A Great Blog

‘Scandalous’ Russell Brand

2009-06-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

I was recently over performing at my residency at The O2 VIP lounge when Russell Brand was performing. Every time I work there it's really interesting to see the difference type of guests that come and watch the acts. I can honestly say the people who came to see Katie Melua were very difference to Russell Brand’s fans and even Steve Coogan’s were completely difference to Lee Evan’s.

It was very amusing at the Russell Brand event when someone walked into the bar who looked just like Russell; the ludicrous big hair, thigh clenching skin-tight jeans and full designer stubble. It was great to see the room buzz with excitement as he marched to the bar and ordered his drinks, but just as the ladies were preparing their chests for an autograph from their god, it was unfortunately revealed that alas, he was just a darn good look-a-like and clearly a rather die hard fan. Priceless. I have attached a photo of the arena just before Russell was due to go on stage, I think you can actually just about make him out sound-checking on the stage. As a comedian you really have to be a great performer to play to such a large and vast venue as The O2; from all the reviews I heard he was excellent apparently.

More soon...The Tom Rose Magic Blog:
http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Ser Gut Ya!

2009-06-21T12:41:00.000-07:00

On a more random note I thought I needed to mention my recent trip to the Bavarian Beerhouse in Old Street, London. What a very interesting place. Anywhere that serves lager in 2-pint Steins and has live German folk music is surely on to a winner! Sure enough the group of 6 chaps I was with did indeed enjoy the visit. If you fancy a rather unusual night out, slightly more ‘stag-party style’ than a night out in the West-End take a look!

More soon...The Tom Rose Magic Blog:
http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Ole Ole! En-route to the quintuple?!

2009-06-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

I was in the rather privileged position to be able to go along to the FA Cup Semi-Final between Man Utd and Everton back in April. As a Man Utd fan I was quite excited about the match as we (I went with a couple of Everton fans) had great seats on the halfway line. However, it quickly became apparent that the Reds were not on form and the Blues were looking stubborn in defence. Of course we all know what happened next and United lost on penalties when Dimitar Berbatov decided to lethargically side-foot his penalty to the goalkeeper. Highly disappointing. However, see below for a couple of photos. I thought the first one was good because it shows the division between the Man Utd fans in red and the Everton fans in blue. The second photos shows the terrible, terrible penalty taken by Berbatov. Can you tell I am still bitter?! (I’m not even much of a football fan).

As a quick side note, Everton’s fans were brilliant, all really great supporters and surely they deserve to win something soon.

More soon...The Tom Rose Magic Blog:
http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Trade Show Magician at Grand Designs Live

2009-06-20T12:42:00.000-07:00

As with much of the population who used to play with Lego I am a huge fan of the TV show Grand Designs, so when I was asked to perform as a “trade show magician” for First Direct Bank on their stand I was more than happy to go along. The show was great and highlighted just about every single thing you could possibly do with your house. From ECO-pods to “Eglus” to the very cool Huf-Haus there was just about everything. You can see Kevin McCloud playing with the rather clever touch-sceen Microsoft computers on our stand on the left.

As part of my magic I incorporated the First Direct marketing messages into the show and highlighted some of their recent successes. I was at the show for a few days and my good pal and top magician buddy Sav did the other dates during the show. Obviously we make a top team and if you are looking for a trade show, or exhibition magician, drop me or Sav a line or take a look at my trade show magic page on the website.

More soon...The Tom Rose Magic Blog:
http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Sizzling Summer Weather

2009-06-19T12:45:00.000-07:00

There was a mini-heat wave a couple of weeks ago in London and it was hot hot hot. I even had the chance to get out into the good weather for one of my more ‘random’ jobs. I was asked to be part of a treasure hunt as part of an international trip for a group of tourists. I was located in the home of live performance, London's Covent Garden, and waited for groups of people to find me. When they met me I had to perform a simple magic trick which they had to try and work out - if they come up with a reasonable theory I could give them the next clue to carry on the hunt. It was great to spend the afternoon in Covent Garden in the blazing sun and meet such a great group of people. Top stuff.

Following that I was over at a wedding in Essex and to be honest it was less enjoyable. It was so hot that I think I actually melted during the show, its great to have nice weather for a wedding, but it was just too hot that day....

More soon...The Tom Rose Magic Blog:
http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Homeward bound magic

2009-06-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

As I now live in London I don’t get up to my native Yorkshire as much. However, I was recently invited along to a wedding of some family friends where they asked me to do some magic, of course I was more than happy to oblige and it was great to perform to the native Yorkshire folk again. It was quite unusual as I knew lots of people at the wedding as most of them had never seen me perform before, but it was great fun.

The next day I went even further North and was performing in Sunderland at the Seaham Hall hotel and Spa. If you haven’t been here before I highly recommend it. It’s a great venue with a Michelin starred Chef (Kenny Atkinson) who is currently in the final of the BBC’s Great British Menu. The wedding was great and the most amusing thing about the wedding was the football results that day. Many of the guests were from Sunderland and with it being the last day of the season there was a lot pressure with local rivals Newcastle & Middlesborough trying to avoid relegation with Sunderland. Needless to say when it was confirm that Newcastle & Middlesborough were going down, while Sunderland stayed up, there were jubilant celebrations! The rivalry up there is unbelievable.

More soon...The Tom Rose Magic Blog:
http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Venues, Venues, Venues….

2009-06-17T12:51:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note about something that is really great about being a ‘roving magician’ covering the UK. The other night I was working at a PR company’s re-branding launch down at a trendy West End bar called Vanilla. It was all very cool and it had possibly the cleanest, smoothest white floor I’ve ever seen – not sure if that makes a good bar, but surely it helps? Maybe not. Interestingly, or maybe not so interestingly, this is where Ashley Cole took Cheryl Cole for her surprise birthday the other day. Either way, they gave me some membership - I wonder what I get for that. Anyway, a few days later I was performing on a boat down on the River Thames at Windsor. I think it is fair to say that the boat was fully transformed into a ‘party ship’ and everyone had a great time.

The point of the rather pointless drivel I am writing about is that I get to go to some cool venues which are all very different and places I would probably never go; the river cruise in Windsor being a great example of this; although saying that, I have done quite a few river cruises now, including my rather nice performance on the private yacht in Dubai. Aye Aye Captain, or the time I performed for Simon Cowell on a private boat on the River Thames.

More soon...The Tom Rose Magic Blog:
http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Up the toon in Newcastle…

2009-06-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

A quick shout out to all the Northumbria University students I met at their graduation ball a few weeks back. It was strange seeing so many people I knew from difference walks of life… I have attached a couple of photos below of me performing – it went down well me thinks…

More soon...The Tom Rose Magic Blog:
http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Theatre land Calls…

2009-06-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

No, not for my dazzling skills but for a night out. I thought it had been too long since I went out and saw some live entertainment so I booked some tickets to go and see Rob Brydon Live at the Apollo Theatre in London. Most of you will have seen Rob Brydon in Gavin and Stacey which is a great show; it actually once included a very mocking sketch with a magician (episode 4 of the first series - the magician shown is actually my good pal Brendan Patricks very much not playing himself). The live show is great fun and even after nearly 2 hours of Brydon he leaves you wanting more. Thoroughly recommended for anyone who has even a passing taste for Gavin and Stacey.

Rob Brydon review, from the Woking Theatre, in the Telegraph

Following Rob’s great show I thought I should really continue my cultural evenings and so went along to see some Shakespeare at the outdoor theatre in Regents Park. This is something I would probably have never got round to booing myself (my lovely sister arranged it) but I really can’t recommend it enough. It’s a great experience and the show, Much Ado About Nothing was expertly played out by the actors who received a long and well deserved standing ovation at the end of the show. (Click here for the professional’s opinion from the Independent)

The whole concept of theatre outdoors with Pimms in one hand and a rug in the other is a great and I will be certainly going back for more later in the summer.

More soon...The Tom Rose Magic Blog:
http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Quick update

2009-04-21T12:54:00.000-07:00

I've decided its been way too long so here is a quick post before I do a decent update over the next week..

Here are some quick photos from a recent gig in The City of London...

Photos thanks to: Jan at http://www.yankophoto.co.uk/

More soon...The Tom Rose Magic Blog:
http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Christmas magic news

2008-12-14T04:29:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year started early. At the end of November there was a magic convention where the who's who of magic met up to discuss all things 'Harry Potter'. On the left is a photo of a group of us discussing the finer points of magic (L-R: Noel Qualter, Dave Bonsall, Tom Rose, Rob James, John Archer).

In other magic Christmas party news, I was again performing magic down at The O2 in London for the Steve Coogan show (the people I spoke to said the show was good, but the press reviews were not so good for Steve, as this review in The Telegraph shows). I was then down at The O2 again for a very fun staff Christmas party for a modeling agency which was nice!

The first week of December was finished with corporate magic gigs; management consultants, city traders and solicitors over three nights was an interesting contrast to the models and comedy punters before. Each of the three corporate jobs had an interesting fact though, the first, for Accenture, was good as I was working with two other magicians I had arranged for the 500 guests, Don Moses and Noel Qualter (see photo right) and I also saw an old friend from my university days, Jen, nice to see you again.

At the city traders and brokers event over at exclusive private members club Maya in Mayfair I was performing with a group of ladies called "The Fuel Girls". These ladies performed a kind of burlesque fire dance which was pretty impressive in the small club. Hot stuff indeed. Photo of the Fuel Girls is shown on the left. Interestingly the girls all had a 'hardcore' stage persona but were really nice when I caught up with them in the green room after. Interestingly they were flying off to Verbier in Geneva the next day for a gig over there which reminded me of the wedding I did out in Verbier a year back.

The end of the week was completed with a gig for a solicitors firm specialising in marine law, I wonder if all the Somali pirates are keeping them busy with litigation at the moment? The magic gig was in central London overlooking Tower Bridge and The Tower of London. Did you know... "In 1952, a number 78 double-decker bus was on the bridge when it opened. Back then, the lights would change to red, the gateman would ring bells to encourage the pedestrians to move off the bridge quickly and close the gates, and the head watchman would order the bridge to lift when it was clear. On this day in December, there was a relief watchman, and something went wrong. Albert Gunton, the driver, saw that the road ahead appeared to be sinking. In fact, his bus was perched on the end of an opening bascule, which was giving the illusion of a sinking road ahead. He realised that he would not be able to stop in time to prevent going into the water, and making a split second decision, decided he would go for it. He accelerated and jumped the three feet gap, landing on the north bascule, which had not started to rise. None of his dozen passengers were seriously hurt, and he received £10 for his bravery". The wonders of Wikipedia...

More soon...The Tom Rose Magic Blog:
http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Back to blogging...

2008-12-14T04:06:00.000-08:00

Several people have mentioned the lack of blog action from me recently so here I am back again. The reason for the lack of blogs is that the only time I have the time to do a post or two is during a long train journey; the current Newcastle back to London trip does indeed tick that box so here I am.

Since my last post about doing magic in Dubai I have been all over the place. For example, I performed close-up magic at the drinks reception of a really nice wedding in Westminster, London where the wedding cake was actually from Star Wars, a bit different but it looked great. I have added a few photos from that wedding to my photo gallery page. Make sure you check out Tom Gold's website if you need a photographer (http://www.tomgold.co.uk/).

In other magic news, I was down at The O2 Arena in East London a lot in October, November and early December. I am the resident magician at The O2 for all the comedy events and can be seen doing my magic thing in the O2 Lounge and O2 BlueRoom bar which are exclusively for O2 customers. If you are ever down at The O2 you should take a look in these bars as there is always something going on. I have attached a very exciting photo of me outside The O2 before performing at the 5 Lee Evans events in October.

More soon...The Tom Rose Magic Blog:
http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Performing in Duabi again - this time on a private yacht...

2008-10-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

I have just got back from a jet-set trip to Dubai where I performed for a group of Russians on a a private yacht. Although you can't tell from the photo the seas were a little rough but my sea legs just about managed to get through the night. All the guests had a great time, especially when one lucky guest won a table of solid gold bars at the evening's gala dinner. Now that is amazing...

It was a great trip, even though I was only in Dubai for a few hours, the client was impressed too:

"I’ve been meaning to write to thank you for the fantastic entertainment you provided for our clients. The evening was a real success and we had a lot of very good feedback from everyone, particularly on how amazed they were by you! I think everyone is still trying to figure out how you do it! We were really impressed with the way in which you managed to move amongst the groups and capture their attention despite the language barriers and the unsteady floor! You definitely break all the stereotypes of the traditional magician and we loved your relaxed informal style! We would certainly recommend you to other companies in Dubai and would love to invite you back for future events that we have"

Nice.

I really need to do a 'full' update which I will do soon.... The Tom Rose Magic Blog:
http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Boom! I'm back...

2008-05-18T10:42:00.000-07:00

I think the amount of time since my last post shows how busy I have been? Writing this blog takes a surprisingly large amount of effort so apologies for the slow posts, I know my fans will be eagerly waiting the next installment so here you go Mum(!).

So, a quick summary of what I have been up to; a few interesting jobs spring to mind, for example I've performed at two Michelin starred restaurants recently, The Hinds Head Hotel in Bray run by Heston Blumenthal and also The Mallory Court Hotel in Leamington Spa which provided just the most amazing food. On a side note, it's worth mentioning the fantastic couple I worked for at Mallory Court, they had a really great intimate wedding; its always really nice to work at those kind of events, here is what they later e-mailed about my magic:

"Dennis and I both wanted to say a million thanks for a truly marvellous performance on Friday night. You were FANTASTIC and it was an enormous pleasure to meet you. Everyone so enjoyed your tricks (and your humour) and you made a great contribution to our wonderful day. Dennis and I have heaps of fabulous memories and you can rest assured that your performance will always be part of those. Once again our sincere thanks for entertaining us in such a "magical" fashion."
-Christine and Dennis.

Nice.

Ok, so other highlights I hear you ask? Well there was working at a fantastic birthday party for Caria Watt with a Marylin Monroe theme. Caria is not only a stunning model (see right) but also a great personality. It was a great party with some really cool guests and an even cooler ice sculpture vodka luge!

Another interesting job was at One Whitehall Place (aka The Royal Horse Guards) in London. This great old building is directly opposite the London Eye on the other side of the Thames. As a former politics student (seems a long time ago now) I didn't realise that One Whitehall Place is home to the Liberal Club. It was interesting to see the odd 'old boy' liberal wandering the corridors after (presumably) one too many rather tasty G&Ts that afternoon. Classic British history- I can only assume Charles Kennedy was trying to keep up the tradition?!

Finally, another couple of swanky venues I have been to recently are Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park (very nice setting in the Royal Park) and also the Four Seasons just off Park Lane in London, rather classy indeed.

More soon kids.... The Tom Rose Magic Blog:
http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Tough week for me, Tough night for Sav.

2008-02-03T08:51:00.000-08:00

The other night I had a job with my good buddy Sav. We were performing at a corporate drinks event in Kensington which we do every year and is a great job. Unfortunately for me I had been ill all week but managed to recover just in time to do the event so it was kind of hard work. However, after the gig Sav had to go and perform at another job in Notting Hill. I thought it would be good to go along so I did. It was interesting to see another of London’s top magicians doing their stuff while I enjoyed a few beers at the bar- I think I had the better deal.

Looking forward over the next few weeks I have a few interesting jobs but most excitingly I will be going to the worlds largest magic convention in Blackpool. Wowza. It’s actually quite a good event and the main reason I go is to meet up with fellow professionals from all over the world. The major drawback of the event is that it is in Blackpool. No offence meant, but Blackpool in a winter’s February weekend is not a nice place to be. I often wonder what people coming from all over the world think when they come to the UK and only visit Blackpool for the convention. I only hope they realise the rest of the country isn’t made up of tattoo parlours, pregnant teenagers and underage drinking outside the once-so-grand Pier & promenade. Oh, wait a minute, it is.

I tell you what, this blog is getting politically controversial now.

Until next time. The Tom Rose Magic Blog: http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Magicians have birthdays too, part two

2008-02-02T08:44:00.000-08:00

The other week I took a night off and joined a selection of the world’s top magicians for London magician Noel Qualter’s birthday, how exciting.

It was good to meet up with a few fellow magicians to celebrate Noel turning… (does anyone know how old he was?). Anyway, the night started just off Oxford Street before moving onto Soho. The cool crew included world famous D-to-the-Y-to-the-M-n-o (in more normal circles, Dynamo), Sav, Andi Galdwin, Ben Earl and Brendan Patricks. It was great fun and the evening finished with a (very) late night pizza where we were treated to a crazy camp Italian magician doing magic at the tables. It was a great coincidence and we could barely contain ourselves as he didn’t have a clue that he was performing for some, sorry, all of the best magicians in the UK.

It was funny a few days later I found out that someone had actually reported that we had been out together on a magic news website, kind of the magic world equivalent of OK! magazine. How cool is that?!

Here is a photo of the group after one too many beers.

The Tom Rose Magic Blog: http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Going back to where it all began

2008-01-16T14:27:00.000-08:00

People always ask me how did I get into magic and the answer is always the same (FYI the answer can be found by reading my Bio page on this very website, but if you have read that, and are still reading this, you must be a real stalker, or my mother). Anyway, a crazy maths teacher at school started it all by doing a few tricks during lessons and I wanted to get the better of him. After learning a few tricks with him he wanted to learn more skills and so set up a circus club at the school. As a founder member, along with Pete Burdis, I feel proud that the school had such a random and fun after school activity. Since then the circus club has gone from strength to strength and actually puts on shows once in a while, take a look here for a newspaper report about it. Great fun.

Anyhoo, several years later and a few tricks more in the repertoire the teacher, Andy Mollitt, asked me to perform at his weddings, which of course was a bit of an honor as old Mollitt is a bit of a legend.

It was a bit usual performing magic for my former school teachers (I wasn’t always the perfect student) and old school pals but it was great fun and the magic went down very well indeed. So well that I am hoping to get along to the annual football dinner in May to perform for all of them again; don’t worry Mr. Tate, I’ll be there. Well maybe. Here is a photo of Mollitt doing what he does best; clowning around fire juggling.

More news soon Sir. The Tom Rose Magic Blog: http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Service Station Review: Norton Canes Roadchef

2008-01-14T12:13:00.000-08:00

As per usual Christmas was super busy and that clearly meant I was traveling all over which means another service station review. I am actually getting people read these and tell me about them and I can’t decide if people think I’m just sad or funny. Hummm.

Moving on, somewhat unbelievably I have never been on the M6 Toll as I have never been bothered to pay the £3.95 or whatever it is for the joy of driving on a really boring bit of motorway. However, having traveled on the M6 three times in the same week for magic gigs in Cheshire and Birmingham over Christmas I thought I would just go crazy and try the Toll; what a revelation! Because you have to pay to use the road, there is not a crap car in sight, its brilliant!

Generally speaking there are no lorries (they are saving their £3.95 for a bacon butty at the next truck stop) and no knackered old Fiestas driven by a 17-year-old who needs to save his £3.95 for his next sovereign ring, innit, (at least that’s what I think they say). As such the normal people of the world can speed along with no hold ups. Marvelous.

And that brings me to the service station review. To be fair, its already off to a cracking start as once again the car park is full of neatly parked cars of a nice nature. Its kind of a middle class service station as you can’t get there without paying the Toll. Genius.

According to good old Wikipedia the services were opened in 1994 and claimed to be “the best service area on Britain’s motorway network”, well I think this blog will be the judge of that. Seriously though (can this ridiculous feature ever be serious?!) the facilities are really decent. The car parking and landscaping are nice and there is a good offering of food outlets including Costa (in fact 3 Costa outlets in the same building), a Wimpy and a Roadchef restaurant. I actually braved ordering a mixed grill and to be fair it was actually pretty good. Its no Claridge’s but for service station food it was good. The toilets were OK too, not the best but OK.

I’m never surprised at what they sell in those shops that are in services these days, it just to be the case that you were lucky if you could get a packet of AA Batteries but now they seem to sell a crazy array of things. When I was there it was tents, children’s laser guns and power drills on offer. I can imagine that would make an interesting feature for a family in the back of the car down the M6.

All in all it was a very decent stop, earning a very respectable 8.5/10. Good work.

p.s. in my quick google search I actually found a website devoted to service stations in the UK, oh how the internet has changed the lives of thousands.

More tomorrow kids. The Tom Rose Magic Blog: http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

The Magician is back to blogging

2008-01-13T11:10:00.000-08:00

Its been a long old time since my last update so I am intending to backtrack a bit and fill in the gap since my last post about Dubai all that time ago in December… watch out the blog entries are going to come thick and fast over the next couple of days. I bet you can hardly contain yourself.

Ok, I won’t bore you with all my Christmas party news suffice to say I was going all over the UK performing at the usual array of corporate parties and Christmas weddings. However, there was one job that stood out from the rest in terms of sheer randomness (is that a word? who knows).

When I was performing for accenture at their Christmas bash I was lucky enough to work with, or should I say scared by, Bruce AirHead. Having never worked with Bruce before it was interesting to see his act, described on his website as: “The metamorphosis of a man and a six-foot balloon”, I agree, it sounds dodgy doesn’t it. The general premise is that Bruce blows up an enormous balloon and then goes inside it somehow and then ends with a great magical finale. It’s a brilliant street style act and got a really good reaction from the punters. As a side note I have never seen anyone lube themselves up* as much as Bruce in his act, but you should definitely check out his video on YouTube here.

Bruce is also seen in the photo here to the left.

*Now that does sound dodgy.

Don't go away, I'll be back soon. The Tom Rose Magic Blog: http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Tom Flies to Dubai

2007-12-01T10:44:00.000-08:00

Well, I just had a crazy couple of weeks. After performing four jobs in four corners of the UK in 5 days I was then flown out to Dubai for a swanky party outside the world famous 7-star Burj Al Arab hotel. I must say well done to the lovely ladies organising the party; Sarah, Sherry & Emma as it was a stunning set-up and all the guests thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Highlights included working with the ten-piece band from the UK, the Ukrainian sax player and Australian photographer; very international, there was even some representation from the USA with a life size Pamela Anderson birthday cake which was pure quality.

I’ve attached a selection of photos from the event below.

More news next week.

The Tom Rose Magic Blog: http://www.trmagic.com/tom_rose_blog.php

Happy guests

The Venue on the beach

Paul Ross, brother of Jonathan doing a 'This is your life' set for the birthday boy.

Me in full white theme...

More happy guests

Swanky party venue...

The super sax player

Photos thanks to: www.djphotography.net

Christmas Party Time in London

2007-11-18T13:59:00.001-08:00

I’ve had so many calls recently from clients booking Christmas parties, office parties and general end of year celebrations asking how to book a top magician. In every case the answer is the same; corporate Christmas office parties are all about relaxing after a tough year and having fun, although my office party (just me!) is never all that exciting. Therefore, you need a magician who is entertaining, fun, informal and relaxed. The last thing you want is some old chap in top hat and tails pulling a rabbit out of his rather less-than-magical hat.

I perform magic that is informal and engaging; I get the guests laughing while also thoroughly baffling them; which is exactly what you need at an office party, I have regularly been described as a magician who is contemporary, modern and based in London (those Christmas events & parties in the West End & Soho are always fun).

Interestingly I do still have a couple of dates left in the diary for the Christmas season, so do get in touch and get me along to your party. If I am already booked I can suggest one of my colleagues who will be available therefore ensuring you have a quality and professional magician at your Christmas party rather than someone who you cannot trust or are unsure of their quality.

More news from Tom ‘Santa’ Rose next time….

p.s. The Christmas season takes me back to last year when I saw hundreds of roller skating Santas in Soho. Very strange. You can see a video here...

www.trmagic.com

Magic up & down the UK

2007-11-18T13:59:00.000-08:00

In terms of magic news I have been doing some serious gallivanting recently. The other week I was down in London doing magic at an exhibition where my job was to impress delegates to get them to my stand, I even had a board with my name on it; I felt so special I got a photo (see left).

Following on from this I was whizzed up to Edinburgh for a rather nice trip to the Rugby World Cup, as part of the trip I got to see Scotland Vs New Zealand at Murrayfield which was really good. Traveling in stages back to London I had a couple of jobs in the North, doing some magic at a wedding in Matfen Hall (which has a great golf course) and also a repeat booking in Sunderland for some really nice people I worked for back in March.

Incidentally, for any southerners, especially Londoners reading this, you should really check out Northumberland for a weekend away, the North isn’t all smog you know. Just ask Jeff Stelling of Sky Sports News (this rant was in reply to the TV Show "Location Location Location" which said Middlesbrough was the worst place to live in the UK. Click here to see the clip on YouTube -Brilliant stuff).

In other magic news I was doing the usual table magic and mix and mingle magic at events in Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester all in the same week and I ended all the traveling on Saturday with a mega day of work; firstly performing magic at a wedding Darlington and then flying down to London to perform at a leaving party in Wapping all in the space of a few hours. It just goes to show that close up magic is so versatile; one day a corporate event, the next a wedding, the next minute a leaving party.

In between all this work I found time to shoot to Germany for a weekend at the rather large and semi-famous Freimarket in Bremen (http://www.freimarkt.de/index.php?CHANGElang=en&PHPSESSID=6b4f7cdd71c49f271ac308984a7850a4), and also to have a drink with my good pal, and top magician, Sav in North London.

More news next time...

www.trmagic.com

Pressures of Fan Mail...

2007-11-05T14:13:00.000-08:00

Don’t worry kids, I’m back.

This week I had a letter from John, aged 23 from Keighley. John was disappointed not to see any more service station reviews recently, as John writes, “I do a lot of driving so they are important”. Therefore I have bowed to the pressures of fan mail and here is the next instalment. I should make a book.

This week during a trip to Manchester for a magic show, gig, job – whatever I should cal it, I stopped in at Moto Hilton Park Services, between junctions 10a and 11 of the M6. I think there is a certain irony that the word “Hilton” appears in the title as this site is definitely more Hi-Di-Hi than Hilton quality. Looking that the building it looks like the bridge of a 1980s cargo ship (see photo) and then when you get inside it maintains the nautical theme by being so empty its like the Mary Celeste. That said it does have a decent offering of facilities including an M&S Simply Food, which is always a good sign. One place which was buzzing was the spacious arcade / gambling area into which the local Staffordshire yobs were placing their pennies at a scarily rapid rate.

Doing some research (if you are going to do something you might as well do it properly), it seems that this was the busiest service station in the UK in 1998, what a prestigious title. In addition they spent £2.1million refurbishing it in 1999; I’m at a loss to see where that cash went. It even has its own Wiki page though: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilton_Park_services

On the plus side it had wireless internet which meant I could check my e-mails for the bargain price of £5 per hour, on the downside they had the smallest sinks I have ever seen in a toilet; the poor lorry driver with huge hands never had a chance.

Overall a rather uninspiring pit stop, 5/10

Tom is a top magician...

2007-10-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

If you wanted proof that Tom is one of the top magicians in the country, just look at what a couple of recent clients have said...

"What can I say? We had the most truly magical wedding day.
You exceeded my expectations. I knew that you would be fantastic, the guests were bowled over by you and you were truly a hit with both the children and adults alike.
Tony was particularly impressed, and only wishes that I had asked you to entertain the evening guests also. If my daughters have a party to celebrate their 18th (all be-it in 4 years time ) I would hope you could be top of the bill, they havnt stopped talking about the day and your magic, and as for my family, now they ARE hard to impress, yet we have had nothing but praise about your talents they were truly in awe of you. My brother is still trying to work out how his wedding ring which was on his hand ended up in your wallet on a key fob in your back pocket!!!!!( & had not noticed his ring was missing)."
-Fiona & Tony- Informal Magic at Wedding

"The magic went down brilliantly on the day - thank you so much. Loads of people have commented to us how much they enjoyed it and one of our friends who is particularly cynical and hard to please was pretty blown away when you made a card appear in his top pocket! ...We were thrilled to have you there and I would certainly recommend you to any of my friends."
Megan & Mike - Magic at wedding in Northumberland

"I just wanted to say a huge thank you for entertaining our guests at the Rose Launch on Monday. The event was a huge success and all of us at ABCC are delighted you were part of it... everyone I have spoken to since has said how fantastic you are your tricks were... thanks again and I really hope we are able to work with you again in the future"
Kaite - ABCC

Tom Performs for some Famous faces...

2007-08-31T15:27:00.000-07:00

The other night I was down to the River Thames to perform at an event with a sprinkling of famous people. Well, the usual Big Brother contingent was there, but along with them was A-lister and uber-rich Simon Cowell and B(?)-Lister Danielle Lloyd.

I was actually really surprised with Simon, I have always had respect for him as he speaks his mind and doesn’t mess people around, which can only be a good thing. At the event he seemed really very nice indeed. Unfortunately for him it was basically a photo shoot with everyone wanting a picture with the big man* so I thought it would be almost rude not to get involved (see photo). In these circumstances I have sometimes thought a max-work of the celebrity would be just as good as they really only ever do seem to have a succession of photos taken of them. Hummm.. maybe a business idea. Or is this the reason for look-a-likes- I think so.

Also at the event was a very beautiful Danielle Lloyd. Again I was surprised by how nice she was and it kind of confirmed my view that most of the things you hear in the media about these people is just complete fabrication. She seemed very sharp when it came to the magic and you can see a photo of ‘her card’ below (to be added soon as I have lost the card somewhere!). I enjoyed the evening and talking to Simon and Danielle was really interesting.

*I say big man but I actually mean little man as in real life he is really quite short.