On
Tuesday 22nd March 2011, members of Surrey Heath Probus Club
together with their ladies made their way by coach to the Headquarters of
the Magic Circle in London. Arriving in good time, some wilting from lack
of sustenance transferred to nearby Euston station where they had a
convivial half-hour over tea and cakes. The others – more sensibly – had a
quick drink at the bar of the Magic Circle and were then given a most
interesting tour of a Museum full of the artefacts used by magicians over
many years.
By 7.30
p.m., after a welcoming drink on the house, we together with 3 other groups,
were in an upper room where each group was seated at its own demonstration
table. At this point 4 magicians entered and each went to his own appointed
table. Amazing tricks followed – watches, rings and bangles borrowed from
the audience were mysteriously linked and unlinked, all apparently without
the help of any human agency, even though we were sitting almost within
touching distance of the magician. Next, playing cards from well-inspected
‘normal’ packs appeared to have lives of their own as they flipped and
flicked from table to pocket and back again. After about 10 minutes, each
magician finished his act, left the room and then reappeared to go to
another table. In all we saw 4 magicians, all highly individual, some
dressed entirely in sinister black, one with a waistcoat in shimmering
colours while yet another could have stepped straight out of the Arabian
Nights with his colourful robes, turban and curled-toe slippers.
Then we
all moved up to the theatre where we heard a most interesting and amusing
account of the Magic Circle’s history by Geoffrey Dunn of TV fame. After
this there was a pause for very pleasant refreshments.
The
evening ended with a further session of magic together with a very clever
solo mime sequence – one of the highlights of the evening. Another trick
again involved rings. This time they were placed in a wine glass visible to
all but, even with over 100 pairs of eyes fixed on them, they still after a
mere tap of the glass with a wand, became firmly interlinked. Truly magic!
As the
evening ended and the group made its way back to the coach, one member
wondered if there were any lady members of the Magic Circle. The answer?
There are 1500 male members but only 60 females.
