Reviewed by Andy Reay

We arrived in the coastal town of Weston-Super-Mare for one of the best conventions of the year.  I hadn’t attended a magic convention for a number of years, mainly due to the same acts appearing year in, year out. The Bristol Society should be more than proud of their achievements.  This was a fantastic day out.

Following a short opening ceremony from the President of the IBM British Ring, Trevor Lewis, we were introduced to David Tomkins.  David’s lecture was a perfect way to kick things off.  Ventriliquism for Childrens Entertainers. The lecture covered all aspects of the craft, from finding your voice, difficult letters, puppet ryhmes and natural technique.  There was also a great range of puppets.  David uses a lot of Axtell puppets from the USA.  I must mention David’s technique.  He was flawless.  The lecture was broadcast on a giant screen in the main hall.  Needless to say, we didn’t see his lips move. EXCELLENT!

The first close-up session was next on the programme.  First out was Nick Einhorn.  A real master of his craft, Nick demonstrated his abilities with cards, building to a poker demonstration.  Even finding time to squeeze a full size deck of cards into a tiny card box.

Steve Beam was our next performer, presenting some jaw dropping card magic.  At one point he had the entire front row select playing cards by cutting off a ‘smidgen’. What happened next defied belief.  Steve had the cards shuffled and cut thoroughly, then preceeded to locate each individual card originally selected.  All this with style and good humour.

Our final performer was Shawn Farquar from Canada.  An amazing performer with a real passion for his magic. For me the highlight of this performance was his award-winning Cups & Balls routine.  If you have the opportunity of seeing Shawn perform, don’t miss it.  The amount of energy Shawn puts into his magic is astounding.

Following the strength of Shawn’s close-up show, I went to see his lecture.  I’m glad I did.  This was worth the price of the whole days magic.He showed us a unique matrix effect using poker chips and what can only be described as the cleanest switch I had ever seen. Shawn explains everything with enthusiasm, which made the hour fly by.  The audience also witnessed an mind-boggling torn and restored photograph and the removal of a CD from a signature (yes you read that correctly).

My time was then spent with a great line-up of dealers.  The organisers should be applauded for the mix of magic on offer, but I will say that maybe next year, there should be a little more time in the programme for magicians to visit them.  That aside, this really was a convention to remember.

Highlights from the evening show for me were the flaming excellent manipulation of Colin Rose, the comedic juggling of Michael Pearce, the mind-frying mentalism of Nick Einhorn and the act that should have closed the show, Shawn Farquar.

With magicians being very selective about where they spend their hard earned fees, Bristol did a wonderful job of securing a strong crowd for next years event.  See you there!

Also read all our reports during the weekend and the run up to the convention here.

The 50th Bristol Day of Magic takes place Sunday 9th May 2010

About the Author: Andy is a writer and magic consultant. He has been involved in magic, one way or the other for the past 25 years. He’s one of our main team and resident staff writer.