High quality, memorable entertainment
We recently took part in the launch of the new Honda CR-V at North Wales Honda, in Llandudno.
Entertaining, thrilling and thoroughly enjoyable. I would highly recommend Jay and Amelia for a superb night’s entertainment.
Dave Paveley, North Wales Honda
This is part two of our behind the scenes look at the shows we took part in over the summer at Llandundo town hall. Part one is here.
Jay had a lot of different costumes this year, with a grand total of nine costume changes in all. I’ve put together a selection of photographs which show you just some of the different outfits that he wore.
Here he is, taking a chance to relax before the start of the show.
Left to Right: Ready for the pub scene, in character for the Box Sketch, and the two costumes he wore for our 1940s themed magic routine.
And finally, the pictures that I’ve been waiting all year to put on the blog! We’ve been keeping quiet about this, so as not to spoil the surprise for our audiences, but now that the shows are over, I can show you the photographs:
Yes, that’s a photograph of Jay in a wig and high heels, dressed up as one of the Andrews Sisters! The three guys did a brilliant job of miming along to Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, complete with dance routine.
All the shows that we did in Llandudno town hall were with Happy Faces Children’s Charity – a local charity which raises funds for disabled and disadvantaged children all over North Wales.
We’ve been involved with the summer shows for Happy Faces at Llandudno Town Hall for the last four years, but this year is the first time that I took a camera backstage with me. I thought it might be interesting to give you a glimpse into what goes on behind the scenes.
I was the Stage Manager for the Thursday show this year, Those Were The Days, which meant that I was in charge of setting the stage and scenery, having all the props ready at the right time for each performer, and generally trying to make sure that everything backstage went as smoothly as possible.
This is what the stage looked like on a Wednesday for Seaside Special. The backdrop had to be taken down and replaced with the station backdrop, then various pieces of camouflage put up, and sandbags laid along the front of the stage. We also had an old-fashioned radio and a lamp in front of the stage for one of the scenes.
During the show, the majority of the props were kept in a little alcove just beside the stage, so they could easily be taken on and off stage. I made this fake bomb months ago; it got a little battered by the end of the season, but considering it’s only a football covered in papier-mâché, I think it survived quite well!
This the little dressing room that Jay and I used during the summer.
As you can see from the notes on my copy of the running order, things got very busy during the show, which made it really important to make sure everything was in the right place at the right time. The notes in red are Jay’s costume changes, reminding me to get the right costume ready for him; and the notes in green are details of which props were needed for each scene, when to turn the smoke machine on etc.
Despite being so busy, I did manage to get some pictures of Jay when he was on stage.
Part Two is coming soon, with pictures of Jay’s different costumes, including one rather special outfit…
At the end of September we travelled all the way to Great Yarmouth for the annual convention of the British Ring of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.
The convention took place in several different locations on the seafront in Great Yarmouth, including the Britannia Theatre and Long John’s Showbar (both on the Britania Pier), the Hollywood Cinema and the Marina Centre.
We go to Great Yarmouth nice and early, and handed our trophies safely back to the organisers.
Although we didn’t enter the stage competition this year, Jay entered the Ali Bongo Micro Marathon. The Micro Marathon is a fun, friendly competition, but Jay still wanted to make sure that he looked his best!
The British Ring have very kindly let us use two of their photographs of us at the convention:
For more information on the British Ring of the International Brotherhood of Magician, visit their website (www.britishring.org.uk), their convention website (www.magicconvention.co.uk), or “Like” their Facebook page (www.facebook.com/IBM.BritishRing25).
As well as being busy at the convention, we decided to take some time off to enjoy the attractions of Great Yarmouth.
We played adventure golf at Pirates Cove:
We went back in time at Yesterday’s World:
And we explored the depths of the ocean at the Sea Life Centre:
We had a brilliant time, very relaxing, and full of magic!
It’s been almost a year since we won the Dittia Shield and the Theo Speaker Cup in the stage competition at the annual International Brotherhood of Magicians British Ring Number 25 convention in Southport.
This year’s convention is in Great Yarmouth and we’ll be taking the trophies back with us, ready to be presented to the next winners.
I wanted to make sure that the trophies were handed back in the best possible condition, so I spent a morning last week cleaning and polishing them. How do you think I did?
While I was cleaning them, I had a good chance to read all the names of the previous winners, and it’s amazing to think that we’ve been added to them.
There are some well known names on there, including Ali Bongo, president of the Magic Circle, adviser to Paul Daniels and David Nixon, and one of the inspirations for Jonathan Creek; and John Archer, the first magician to fool Penn and Teller on their television show, Fool Us
Some of the names are probably less familiar to most people, but are greats in the world of magic – Ron MacMillan, founder of the London magic shop; Walt Lees, editor of the only weekly magazine for magicians; Roy Davenport; Scott Penrose; Brian Sefton.
One name on the trophy has special meaning for me. We have a family tradition that every year we go to the pantomime on Boxing Day. In 1998, it was Cinderella, and Buttons was played by Dominic Wood. He performed magic in the pantomime, and from that moment on I was hooked. Fourteen years later, and I’m on the same trophy that he won!
The trophies are all safely packed away in their carrying cases, ready for the drive down tomorrow. We’ll tell you all about it when we get back!
