I joined an incredibly talented cast at the Festival of Wonder in Stroud. The intention of the Festival was “to inspire a sense of wonder and hope for the more beautiful world that our hearts know is possible and a refuge from the challenges of our current world.”
No pressure then! We were in the beautiful setting of St Laurence Church and most incredibly, the events were free! The Church was filled to the brim for both shows I was part of and it was wonderful to see all ages captivated by the combination of circus, dance, magic, music and more…
Sneaky shot from the wings.
Speaking of wonder, the magic world recently lost one of the masters of creating magic and mystery, Max Maven. I had the pleasure of meeting Max back in 2017 at the Allan Slaight Awards in Canada and it was always a joy to be in his company. Max loved, and was a big supporter of, the FISM World Championship of Magic Conventions. I feel lucky to have been at FISM 2022 a few months ago for his “intimate conversation” with Luis De Matos. Inspiring as ever, Max’s words are perhaps even more powerful now. The clip has just been shared so you can enjoy below.
With Max (centre) at the 2017 Allan Slaight Awards.
The London Magic Convention returned, bigger and better, after its inaugural outing last year. Now in the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, this family run day has all the feels of the old International Magic Conventions and it was lovely to sit back and enjoy it this time after entering the competition last year! Highlights for me were Richard Wiseman’s hilarious lecture and the ‘£4 Gala Show’, featuring Nick Mohammed! Find out more about the convention here.
London Magic Convention Organisers: Preston and Andy Nyman.
In other magic news, we celebrated my Grandad’s 100th Birthday! As one of the first supporters of my magic, buying me a new magic trick every week, I was delighted to perform a very special show after lunch :)
He even received a card from the King! Happy Birthday Grandad 🎉