Magician & mentalist

The last Blog mentioned events other than weddings at which I do magic for. However, as it is weddings season, here are a few that I have performed at locally.

The first one is the Lane End Conference Centre where I have performed on numerous occasions. It was the wedding of Marcia and Daniel.

Dan and Marcia

Bisham Abbey

This lovely venue is right next to the famous sports venue of the same name

Bisham Abbey. Kerri parkins and her partner Lee chose another beautiful day and had the accompaniment of Affinity harp and flute duo whilst I mixed and mingled amongst the guests.

Affinity harp and flute duo

Close to home, and another venue I am familier with is Court Garden House in Marlow. This was the wedding of Katherine Finkle and fiance’ Richard.

The dreaded speech moment

There was photography by Sean O’Dell and Katherine kindly sent me this quote after the wedding:

‘Thank you so much. Everyone has commented on how much they enjoyed the magic and I just heard people bursting into applause at constant intervals.’

Le Manoir Aux Quat

I had know idea when Adam Kemp and his charming Fiance’ Noemi invited me to perform for his guests at 

Manoir Aux Quat ‘Saisons in Great Milton that it belongs to the famous french Chef, 

Raymond Blanc. What a magnificent venue. Half ot the guests were from Spain so the magic had to be visual so lots of fire was used!

Fellow South African, photographer Adrian Stone from The Dream Catchers was there capturing the specail moments. Adam emailed later saying , ‘Many thanks, you did a great job. Everyone really enjoyed it - I was delighted to get my ring back’.

Magicians don’t just do weddings, we provide entertainment for a range of events. A birthday party is always a popular time to have a magician on board. Karran Robb hired me to perform for her hubby Jason’s 40th birthday party in the stunning location of  Benson Waterfront Cafe’ and Bistro in Wallingford, Oxon. I love the water, and maybe it is because I was bought up close to the sea in Durban South Africa.

Guests baffled in Benson

Karran quoted after the party: ‘Thanks you so much for helping in the success of Jason’s party. I have been overwhelmed with text messages from friends thanking me for  lovely evening and many of them have added that the magician was a great touch’.

One  of Karran’s guest, Vicki Quartermain also kindly sent a message: ‘We saw you at Jason’s 50th birthday party last night and just wanted to say we thought you were amazing’.

Kathleen Fraser-Harding hired me for her hubby Tim’s 50th birthday in Caversham, Reading. It was held in a marquee at the home and they had a splendid hogroast by Roasters Catering…mmmm, I love Hogroasts!

Kathleen sent this message the following week: ‘Thanks for doing such a sterling job on Saturday. All who mentioned you thought you were great. Tim’s Mum especially. We will definaitely recommend you if any of our family/friends are ever looking for a magician.’

Sweet Sixteen

Finally, the bubbly and charming Erica  Beetcham asked my to secretly arrive at her daughters Jess’s 16th birthday party (centre of photo above) in Chalfont St. Peter, and pretend to be a ballon modeller. Jess was terrified her mother would hire a Balloon modelist - not so cool at a 16th birthday party!.

Well the acting seemed to work (the things we’re asked to do hey!!) and then I transformed my act into mind reading which was well received. I must say I was a tad anxious before I began, because as I was getting prepared upstairs, I could hear, ‘down..down..down’,  below in the kitchen and many bottles klinking. I shouldn’t have worried, it was a fabulous party and all the teenagers were great fun. They made me feel really youthful, and that is Real magic!

I performed magic at David Lidgates 70th birthday party in Gerrads Cross right next to the The Bull Hotel. There was a fab Catering group who have an amazing barn in Burnham in Buckinghamshire where they hold many wedding ceremonies. They treated me to some lovley grub! All the magic, (and the grub) went down well but the guests particularly liked the mentalism.

Jo Lidgate, wife of David, Kindly sent this quote:

‘ Hi Ian, You were Great. Everyone enjoyed your performance. Still scratching their heads as to how you did all that Magic. Well done and many thanks.’

Mentalism or shadow puppetry?

I’m putting a couple of engagements up here from the past because I think they were worth mentioning and I guess I am also getting behind in the blogging department due to arrangements for the Edinburgh Festival. I am doing a performance there called Reality Vaccine, which is a mentalism show.

Sandmartins Golf Club

The first one was a repeat booking by the ‘Lovlies and the Wrinklies’ Golf group at Sandmartins Golf Club club in Wokingham. I usually do a cabaret for them and they are always such a fun and welcoming group. As you can see they were in a festive spirit.

Luvlies and Wrinklies

 The second one I wanted to mention was a 60th birthday party for Roger Jennings in Hindhead, Surrey. He has a lovely large house so there was plenty of room for a dsico which was provided my Make A Note mobile disco.

There were quite a number NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) practioners present at the party so they were fascinated my the mentalism. Roger very kindly sent me a message later:

‘ Thank you for helping to make a great evening amazing. Everyone was astounded by your ‘magic’ - I think that is too limited a word for it! and were talking about ‘their favourite trick’ for a long time after. (I am glad that you surprised my NLP friends, they usually think they are the practitioners). You were very professional yet mixed seamlessly with everyone - thank you for bringing a touch of magic to the party.

I am sure referrals will follow.’

Alfred Hitchcock would have been proud of Stephen Lane, CEO of the Propstore in London, which sells movie memorabilia.

He held his 40th birthday bash in the Hitchcock rooms at Pinewood Studios . I had performed magic at his beautiful home in Beaconsfield several years back (see ‘Alien invasion in Beaconsfield’) and he asked me to perform close up magic and mentalism for his guests a few weeks back.

..boo..

As you can see, a scary scene was created for his family and friends, including hideous screams and shouts from various speakers as they entered the function area.

one less guest..

The guests went to town with the appropriate outfits..

Is he wearing mascara?

..even the magician appeared mysteriously in his own box. This photo was taken by the charming  and talented Andrew Redpath of Redpathstudios. Also making some noise on the dance floor was Class Act Events who provide a range of entertainment for private and corporate events.

Quotes from the party:

‘How the f..k did you do that?’  Dizzy (guest)

‘Thanks so much for your hard work at the party. Loads of people have commented about your skils and tricks - all great stuff. I’m sure we’ll be back to you again in the future.’ Stephen Lane (birthday boy)

Annie Wilkes and her hubby held a double birhday bash in Buckingham on the sunniest day in April. She decided to have a marquee erected in the garden,  and provide delicious food food by Bon Viveur Catering and cracking magic by yours truly!

Designer marquee!

As it was such a lovely day, many of the guests chilled outside in the sun listening to the cool sounds of The Ariella Experience string quartet.

magic moments..

Annie sent a lovely quote:

‘Many people commented on your marvelous magic and how much they enjoyed and been intrigued by it all. You really added to the relaxed and happy ambiance of our party so thank you very very much’.

card conjouring

I want to tell you about a little gem of a place called St Katherine’s in Frieth. It’a beautiful historic house in the chilterns run by the Sue Ryder Fellowship. It is a superb venue for retreats, seminars, celebrations and accomodation in a tranquil and rural setting. Which is why a client of mine, Pat O’hara for whom I had worked before ( see blog: http://www.mentalmagicman.co.uk/blog/page/2/), decided to hold a business meeting at St Katherine’s. He asked me to perform table magic and a cabaret for his colleagues in the evening. The room was very spacious (I even had my own banquet hall to change!) so it was perfect for entertainment. What’s also handy is that it is a stones throw away from Maidenhead, Henley and my home town of Marlow.

Teikyo School - Wexham

The Teikyo  Japanese School is based in Wexham in Berkshire. For several years, the Director Mr Yoshio Inayama, has asked me to perform close up magic for his students at their graduation. Sadly Mr Inayama is heading back to Japan this year and I know his students will miss him.

The school and its grounds are  truly stunning and offer a wide range of subjects and activities for their students. What I love about performing there is that the students are always so enthusiastic about the magic.

Funnily enough I lived in Japan in 1992 where I taught english as a foreign language and I also studied Shiatsu and martial arts arts and of course, magic.