The Junior Stage Competition was of an excellent standard, and all competitors did exceptionally well.

Phil Jobling was on first, with Appearing Parasols, a Ghost Tube production, Mutilated Parasol, 20 Century Silks, Card Manipulation, Torn and Restored Tissue and finally a Snowstorm.

James Orr was the second competitor, he started off with a quite serious silent act, with a Candle Vanish, Silk Productions, Ribbon Fountain, Cut and Restored Rope and then he moved into some funny patter to go along with an hilarious escape from a duvet cover sack, with him chained up in metres of chain, made even funnier by the fact that when he pulled the sack off his trousers unintentionally came with it, leaving him stood in his boxer shorts, I think James is planning to keep this in the act, as it got one of the biggest laughs of the night!

Ben Pruce had a very polished, slick silent act, incorporating Multiplying Parasols, Ball Manipulations, Cut and Restored Rope, D’Lites, Linking Rings, a Blendo and finally multiple Parasol Productions. A very well structured act, which shows a lot of promise.

Leah Mae assisted by Sara Jade performed a charming flamenco style double act, their act includes Linking Ribbons, Dove Pan with Ribbon Fountain, Fan Productions and finishes by magically producing a ribbon picture of a Flamenco Dancer.

Jack Clarke was the first of the proper patter acts, he was very confident, with some great ad-libs and some strong material. He started with a Dyed Silk routine, an Unequal Rope trick incorporated a cut and restored sequence. His rendition of Sidewalk Shuffle was handled well, and he finished with a Linking Ring routine.

The final competitor was Toby Davis, again a comedy patter act. He started with a disappearing iPhone, a Pound Coin was borrowed and signed, and it vanished only to reappear in a nest of boxes. He continued with a linking and unlinking rope sequence, a very quick version of the Invisible Deck, and finally a very funny version of the Thumb Tie, with hoops and a chair used to good effect.