The Billet Article - The Stevie B Page

This article is taken from The Billet Issue - 444 - Mar 2009, Authored by Stephen Bellerby

The Stevie B Page

A year or two ago, Mark Waddington was fortunate to see Ian Keable present an evening of mentalism in Grassington village hall. This was one of several small venues where Ian was presenting a one-man show. At a recent meeting at Harrogate Society of Magicians, Rex Stott mentioned that Martyn James was also intending presenting variety shows around the country at village halls and that one of these would in the village of Linton, near Wetherby. It was unfortunate that it was on the Tuesday of the week when Britain (and especially the soft southerners) had the adverse weather. It snowed! Never one to be deterred (which is nothing to do with when a laxative takes effect) I got into our trusty car, and braved the gritted roads along the 11 or so mile journey. A shame that while I was able to make such an expedition, the habitants of the sleepy little village didn’t want to leave the warm comfort of their homes. There was an audience there though (about 12 of us) with some dignitaries amongst them. Rex Stott (who knew Martyn as a youngster at Hull Circle of Magicians’) was there with some of his family, the President of Harrogate Society of Magicians, Bob McBratney was also there. So too was the secretary of Leeds Magical Association (Mike Coyne) and there was also Bradford Magic Circle humble little round secretary. It was just a coincidence that they all happened to also be members of Harrogate Society of Magicians! There were lay people I the audience as well though. This was a family of three from the village, who upon realising that there were more magicians in the audience than not, may have thought stumbled across some secret Yorkshire cult! So a small audience, yes but speaking with Martyn before the show began, I was interested to learn that many of the venues had had very good attendance figures and a pattern had emerged around the various villages where they’d played.

Taking place on a Tuesday evening, I was glad of the early start time of 7.00pm. The room was plunged into darkness as music got the audience accustomed to the volume of the speakers. A singer and a dancer opened the show. They were also part of the magical cast. Zoe, who was the dancer, took part in many of the illusions. When Martyn came on, it was to present the wonderful cardboard box illusion for which Shahid Malik is renowned in which Zoe went inside the box and Martyn rammed several pointed wooden rods through. Of course, Zoe came out of the box unscathed. The show had plenty of the humour you would expect to see in one of Martyn’s shows. The first of these was the spinning disc with the spiral pattern, invented by Jerry Andrus, which effects the vision in a humorous way. After we’d all stared at the disc for a while, we looked at Martyn’s head, which appeared to be warping and bubbling! Later on, Martyn returned with the disc but had it spinning in the opposite direction. That time, I perceived his head to be warping and shrinking!

Among the other illusions was what Martyn referred to as his favourite one. A cabinet was shown and slowly filled with coloured wooden blocks. The last one wouldn’t fit in. The front flap was closed and the last block was lowered into the box, somehow fitting perfectly. Then they were all removed and Zoe was seen to somehow be inside the cabinet.

Tossed Deck was followed by an accompanying act on the programme, The Palma Nova Puppets. I had a sneaky suspicion that the puppets were operated by Zoe and the vocalist, Corina. Anyway, this was a UV puppet show with the operators obviously dressed in black. An array of characters set to pre-recorded music and dialogue that invited lots of laughter.

The interval followed and during this, refreshments were available (being served by Zoe) along with various souvenirs including a couple of magical effects at reasonable prices. After the interval, the vocalist, Corina, opened the second half singing “I Am What I Am” and “All That Jazz”, effortlessly blasting out both songs. In the corner, I noticed Martyn adjusting the lights for effect and setting the music off, showing that the show was a real team effort from a small cast, and pretty seamless. Martyn began the second half’s magic with a superb illusion in which a cabinet upon a metal frame was seen to have three sections, each with its own screens. Zoe climber into the cabinet and once inside, the sections were, one at a time, shoved across to one side leaving no perceivable room for Zoe to hide.

Martyn returned to explore the power of the mind utilising the one-ahead principle (used far too little for the effect it can present) and receiving tremendous laughter from the audience at the situational humour he created.

Keeping with the humour, Martyn and Zoe introduced and assembled an illusion in front of the audience. It consisted of a steel stand and several barbed wire rings, which Martyn apparently had much difficulty handling. When assembled, it formed a tall pole with several rings at intervals all the way up it. A curtain was lifted for a moment in front of the assembly and Zoe stepped behind. When it was lowered, Zoe was within the rings of barbed wire! The curtain was raised again and when it was lowered, Zoe was back out.

A tidy torn and restored sheet of paper was followed by a trick with help from Oliver from the audience, who is one of Rex Stott’s grandchildren. Oliver helped with some magic with some small, appearing, glowing orbs which was “D’liteful”. Did you see what I did there? To close the show, Zoe climbed into a barrel and steel rods were placed across the mouth of the barrel, the back already being closed. A second barrel, already closed at both ends, was attached to the first. Zoe had a small flag, which was pushed through a hole in her barrel. It appeared in the other barrel. The barrels were separated and we could see she was indeed no longer in the first barrel. Pulling up the flag, Martyn accidentally pulled too hard and Zoe’s costume came out as well! After a little by-play, with such gags as Martyn looking through the small hole in the top where the flag would come through, Zoe raised a white flag of surrender from the predicament she’d found herself in. Martyn unlocked the barrel and out she came in a different outfit.

I thought it was an enjoyable evening’s entertainment and Martyn or anyone else who try their hand at such a venture should be applauded and supported by the magical fraternity. If he’s happy to go on the road again, I’ll be happy to go see him when he and his team are In Town Tonight.

See ya next time.

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