anniversary Waltz combined with Card-on-Ceiling not an easy trick in the Mermaid, and Tyler had to climb up a very precarious looking ladder to retrieve the card, and bring the trick to it’s successful conclusion.

Ricky Smith followed, again like Tyler if you have never seen Ricky his performing style is very difficult to describe, don’t let Ricky’s almost throw-away style of delivery fool you he has the chops of a ninja, and his droll humour makes him a force to be reckoned with, he performed a card stab and torn and restored card.

Derek Hughes for me was another highlight of the convention, a name I didn’t know before and really enjoyed his performance in both Gala shows. Here he performed a Card Sandwich routine, a Coin under Watch and a Card in Envelope.

Manuel Muerte performed his Misdirection act, with the Mice and Bottle of Champagne, where Cigars keep appearing, and finally a borrowed burnt note, appears in the cork of the bottle, and the bottle reseals itself.

Thomas Fraps performed with Gaston a Card Stab routine helped by a Mr Punch puppet, that eventually got stabbed along with the signed card.

Pit Hartling performed his Matching Cards routine from his Little Green Lecture video and a Card Party Triumph with a very funny cod-explanation helped out by another two of the Flicking Fingers acting as drunk spectators, who caught all of his moves.

Finally Ponta the Smith closed with a silent routine, not quite the opening I had expected with Sponge Bananas and Rose manipulation, but then into the material he is more known for, Coins from Rope and a Wild Coin routine finished a highly polished act and the Close-up Gala show.

Ponta the Smith was next on the programme with his lecture. This was a very short lecture, and was slightly hampered by him not speaking any English, and Keiko Trillo did a very good job of trying to translate, but it is difficult if you are not familiar with the technical words. However there were some great points that he did get across, including how to practice your false transfers, to think about the Spirit or Essence of the Coins, and Ponta showed us his tips on the Fake Take, Retention Vanish and French Drop. He finished by running through an explanation of his Coins from Rope and a Coins to Glass routine.

The Berglas International Award is always a much anticipated part of the convention. David started with talking about his Foundation, and the award, and gave us some hints to this years recipient, he finally announced that it was the person on the front of this month’s Genii magazine Juan Tamariz. They started taking questions over a Skype link with the explanation that Juan was busy working in Spain. The link seemed to break down, but it was really an excuse to produce Juan in person and he walked on stage to the first of several standing ovations.

David took questions from the Audience, and Juan talked about his theory of magic, and gave advice and tips that can only come from a lifetime in the craft. Finally David persuaded Juan to perform a couple of pieces, he started with finding two cards that made the value of a previously selected card. And then he performed Mnemonicosis, he had Gazzo phone someone up and name a card, and then completely hands-off Juan still managed to magically find the card in the deck. A fitting recipient of the award, and it was great to spend an hour in the company of someone so well respected and loved in our magic community.

Then it was time for the Gala Show. Paul Dabek opened with a fast paced manipulation act, appearing and colour changing canes, silk fountains, card manipulation and throwing, and a production of a giant flag to finish.

Nikolai Friedlich is the current FISM Mentalism Champion, he performed a routine where he divined a Spectators Birthday, and then he sealed a borrowed picture into an envelope and distributed it and several other envelopes around the audience and he was still able to find the picture and name the person in it.

Derek Hughes proved that card magic can work on stage, he opened with a great rope routine, and then performed a version of the Francis Carlyle Homing Card with 51 Cards to Pocket ending, brilliantly routined and scripted for use on stage, and a great handling of his audience volunteer made this play a lot larger. He finished his set with a Torn and Restored Newspaper.

Tom Noddy who I remember from the Paul Daniels show, performed his Bubble Act, showing his absolute mastery of this specialism, with every conceivable formation of bubbles, and using smoke to highlight them.

Romany started off with the production of a diamond necklace, and incorporated several productions of bird-cages and a neat linking rings routine, using a ribbon tied between her two tables. A trick with paper dolls, that were set on fire, and then changed colour allowed her to turn the paper into a Snowstorm finale. A very polished and professional act.

Gunther from the Flicking Fingers performed a theatrical monologue with magical happenings, based around him trying to give up magic, and attending a Magic Anonymous group, Canes and Silks and Cigarettes and various other items kept appearing and disappearing, but he assured us he could stop whenever he wanted!

Kim Hyun Joon was a manipulator extraordinaire, with cards and balls he filled the stage, with skill and precision and timing that was breathtaking.

Johnny Fox followed with some Sword Swallowing, he swallowed several items, each getting longer, until he swallowed a giant screwdriver. He had a very funny addition to the Balloon Swallow which made sense in the context of the act.

To close the show Paul Dabek reappeared with his Shadowgraphy act producing characters and scenes with nothing more than a light and his two hands, to the music of The Lion King.

A great end to a brilliant convention. This was my second trip to the International Magic Convention and it certainly won’t be my last, it is now a permanent fixture on my calendar, and I suggest you mark next year’s date, the convention is the 40th and they already have some big names booked. It will run a week earlier than normal, the 18th-20th November 2011, with plans to run workshops and shows in the week leading up-to the convention. I’m sure Magic Convention Guide will have all the news as it appears.

Many thanks to Mandy Davis for allowing us to use her wonderful photos.

About the Reviewer – Richard Morrell, Magic Convention Guide Live Writer. Richard has been a keen amateur magician for over twenty years, starting as a Humberside Young Magician, he now runs the workshop, teaching 10-16 year olds, as well as being an active member of Hull Magicians’ Circle. Specialising in card magic, but he likes to watch any form of the art, and will have a go at performing most things.

Richard has written for The Oracle as well as Abracadabra and Genii magazine. He is most at home combining his love of the Internet with his love of Magic, over eight years ago he started what may have been the world’s first Magic themed blog. Now among the new crop of magic blogs, The Magician is still going strong, and recently it gained a sister-blog Watching Magic. Richard can be found at most of the major conventions either hunched over a pack of cards, or a laptop!