I had a call from Shubhda Chaudhary who wanted to interview me about being a magician. She’s going to publish it on a website soon, but in the meantime here are my answers to her questions about what it’s like to be a table magician.

Some photos below from a recent corporate event in Bristol where I was performing close-up magic and a cabaret spot for the room at the end. The gig was at the Grand Hotel in the city centre. Although I have been performing magic in Bristol for years, this was my first time at the Grand and had a great evening.
Vanessa from TM Group took the photos!

I’m currently appearing in a show in Cheltenham called “An Evening of Deception”. I am on the bill with three other magicians and the local TV presenter Steve Knibbs. Tickets are sold out and the audience response so far has been really positive. It’s great fun to perform and some of the cheltenham magicians have been turning out so see the show.

Here are some photos from a lovely winter wedding that I was booked to perform close-up magic at last month. December is a fairly popular month to get married! Lots of people enjoy the romance that the cold weather brings: mulled wine, sitting in front of a log fire, and of course those lethal traffic conditions. The photos are courtesy of the excellent wedding photographer Mark Miller

It’s Christmas eve and I am slumped at home - what a crazy month! Christmas is the busy time of year for close-up magicians and I’d like to thank everyone that invited me to their parties this month!

I have VERY limited availability for December 2010 now. For a quick response and a quote if I am free please fill out the contact form and I’ll get back to you!

Someone sent me this video from an event the other night. It makes the Blair Witch project look slick and it’s very hard to see what’s going on, but the reactions to the magic are pretty loud!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJGKcWLvxBk
This was at an event for Thorpe Park (the end of year staff awards party)

Let’s get straight to the point: Copying content (or to put it another way - STEALING content) from my website or any other website is immoral, illegal, lazy, rude and downright stupid. Not only does Google penalise websites that have duplicate content, it makes all websites for close-up magicians look similar and makes it hard for bookers to differentiate between us all. I have spent AGES writing original content and painstakingly trying to come up with succinct, relevant and interesting copy to promote my business and it’s depressing when I see my peers coming on here and treating all of my content like a free all-you-can-eat buffet. It happens all the time. Not just text but sometimes pictures too (magicians have taken my live shots and cropped me out of them to show the audience reaction only!)

Here a couple of examples that are out there at the time of writing. This is part of my front page and two other websites that have copied it verbatim, changing my name for theirs:

From my homepage:
Copycat 1:
Copycat 2:

The bottom image is taken from an agency website and not only have they copied that, but also they have lifted my CV:

What does it say about your act and your professionalism when you not only lie about your credentials, but you have actually copied those credentials from another more established performer?

Generally I run my website through www.copyscape.com once or twice a month then email those that have copied from me politely requesting they remove my content. Usually they take down the stolen text but it’s usually with only the briefest of apologies and generally blaming a nameless “web designer” (ironic as it’s usually painfully transparent that the magician has botched together his own appalling-looking website in order to save money) or worse still claiming that “there are only so many words to describe what we do”. That is true to some extent, but the chances of someone independently coming up with multiple paragraphs of text identical to mine are so slim as to be completely impossible and frankly to suggest that they came up with the same phrasing by chance is an insult to my intelligence. It’s a bit like saying the Nike slogan “Just Do It” would be easy to come up with as “Just”, “Do” and “It” are common words and anyone could put them together.

If you feel that writing is not your strong suit, and that you are unable to adequately write content for your website then ask someone else to do it. Pay a copywriter. Or, if you can’t afford that then talk to a friend who has writing skills. Even if they look through a few magicians’ websites and then sit down and paraphrase from memory what they have just read, at least then you will have original promotional material.

On a lighter note, but on the same subject: a link to one of my favourite stand up comedy routines. Stewart Lee on Joe Pasquale

There is a lot of buzz in the magic world about two prime time terrestrial magic TV shows that are currently in production. The first is a big budget show called “THE MAGICIANS” which is going to be presented by Mr Light Entertainment himself Lenny Henry and be broadcast on Saturday nights on BBC1. The idea is that celebrities will be hooking up with magicians (rumoured to be Portugal’s Mr Smooth Luis De Matos, Tom Green lookalike Chris Korn from the USA and the excellent Scottish double act Barry and Stuart). Luis De Matos has lots of television experience and seems a good choice. Chris Korn has been in a few shows in the US but doesn’t really seem like an obvious choice for this show considering the worldwide pool of talent that was available. It will be interesting to see how Barry and Stuart’s slightly macabre side translates to a shiny floored Saturday night show.
Apparently thousands are being spent on building big illusions. Expect appearing speedboats and all sorts. This is the first time a magic series has shown on prime time BBC since the axing of the Paul Daniels show around 1994-5. For years the BBC had a strict “NO MAGIC” policy.

The second show currently being developed for Christmas features Penn and Teller. With the exception of an interview with Jonathan Ross, these two have not been on our screens since the early Nineties either. Their one off ITV1 special has the title “Penn and Teller: Fool Us”. Seeing as Teller is one of the most knowledgeable magicians out there, this is never going to be an easy task. Unlike “The Magicians” which has looked to Portugal and the USA to make up 2/3rds of its talent roster, the Penn and Teller show is looking to feature performers from the UK. Quite a few of my friends have been talking to the production company and attending castings and such and the filming is taking place next month. It looks to be a showcase of the best (and, I would imagine given current TV trends, the worst!) of what Britan’s magical talent has to offer. Both of these new shows are notable as virtually all magic TV shows in this country in the last ten years have been made by a production company called Objective Productions (responsible for all of Derren Brown’s TV output). The Penn and Teller show is being made by September Films who are responsible for such dubious work as “Growing Up Without a Face”, “Bridezillas” and “650-lb Virgin” so I think I’ll have to reserve judgement until I see the show!

It’s that time of year again - I am getting loads of Christmas party enquiries. Many of the peak dates have now gone (If I could be in more than one place at a time I could clean up on 10 December this year - I have already turned away about a dozen companies for that night!) - however, I still have a few. If you are thinking about a close up magician or a table magician then now is the time to start thinking about it!