Introducing his guest tonight, Eddie Dawes said that Peter and Ilona Scarlett were hard working members of the magic fraternity. Peter works for both the British Ring and The Magic Circle, as well as being a performer, compere and dealer.


Peter Scarlett said tonight was unrehearsed, unlike his normal performances. His topic was restaurant magic, and for this he had prepared a dinner table, at which he invited Sylvia Harrop, David Hand and Alan Johnston to sit as customers and drink wine. This setting was used to good effect whilst Peter talked and demonstrated his approach to restaurant magic. He usually started by asking a question to involve the table, before starting with the magic. He only used the corners of the table – the rest of the table was kept clear for food. Whilst his current Sunday engagement was to entertain the children, he preferred to work for adults. The children were catered for by a number of packet card tricks using characters such as Thomas the Tank Engine, which were based on the Irish Four-Card trick.

Peter demonstrated a wide range of ideas, some of which he marketed, covering ropes, cards, coins and sponge dice. He had a very nice diary trick which was a variation on Bob Cassidy’s Chronologue, and a visiting card item that could be left with the customer. He showed that it was the little things that made the difference, and was prepared for any eventuality. This talk complemented the previous talk by Mike O’Brien, and both gave members a firm basis for working in this environment.

Eddie Dawes thanked Peter and Ilona Scarlett for an exceptional evening, which had given members much good advice and ideas. Members enthusiastically applauded Peter and Ilona for a very interesting evening.