In conclusion this was a really enjoyable convention, and a far cry from the Northern Conventions of old. The team recognise the one or two niggles that occured, but those were mainly with the venue, the lack of available refreshments at certain times, and also having the dealers housed in a seperate building, which was a big cold sports hall, but this certainly didn’t do anything whatsoever to detract from the weekend.

On that note we should mention the excellent range of dealers who included, in no particular order Magic Books by Post, Razamatazz Magic, MA Pro Magic, Alan Duncan Magic, Adrian Sullivan, Paul Gordon, The Juggling Shop, Adrian Harris, Thom Peterson, Gifts 4 Magicians, Magicians Cave, Mark Southworth and Peter Diamond and Company. A fantastic range of magic on offer.

We should also give a huge, huge thanks to the 2010 Convention Organisers: Allan Clarke, Steve Gore, Nick Mohammed, Alan Mylecraine, Paul Sunderland with dealer and stage competition organisation by Stephen Bellerby. Who certainly made Magic Convention Guide and the rest of the conventioneers (numbers were up again from last year) feel at home and welcome, and did a stirling job not only running up to the convention but all weekend long.

Also we need to mention the Close-up Competition Organiser was Terry Crawford, Junior Show Organisers were Cynthia Neptune and Su Jayne, PRO and Children’s Show Organisers were Clive Moore and Jean Ellison. Website, Online Booking, Sound & Light by Sheriton Swan and Stage Management by Godfrey Shackleton, Graham Colvan and Elizabeth Maskell.

Just a few years back it looked like the Northern Magic Circle and the convention were on shakey ground with an uncertain future, in just a small number of years they have turned it all round, and made the convention into a weekend not to be missed, last years was great, this years convention was even better!

It still retains its friendly status, with chance to chat and catch up with friends, old and new, but also they have managed to drag it into the 21st Century, with a wide range of dealers, big name lecturers and performers, masterclasses, a showcase for the Juniors, some great competitions, two close-up galas, a very funny late night event, a History lecture, and an amazing Gala show, there really was and is something for everyone. If you have never experienced a Northern Magic Circle convention the 2011 convention is to be held on the 16th & 17th April 2011 – venue to be confirmed, the Star Guest will be FISM Champion Mark Oberon. Make sure you book the date in your diary, if this years is anything to go by you will not want to miss it, and MCG will be sure to bring you all the news as it breaks!

If it was possible, the best was yet to come, after a great weekend of magic and friendship the Northern Magic Circle convention team had put together a cracking Gala Show. It had it all, a Juggler, a Ventriloquist, Comedy, Manipulation and Illusions, each act was fantastic and it made for a wonderful show.

John Hotowka compered, with gentle humour and magic when needed, John looked every bit at ease, warmed up the audience, built up the acts and filled in the gaps with jokes, and tricks including a Leopard Silk, Vanishing Coke Bottle and a clean handling of Torn and Restored Newspaper.

Chesters Dance Academy opened each half, the first half with a dance to a Beatles Medley and the second half with a Touch of Gypsy.

Stephen Williams billed as Liverpools brightest magic star, was certainly that. A suave manipulation sequence included Candle Productions and Vanishes, Colour Changing Cane and Dove Productions. Losanders Floating Table was handled very well, including a sequence with an audience volunteer that looked very magical. Finally Stephen closed his spot with Kevin James’s Snowstorm.

Thom Peterson is the Amazing Guy, I’m not sure about his claims of X-Ray Vision and Super Speed, but he certainly has the power to make the whole audience laugh continually, and perfom some strong magic at the same time, good abilities to have! Thom’s set included a production of a Glass of Milk and a Beer bottle, a Spoon Bend, followed by bending a picture of a spoon, and his take on Don Alan’s Card Stab.

Nathan Kranzo hails from Michigan and is a super talented close-up performer and it became apparent a very funny stage guy too, damn him! He opened with a great Paper Heart restoration, transforming it to a Heart Balloon, incorporating a very funny squeaker gag. His Mindreading Crotch trick was an hilarious Named Card to Fly, and finally Nathan closed his set with a Borrowed Ring to Lemon.

And if our sides weren’t hurting enough to finish the first half was the insane comedy of Steve Royle. Steve opened with a quick three club juggle, and then launched into some hilarious observational humour. He finished his set with juggling Ping Pong Balls in his mouth, and balancing Guitars on his Chin, finally he juggled three full sized guitars to well deserved applause.

After the Interval a change of pace with the mind games of Marc Paul. He started with a Psychological Audience Test and finally a strong piece of mind reading, asking someone to think of a pet’s name and someone the name of a person, Marc divined these with perfect accuracy, a strong opening to the second half.

Steve Hewlett is a young, funny, talented Ventriloquist, with just the right mixture of comedy and ventriloquism, and a set of great characters and puppets that allowed him to showcase these talents. His main puppet was an old man called Arthur who interacted with Carol Pye to very funny effect. Even after Steve got rid of the puppets the off-stage banter between them continued! A small Elmo puppet and Steve’s routine, had the audience, like the puppet, in the palm of his hand. Several quick vent gags including Lamb Shank, Sheryl and Russel Crow
, and even a Bottle of Water and his Jacket were all game for diverse voices that kept up the humour and left us wanting more!

Finally to close the show Guy Barrett and Company. He started with the appearance of a girl in a box, who changed costume. Then a sword box penetration with the production of two girls. I was asked to help in the Wakeling Sawing a Woman in Half, to hold the leash that goes round the girls ankles, and even up close I still had no idea, a great illusion! Guy’s version of the Don Wayne Dancing Hank is very good, combining multiple elements to produce an effect where you really believe the hanky has come alive. An Assistants Revenge illusion saw Guy put into a box by his dancers, and his middle twisted around. A dance piece segued into a performance of Pavel’s Walking Knot, and finally Guy finished with an incredible variation on Things That Go Bump in the Night. Ghostly forms appeared from an empty box, under coloured cloths, and were finally revealed to be Guy’s dancers, he was placed into the box, and vanished, leaving a large inflatable ghost in his place, Guy reappeared from the back of the room.

An astonishing variety show combining lots of elements to produce a truly magical gala, live entertainment at it’s best!

Steve and Victoria Gore were thanked for all their hard work over the past year, Steve thanked everyone who had helped him and past his Chain of Office over to Su Jayne and Victoria passed her chain over to Su’s partner Anthony. A Date for your Diary Su Jayne’s Presidential Dinner will be Saturday 23rd October 2010 at The Grand Hotel in Tynemouth, Su Jayne would like to invite all members and friends to join them here for an evening of fine dining and sparkling entertainment.

Kostya started by talking about his approach to groups and how it has evolved with some excellent thoughts on the initial approach.

Orlando Opener is Kostya’s opening trick where two selections are found, one spun from the deck which magically changes into the second selection. Kostya took time to go through thoughts on controlling a card and the timing on the top change.

Postit Prestidigitation was a set of ideas to use postit notes to force particular items, Kostya took us through the ideas he had and challenged us to think of our own uses for this utility prop.

A Te$t of Perseption is Kostya’s great hook for an Oil and Water routine, that takes it up a notch, using red and blue backed cards, and a kicker ending that will have your spectators shaking their heads and questioning what they see, I won’t spoil it, as you really need to see this done, Kostya is currently on a UK lecture tour so get out and see him if he comes near you!

In MAGIC magazine in October Kostya had a story trick printed called Who Killed the King, he shared this with us in it’s new Jumbo Stage format, a charming discovery in a deck of cards that Kostya has weaved into a great performance piece.

!Warning is Kostya’s new opening piece with a lighter, the sticker is torn off, and then set on fire, and in a burst of flames appears back on the lighter, an extremely visual and quick demonstration that is suitable for noisy, dimly lit enviroments, or a great impromptu piece any time you need to prove your magic credentials.

Finally Kostya gave us a quick demonstration of his Roadrunner Cull, and his new handling for the Triumph called Ten Times Triumph, which makes it a bit easier for us mere mortals! A brief discussion of the Cull followed.

A great way to end the lectures for this convention, and if Kostya is coming near you on this tour make an effort to see his fantastic card magic.

Chris lectured on his Master Coin Routine. Based on David Roths coins across Chris also incorporates a coin production with the coins across sequence. Chris also shared some tips on the Muscle Pass and his Jumbo Coin production.

His Proton routine is a very magical sponge ball routine with balls appearing and disappearing, including a ball appearing on a spectators arm, a ball that penetrates his pocket, the classic appearence in the spectators hand and finishing with a final vanish and a Dlite sequence.

Chris finished with his JFK routine. This is Ambitious Card on steroids! Designed to leave the spectator with your business card the routine finishes with a Card to Wallet and Card to Box, finally an Omni Deck finish to show the cards have vanished.

Chris has flawless technique and his routines are workers designed to be used in all situations another superb lecture.

Marc Paul lectured on three very commercial pieces of mentalism, in fact these were pieces he uses in his working repetoire and it showed with all the little tips and nuances totally covered in each effect.

A variation of Jack Londons The Almost Real Prediction made a great opener. A sum on a flip chart set on stage was used to generate another totally random sum the total of which Marc had predicted and it turns out was todays date.

Marc talked about attaching conditions to your effects to make them seem more impossible. He then demonstrated this by having people draw different drawings on some business cards and two placed in envelopes one seen by the spectator and one unseen. Marc was able to devine both drawings.

The last routine was True Lies which is an anywhere, anytime, anyplace routine using borrowed business cards. He had 3 cards marked with a T and three marked with an L and then one marked with an X unseen and that one would be the murderer. They were mixed and six spectators chose a card. Marc was then able to divine who was telling a lie and who was telling the truth and finally who was the murderer.

All these effects were easy to do and more importantly were powerful pieces of mentalism.