The Billet Article - Librarians Ramblings

This article is taken from The Billet Issue - 447 - Jun 2009, Authored by Peter Wright

Librarians Ramblings

I think it was Geoffrey Durham who said at his lecture that he was told never to join an amateur magic club or circle as they will tell you to do it all wrong!!

This maybe true of some magic circles but here at Bradford we are fortunate in having some very knowledgeable and experienced members. You will no doubt have read elsewhere in this issue about the lecture that Steve Naylor gave at the May meeting call Table Hopping (with both feet on the ground). Personally I thought it was one of the best lectures that we have ever had, and that includes lectures from world famous magicians. It was good because Steve recognised that there is more to this magic lark than just doing tricks.

I have just read the lecture notes that Steve sold after his talk, and I have to say what good value they are. Not because you get a free CD Rom detailing how to do the tricks or that it provides sample letters to send out to clients or that it even has some restaurant sound effects to put you in the mood while rehearsing your routine. Its not even because of the hilarious outtakes included on the CD that Steve has been brave enough to show us. Its because the 24 page notes contain solid gold advice from an experienced professional that cannot be bought. Table Hopping sounds easy to the uninitiated, turn up at a venue do a few tricks for the diners then get your money and disappear into the night.

But it so much more than that. Steve covers everything you could possibly want to know from deciding if Table Hopping is right for you, through to sending a ‘thank you’ letter to the organiser after the event.

Want to know what the Elevator Speech is and why it is so important have one prepared, what to put in your Notebook of Mystery, and what the Salami Technique is. Its all here in the lecture notes Where else would you get advice on getting a booking, setting (and increasing your fee), publicity material, what to say during that all important first contact phone call. Its all contained in this slim volume.

Steve was fortunate to have Paul Sunderland help him with this project and between them they have produced a first class product both in printed and in video format that will of invaluable use to aspiring performers everywhere.

However I don’t want to give the impression that this lecture is all business. There are four great trick included which are ideal for the Table Hopper. Each one has a video file which shows the performance and the explanation of the effect.

The lecture notes cost £9.99 and Steve has thoughtfully taped a penny to each issue so that purchasers can just hand over a £10 note and they have the penny change with the publication. He did show us one with a ten pound note taped to the back as well as the penny on the front for purchasers who only had £20 pound notes on them. The lecture notes sold well but no-one got the one with the ten pound note on the back!!

We do have a copy of these notes in the library for anyone who would like to read them. The library copy is complete with the CD Rom so I would just ask members to careful with it as recordable CD ROMs are a bit delicate.

All in all a brief but really good read that I would no hesitation to recommend to all members. Congratulations to Mark Waddington for his successful audition to join the Magic Circle. Anyone who saw his audition act at the start of the April 2009 meeting could not fail to be impressed. I don’t know if Mark knows but the Magic Circle has been in existence for over a hundred years. It transpired that on a summer's day in 1905, twenty three amateur and professional magicians gathered together at London's Pinoli's Restaurant with the intention of forming a magic club. The result was the founding of The Magic Circle.

The first official meeting was held at The Green Man public house in Soho, but later meetings were held in a room above the stage of St. George's Hall in Langham Place, where Maskelyne and Devant presented their mysteries to a delighted public for so many years. David Devant, the greatest magician of his era, became the first President of The Magic Circle, and the Society grew rapidly and prospered.

In 1906, Nevil Maskelyne edited the first issue of The Magic Circular, and on its cover were the signs of the zodiac which, together with the words "Indocilis Privata Loqui", were destined to become the emblem of The Magic Circle. (The Latin motto, roughly translated, means "not apt to disclose secrets" - and any member who does so may be subject to expulsion from the Society.) Just be careful Mark – you never know who is listening.

That’s all for this month – see you all next time.

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