Voice of Britain
by Ian Adair
Hi there!
Lots of news from little ol'
Britain. What with the 61st annual British Ring
Convention, magicians have been having a wonderful
time. But more about this big convention later,
and incidentally, some two thousand registrants
attended. International I.B.M. President, and
an old pal of mine, Abb Dickson was there and
delighted us all with his presence.
MATHEW
SAYS GOODBYE TO TV'S SOOTY
Son of
founder, Harry Corbett, Mathew is 'hanging up
his gloves' which is in the form 'of television's
most lovable and long running TV bear 'Sooty.
Mathew's father, Harry was an electrician by
trade but loved performing magic and messing
about with puppets. He found Sooty in a novelty
store 45 years ago and with a few adjustments,
gave Sooty his personality and of course his
name. Harry became famous in the fifties, sixties
and seventies, and even when handing over the
complete outfit to his son (for a sum of money,
I must add) he toured certain areas including
the West of England where I live. Hence I had
the pleasure of being his "Special Guest Artiste"
the wording of which appeared on the colourful
programmes which were distributed around the
town he and I were appearing in, Mathew kept
the TV rights. Harry became so popular that
he was asked to come to meet Her Majesty the
Queen at Buckingham Palace and be awarded with
the OBE. It was his work in charity which made
him this.
Mathew
kept Sooty going making the puppet bear the
longest-running, children's show on national
British television. Just before father Harry
died, the late Bill Stickland, then secretary
of the British King, past president of IBM,
invited him to appear on one of the convention's
gala shows. What a delight it was to see Harry,
together with Sooty and friends work in front
of all those adults. We hope the new owners
(and we believe the figure received is approximately
two million pounds) will promote Sooty and keeping
him going. This includes all the franchises
of firms who manufacture and promote Sooty products,
from beakers to toothbrushes, from comic papers
to toy puppets. The list is endless.
BLACKPOOL
AND THE 61ST ANNUAL CONVENTION
International
stars of magic have been booked for this, the
latest convention to be staged by the Blackpool
Magicians' Club. The famous Winter Gardens complex
will again be used and some 70 dealers will
be attending. Amongst those who have been booked
are Tomsoni & Co, Peter Marvey, Dani Lary,
Dan Garrett our own TV star, Ken Dodd, and many
more besides.
The once
'One Day Convention' seems-to be spreading.
It now starts on Friday and goes right through
to Sunday which, of course, is the main day.
We shall be bringing you news of this great
convention in later reports.
Southport
was the venue, one we have been to before on
several occasions. The complex there is superb
and the crowds came in their numbers. The souvenir
programme , printed on the usual gloss, art
paper had an impressive cover, again, designed
by Ali Bongo. He came up with the idea of conventioneers
trying to find out which two rabbits looked
identical amid loads of them illustrated by
his pen. Jeremy and Cheryl Le Poidevin of 'Practical
Magic', a dealing depot of many years here in
Britain, that was recently taken over by them,
didn't think the convention was a good one.
When they unloaded their props from their nice
new Vauxhall Estate car near the Floral Hall,
found it was missing by morning. Fortunately,
it was discovered miles away in another town
by the police! Talk about the 'vanishing car'!
Of all
the events at this 61st convention, the competition
event was the worst ever seen. So poor was the
standard of entries, unfortunately, The New
British Ring Shield plus ú200 in money was not
awarded. Neither was the Ditta Shield for Manipulation.
Comedy seemed to dominate the proceedings and
therefore the Tom Harris Cup for this branch
went to someone good at the craft of making
people laugh whilst doing magic - John Archer.
The Alastair Wand plus ú50-went to John Holmes
and the Ladies Trophy, and the conventioneer's
trophy for originality, went to Mystique. Close-up
trophy plus ú200 was awarded to Herman Koster,
2nd prize to Eddy Smit, with ú100 and in third
place Mike Smith receiving ú50.
The dealers
trophy, called the Mystic Craig award, went
to Swadling Magic with special commendation
to your own Jack Miller of his 'enterprises'
firm. Nice seeing him back again!
DEALERS
EXIIIBITION.
The dealers opened on the Tuesday evening, giving
the conventioneers a chance to see the very
latest products on the market. The dealers also
presented demos on stage starting early Wednesday
morning but how can a dealer do 'Just' to his
firm or products when given just four minutes
to do it in? Impossible, but then, we are magicians!
Aren't we.
After
the official opening, President Bob Hayden in
the presence of His Worshipful The Mayor of
Sefton, came the 'start-of-the convention' show.
MC, Peter Scarlett introduced Terry Herbert
with his comedy magic, Keelan Leyser with his
now popular scissors act, where scissors small
and large are magically produced throughout.
Van Buren Jr. and Kim were slick and most professional.
OVERSEAS
VISITORS WELCOME
We all gathered to see and applaud those who
came from overseas to attend our convention.
Magicians from the four corners of the globe
(or should it be the circumference?) paraded
in fashion under the banner of their flag, accompanied
with suitable music which wasn't always appropriate
but yet fun to listen to. This year was different.
No reception in the form of food and drinks
given away by the council of the town we were
visiting. Instead, and very gratefully accepted,
was the complete show presented by Peter Kersten,
direct from Berlin, Germany, and feauring The
Diamond Dancers, Angelique & Kavalier, Carmen
& Claudia and special guest, Carola Pander,
THURSDAY
EVENTS:
The first star lecture was presented by Torkova
of USA and introduced by Peter Scarlett. Introduced
by Jeff Atkins, Past International President
of the IBM, was 'Phil Temple recalls Thuston'
-- a wonderful historical talk and demonstration.
Another
star lecture, in the Yuji Yamamoto, introduced
by Tom Owen and called the "Magic of Japan was
excellent.
CLOSE-UP
COMPETITIONS:
During Thursday afternoon the close-up competition
for the Zina Bennett Trophy, arranged by Mike
Gancia was a good one and at the beginning of
my report, you will see the outcome of the winners.
During the week hospital shows by numerous children's
entertainers were full-swing.
STAR
LECTURE:
Peter Kersten Titled `Magic for Minors' Richard
Stupple, a well-known children's entertainer
himself introduced him. He was on top form and
everyone watching, interested in this branch
of magic, loved it.
FRIDAY 14.15 hours
Eddie Dawes presented CELEBRATORY MAGIC, a celebration
of some magical anniversaries featuring Bernard
Juby, John Marshall and Tim Cockerill, Mike
O'Brien, Chris Pratt, Mark Raffles, Geoff Ray
and Pat, Alfonso Rios and the Tempests supported
at the keyboard by Dave Cass, with stage direction
from Neil Roberts.
PEKI
Another star lecture, this time introduced by
President elect, Derek Lever, was simply called
'Hints and Tips' and was very well received.
Whilst those who wanted to
attend the banquet were being entertained by
various speakers, others were enjoying chats
with their magical friends, leading up to the
presentation of awards. President, Bob Hayden,
a bundle of fun at all times, presented the
awards and then let Ian Keable introduce Christian,
Steve Walker, Domenico Dante, Bob McAllister,
and Carl Dean & Caluadine the latter two
being great friends of mine and whom scored
so well with their manipulative type magic,
laced with glamorous cost - umes and good stage
direction.
SATURDAY:
A star lecture, introduced again by Peter Scarlett
(can't they find others to introduce those famous
folks?) introduced Bob McAllister of USA and
the title 'Magic to Entertain' whilst not that
original, was certainly worth watching.
Meanwhile down at the ranch,
as they say, this being, Southport's Little
Theatre, Children's Showtime was in full force.
Leslie Melville introduced Tony Rix, Peter Greenwood,
Magical Moira Colvaii, Michael J. Decker, 'Penny
Arcadia' plus the IBM clowns and the children
loved them.
Later, on in the afternoon,
whilst the dealers were still open all hours,
Eddie Dawes introduced MORE HISTORY OF MYSTERY
a seminar featuring David Price, Dick Newton,
Frank Koval and Peter Lane. MARCO DUCA LECTURE
This came later, and introduced by the wife
of Stephen,(Budget's editor). It was well received.
Videotapes of the late Fred Kaps were shown
by Steve Walker and then it was time for the
famous Gala Show. Presented at the Southport
Theatre, Jeff Atkins, assisted by Ali Bongo,
brought us a superb program. Stage director
was Neil Roberts.
After the overture Dave Cass
at the keyboard, Jack Delvin was our MC. He
introduced Yuji Yamamoto with Magic from Japan.
Torkova of USA was 'The Coin Star'. Marc Et
Chantal presented 'fascinating magic' from Germany
while Ward Allen changed the magical theme and
introduced his vent dog, Roger. A spectacular
`Garden of Flowers' came alive from Peki of
Germany to close the first half of the program.
After the intermission came Rousseau, the award-winning
magician from U.K. Cube-Triu (School of Magic)
from Russia followed with a brilliant act whilst
world-prize winner Juliana Chen performed her
type of magic all the way from China.
To complete the program, Aquarius,
Britain's Champion presented a breath-taking
finale.
SUNDAY
A convention church service was conducted by
The Rev. Michael Austin. The installation of
our new President, Derek Lover was also conducted,
followed by a cocktail party after which President
Derek closed the convention.
And so, came the end of yet
another wonderful convention. Perhaps not the
best we have ever had, but one always learns
and meets friends old and new and buys props
and exchange ideas. It's amazing just how much
one gets out of a convention if he or she puts
something into it.
Long journeys home for many
specially those who traveled from overseas although
I must admit, those who lived in New York got
home much quicker than I did, traveling down
the M5, M4 and into the West country, by car,
with an eight-hour journey non-stop.
Until I write again. Very best
wishes.
Sincerely,
Ian Adair
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