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rjs Loyal user 296 Posts |
Here’s my review of The Session, Cheltenham, UK, January 11-12, 2014.
Saturday: Zach Mueller showed us the Fanthom change – the card changes instantly behind a fan of cards. John Carey gave us a neat routine ‘Think N Sync’ where he locates either the mate or the actual thought of card. Bizau Christian demonstrated the tie change – with one wipe, the selection changes. I’d be more impressed if the ghastly tie changed colour instead. He also performed an overkill card prediction effect based on a full jacket index, which held all possible 52 cards. He used condoms to randomly select the value, colour and suit of the chosen card. Hector Chadwick gave a tantalizing presentation on equivoque. His preferred structure Equivoque…Equivoque…Free Choice (with multiple outs) made sense. In fact, it’s the basis to ‘Prospect’, the latest mental selection trick on the market. It would be interesting to combine these explorations with ideas developed by Max Maven, Docc Hilford and Mark Elsdon (multivoque). Equivoque material tends to be scattered around in obscure pamphlets. Maybe it is possible to do a full equivoque – David Regal’s Hotel 52 comes to mind - but most tricks need to offer the spectator one or preferably two genuine choices somewhere along the line. For me, the most accomplished performer was John Guastaferro. In the afternoon, he gave the best lecture of the convention. He believes that the key components of good magic are creativity, simplicity and artistry. And he lives up to this philosophy. His multiple selection routine was outstanding. His latest version of Gemini Squared is a strong and baffling presentation of the Karl Fulves concept. John even gave a bonus midnight lecture. I was impressed not only by his ingenious and engaging material, but by his relaxed and unflappable delivery throughout both lectures. Bebel , the French card mechanic, is a gifted savant. His dazzling switches and manoeuvres – an embarrassment of riches – completely killed me because the moves were so good. Double asymmetric transposition with a glass – yes, Brian, I’ll have that sorted by next Christmas! This is the kind of stuff I imagined card magicians were really up to… The early evening show was Morgan & West, spiffing chaps from Victorian times. Jon Armstrong really liked their performance at the London convention in November and I’m sure that M&W will have a chance to perform at the Magic Castle this year. The late evening quiz show, styled on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, was somewhat faltering. The set answers weren’t precise or logical. The format is based on a long running relic of a quiz show, pumped up by contrived canned laughter and hosted by sarcastic abrasive comedians. I’m a purist who prefers genuine quiz shows like Only Connect, where you actually have to do quick lateral thinking to survive. Noel Qualter was the compere. Panelist Joshua Jay didn’t seem briefed on the ‘Call My Bluff’ section where you’re force fed an autobiographical anecdote to relate which may be true or false. Guy Hollingworth managed to excel in this section, fooling the rival panel twice with both a false tale and a true tale. Luke Jermay also did well. Trading insults is all part and parcel of this quiz show and there were several digs at soft targets such as Hank Lee and Craig Petty. Sunday: The Joe Barry lecture contained an impressive pseudo-memory routine, making use of side-jogged key cards. Joe then left us flabbergasted by ‘Out of My World’, an effect that withstood disruptive shuffles from two spectators. This is perhaps the best Out of This World I’ve seen, apart from Greg Rostami’s Cosmos. Canadian Ben Train came on jet-lagged from a lengthy delayed plane journey. He managed to screw up the first trick, which relied on a set-up. It’s good to know that pros can make howlers. I think he’d forgotten to pre-arrange the deck… Then he moved onto his Bold Assembly. His Blue Crown downloads are worth checking out. My favourite is The Myth, a ‘cutting edge’ method for finding the aces in a shuffled deck. His mother taught him that, in between cooking and cleaning lessons. Father Alex who edits the Bullfrog Magazine was another miracle worker from France. He delivered the funniest sight gag of the Convention. As a catholic priest, he assured us that he did not study gambling for the purposes of making money. As he said this, bundles of cash came accidentally spilling from his bag. Father Alex showed some amazing tabled card switches. Jon Archer then did an elaborate map routine, but it lost me. Iain Sharkey who writes for the Derren Brown TV show then paced frenetically around the stage taking cues from his iPad. His views on TV writing seemed too prescriptive to me. He spoke of economy of effect and economy of language. I doubt if Monty Python would have been ever made under such constraints. Iain, I reckon, has a lot to answer for. Storylines such as Zombie Apocalypse and Hero at 30,000 Feet are lazy manipulative junk for the ignorant masses. (And I say this even though I am sadly a fan of horror films and Frightfest conventions.) Young Frenchman Pierre-Marie Lazaroo - this is his real name!? – actually spoke English posher than Guy Hollingworth and did some advanced card tricks. I bought his Lecture Notes. I chuckled when I read part of the text: do a breather Zarrow, then a Ben Earl shape shuffle…then control the card by Earick’s broadside centre steal… Yes, Brian. Larry Wilmore, who appears on Jon Stewart’s Daily Show, showed us a clip from his controversial ‘N’ word sketch. Unfortunately, the Daily Show seems to have vanished from free to air in the UK, And then the highlight of the convention: Guy Hollingworth, described as the kind of chap who makes Hugh Grant look like Danny Dyer. Guy was given a special ‘life achievement’ award which he handled self-deprecatingly, referring modestly to his mid-life crisis. And Guy didn’t punish us with a sales pitch like Sankey last year. Instead, Guy showed impeccable artistry – an elegant succession of card masterpieces: Twisting (Waving) the Kings one by one. And at the end suddenly turning the Kings into Aces. An impossible Ace Assembly - followed by an instant dis-assembly! Cards through jacket – a very convincing visual illusion. Signed ACAAN , its position randomly selected by 5 different spectators. Guy finished with his legendary Torn and Restored signed card. Blimey, if only Luis Matos would do a DVD special capturing Guy’s finest creations. I only have fuzzy VHS memories. The evening Gala show was of mixed quality. I didn’t warm to Firehouse, the first comedian, although his Paul McCartney joke was quite funny and I have annoyed my work colleagues with it ever since. Danny Buckler told a shaggy dog story about taking a girt to the Phantom of the Opera on a disastrous date. Guastaferro performed his inspired version of McDonald’s Aces using wine glasses. Yes, he made a Freudian slip when he told the audience he was placing the aces in the fourth wine glass. But he never lost his stride. Jon Allen produced a bottle of wine from nowhere. John Archer introduced the acts. At one point, when setting the various scenes, he made a hilarious and blasphemous reference to Dai Vernon’s presence at the Magic Castle. The Convention climaxed with Luke Jermay giving a brilliant display of psychic imagination. A spectator uncannily senses key imagery in a hidden painting by cult artist Jack Vettriano. And somehow the same spectator unconsciously extracts relevant biographical knowledge of the same artist. Overall, another first-class convention. PS Here’s a suggestion to Andi & Josh. The Convention happens to be held next door to the massive circular GCHQ complex, the UK equivalent to NSA, the eavesdropping, code-breaking, code-generating spy agency. It might be interesting next year to give a presentation on coding methods used in card magic and mentalism and invite someone from the ‘Doughnut’ spy centre to contribute. |
Feral Chorus Elite user CA 495 Posts |
Thanks for taking the effort to do this review, I enjoyed the read.
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JohnG V.I.P. 372 Posts |
Wow, what a lengthy and insightful review. Thanks for taking the time to do this. It was an honor for me to lecture/perform at the Session.
So glad you found it of value. John G
John Guastaferro
Website: www.MagicJohnG.com Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/MagicJohnG Twitter: twitter.com/johngmagic YouTube: www.youtube.com/johngmagic Email: johnGmagic@mac.com |
paisa23 Inner circle 7293 Posts |
Wish I was there.
June 22 2012 9:02 AM baby Usnavi was born!
http://twitter.com/paisa233 http://www.facebook.com/people/Wilder-J-Rua/505202382 http://www.myspace.com/wildrua |
korttihai_82 Inner circle Finland 1880 Posts |
Really nice to read honest review. Thanks
Juha-Matti |
stefano59 New user Roma - Italia 5 Posts |
Thanks for the review. Next year I'll try be be there.
Ciao |
martydoesmagic Inner circle Essex, UK 1665 Posts |
Great review, thanks Richard.
For those poor, unfortunate souls who missed this convention, I've also been blogging about it: Part 1: Zach Mueller Part 2: John Carey Part 3: Bizau Cristian Part 4: Hector Chadwick Part 5: John Guastaferro Part 6: Bebel Part 7: Saturday Night Events Part 8: Joe Barry Part 9: Ben Train Part 10: Father Alex Part 11: Iain Sharkey I've almost covered every event, the last few posts on the convention will go live this week. As you can probably tell, this is my favourite convention in the UK, closely followed by Ron's Day (International Magic Convention). Both are a welcome antidote to the horror that is The Blackpool Magic Convention! Marty |
martydoesmagic Inner circle Essex, UK 1665 Posts |
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martydoesmagic Inner circle Essex, UK 1665 Posts |
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martydoesmagic Inner circle Essex, UK 1665 Posts |
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