Magic Profile

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:22:05 +0000

MAGIC CAREER IN BRIEF

Background
Kevin was a relative latecomer to Magic, not finding any serious interest until he was aged 32. Once bitten however, Magic quickly became something of an obsession and soon replaced his earlier love of chess, at which he used to play for his county, as his main pastime.

Just five years later, he gave up his job as a Systems Engineer to pursue a Magic career. He has never regretted this, though still retains a vested interest in computers, and his only regret is that he didn’t do it sooner.

Some years and two children later, his interest and love for Magic remains as high as ever. He now has an ever growing reputation and has performed all over the World including Europe, USA and the Far East.

Performances
He now works very successfully as a close-up magician where he has enjoys many engagements which include a six month residency on the Orient Express, Trade stands for the likes of Hewlett Packard, Houses of Parliament and many large sporting events such as pro-celebrity golfing events at the Belfry.

His magic has been used for some high profile promotion work. In 2002 for example, he featured on the Liberal Democrats Party conference video where he depicted the current labour government as a street con-man filmed on location in London’s Elephant and Castle market. An abridged version of this went out on all major TV channels as a Party Political broadcast.

Kevin also frequently works in the guise of a Gambler in a wide variety of situations which includes corporate casinos, wild west shows and racecourse hospitality. This includes dazzling demonstrations at a card table as well as a very successful gambling booth where many of the famous sleight-of-hand street scams such as ‘The shells and pea game’ and ‘Three card monte’ are demonstrated. Here, real money is liberally passed out leaving everyone to be entertained and amused by the ways that he unfailingly win it back.

Not many magicians have performed on an Oil Rig in the middle of the North Sea! As a Systems Engineer involved with a project on the BP Miller Oil and Gas Platform, it was necessary to undergo full training which includes such tasks as an escape from a simulated helicopter crash with the cabin turning upside down under water and jumping off a 20m platform into a wave pool in the dark and forming teams in the water to right a capsized life raft. The cost of training at a facility in Aberdeen is expensive but ALL offshore workers (including Entertainers!) have to go through it in order to gain an offshore license.

Rather than wasting the opportunity, Kevin took advantage of his off-shore license by returning as a magician.

The most recent addition is his work as a ‘Psychic Entertainer’ and, whilst he makes no claim to having any genuine special powers, his performances give his audiences something very real to think about. In 2003, he won an award for the best speaker in a series of talks on ‘Non-verbal Communication’ (a tongue-in-cheek Mind Reading act) presented to the British Federation of Enterprise Agencies.

In 2003, Kevin performed a mixture of magic and mentalism on a tour of residential compounds in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.Riyadh alone has around 30,000 British ex-pats, all of whom live on secure compounds which a central social club. Given that there is no equivalent of public pubs, clubs or bars or any establishments offering any form of entertainment, it is not difficult to image how well quality entertainment goes down!

Magic Competitions
Within Magic, he has won a number of prestigious awards for close-up magic including several times winner the ‘Roy Johnson Shield’, Wolverhampton Circle Close-up, several times winner of the ‘British Magical Society Close-up trophy’, where he also holds a blue ribbon, ‘North of England Close-up Magician’, ‘All winners Close-up trophy’ and appeared in both the 1998 and 2006 ‘British Close-up Championships’.

2004 – Won the Rovi Shield at the IBM Convention together with second place in the MacMillan’s International Competition, London against some very stiff competition from around the World including Sweden, Hong Kong, USA, Hungary and Germany.

2005 – Third place in the Jubilaumskongress European Close-Up Magic Championships held by invitation in Austria.

2006 – Participated in FISM World Magical Championships, Stockholm.

2007 – Magical judge for the ‘European Close-up Magic Championships’

Lectures
Lectured at a number of prominent magical societies throughout the UK including The Magic Circle – London, Blackpool Magicians Club, British Magical Society, Leicester Magic Circle, Nottingham Guild of Magicians, Sheffield Circle of Magicians, Leeds Magical Association, Coventry Magic Circle, Hull Magicians Circle, Leamington and Warwick Society of Magicians, Order of the Magi, Wolverhampton Circle of Magicians and, in a number of cases, has been asked back the following year. He has also performed and lectured at a number of magic events including the Peterborough Day of Magic, Leeds Day of Magic, 2001 British Close-up Symposium, MindMagic 2001, 2005 Northern Day of Magic, 2005 Bristol Day of Magic and performed in the 2003 Blackpool Command Performance where he received an associated award.

Internationally, Kevin has lectured for the Siam Magic Circle (Bangkok) and in 2005 lectured an/or performed at many International Magic Conventions including Austrian, SAM European, Italian, Swiss National Conventions, FFFF (USA). He also performed a series of lectures for the ‘Accademia Italiana Arte Magica’ which is a magic production school for serious students of magic in Italy.

Gambling Cheat /Card Sharp

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 09:13:01 +0000

DON’T GAMBLE WITH YOUR CORPORATE ENTERTAINMENT…
LET ME DO THE GAMBLING FOR YOU!!

Original Entertainment
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to pit your wits against a top gambling cheat? Although played purely for entertainment, the multi-award winning sleight of hand skills are very much for real. Keep your money in your pockets as you sit back and enjoy an entertaining glimpse into the techniques a professional gambler could use to fleece you with absolute ease.

This is an original entertainment that holds great fascination and is much enjoyed by everyone who sees it. I am regularly rebooked by clients and fit extremely well into a variety of themed situations, for example, Casino, Wild West or Mobster. Many formats are also possible including ‘mix and mingle’, regular scheduled performances, sited booth or card table.

Trade Shows and Exhibitons
This feature is guaranteed to keep your trade stand busy with a novel and much talked about attraction. Attract many extra visitors and business cards to improve the effectiveness of your trade stand.

Corporate and Private Entertainment
Although played for entertainment, genuine bank notes are handed out which guests get to keep if they win. Can you imagine how popular this makes the attraction?

Corporate Casinos
Casino nights can provide excellent corporate entertaiment and over recent years, they have become increasingly popular. My demonstration of very real card skills make the perfect addition.

“I certainly wouldn’t
like to play cards
with you !!”

Conferences

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:51:56 +0000

2004 Best Speaker Award

presented by the British Federation of Enterprise Agencies.

LIGHT RELIEF TO INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR DAY

Presentations
Conferences, be they sales and marketing, managerial or technical, are generally made up of series of related presentations. These are quite often heavy in content making it difficult for delegates to maintain their full attention.

I am able to offer a variety of presentations which, although in-keeping with the day, offer a light relief to offer a useful recharge periods after which, experience has proved, delegates are able to listen to keynote speakers with renewed interest, thereby increasing the overall effectiveness of your day. This is particularly effective in settling and re-focusing delegates immediately after the lunch break – a spot notoriously unpopular with most speakers.

Themed Content
I have a variety of presentations that may be part customised where required. Examples have included a mind-control presentation used to make the point that “there is much more to communication than what is transmitted verbally“, and a gambling expert presentation used to make the point that “even where there is apparently little risk, risk IS undoubtedly present and needs to be managed“.

If you have a particular conference planned, I may be able to suggest a presentation that would remain within the outline theme of your day and may be able to communicate bullet points in an entertaining and memorable way.

“Thank-you for a very
entertaining talk which
also got over some
important points

Mystifications

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:29:12 +0000

‘SKILLED MYSTIFICATION’ HAS A NUMBER OF GUISES

Characters
The four queens placed down openly, magically change into the four kings, a non scoring poker hand is inexplicably turned over to reveal that it has become a Royal Flush, five dealt cards are turned over and found to exactly match the order of a spectator’s cards. All happen under the most scrutinising of conditions using completely ordinary playing cards, supplied by you if desired.

Though I perhaps shouldn’t tell you this, the skills are in fact very closely allied. Be it close-up magic, card sharping or psychic demonstrations, the underlying method is based on a very high degree of sleight-of-hand skills honed over many hundreds of hours of dedicated practice.

With my accomplished technical abilities in a wide variety of disciplines from ropes to cups and balls, I have found a number of outlets which enable them to be enjoyed through sheer entertainment.

Whatever your requirements, whoever your guests, there will always be some way that I will be able to add a very much enjoyed attraction to enhance your event with ‘Skilled Mystification’.

Casino Nights

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:27:36 +0000

THE PERFECT ADDITION TO YOUR CASINO NIGHT

There is little doubt that most people are fascinated by gambling and fun casino nights are always a success. Most have also heard of ‘card sharps’ and ‘gambling cheats’ but very few have ever been in the privileged position of being able to watch from a few feet away. In the right circumstances, I even hand out real banknotes for guests to play with so that they can experience first hand that it is impossible to beat an expert. This makes for an enormously popular attraction.

Corporate or Private Events
Casino nights can provide excellent corporate entertaiment and over recent years become increasingly popular. My demonstration of very real card and gambling skills makes the perfect addition.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to pit your wits against a top gambling cheat? Although played purely for entertainment, the multi-award winning sleight of hand skills are very much for real. Keep your money in your pockets as you sit back and enjoy an entertaining glimpse into the techniques a professional gambler could use to fleece you with absolute ease.

Although played for fun and entertainment, my gambling skills are very real and have won many top awards within Magic but be warned… once witnessed, you might never play cards with strangers again!

Trade Shows and Exhibitons
The chance to watch a professional gambler has a great fascination and it is almost impossible to walk past without taking a look. In short, it is a people magnet, which makes it ideal for your Trade Show or Exhibition.

I have a number of fun methods by which business cards or contact details can be collected. I can also offer the chance to win prizes… with you deciding who you would like to win or lose!

“I certainly wouldn’t
like to play cards
with you !!”

Racecourses

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:26:27 +0000

MAKE YOUR RACECOURSE EVENT MORE MEMORABLE AND TALKED ABOUT

No need to gamble with the success of your event
Racecourses and gambling of course go hand in hand. Traditionally, games such as the infamous ‘Shells and Pea‘ and ‘Three Card Monte’ have been played around the track and exponents have proved to be ever popular villains to everyone except their unfortunate victims.

Played purely for entertainment but with very genuine sleight-of-hand skills, guests may enjoy the thrill of trying to beat the cheat at his own game but in the knowledge that their inevitable loss will not leave them out of pocket.

Raceday Hospitality
Add to their overall racecourse experience. Between races, as part of the hospitality, guests can enjoy the chance to pit their wits against an expert as they play traditional racecourse con-games without the risk of personal loss.

Corporate Events / Weddings
When the racecourse is being used as a venue for private or corporate events, add to the success of the event with a themed entertainment in keeping with the fact that it is taking place at a racecourse.

Conference Days
Where conference facilities are available, I can provide light relief with a talk that fits in with their day which may also have a racecourse theme. This is particularly effective in settling and re-focusing delegates following the lunch-break in readiness for a keynote speaker.

By Royal Appointment
Even the Queen has attended one of ‘my’ events – okay, she was there somewhere!

Orient Express

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:25:29 +0000

MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR

Romantic
The Orient Express is perhaps the most famous and prestigious railway company in the world. Reproducing the ambience of train travel from its luxuriant heyday, the trains are superbly restored original Pullman ‘Belle’ carriages of the 1930′s. Passengers enjoy immaculate surroundings, superb food and service and beautiful scenery to take their breath away.

As if all of this wasn’t magic enough, the Orient Express decided to feature me as an onboard magician, to circulate amongst the passengers and diners to provide high quality background entertainment, adding to the experience and helping it to live up to the ‘once in a lifetime experience’ that guests want to remember for the rest of their lives.This has proved to be enormously popular, fitting in well with the refined surroundings and jubilant atmosphere.

No matter how prestigious your occasion, event or clients, my sophisticated close-up entertainment can add that little ‘extra something’ to make it all the more special.

Not so Romantic
In the centre of the train was an original Pullman Buffet car converted to an onboard shop. By introducing some gentle ‘product placement’ up and down the train to make passengers aware of the facility where ‘hard sell’ would be inappropriate, revenues were greatly improved.

Whilst entertaining, using a magician can also offer good business sense.

Trade Stands

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:24:52 +0000

Hewlett Packard:

“… extremely professional both in
terms of his magic and of his
very positive contribution to the
effectiveness of our stand”

Blue Chip companies
to small exhibitors:

Generate more leads and
increase the return on your
exhibition investment

CeBit 2006, Hannover, Germany

INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR TRADE STAND

‘Skilled Mystification’ is ideally Suited to promotional and exhibition situation.

The two principal reasons for investing in an exhibition are to communicate your message to as many visitors as possible or to generate as many leads as possible. In both cases, I can significantly increase the effectiveness of this to improve the return on your investment.

My presentations provide a highly visual and interesting medium and may be used as a very effective vehicle for communicating product or services information.

My presence on your trade stand is guaranteed to attract far more visitors and stop delegates who might otherwise literally walk straight past you. Not only will I attract far more traffic to your stand, the flow of visitors may be regulated in manageable groups who may be held for as long or short a time as necessary until they may be smoothly handed over to your sales staff.

In general, I not only significantly increase the number of visitors to a stand, but also the number of business cards or contact details collected. If desirable, with an apparently very fair process, branded merchandise or ‘prizes’ may be controlled to ensure that they only go to your most important visitors.

With a professional, technical background, I would be entirely comfortable if high profile clients wanted to hire me as simply an extra representative to openly talk to their trade stand visitors and to hold them until the appropriate salesperson became available without me even having to perform. This moves me from being simply an entertainer to being a valuable extension to your sales team.

See also my Giant Shells which are proving to be a pure people magnet.

Increase the number of vistors to your stand
Communicate USPs and key bullet points
Collect more contact details or business cards
Increase the return on your investment

Vosper Thornycroft:

“… provided us with many benefits
we hadn’t even considered“

NEC 2006, Birmingham UK

Kenwood Corporation:

“… we certainly gained far more
new contacts than we would have
done without your being there”

Special Events

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:24:02 +0000

ADD A TOUCH OF MAGIC

Corporate Events, Weddings, Private Parties
I am able to add a unique attraction, much enjoyed by everyone who sees it, to ensure that your event is a little more special and memorable.

Mix and Mingle
By mixing and mingling with guests, I am able to intimately entertain small groups making each performance a very special and personal experience. During the course of your event, everyone will experience this for themselves and, because it is at such a personal level, it is guaranteed be strongly remembered and. most importantly, always associated with your event.

Around the Tables
An effective use of close-up magic is for me to circulate around the tables for your Corporate Dinner, Formal Event or Wedding Breakfast. Each table will enjoy its own unique performance between courses to add that little extra something that they will remember long after the event.

In some cases, a combination of both is required. I may, for example, circulate during a drinks reception and later join guests at their table as they dine.

Testimony
As testimony to my effectiveness, many clients use me year after year for their annual events. I regularly receive requests to perform again something that they are able to recount in great detail. On many occasions, someone has produced a signed card or similar memento from their wallet that they have carried with them ever since the last event!

My various characters mean that I am able to fit into any occasion and, where the number of guests warrants it, I am able to supply a team of hand-picked quality magicians to ensure that your event gets the cover it deserves. As a basic guide-line, I am able to sensibly service upto 120 guests.

“Your magic was just
the icing on the cake”

Psychic Entertainer

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:23:23 +0000

2002 mentalism tour of compounds in
Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

IS IT FOR REAL? I’LL LEAVE YOU TO MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND!

Something Different
Looking for something a little bit different? Can’t seem to get anything fixed in your mind? Witness amazing and inexplicable feats which go well beyond coincidence. It is difficult to portray the impact of this until experienced for yourself.

As with my other forms of entertainment, this may be tailored towards a particular event and is suitable not only for corporate or private entertainment but also for promotional, marketing or sales applications. To suit your occasion, this can be played ‘tongue-in-cheek’ for sheer entertainment, the effects are however, extremely strong and may be played to give those that witness them something very real to think about!

Walk-Around Entertainment For Any Event
This can be performed in a walkaround situation in which case I would mingle with your guests on an informal basis.

Sited Attraction
This may also be presented as a side attraction from a booth that may be sited anywhere at your event, in which case, guests are free to visit whenever they please.

Conference Presentation
Although a mind-control act, this has been very successfully re-packaged to provide a well received talk on ‘Non-verbal Communication’ which can be tailored to fit in with your day.

This provides an entertaining relief and is particularly effective in settling and re-focusing delegates following the lunch-break in readiness for a keynote speaker.

“Oh my God, now
that’s really scary!”