This year the History of Mystery session at The IBM British Ring Convention (Eastbourne 22nd - 26th September 2010), organised and presented by Eddie Dawes for the 38^th time, will move to the afternoon of Friday, after many years of occupying a Saturday afternoon slot.

The varied and interesting programme will include Peter Lane recalling the famous Westminster Royal Aquarium which from 1876 until 1906 occupied the site where the Central Methodist Hall now stands. Although initially intended to be a Central London rival to the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, with up-market attractions plus an aquarium, it never achieved that ambition and eventually became a place of popular and risqué entertainment where magicians, jugglers, acrobats and aerialists were to be seen - but very few fish! (more…)

Andy Stone will be updating us on progress of the IBM British Ring Convention that takes place September 22nd - 26th 2010 in Eastbourne in the run up to the convention. This time Andy writes about 10 More Reasons To Register for Eastbourne

The Opening Show: Getting the convention off to a magical start. Peter Scarlett will introduce Paul Dabek , a former “Magic Circle Young Magician Of The Year” and former winner of the “British Ring Shield”, now making a career for himself in the theatre and cruise market. Also, Stephen Williams, who won the title “World Junior General Magic Champion” at the Blackpool Showzam Festival in 2008 and has since toured with Ken Dodd. Simon Cowell, that annoying bloke from “Britain’s Got Talent” said of him, “I despise magicians, but I really enjoyed that…” Finally, we’ll enjoy the Illusions of Andrew Green, who describes himself on his website as “one of the driving forces of contemporary breathtaking illusionary in the UK today”.

Close Up Competition: The British Ring Close Up Competition this year has attracted acts of a high standard. The winner will go forward to the Close Up Competition at the FISM Europe Convention in Blackpool, next February. For many, the British Ring Close Up Competition is a highlight of our convention. We’re looking to expand the team that helps run the Close Up competition, if you think you’d like to help and I can tell you from personal experience it’s a lot of fun, email Steve Evans: stevemagicbloke@aol.com

Lectures: Whatever your magical interest, there’s sure to be a lecture at the convention to interest you. In addition to the lectures on marketing by Bob Yelland and Children’s Magic by Jimmy Carlo, mentioned last month, Charlie Frye presents some more of his “eccentricks”. Rich Bloch has more of his practical and workable magic. Martin Eisele specialises in Close Up and Stand Up magic. The ever-popular Wayne Dobson makes a welcome return to lecture at the British Ring Convention. Award winning Manipulator Cyril Harvey presents original visual effects for Stage and Parlour performance. If you’ve always wanted to put together a stand up act Ian Keable presents the lecture for you. Matt Johnson from Canada presents his lecture entitled “Monkey Business”. It is an eclectic mix of Close Up Magic, Stand Up Magic and Comedy Magic that anyone can do. No lesser personage than John Archer has described him as “Awesome”! Manuel Muerte, part of the German “flicking fingers group” presents a lecture for Close Up lovers and Flip, the creator of the “flip stick”, presents the best of his original creations. Finally, Danny Hunt will present a workshop on Escapology. So, if you’re into rope and chains and prepared to admit it in public, this is the lecture for you! (more…)

Andy Stone will be updating us on progress of the IBM British Ring Convention that takes place September 22nd - 26th 2010 in Eastbourne in the run up to the convention. This time Andy writes about 10 reasons to register for Eastbourne:

The Gala Show: Rich Bloch makes a welcome return as MC and introduces a strong international line up of new and returning magic and variety acts. From the USA, Charlie Fry and Company return with their incredible juggling. From France, Les Black Fingers return with their entertaining hand shadows. Last year Sooty was a big hit in the Children’s Show at Southport. This year Sooty makes a return to the main gala show, assisted by Richard Cadell. From Canada, we have the award winning magic of Richard Forget. Cyril Harvey is an award winning magician from France. His FISM act with spinning tops is original and intriguing.

Manuel Muerte is a German with a sense of humour! You can see his FISM Mice act here:

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Andy Stone will be updating us on progress of the IBM British Ring Convention that takes place September 22nd - 26th 2010 in Eastbourne in the run up to the convention:

At the last FISM in Beijing, Julius Frack won the Illusion category in the world championship competition. He had a well-presented act, containing some interesting twists on old themes. The 10 jury members particularly emphasized the “creativity and innovation” of Julius’s act.

Unfortunately, he was unable to compete for the Grand Prix, as his partner, Cindy Keller had damaged her ankle. You’ll be able to see this award-winning act in the gala show at Eastbourne. Julius comes from Stuttgart in Germany and credits Eberhard Riese as his most important consultant and mentor. Eberhard Riese has directed many award winning FISM acts. This is an innovative illusion act you won’t want to miss.

Of course, it’s not just Germany that has produced award winning FISM acts. We have another FISM award winning act in Eastbourne from closer to home. The Nardinis (Paul and Mhairi) from Scotland won the award for “Comedy Presentation” at FISM in Den Haag in 2003. Their act, featuring “The Great Nardini”, incompetent conjurer and his long-suffering assistant, has taken them all over the world including Las Vegas and The Magic Castle in Hollywood. It is very funny and demonstrates superb comic timing. You can see them in our late gala show on the Friday night.

Some of the most interesting lectures presented at our Convention over the years, have been the non-trick lectures, covering a variety of subjects. This year Bob Yelland presents a lecture entitled “Strategic Marketing for Magicians”.

How do you plan to grow your income from Magic in 2011? Do you pro-actively shape the type of engagements you receive or do you let fate decide? Are you dependent upon repeat bookings and the limited success of haphazard prospecting activity? Are you tired of enquiries seeking the lowest priced performers? If so, this thought provoking lecture is designed for you.

If you derive income from performing Magic then you should have a strategic marketing plan. This plan will identify your target markets and the actions required to develop your act, your branding and your communications to succeed in those markets. Many magicians believe marketing is solely about having a good web site, an eye-catching advertisement in yellow pages and a flashy video on YouTube. However, these activities are less effective if you have not first determined who you are trying to talk to and what you are trying to achieve, with the result that you could waste a lot of time and money.

Bob Yelland is responsible for a multi-million dollar marketing budget for a large, multi-national company. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. He is also a keen amateur magician. In his lecture he will apply the marketing techniques and strategies used by successful companies to a one person magic business. He’ll look at how a magician might go about getting more profitable bookings, increase their fees, convert more enquiries into bookings and attract the right customers for their services. This is a business lecture with no tricks which will challenge you to think seriously about your own business aspirations and potential.

Of course, if a magic convention lecture without any tricks isn’t for you, we’ve a good selection of trick lectures as well. I’ll be looking at some of those soon.

You can get more information on our convention which takes place in Eastbourne 22nd - 26th September 2010 either here or get further information at the official British Ring website

Andy Stone will be updating us on progress of the IBM British Ring Convention that takes place September 22nd - 26th 2010 in Eastbourne in the run up to the convention:

If you’ve read John Pye’s secretarial column, you’ll have seen a list of acts booked to appear at our Convention in Eastbourne. My job, over the next few months, is to provide a little more detail and some background on each of the acts, in the hope it will persuade you to register for Eastbourne.

If you’ve watched any major magic competitions, you’ve probably seen an invention by one of our Eastbourne lecturers, even if you’ve not realised it! Flip invented his “flip stick move” in 1957 and it’s been used by many magicians since then. In recent FISM competitions Flip’s move has been used with sunglasses, combs and sharpie marker pens in award winning acts.

Since 1957 Flip has invented countless magical effects. L&L publishing have produced a 6 volume DVD set of his creations. His “Duplo Magic” act has taken him around the world. He has won many awards and performed on TV in many countries including the UK. Flip will be lecturing and performing at Eastbourne. This is a creative magician you won’t want to miss!

Charlie Frye made a big impression when he appeared at our Convention a few years ago. This year, “Charlie Frye and Company” make a welcome return to our convention. Charlie is an amazingly versatile performer. His acts are a blend of silent comedy, slapstick, magic, juggling, and acrobatics. He performs a world class comedy juggling act and an equally good stage magic act. In these acts, Charlie plays the rubber-faced, put-upon juggler/magician. Charlie’s wife Sherry, the “and company” plays his bored assistant. As Charlie amazes; Sherry yawns!

In addition to performing on stage, Charlie is a skilled close up performer. When he last appeared at our convention, his lecture was a big hit. His “Eccentricks” book and DVDs contain a mix of slight of hand, juggling and physical comedy. You can get a taste of Charlie Frye and Company, by searching for “Charlie Frye” on Youtube or you can see him live in Eastbourne in the Opening Show, Gala Show and International Close Up Show. He’ll also be lecturing.

Rich Bloch has appeared at the British Ring Convention on several occasions over the years. Rich has a successful career as a lawyer and arbitrator, but he’s also found time for a second career as a magician. Rich has been responsible for some extremely clever magical effects. He was once described by Orson Welles as “An Edison of Magic.” As a performer he has worked Las Vegas Casinos, Cruise Ships and The Magic Castle. Rich is a excellent MC and he’ll be compering our Gala Show in Eastbourne. He’ll also appear in the International Close Up Show and present a lecture.

You can get more information on our convention which takes place in Eastbourne 22nd - 26th September 2010 either  here or get further information at the official British Ring website

The IBM British Ring 74th Annual Convention will be held Eastbourne 22nd - 26th September 2010.

The line up is starting to be announced, with acts booked so far including Charlie Frye and Company from the USA, Rich Bloch from the USA Black Fingers - a new shadow act from France, Martin Eisle from Germany, Richard Foget from Canada, Wayne Dobson from the UK, Cyril Harvey from France, Ian Keable from the UK, Matt Johnson from Canada, Manuel Muerte from Germany, Flip from Holland, and Richard Cadell & Sooty from the UK

The IBM British ring convention takes place in Eastbourne 22nd - 26th September 2010, you can follow all our updates here and get further information at the official British Ring website