Billy Bubbles to perform at Bloom in the Park

It has just been announced that children's entertainer Billy Bubbles will present his Magic and Punch & Judy Shows at this years Bloom in the Park.  Bloom, Ireland's largest gardening, food and family event, will take place in the Phoenix Park Dublin during the June bank holiday weekend for 5 days (From Thursday 31st May - Monday 4th June 2012). Bloom 2011 was the 5th year of the event and to date has been the most successful yet! Bloom 2011 attracted almost 90,000 visitors to the 70 acre site at the Visitor's Centre in the Phoenix Park, Dublin.

With something for everyone, and fun for all the family visitors to Bloom 2012 will enjoy cookery and craft demonstrations, free gardening advice from the experts, Irish food produce, live entertainment and gardening workshops.

And the best thing is kids attend Bloom for free!  For more information visit the Bloom Website.

Richard McDougall Lecture :: SIM Meeting 5th June

The SIM's next meeting (and last before the two month summer recess) will take place in Cassidys Hotel on Tuesday 5th June.  Meeting proper starts at 8pm.  Room will be open from 7:30 for Bring and Buy. 

Bring and Buy
Members have previously suggested that they would like to have a Bring & Buy session at the beginning of meetings.  So here is our first one.

You are invited to bring a handful of items which you can sell from your chair or bag.  The idea is for this to be informal.  We don't want people coming along with rakes of stuff and turning it into a mini auction.  It is as it "says on the tin".  This is something teh commitee of The SIM hope may become a regular occurrence.

Emerald Magic Dealer Dem
Pat Fallon recently re-branded his dealing business as Emerald Magic and has some new original effects on the market.  Pat will present mini Dealer Dem and will have effects, cards, rope etc for sale.  So make sure you don't spend all your money at the Bring & Buy.

Richard McDougall Lecture
Richard McDougall has been a professional magician for over twenty years, having trained in mime and physical theatre. He is a Member of the Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star, and has won awards at FISM and the Desert Seminar, and was a former winner of the World Open for Close Up Magic. He has been lucky enough to perform his close up and stage magic in 40 countries, and at a number of events hosted by HM The Queen, as well as for HRH The Prince of Wales at his 50th birthday. 

As well as giving lectures to magicians on the subject of performance, Richard  also presents keynote speeches and training for the business community in presentation skills, and in particular on the subject of body language.   Last year he lectured to wide acclaim at The Essential Magic Conference.  Expect a fun, informative and thought provoking evening.

The evening is free to fully paid up members of The SIM.  For non-member bone-fide magicians admission is €15.

Irish Magic Convention 2013

I have just learned via James Hobart on Facebook that the IBM Irish Magic Convention for 2013, hosted by the USM, will take place at the Ramade Plaza Hotel, Shaws Bridge, Belfast.  The convention will revert to it's usual Bank Holiday Weekend which next year is Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th May.

Those are the only details we have at present.  More details as they are announced.

Nevin Joins the Irish Magicians at SAMS

The SAMS (Scottish Association of Magicians) convention takes place at the Park Hotel, Kilmarnock next weekend from Friday 4th May to Sunday 6th May. The Gala Show will feature – Pat Fallon, John Kimmons, June Leith, Peter Kinney, Michael Neto and Toby Davies.  Lecturers will include Pat Fallon, John Kimmons and Ian Adair. With Close up acts Michael Neto, John Bowden, Toby Davies and Pat Fallon.

Nevin Cody joins fellow Irish magicians John Bowden and Pat Fallon as part of this years line up.  Over the past few years Nevin has been climbing the ranks and is now considered one of the best comedy magic acts in the country.  His hilarious style has been wowing audiences all over Ireland.  He is also a resident magician and magic creator at the Secret Castle of Magic which was Ireland’s first regular magic venue and which is due to re-open soon.  

This weekend will see Nevin perform on the Saturday show at SAMS.  We wish Nevin and Messrs. Bowden & Fallon the very best of luck.  it is great to see three Irish names as booked talent at a UK Convention.

Tony Thursby Honoured Patron of The SIM

At last Tuesday evening's SIM May Meeting Tony Thursby was awarded as Honorary Life Patron of The SIM.  Tony receives this accolade as recognition for his outstanding contribution to The SIM and Irish Magic.  We managed to grab some video and pics which you can view below.  The presentation video you see in the video below was compiled by Ruaíri O'Connor with many of the photos supplied by Nevill Wiltshire.  Congratulations Tony, thoroughly well deserved.

Late Night Magic in Back

The team behind Late Night Magic are back.  Having promised a monthly night for Magic in Dublin Late Night Magic will again take place in The Sugar Club on Dublin's Lesson Street.  Dates so far announced are 12th May, 8th June and 20th July.  Tickets priced €10 are available here.

Magic UnCorked reviewed by Joe O'Donnell

The cork is now back in the bottle ready to be popped again in three years time.  For those of you who were unable to make it to the Irish Magic Convention for 2012 Joe O'Donnell has kindly sent the following report.  The accompanying picture was posted on Facebook by Brian Daly.

 

For those who can’t be bothered to read this in its entirety the quick review is that the Cork Uncorked Convention was a huge success and a good time was had by all.  Okay?  Now to the nitty gritty:

Cork is a state of mind. It is boisterous, canny, gregarious, opinionated and infinitely welcoming. At a pinch it will suffer fools if not gladly at least with good grace.  It is the Opera House, Barry’s Tea, The Banks, Murphy’s Stout, Drisheen, the Blarney Stone and Jimmy Crowley and the Boys of Fairhill.

But this weekend (June 27, 28 and 29 for the record) it was Magic.

 

When the Munster Society of Magicians for a variety of reasons found itself unable to host the Annual IBM Convention, the Southern Brotherhood –Ring 363 – stepped up to the plate and accepted the challenge.  And that’s Cork for you.

Running a convention is no pushover: it involves hard work and lots of it.  Those of us who’ve been down that road, raised an eyebrow and wished the SBM luck.  Thus was a dream born.  A dream which came into boisterous reality over last weekend.

It was a weekend packed with lectures, shows and impromptu sessions in bar, lounge and certain bedrooms. And the magic was good too!  Rather than trudge through the events as they happened here is a random collection of snapshots -   thumbnail impressions in no particular order which might convey some of the flavour of this remarkable weekend. And do note that this is a personal reaction and is no way intended to be fair minded or impartial.

 

• Luke Jermay frying a packed room with two mind reading demonstrations:  dual reality or what?  No.  One involved a stripper deck and the other a reader.  Talk about pulling the rug from beneath your feet.
• The same roomful all munching from paper bags.  Munching what?  Sweets, homemade sweets from John Coleman’s elaborate help yourself free candy buffet.  A child’s dream come true, but devoured with relish by grown men and women.
• The quirky liquid suspension from a Red Bull Can taught by Diamond Jim Tyler.  And they say it gives you wings.
• The suggestion that You Tube, Face Book and Twitter be combined in a single application to be known as YouTwitFace.
• FISM winner Helder Guimarães’ version of the classic Cards Across –simple, direct and elegant.  A maestro at work.
• Just about anything done, said or performed by John Linehan.
• Late at night, the ubiquitous Luke Jermay, Tarot pack in hand, whispering sweet everything’s in a young lady’s ear.  In the early nineteen hundreds, Luke would have been up there with The Davenports, the medium Margery and the other psychics.  In the 16th century he would have been burned at the stake. Today he is a louche gem in the crown of contemporary mentalism.
• Quentin Reynolds generously sharing the work of a lifetime and revealing a treasure trove of  stunning Children’s magic , the distillation of  a quarter of a century of meticulously honed craft.  His version of Dante’s Lazy Magician is ten minutes of sheer entertainment.
• The elegance of Laurent Baretta in both his appearances on the Gala Show.  The movements, the gestures, the sheer – I don’t know – the sheer je ne sais quoi?  Well, what do you expect – the man’s French, isn’t he?
• Aonghus McAnally barnstorming his way through stories, songs, slagging, and other stuff beginning with S.  And still they gazed and still the wonder grew.  And he was heading off at the crack of dawn on Sunday to take on the best in a snooker championship. Is it fair that one man should be so talented?  I merely ask.
• Paul Gordon’s very funny lecture cloaking the skill and talent that puts him in the galaxy of the greats.  He’s also one sweet guy as well.
• Generosity – here we go again: the open handed generosity of all performers, lecturers and attendees.  Must be something in the Cork water.  Or the Barry’s Tea.
• Buzz words – logical disconnects, dual reality.
• Apropos of the free sweets (see above):  having a chat with the guy who makes them. He explains how he can usually tell what’s lacking in a person’s life from the type of sweets they fancy.  Oh yeh?  Opens up a whole new tranche of cold reading possibilities, eh?
• Bloody mobile phones going off in the middle of lectures and performances: some people have no cop on.
• The Triskel Chistchurch venue for the Gala show.  Weird, weird, weird.  A narrow converted church.  I can imagine it working as a rock or concert venue, but for a magic show:  I had some reservations, not the least of which were the sight lines.  The show was great, however.
• John Linehan’s six card repeat with contemporary references to the Greek economy, and a side swipe at Fianna Fail.
• Apropos of the Triskel sight lines: I have a scribbled note on Laurent Baretta’s second appearance: “think he’s doing card fans, but can’t see the f**king thing!”
• And lest it be forgotten in the general maelstrom, turmoil and frenzied scramble that is a Magical Convention let me mention with a great deal of awe, that e-book offered initially as a fund raiser by Ring 363, and called appropriately enough CORK UNCORKED.  Edited and compiled by Tony Galvin, it has over 40 effects from 17 contributors, in 130 pages, and is priced at a ridiculously low €10.  All good workable effects from the likes of Ger Godley, Luke Jermay, Ger Kearney, Tom Moloney, Quentin Reynolds, John Bowden and Diamond Jim Tyler.  Sorry if I missed out the other contributors.  This is a book of little and large gems from complete routines to insightful essays, and from self-working effects to much more advanced stuff.  Not sure if it is still available, but it is a must buy.  I’ve spent over five times as much for much less.  Hey, three long routines from Luke Jermay for €10!  Tony Galvin’s mad routines from his own act.  A little killer from Paul Gordon.  And seven – SEVEN – bamboozlers from Diamond Jim Tyler.  Come on!

Unfortunately I had to leave early Sunday afternoon, and had to miss the three hour Luke Jermay workshop, and Tom Moloney’s lecture on children’s magic incorporating his own ideas on games – both events to which I was looking forward.  Congratulations to the officers and members of Ring 363 for putting together with heart a thoroughly enjoyable weekend.

Thank you so much Joe ... You the man!

Go and see Paul Daniels

Paul Daniels brings his Hair Today Gone Tomorrow show to Ireland over the coming days and you should make it your business to go.  Although Paul and Debbie are frequent visitors to our shores it's been many years since they have toured here.  The current tour has been playing to packed houses accross the UK and now it is our turn.  If you haven't aready got you tickets head straight over to Ticketmaster and book them now!

May 1st - INEC Killarney
May 2nd - UCH Limerick
May 3rd  - Royal Theatre, Castlebar
May 4th - Waterford Studio, Belfast
May 6th - Vicar Street, Dublin
May 7th - Opera House, Cork

Calling all magicians aged 8 - 13 :: Fancy a trip to Geneva?

RTÉ are currently seeking young magicians for an event that will take place in Geneva in November of this year.  Children will perform to an audience in the Circus Tent of the Cirque de Noel Geneva and it will also be televised.  Elev8, the RTÉ 2 young peoples program sent us the following note.  Watch the footage of the call for talent on Elev8 by watching the clip here.   

Magic Circus

Roll up, roll up! The circus is in town.

Have you always dreamed of being in the circus? Do you spend your time clowning around? Can you walk on stilts or contort yourself into extraordinary positions? Are you a mime artist in the making or a wannabe acrobat?

If so, and if you are between the ages of 8 and 13, we have a great opportunity for you.  We want to offer you, or you and a small group of friends (acts can include up to four people in total)  the opportunity to take part in The Magic Circus Show, along with other young artists from across Europe.

If you have an interest in performing in a circus, and have a particular  skill or talent which could be turned into a circus performance act, we want to hear from you. All you have to do is send us a short film clip showing off your skill. The clip should be no longer than 2 minutes long. Sending it to us is simple. You can send it, using the upload button on our website.  

Go on! What are you waiting for!

Emerald Magic launches at Magic UnCorked with Special Offers

Emerald Magic is the new name for Pat Fallon's dealing business which was previously known as abc Magic.  Emerald Magic should be your first call in Ireland for cards, rope and general magic supplies.  In addition Emerald Magic also stock Pat's own range of marketed effects.  Pat writes...

Just a quick note to say that Emerald Magic will be launched at this weekend’s Magic Uncorked with lots of special offers on a wide range of magic. The rebranding has come about due to a number of my original effects been taken up by a dealer in the USA so a more distinct Irish look was felt necessary at this time. A new website will appear later in the year but for the moment our email address info@emeraldmagic.net is active and the telephone number is 00353 45 858000 for any enquiries.

We wish Pat the best of luck with this new look.

Ger Kearney on Cork's 96fm

Earlier today one of the organisers of the upcoming Magic UnCorked was a guest of Neil Prenderville on his Cork 96fm radio show. Ger dealt with probing questions about Dynamo, performed some nice mental magic and plugged the upcoming convention. Listen below.

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Paul Gleeson :: TV Series in the Works

Dublin based DCU graduate and Irish language speaker Paul Gleeson is a relatively new name on the block.  Paul is behind a Youtube series of magic called White Rabbit.  Rumours originally surfaced some weeks back and it now seems that Paul's idea been picked up on by mainstream media and through Paul's Facebook we learn that he is in pre production with Midas Productions for an 10 part series on TG4. 

"Cannot wait to be able to give you all a little bit more info about my TV series :-)! For now, just know that it's a 10 part series, featuring my take on the whole 'magic' thing...with a big escape at the end of each one! Thanks so much for all the support over the years to anyone who watched me perform, watched a video, came to a show, hired me, photographed me, held a camera, held a boom, edited a video, sat in as a test dummy, designed a logo, or helped me out in anyway, shape or form. You know who you are, and You've been instrumental in getting me this incredible opportunity. So, thanks a million! I'll do you proud(ish)! ;-D"

We here at IMN wish the best of luck to Paul with the project and will keep you informed of developments.

Brendan Byrne on RTÉ Radio 1 John Murray Show

Earlier today your good editor here at IMN Brendan Byrne (that'd be me writing this) was a guest of Kathryn Thomas on RTÉ Radio 1. Kathryn was sitting in for John Murray on his morning show of the same name. I was asked on to discuss the recent controversy surrounding Teller and his Shadows routine. Listen to Kathryn's chat with me below.

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Update on Thursday, April 19, 2012 at 5:09PM by Brendan Byrne

Below you can find footage of Teller's Shadows and click here for a fascinating research paper from Jacon Loshin regarding Intellectual Property Rights in magic.

Late Night Magic is a Success

Congratulations to the team behind Late Night Magic.  The new monthly magic night launched to a full house at The Sugar Club on Friday evening.  At times it felt more like a magic convention as a gaggle of the countires magical community turned up to support the performers on the night who included Joe Daly, Davy McCauley, Colm Dawson (pictured), Steve Spade and Shane Gillen.  Keith Barry also made an appearance and introduced the night.  Kudos to everyone involved.  More pictures here.

Paul Daniels' Late Late Show Appearance

Paul and Debbie appeared on The Late Late Show last Friday evening.  Having spent the afternoon in the company of a handful of local magicians Paul and Debbie were both in flying form as they chatted to host Ryan Tubridy about their upcoming Irish tour.  You can watch the footage on the RTÉ Player until 4th May by clicking here.  You will need to jump to the 1hr 9min mark to catch Paul and Debbie's bit.

Paul and Debbie play a variety of dates across Ireland as listed below and tickets are available through Ticketmaster here.

May 1st - INEC Killarney
May 2nd - UCH Limerick
May 3rd  - Royal Theatre, Castlebar
May 4th - Waterford Studio, Belfast
May 6th - Vicar Street, Dublin
May 7th - Opera House, Cork