The MeMeL August 2021 Will HoustounVideo & Harry De Cruz Chat Magic 2021 CONJURER’S CALENDAR MEETINGS - 2:00PM 10th January 26th January JAN Annual General Meeting ZOOM WORKSHOP 14th February 23rd February FEB Members’ Day featuring ZOOM Harrison Houghton. COMMITTEE & WORKSHOP 21st March 14th March 23rd March MAR Wayne Goodman Mothering Sunday ZOOM ‘Himself’ WORKSHOP 18th April 4th April 27th April APR 'ZOOM’ with Friends… EASTER SUNDAY ZOOM WORKSHOP 9th May 25th May MAY Steve Short on ZOOM Harry Stanley COMMITTEE & WORKSHOP 13th June 22nd June JUN Chairman’s Day ZOOM OPEN MEETING WORKSHOP 11th July 27th July JUL Summer Sorcery COMMITTEE WORKSHOP TBC Featuring Lorenzo 15th August 24th August SPECIAL EVENT! >> AUG Will Houstoun & Harry De David Jonathan Lecture BRIAN LEAD Cruz - Special Lecture 12th September 28th September SEP Room 101: Members’ Day COMMITTEE TBC WORKSHOP 10th October 26th October OCT To be Confirmed TBC WORKSHOP 14th November 23rd November NOV President’s Day COMMITTEE ALLAN CLARKE WORKSHOP 5th December NO DEC Magic @ Christmas WORKSHOP ROGER WOODS NOTE* - Name = Refreshments CHANGE NOTE** Change of usual Date COMMITTEE - 7:00PM WORKSHOP - 8:00PM e have a real 'bumper Wbundle' for you this month, with a double helping of Editorial: Donald the Average as he pops with Brian Lead over for a guest spot on Page 13. Our American guest Dale Salwak Presidential Patter presents the second part of his The joys of getting old… insightful contribution on the topic of things that can go Chairman’s Chatter wrong, and how to respond A ‘Ray’ of sunshine when they do. It is always a pleasure to My Favourite Trick: welcome back our occasional The Pom Pom sticks columnist Chris Wardle - this time with some imaginative Page 13: Here be 'magic words'. Dragons! Brian Berry treats us to some very practical ideas courtesy of a Wardle’s Wisdom: creative friend, Carl continues his it’s only words… series on old magic establishments as well as giving his usual welfare roundup, and Brian’s Big Ideas! Getting creative Clive Moore shares some thoughts about his favourite trick. Be Our Guest: When magic goes wrong… Elsewhere, we hear about the 'invisible magician' and all the The Invisible Magician: regulars chip in among the parish All in the mind… notices. Brian Meeting Time… Two flakes and a fountain… [email protected] Volume 80 Issue 8 Page 1 INDEX From the Editor’s desk... People who don’t use metaphors properly literally make my head explode. I was saddened to receive a call from Anne Walmsley a few days ago, to give me the news about her husband David, who had passed away suddenly following a stroke. It is always distressing when such things happen within our extended magic family, and our loving thoughts go out to Anne and her family at this difficult time. David’s funeral will take place this Friday, 13th August. The magic world also recently received the sad news of the passing of Barry Murray. Barry was a long-term consultant to Paul Daniels, and wrote the book Paul Daniels Adult Magic as well as creating the TV show Wizbit. Barry was a man of wide-ranging talents, producing the first number one hit single for Mungo Jerry, In The Summertime, which sold over 30 million copies. I last saw Barry at a John Salisse luncheon a couple of Christmases ago, and my enduring memory is of him walking out into the streets of London still wearing his paper party hat. This reminded me of an interesting example of unreliable, or selective, memory. Paul Daniels once told me the story of performing in Italy before members of the Mafia. After the show, a shady character in black shirt, white tie and dark glasses approached him in the dressing room, and he almost expected to be assassinated for delivering a bad performance. In fact, the gangster remarked “You were a diamond in pig-sh*t!” I recalled the anecdote in the Magic Circular, and the next time he saw me Barry said that Paul had told him the same story – only in his version the event was a high- powered military dinner and the speaker was a fierce-looking Major General. I suppose it was the punch line that mattered, but I often wonder whether the tale really happened and, if so, in what context. Paul wanted to use it as the title of his autobiography, but the publisher wouldn’t let him – especially as he refused to use an asterisk. Volume 80 Issue 8 Page 2 INDEX I must thank Geoffrey Newton for permission to insert a page straight from the Key Ring magazine. In it, Clive Moore indirectly refers to his guest spot at our workshop ‘zoom’ meeting, and mentions an interesting set of old Chinese sticks. I have a similar set, purchased at our last auction. It was suggested they had been made by Mo Howarth, but I no longer think that is the case – but they did originally come from Mo, and he made a very strong cardboard cover for them, which still bears the handwritten gags which he used in his patter: “I showed this trick to an engineer last week – he completely lost his bearings . Did you know that more Chinese are born in China than in any other part of the world? . This trick was shown to me by a Chinese magician called Hung Won. His brother was Hung Too . These are genuine Chinese sticks; they have Honda stamped on them . These sticks are both alike – especially this one . I performed this trick at Strangeways prison last week, so I must apologise to those who are seeing it for the second time.” You can just imagine Mo’s gentle voice delivering these lines. He has written on the box, ‘bought from Burtini in 1947’, and added the number 65. My thanks to Roger for going out of his way to provide the accompanying picture of Mo with the sticks. Clive also mentions being requested to perform the sticks by the Chinese community, reminding us that the Chinese supported Chung Ling Soo precisely because he did not ridicule their culture, but respected it. On the ‘P.C’ topic, Clive also tells the tale of intending to perform the Baby Gag, but being a bit concerned when he saw a black man in the audience. Out of courtesy, he explained the gag to him and said he would not do it if he would feel embarrassed or offended. On the contrary, the man asked if he could join in with the joke, and did so with gusto, saying afterwards that including a person of colour could not be construed as racist. He made the valid point that many people these days profess to be offended on behalf of others. I endorse Allan’s comments about Ian Keable’s monthly newsletter, which is always a cracking good read. This month he mentions Uri Geller, who apparently claimed that he had saved the England football team from disaster against Germany by shouting out “bend!” when Thomas Muller had a shot at goal. Volume 80 Issue 8 Page 3 INDEX He was 3,500 miles away in Tel Aviv at the time. It’s a pity he wasn’t as successful in controlling the penalty shoot-out in the final. When asked at Blackpool whether he was a fake, Uri just gave a knowing smile and replied “Look – I’ve got to 73, so it’s unlikely I will admit that now!” At that time, he had just applied for a job with the Government, after it had advertised for ‘misfits and weirdos’ to join the team. He did, of course, alert the press. A recent newspaper report carried the story of our Hon Vice President Debbie McGee attending the opening night of Wonderville in the West End and stating how important it was that people should have vaccinations and daily coronavirus tests so that theatres and other places of entertainment could open up fully. Debbie spoke of how tough it had been for performers during the pandemic, explaining how her friends who worked in the theatre had taken up jobs driving for supermarkets or painting and decorating to get by. She revealed that she will soon be taking her one-woman show Debbie McGee: A Life Sawn In Half on tour, so we must look out for that. Congratulations are also due to our other Hon Vice President, John Pye, who has recently stood down from his position as President of FISM Europe. Owing to the great respect in which John is held, he has now been elected Hon President of the same organisation. Both Debbie and Clive mention the slow but sure opening up of theatres, but I hear David Copperfield is still performing for audiences of around 250 in a theatre designed to accommodate 1,200; about 20% of the intended capacity. A week or so ago, pickpocket James Freedman, the ‘Man of Steal’, contributed to the BBC Radio 4 programme A Show of Hands, talking about his skills. He reckoned he had soft, sensitive hands because he had never done a day’s work in his life, and let listeners into the secret of ‘fanning the mark’, or passing the open palm lightly over the body to locate items in pockets. He cited Borra as his main influence from the 1950s, attributing his particular success to the fact that he used his wife as an assistant in the act, passing items to her behind the back of the ‘victim’ but in view of the audience.