Last night I enjoyed the privilege of being a guest of the Magic Circle! Chris was invited to be a judge of the Circle’s Stage Magician of the Year Award, and fortunately for me that invitation allowed for me to accompany him. It was an amazing evening. The acts were superb – I’d never attended a live magic show before and so the whole experience was very special. Added to that there was the excitement of being inside the Magic Circle’s club house itself. Tucked away invisibly in a side street close to Euston station, the place is a treasure trove of legend, atmosphere and magicians’ memorabilia. Going backstage after the show I had the opportunity to chat to some of the magicians, and to hear stories of past members and their incredible exploits.
What struck me most was how true to life The Prestige turns out to be! Stage magicians really were and are that passionate and that dedicated. Their interest in each other’s exploits, both past and present, is real and ongoing and I totally love that. Magic is clearly addictive – and an addictive subject for stories. I left the house on Stephenson Way on a high, and very much inspired.
The eventual winner of the 2013 Stage Magician of the Year Award was John van der Put, aka Piff the Magic Dragon, with his hilarious dragon-and-dog mentalist act. In second place we had James More, a dynamic and distinctive stage presence with a genuine touch of the sorceror about him. But for me the absolute highlight of the evening was seeing Oliver Tabor, who took third prize in the contest, working with his doves.
Seeing a white dove produced seemingly from nowhere is one of the basic staples of the visual vocabulary of stage magic and as such you might think it would be old hat – but seeing it done live on stage is utterly enthralling, and I was completely captivated. Oliver has a stage presence that is all his own – mystical, elusive and just a touch ethereal. In fact he reminded me just a little of Mr Eisenheim, in Steven Millhauser’s story ‘Eisenheim the Illusionist’. What impressed me most was the obvious empathy he enjoyed with his beautiful Java doves.
When I spoke to him afterwards, he told me that he looked on his birds not as stage props, but as workmates, and his love and respect for these creatures was clearly apparent. Oliver has seven of the birds, which he began training when they were just a few months old. He very generously and trustingly let me hold one of them. The experience was one I will treasure.