News Items
Important Notice
From September 2009, meetings will be changed to the
first and third Wednesday of the month.
STOP PRESS! The new programme for the 2010 -11 season has been uploaded to the Syllabus page
One of the highlights of the Circle's syllabus for the past twenty years or more, has been the Cabaret & Buffet night. In the past, this has always been held on a club night but we are breaking with tradition in 2011 !
The Cabaret will be held on FRIDAY 8th April, in the Perth & District Ex-Servicemen's Club. Guest acts have been contacted and details will be released nearer the time. Mark the date in your calendar, and remember it will be "admission by ticket only" as it has been a sell-out in past recent years.
Our Treasurer, Alastair Cowe suffered a severe stroke in April, 3 days after performing in the Soutar Theatre as part of our 60th Anniversary celebrations. Currently, he is a patient in the Stroke Unit at Perth Royal Infirmary where he is undergoing an extensive physio-therapy programme. Alastair is well known throughout Scotland, and no doubt a card or short letter would help cheer him up.
The Circle would like to publicly say "Thank you" to Claire & Duncan McFarlane, propieters of the Grampian Hotel and their staff who helped make our Dinner & Cabaret and also The Day of Magic, the success it was. Nothing seemed to be too much bother for them and the service was always with a smile! The food was to die for (ask George & Janet Colvan!)
Perth Magic Circle is 60 Years old on February 9th 2010 !
We have some exciting ideas lined up for the forthcoming season and we are pulling out all the stops to make this a very special year. There are several public shows in the pipeline, a Dinner with professional Cabaret will be held on Friday 16th April. and also a special Day of Magic is planned for Sunday 23rd May, 2010 with the country's premier Magic Dealer attending to present all the best and latest in Magic. There will be at least one very special lecture (hopefully, more to be added!) and then the day will end with an "all-star" magical cabaret!
We are very pleased to announce that the Dinner and Cabaret on Friday 16th April 2010, will be held in the Grampian Hotel, York Place, Perth. Following the Dinner the Cabaret will feature "Fifth Dimension" who have been absent from the Scottish Magic Scene for over 4 years because of Corporate commitments. On this occasion, they will be on stage, performing some of their unique style of magic!
Also appearing will be Michael Pearce, the multi-award winning Comedy Juggler. The non-stop barrage of funny one - liners will distract you from Michaels unquestionable juggling skills. This is an act not to be missed!
Dress is 'Casual but Smart' and tickets will be available shortly on a strictly first-come first -served basis.
The Day of Magic scheduled for Sunday 23rd May 2010 is also being held in The Grampian Hotel. Commencing at 10.00am we are pleased to announce that Davenports are making the long journey North from London and will have a wide range of all the latest in magic available at their display stand.
Unbelievable as it may seem, this will only be 'Davvy's second visit to a Scottish event in over 60 years!
Two lectures are planned, one by Roy Davenport.
Roy really needs no introduction to the magical fraternity other than to say "Learn from the expert!" In addition, Roy is presenting his famous late Grandfather' act (Lewis Davenport) on the evening Gala Cabaret PLUS a ssecond spot which is equally breath-taking to watch!
The second lecture will be from the immediate Past President of the British Ring 25, Trevor Lewis. Although already well known to Scottish magicians, this will be a brand new lecture based on his new book featuring Stand-up and Cabaret style magic. Knowing Trevor however, there will definately be 'something for everyone' in what will be an excellent opprtunity to learn new techniques.
A Close up session is also planned, and we can boast that some of the best and highly respected top "Close-uppers" in Scotland have agreed to perform. This is without doubt going to be one of the highlights of the Day of Magic!
As part of our 60th anniversary celebrations, we undertook to make a DVD of ourselves performing. With the support and expertise of the Perth Film Makers, eleven members performed in front of the cameras (actually there were SEVEN, including an overhead Boom!) and the result is nearly 60 minutes of pure magic.
Artists performing on the DVD are, (in alphabetical order) Jim Boyd, Alastair Cowe, Jimmy Craig, Ian Dougall, Adrian Harris, George Jenkins, Len Martin, Gus McGregor, Derek McIntosh, Harry Mudie & Donna and Alan Simpson. The director of photography was Jim Muir and the editing was undertaken by Graham Thow. Copies of the DVD are available to purchase!
It is with deep regret that we record the sudden death on Saturday 14th February, 2009 of our Honorary Life Member, William Dunlop, M.B.E. following a short illness.
Bill, as he was known to us all, was a highly respected friend and stalwart of Perth Magic Circle for well over 40 years. An accomplished performer, he was for many years a busy childrens entertainer and then latterly specialised in mind reading and mental magic.
Bill is survived by his wife, Jean and daughters Evelyn and Sandra.
"Meet the Presidents" was the theme for one of our meetings in November, 2008. All the current Scottish Magic Club presidents were invited to Perth and perform for their supper! This was the first time this had been attempted in Scotland and resulted in photographs being published in the local and magical press.
The clubs represented were (back row, l to r) Scottish Conjurors Assoc. - Mike Archibald, Forth Valley Magic Circle - Stuart Chalmers, Kilmarnock Magic Circle - Dick McNamara, Edinburgh Magic Circle - Gareth Edwards, Glasgow Magic Circle - George Colvan, (seated l to r) Paisley Magic Circle - Margaret McLean Scottish Assoc. of Magical Societies - Ricky McLoed, Perth Magic Circle - Jim Craig, Northern Magic Circle - Jim Cuthbert, Dundee Society of Magicians - Albert Lawson.
Unfortunately Jim Boyd and Greig Forbes, Presidents of the Kircaldy and West Lothian clubs respectively, were unable to be present due to family illness. Aberdeen Magic Society was the only club not represented.
Perth members excell in fields other than magic. Iain Ross has a Flat Coat Retriever which has won in excess of 30 'tickets' at dog shows all over the country. (The average number of wins a dog makes in its life is between 10 -15!) The highlight for Iain was when Jet won "Best of the Breed" at the 2008 Crufts Dog Show.
Congratulations to former Perth Member, Neil Stirton who, on 
the 20th May 2008, got married to Miss Heather Brykowski in Illinois, U.S.A. The couple will have a Blessing of their marriage in U.S. in December and then a second in Scotland in January for their Scotish family and friends. The couple intend making their home in Edinburgh, where Neil is a Bank Manager for one of the countries major banks.
Henning Koehlert Lecture
We had the pleasure of hosting a lecture by Henning Koehlert in October, 2008 which was his only Scottish appearance. During the evening Henning showed us how he extracts the maximum entertainment from nothing more than a couple of packs of cards, coins etc. This was a very informative evening, enjoyed by the Perth magicians.
Henning Koehlert
- lives near Hamburg, Germany
- is member of The Magic Circle and the Northern Magic Circle,
- Magischer Zirkel von Deutschland,
- likes to present his effects with a nice story,
- writes for the German magic magazine “die magische welt”.