BBC Radio Four today featured a program on the changing face of Magic, with performers creating bigger and better tricks to impress us. Times have changed since a magician produced a startled rabbit out of top hat with a puff of smoke.

The programme visited the 58th Blackpool Magic Convention, attended by 3500 magicians, and spoke to the organizers and the performers, as well as featuring discussions with the late Ali Bongo, the late Pat Page, current President of The Magic Circle, Jack Delvin, along with other prominent faces from the magic world, including Paul Daniels, and Alan Alan.

Listen to the program at BBC iPlayer

The Blackpool Magic Convention takes place Friday, Saturday and Sunday 18th, 19th & 20th February 2011 at the Opera House and Winter Gardens and Grand Theatre, Church Street, Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Full details can be found at www.blackpoolmagic.com, and follow all our updates, interviews and extra information here

You can also check out our Blackpool Guide and our Hotel Guide for Blackpool, which we’ll update during the run up to next year.

If you’ve ordered tickets for the 2011 Blackpool Magic Convention (18-20 February 2011) they are currently being dispatched. Do not worry if you don’t receive yours immediately for this mammoth task will take several weeks to complete.

Blackpool is the largest magic convention in the world featuring, in 2011, the FISM European Championships of Magic in addition to other great attractions for which Blackpool is justifiably famous.

2011 is proving to be even more popular than ever so if you have not yet registered you should do so quickly before the ‘Sold Out’ announcement is made. The registration fee of just £85 represents amazing value for money but if you cannot attend for the whole weekend tickets are also available for the Saturday evening show (only £25 per person) and the Gala Show on Sunday (for just £35 per person). A registration form can be downloaded from www.blackpoolmagic.com but be quick - space is limited and time is running short.

In the mean time, whilst your waiting.. you might want to watch that video of Franz Harary vanishing Blackpool Tower via the Blackpool Magicians Site

To register contact Arthur Casson, 44 Bryan Road, Blackpool, Lancashire, England FY3 9BE or telephone him on 44 (0) 1253 393688. A registration form is also available on the Blackpool Magicians’ Club website www.blackpoolmagic.com.

There are only eight months to go to the worlds biggest magic convention, The Blackpool Magic Convention 2011. Every year since its foundation the Blackpool Convention has got bigger and better than ever and next February’s event promises to be even more successful than its predecessors. If you go to only one convention a year it has got to be Blackpool.

Bookings are already at a record level so you must act quickly if you want to be a part of this unique event which takes place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday 18th, 19th & 20th February 2011.

Don’t forget that the 2011 convention includes the 1st ever FISM European Championships of Magic. The competitions alongside all of the existing lectures, shows and mammoth 125 magic dealer showcase, making the convention an even bigger experience.

The competitions will be split across two theatre venues. The Grand Theatre (which is situated 100 yards away from the Winter Gardens complex) will host the Close Up Competitions, whilst the Opera House (within the Winter Gardens itself) will host the Stage Competitions.

The Convention will be extended slightly with the competitions starting on the Friday morning of the Convention, giving an extra half day of championship magic. The existing convention format will remain unchanged and will have all of the surprises of previous years but with the added bonus of competition excitement - It promises to bring an exciting element to the world’s most incredible magic convention.

Blackpool will not be selling the usual VIP tickets for 2011 and so preferential seating will be on a first come, first served basis. so BOOK EARLY!

To register contact Arthur Casson, 44 Bryan Road, Blackpool, Lancashire, England FY3 9BE or telephone him on 44 (0) 1253 393688. A registration form is also available on the Blackpool Magicians’ Club website www.blackpoolmagic.com.

Blackpool Magic’ Convention 2011 tickets are already selling fast! the 2011 convention which will open on the morning of Friday 18th February 2011 is already proving to be even more popular, possibly due to the fact that The Blackpool Magicians’ Club will host the first ever FISM European Championships of Magic in 2011 as a part of normal convention.

The European FISM Championships of Magic will run alongside all of the existing lectures, shows and mammoth 125 magic dealer showcase, making the convention an even bigger experience, and attracting those wishing to see the FISM European Championships.

The competitions will be split across two theatre venues. The Grand Theatre (which is situated 100 yards away from the Winter Gardens complex) will host the Close Up Competitions, whilst the Opera House (within the Winter Gardens itself) will host the Stage Competitions.

The full cost of registration is just £85.00 and every member of a FISM associated magical society will automatically qualify for a free book ‘The World’s Most Ingenious Magical Apparatus’.

In a change to previous years, there will be no Day Tickets or VIP Tickets and no After Gala Party.

Early registration is recommended for the World’s Largest Magic Convention! Registration forms can be downloaded from www.blackpoolmagic.com

We will be covering the FISM European Championships and Blackpool Magic Convention 2011 in detail during the run up to the event next year. Just check our FISM European Championship coverage and our Blackpool Magic Convention 2011 coverage right here.

The Blackpool Magic Convention takes place Friday, Saturday and Sunday 18th, 19th & 20th February 2011 at the Opera House and Winter Gardens and Grand Theatre, Church Street, Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Full details can be found at www.blackpoolmagic.com, and follow all our updates, interviews and extra information here

You can also check out our Blackpool Guide and our Hotel Guide for Blackpool, which we’ll update during the run up to next year.

We caught up with Derek Lever during the Blackpool Magic Convention to talk briefly about this years convention, and some of the things you can expect at the 2011 convention.

The 2011 Blackpool Magic Convention starts at 9am on Friday 18th February 2011, and will include the first European FISM Championships, featuring 30 close up performers and 60 stage performers!

Tickets and information can be obtained through the Blackpool Magicians Site, and you can follow all our updates on Blackpool 2011 here on our site.

We also caught up with The Magic Circle, and Equity, who both had stands at Blackpool, to talk about why the organisations are important to magicians, and what they can offer members.

Click below to listen.

The 2011 Blackpool Magic Convention takes place 18th, 19th and 20th February 2011, and you can check out all the photo’s we took this year below

All of our reporting from the weekend can be found on The Blackpool Magic Convention 2010 reports

Blackpool Magicians Club have confirmed that their bid to obtain the European Championships from FISM has been accepted and the FISM European Championships will be held as part of the Blackpool Convention in 2011.

The length of the 2011 Convention will be slightly extended in that it will commence on Friday morning at 9.00 a.m. and much of the Convention will be dedicated to world class Close-Up and Stage competitions.

A meeting will be held with the Presidium (Committee of FISM) during Blackpool Convention week to draft the plans for the conference. Entry details for competitors will be released as soon as possible. This will be the very first official FISM European Championships ever staged. Another major coup for Blackpool Magicians’ Club.

As previously advertised Blackpool will be hosting the FISM World Championships in 2012 in July (as well as the normal Blackpool Convention in February, 2012). The official FISM 2012 website will be launched in the coming weeks.

Registrations for the Blackpool Convention in February 2010 are at an all time high and is predicted that the event will sell out soon.

Registrations for the FISM World Championships in 2012 have already exceeded expectations and we believe that this event will also sell out before 2012.

You still have time to get some of the final tickets for Blackpool 2010, with an all star line up including Franz Harary, Russ Stevens, David & Dania, Clive Webb & Danny, Henry Evans, Banachek, Yigal Mesika, David Williamson, David Penn, Mark Mason, Jay Sankey, Juan Mayoral, Joe Mogar, Steve Axtell, Tony Stevens, Dave Allen, Han Seol Hui, David Kaplan, Huang Zheng, Levent, and Yo Kato, its the worlds biggest magic convention.

The Blackpool Magic Convention takes place Friday, Saturday and Sunday 19th, 20th & 21st February 2010 at the Opera House and Winter Gardens, Church Street, Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Full details can be found at www.blackpoolmagic.com, and follow all out updates, interviews and extra information here

You can also check out our Blackpool Guide and our Hotel Guide for Blackpool.