Jay & Joss https://www.jayandjoss.co.uk/ Slightly above average contemporary duo, Jay & Joss present magic in a slick & stylish manor – young, vibrant and witty award-winning magician’s Jay & Joss, have performed at hundred’s of events worldwide. With over 10 years of performing experience, their act never ceases to astound, amuse and amaze. Jay & Joss regularly perform magic internationally, from American cruise lines & large corporate events to exclusive private functions. Controlled, calculated & calm, Jay tries to keep Joss under control and out of too much mischief, while keeping the show on track. Jay is played by Jamie Docherty, a magician from Northamptonshire. Jamie has been fascinated in magic since he can remember and from an early age, performed on any stage he could find. Many years later, Jamie became a member of the world famous ‘Magic Circle’ and performed his solo act at private and corporate functions all over the world. Crazy, loud & witty, Joss is always tying to keep the show on track, but keeps on getting things wrong, hurting himself and dropping things. Joss is played by Lewis Joss, born and raised in Bedfordshire. Performing magic since the early age of 6, Lewis started work as an actor before turning his hand to performing magic full-time. Magic has taken Lewis all over the world, and he continues to amaze audiences to this very day.

Collecting Signed Playing Cards For those who follow this site and the collectables pages, I do enjoy getting signed playing cards from magicians. Yesterday, while in London, I had the chance to meet and talk with some amazing magicians. Thanks to those who chatted and caught up with me. I will add the new cards to my collectables pages very soon, but a big thanks to Fay Presto, Tom Brace, Katherine Rhodes and Brendan Rodrigues for chatting and signing cards. The collection is really growing now with about 100 signatures. Many of my signed items are now on playing cards and the opportunity to get a signed card in person is always more rewarding that buying from e-Bay. I will update when the playing cards are individually listed with back ground stories on this site.

Magic At The Gatehouse Thanks to Danny Lee Grew for highlighting this line up for January on social media. A brilliant line up of performers. 🎩✨ 𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐂 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄 – 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐔𝐏 𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓! We’re thrilled to reveal the incredible magicians performing on 20th January 2025 at Upstairs At The Gatehouse: ⭐ Magic In A Trice ⭐ Kay Dyson ⭐ Dr Will Houstoun ⭐ Danny Lee Grew Get ready for a night of jaw-dropping illusions and mind-blowing tricks, up close and personal in an intimate setting! This is your chance to witness magic like never before. Don’t miss out—grab your tickets now and experience the magic! 🪄 🎟️ https://bit.ly/magicatthegatehouse

Nick Rushton https://www.witnessthemagic.co.uk/christmas-party-magician/ Nick is an award-winning Magician based in the UK, specialising in close up magic, table magic, pickpocketing and mind-reading. He is a full time professional magician. With over 20 years of professional experience as a close up magician, he has 1000’s of 5 STAR reviews, has appeared on TV several times and is a firm favourite of many celebrities. One of the top awards Nick has won was presented to him by the prestigious Magic Circle!

Zoom Magic Etiquette This year like many, I have had the opportunity to watch many Zoom Magic shows. Attending private shows and public performances. Good and the not so good. The best shows closely managed the performers and the audience and had a good grip on the technology that was being used. This post attempts to share my views and experiences which we hope will benefit any magicians planning shows and those attending as audience members. While of course Zoom Magic shows need to be interactive, for public performances of Zoom shows, close management of the technology is crucial. The most successful public shows allowed the magicians to perform while other stage hands looked after sound, cameras and the management of Zoom and broadband connections. Any magicians attempting to manage their own performance and all the technical requirements for a Zoom interactive show are brave. It does work and I have seen it work successfully. I have also seen cases where the stress of attempting to perform while dealing with technical challenges can affect the artists performance and even their confidence to deliver the act successfully. As Zoom Magic is relatively new for audiences and artists, many public ticketed shows allow you to sign in early so you can test sound and interact while you wait. Many shows having a countdown to performance and thus the audience knowing that their show will start soon. One show I attended started late. No countdown and it turned out the show had been experiencing technical issues. However, really important to start on time or get a message to the audience. Many Zoom audience members can be new to this medium as well and perhaps could think that they have their own technical issue. When starting a performance, I have seen some artists set ground rules to minimise disruption in a fun way at the start of shows and to get the best out of the audience. Ideally, audience sound needs to be controlled with audience members muted until their time to speak. If this can be managed by a technical stage hand, that has to be ideal. However, I have seen some artists asking all to mute and unmute successfully. I would strongly advise artists not to encourage entire audiences to unmute to allow interaction at the same time. From my experience, you end up hearing a lot of unnecessary conversations which takes away from the show. Recently, while watching a show, the entire audience had to listen to a father narrating every move of an act to their children. It took away from the artists performance, as was distracting and other conversations could also be heard. Equally, if you are an audience member, knowing where the button to mute and unmute is handy as it gives you the opportunity to be prepared if invited to speak. The use of some pre recorded show elements has worked well for many magicians. Artists of course having to find out what works for them. One show that I watched recently had pre recorded video segments and sound affects, on screen visuals and was very professional. A lot of time had obviously gone into preparing the act for the Zoom medium. I’m sure that as artists embrace this new medium, the management of the shows will continue to improve. It’s interesting to see that many coaching/training sessions are now being advertised for artists to assist them with Zoom Magic performances. For those who are brave enough to put on shows and deal with the challenges, it must be a steep learning curve at times. Hopefully, a rewarding experience to allow future growth of audiences via Zoom during these current times.

The Small Space Recently The Small Space posted: Why not BOOK some World-Class Close-Up and/or Cabaret Magic for your next party or event? That's right, The Small Space can now COME TO YOU and entertain your friends or clients at your home, workplace or venue. We have lots of options from walkabout close-up magic to mini and full cabarets, there's every kind of entertainment for any event and budget. Get in touch by emailing info@thesmallspace.co.uk and add some MAGIC to your next party or event. The Small Space - World-Class Magic Entertainment Coming to You https://fb.watch/fBl4rcafNy/

The Paul Daniels Auction For any collectors of magic and Paul Daniels, you probably already know that an auction of his posters, books, tricks and other items takes place soon on the 23rd and 24th of this month. You can view the auction items here and you can sign up to bid online. I've taken a look through the lots. You can save items as favourites and place your highest bid online in advance. Of course, you can also attend. SAS (Special Auction Services) Plenty Close Newbury Berkshire RG14 5RL Some interesting items. Not sure if I will be lucky but there are some nearly 800 lots. I may place some low bids and hope for success. Some of the guide prices seem quite low but guess this is just a tactic. Expect most items will go for a lot more. And of course you then have to remember the additional taxes and commissions that go on top. There is a Houdini letter/note that will likely gather a lot of interest. Catalogues can also be purchased in advance for £25 if you contact via email to mail@specialauctionservices.com . I have contacted them as it would be good to have the print version of the catalogue which would make a decent collectable in its own right. Seemingly the poster collection is the largest to go under the hammer in the UK. Shame to some extent that the collection will be broken up.

Richard Jones Tour Dates 2025 Richard Jones has many shows already scheduled for 2025. For the official page and links to book, click here . Initial dates are for “The Soilder Of Illusion” tour with some of the later shows “The Sound Of Deception”. Dates below for quick reference. For Richard Jones show dates with Matricks Illusion (Masters Of Illusion), check here or click the Matricks banner on this page (top and bottom). THE ALBANY THEATRE COVENTRY - SATURDAY 1ST FEB - 02476 998 964 BOWDON ROOMS ALTRINCHAM - GREATER MANCHESTER - SATURDAY 15TH FEB 0161 926 8992 SPOTLIGHT THEATRE HIGH STREET, HODDESDON - BROXBOURNE - SUNDAY 23RD FEBRUARY - 01992 441946 THE GRANVILLE THEATRE RAMSGATE - KENT - FRIDAY 4TH APRIL 03330 096 697/01843 594510 THE SOUND OF MAGIC TOUR - NEW SHOW HAZLITT THEATRE MAIDSTONE - 01622 758611 - SATURDAY 22nd FEB BRINDLEY THEATRE RUNCORN - WEDNESDAY 2ND APRIL - 0151 907 8360 QUEENS THEATRE HORNCHURCH, ESSEX - SUNDAY 13TH APRIL - 01708 443333 BLACKFRIARS ARTS CENTRE BOSTON - LINCOLNSHIRE - SATURDAY 14TH JUNE - 01205 363108 THE BRAINTREE INSTITUTE SATURDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER - 01376 323228 LICHFIELD GARRICK THEATRE SATURDAY 1ST NOVEMBER - 01543 412121

Effect review

New Interview With Pete Whitmore Coming This Friday For the month of May we launched a special series of interviews with the founders of The Leicester Magicians Network (LMN). A series of four interviews to celebrate the excellent LMN club and the first birthday of Magic Seats. The Leicester Magicians Network is a new club that launched in 2020 for magicians and those with a genuine interest in magic. Our third interview this Friday is with Pete Whitmore. Pete is a practicing magician with over 30 years experience. One of the Founding members of the Leicester Magicians Network and a member of The Leicester Magic Circle. He specialises in close up magic, including mentalism and psychological magic. Experienced in entertaining guests at social events either at tables or gathered in groups. Always giving events a personal touch. Pete is Midlands based and can be booked via his website. Covering Leicestershire and surrounding areas. All contacts and social details can be found at the end of this article. Mix and Mingle / Close Up / Walk around magic is the perfect addition to any event. Pete has assisted Scot Jerram in the publication of his book "Scot Free", reading many drafts and enhancing an effect called "Playing Card Bingo". To book Pete or learn more about his services, take a look at his website and social sites below. Website FaceBook Leicester Magicians Network See below for details about the Leicester Magicians Network : The Leicester Magicians Network As part of this series of interviews with the founders of the Leicester Magicians Network, I sat down with them and asked some questions about the club. Magic Seats - What’s the story behind the Leicester Magicians Network. How did the idea come about to form a new club? Whilst we all love and respect the traditions of ‘older’ magic societies, they can be sometimes intimidating to new members. The four founding members all shared a similar philosophy and it was something that we are all passionate about, particularly in bringing on the next generation of magicians. This is why we thought long and hard about our mission statement: “To Create A Magic Community Where Everyone Who Is Passionate About Magic Is Welcome, Built Around Trust, Friendship and Support, And Aiming to Help All Members to Be the Best They Can Be.” Magic Seats - With many magic clubs to join, what is different about Leicester Magicians Network. Why join your club? When founding The Leicester Magic Network, the philosophy was to create a modern forward-thinking Club that was not constrained by out-dated ideas or principles. Unlike traditional magic clubs we have dispensed with the requirement for an audition in order to join. We do not want in any way want to preclude anyone from joining such as the hobbyist magician. Our desire is to promote a relaxed, friendly environment which allows members of all abilities to share ideas, ask questions without fear, or perform if they feel comfortable. We also have what we believe to be a unique membership model where for when a small set annual fee is paid, it gives you access to many members evenings, workshops etc which occur average twice a month. On top of that, we of course have Professional Lectures which operate on a pay-as-you-go basis members are able to pick and choose which ones they wish to attend. Magic Seats - How did you come up with the name of the club? We had a bit of a brainstorming session and obviously creating a new magic club in the midst of a pandemic was a challenge. With the name we wanted to convey a message of ‘connectivity’ even though none of us could initially meet in person. For information about the club, events or membership details, please visit the website here .