The Billet Article - The Magic of Memories

This article is taken from The Billet Issue - 426 - Sep 2007, Authored by Melvyn Shalks

The Magic of Memories

It must have been the finest lecture I have ever seen. I was in my teens and an eager member of the Leeds Magic Circle.

The lecture was entitled :

The Art of Showmanship in one easy lesson

It was to be given by one Jon Gresham. As a novice, I did not realise that Jon must have been one of the greatest showmen in magic.

He ran a cinema in Pocklington below which he had reproduced a `penny` arcade. He had aquired old fairground and amusement arcade equipment. Old pennies were used to operate them.

Jon`s lecture was mainly about using `The Pause`. He used a cassette tape recorder to capture his audience`s reactions during a magic act. He repeated this doing the same act using a demonstration of the pause, in the appropriate places.

What an eye or should I say an ear opener. He extracted laughter, applause and intense appreciation from his performance.

The demo was dramatic. It was of more use than all the clever moves and magical miracles one could buy.

During a clear out at home, I came across Jon`s lecture sheet which I have scanned. It will be presented elsewhere in this issue.

Do yourself a favour and savour it.

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