Well, another Hey Presto show has come and gone and is written up elsewhere in this edition of the Billet. By all accounts it was one of the all time greats and everyone enjoyed it. There were one or two minor mishaps with the sound which I was responsible for but I suppose it is to be expected in an unrehearsed show. All in all it was an excellent evening of entertainment. If you were at the last meeting you will have seen the Greg Wilson lecture. Greg is an excellent magician and entertainer as I found out at close quarters when I was selected as his stooge. I was lucky to get away with my belongings intact as he is known as a pick pocket (in the nicest possible way) the world over. I can vouch that even close up you can’t see or feel his ‘moves’. Anyway, I bought one of his DVD’s in the interval and as a reward for allowing him to make a fool of me he gave a set of his lecture notes called ‘Unpacked’. I am donating the booklet to the library, so if anyone wants to borrow it please do. It’s been a while now since we looked at the library shelves so I thought we might go through one or two books that may be of interest to our newer members. That’s not to say that established members couldn’t learn something from them as well. We have lots of books covering all aspects of entertaining and magic. From Close-up to Stage, ventriloquism to quick change, balloon modelling to one liners we have book on it all. So if you are just stating out in this great hobby of ours and want to check out the many branches we probably have the book for you. One I picked out at random was Modern Coin Magic by J.B. Bobo. This book is full of excellent advice for the budding coin manipulator. It has instruction on how to do 116 Coin Sleights and no less than 236 Coin tricks and contains loads of illustrations to help the explanations. Starting with basic palms, holds and clips the author gently leads us up to a whole chapter on the Miser’s Dream the well known stage illusion. Even if you are not into coin manipulation this book looks an interesting read. Another more up-to-date book is Magic for Dummies by David Pogue. This book covers a whole multitude of magical genre. Chapter headings include New Uses for Office Supplies, Build Your Own Card Trick Kit, Rope, and What to Do With Other People’s Clothing. Now that’s a heading that has got to make you curious!! David Pogue also writes about Ten Classic Moments in Magic History, Ten Things to Say When Things Go Wrong and The Ten Basics of Good magic. This is a really good and easy to read book with loads of tricks and advice on how to perform them. If card tricks are your forte then a little old dusty volume I took from the bottom shelf could be just what you are looking for. Called But Not To Play by Wilfred Jonson the book sets out to be ‘A Practical Course of Instruction in the Fundamentals of Conjuring with Cards’. The book, with its rather plain maroon and gold cover, is packed with tricks and illustrations on how to do them. Don’t be put off by the fact that it was first published in 1946. The sleights that it sets out to teach the reader are still as useful today. Many of the tricks may have been forgotten, but isn’t that a plus. Your audience isn’t worried if the trick was invented in 1946 or 2007. If its entertaining and you do it well they will enjoy it. Talking of the 1940’s may I remind members that next year is The Bradford Magic Circle’s 60th anniversary and I am on the look out for any videos or cine film of the Circle’s members old and new. I am hoping to assemble the clips into a short DVD which will play at a display we are hoping to put on at the Bradford Industrial Museum. The display will link into the challenge the Circle will lay down to Danny Hunt of Amethyst, to escape from a set of hand cuffs that Houdini refused to attempt to escape from on one of his visits to Bradford. These ‘handcuffs’ are the original ones kept at the Museum. More details later. If you have any clips or film they will be well looked after and of course returned to you. You know where to find me by the library table. Well that’s about all for this time. See you next month. | 
