Alan Shaxon on Robert Harbin - Alan Shaxon, President of The Magic Circle, made the trip to Hull despite having been involved in a car crash the day before! He said that Robert Harbin had been one of the main influences on his own magic and called him a modern-day David Devant. Not only was he an ingenious inventor but also a marvellous performer. Alan presented an affectionate and humorous description of Robert Harbin and his magic and this was richly illustrated not only by short clips of his performance on T.V. but also by showing some of Harbin’s actual props.

We were told how his Zig-Zag Lady illusion took the magical world by storm and we were regaled with anecdotes of his time cruising and working the halls. We were also treated to a video clip of Alan himself performing, on The Paul Daniels Show, the illusion Little by Little. In the second half Alan, ably assisted by Anne, gave a stunning presentation of the Blades of Opah and a very clever walking-through-rope routine.For many people one of the highlights of the evening was to see Alan perform Harbin’s Sawing in Halves using the original props. We were told of Harbin’s lasting contribution to the world of origami and the generous legacy he gave to The Origami Society.

How do you finish an evening like this? Well, Alan had the answer. He performed one of his own favourite pieces which included a whisky bottle, a cigar box and a pack of cards. This was good old-fashioned conjuring at its best and Alan’s explanation of the ingenious way the bottle was switched produced gasps of admiration. The loud and sustained applause at the end of the evening showed how much the members had enjoyed the lecture. But it was more than a lecture. It gave us a privileged insight into the mind of one of the true legends of magic and was presented in a delightful, affectionate and humorous way by Alan Shaxon. All in all it was a memorable evening and members spontaneously expressed their gratitude to our President for providing such a fitting end to our 70th year.