Hello Wizards, I hope you enjoyed the Competition Night. I thought it was very enjoyable from the performer's side. 5hume there weren't more than those few who did make the evening an enjoyable one for the rest. Congratulations must go to Simon Jackson and Anthony Heaton. I've seen the acts on the video that Phil recorded, and without doubt I felt Simon was a worthy winner in the Stage Competition. Anthony was unlucky in not beating me into second place. I was fortunate to have amassed enough points that when I suffered penalties for over-running, I just had enough to win. Personally, I think the rules should be altered slightly as a four minute overtime window is too much compared to most competition rules at such conventions as the Easter Parade and The British Ping. Were I a bit newer to the competition scene and had won in such ct way, I may have then gone to a convention competition with an air of confidence only to be disqualified! Should such a thing happen, it could discourage people to no longer compete, and we have enough of that as it is. The next day of course was our Roadshow for the Parkinson's Disease Society. There will be a report of the show in full in the December Billet. Incidentally, don't forget the December meeting will be a week early on the 28'h November and also to bring down any Christmas cards you wish to pass on to other members. Back to the Roadshow. While it is being reported on in the next Billet, it should be acknowledged who took part in the show. Henry Norris, despite some car trouble, managed to get across and took part in the Close-up along with barren McDonald, Oliver Parker, Jason Spear, Mark Waddington and myself. In the two rooms, Dennis Calvert and Karen McDonald introduced us. Due to the car trouble, Henry wasn't able to stay for the second half, but the rest of us enjoyed the performances from Lauren Stringwell, Dennis Calvert and Ken Mitchell. Darren compered the second half. Assisting were Tony McDonald, Eric Stringwell and Phil Haworth. Dave and Sue Waddington along with some assistance from Mark submitted the report. It the audience were Len Medina, Vincent Shackleton, and Eric Slicer. We were also honoured to have with us, brought across by one of the Parkinson's Disease Society members, Vera Eaton. She thoroughly enjoyed the show, and it was explained at one point that due to Bob's passing, from the Circle's standing, the show was held as a tribute to Rob's devotion to the Circle and to magic in general. As for as I am aware, the takings at the door were about 76300. Had it been held on a 50/50 basis, they would still have made f150. With such sums, there could be a chance of our returning there next year to raise funds for both parties. Just before the October meeting, a few familiar faces were spotted over at Southport at the British Ring Convention. It was my first time there. I thought it was very enjoyable and not quite what I expected to see. There was plenty of good magic on offer, some great magic, though not too much, some poor magic and a couple of astonishing Diaboloists. One sour point for me was that Steve Gore didn't get a placing in the Close-up Competition. Now it could be sour grapes, but I felt his act did deserve high scores in magical content and presentation, especially as it was the only one with a continuous theme. While the third and first places I could agree with to a point, I felt the second prize was unjust as it was a presentation of three dealer effects by one of the Convention dealers. Don't get me wrong, I though his was the most entertaining act of the competition. But it was a competition of close-up magic. All that being said, I guess at most competitions there will be some who don't agree with the results. This year must have been my turn. I'll be looking for volunteers for the Roadshow at St. James the Great Church, Pudsey, being held on Saturday 17th January. That's it, till next time so from me, TA-PAAA!!! |
