Humberside Young Magicians Close-up Competition 2004
This is the second year of this competition for the trophy so generously donated by Arthur and Elsie Setterington, and the six competitors, introduced and well managed by former members of Humberside Young Magicians, provided first-class entertainment for Hull Magicians’ Circle and guests.
Thomas Collinson started confidently with the production of a red silk and then went into his excellent Ring and Rope routine which he performed to music. Other items in his programme involved the mental classic Thought Transmitter and Jay Sankey’s In a Flash. Jay himself would have been pleased with his confident handling. Thomas set a high standard which was to be maintained throughout the whole competition.Dale Constable, looking every inch a magician, performed with confidence. His was a patter act and he spoke clearly and amusingly. He exhorted those in the audience to cut down on their smoking and eventually produced a mini cigarette. His colour-changing CD routine showed good handling throughout.It was Joe Harper from Driffield’s first appearance in the competition but, you would never have guessed, watching him perform his impressive range of close-up magic, producing eggs, releasing blocks and finding selected cards. He related well with the audience and had a good running gag with Danny Hargreaves who was compèring the competition.
Danny then introduced Grant Constable resplendent in his fez. Grant did some good magic to which he brought his own personal twist and it was really effective. Instead of ropes he used gold and silver chains to perform Paul Curry’s classic routine. His version of Cups and Balls involved pet hedgehogs. Therefore you clearly felt this was the magic he wanted to do and his patter was made to measure. (One of my pet dislikes apart from the Frustration Count is seeing young magicians doing tricks and patter totally inappropriate to their age and it was delightfully refreshing to see that none of the competitors fell into this trap.) Grant finished on a high note with a very, very good handling of Rainbow Cascade – Elmsley Count and all!Alan Underwood went on next and again you would not have thought that this was his first time in a close-up competition. After a good Cups and Balls routine he made lollipops change colour and turned a light bulb on and off at his command. He finished with the David Regal version of Jim Steinmeyer’s Nine Card Trick. The final revelation of all the other eight cards being blank was a stunner.The final act was Dan Taylor, another first-timer who had only finally decided to enter the competition ten minutes before it was due to start. He impressively performed two items recently purchased following the David Ginn lecture and concluded with a prediction using Jumbo cards.
So ended a strong and successful competition. Danny Hargreaves as compère and Marley Rudland as stage manager deserved a lot of credit for ensuring everything went smoothly. Judges, (all the HMC members) placed Grant Constable first and Thomas Collinson as runner-up. The competition was well attended and it was good to see so many Mums, Dads, grandparents et al, supporting their youngsters. Ray Burrell, as Vice President, made the presentations and everyone seemed happy. With youngsters like these waiting to join HMC the future looks bright. But just a note of caution. As things stand, sixteen-year-olds still at school will now have to find £50 (entrance fee and subscription) before they can become members. Food for thought!!
Thomas Collinson started confidently with the production of a red silk and then went into his excellent Ring and Rope routine which he performed to music. Other items in his programme involved the mental classic Thought Transmitter and Jay Sankey’s In a Flash. Jay himself would have been pleased with his confident handling. Thomas set a high standard which was to be maintained throughout the whole competition.Dale Constable, looking every inch a magician, performed with confidence. His was a patter act and he spoke clearly and amusingly. He exhorted those in the audience to cut down on their smoking and eventually produced a mini cigarette. His colour-changing CD routine showed good handling throughout.It was Joe Harper from Driffield’s first appearance in the competition but, you would never have guessed, watching him perform his impressive range of close-up magic, producing eggs, releasing blocks and finding selected cards. He related well with the audience and had a good running gag with Danny Hargreaves who was compèring the competition.
Danny then introduced Grant Constable resplendent in his fez. Grant did some good magic to which he brought his own personal twist and it was really effective. Instead of ropes he used gold and silver chains to perform Paul Curry’s classic routine. His version of Cups and Balls involved pet hedgehogs. Therefore you clearly felt this was the magic he wanted to do and his patter was made to measure. (One of my pet dislikes apart from the Frustration Count is seeing young magicians doing tricks and patter totally inappropriate to their age and it was delightfully refreshing to see that none of the competitors fell into this trap.) Grant finished on a high note with a very, very good handling of Rainbow Cascade – Elmsley Count and all!Alan Underwood went on next and again you would not have thought that this was his first time in a close-up competition. After a good Cups and Balls routine he made lollipops change colour and turned a light bulb on and off at his command. He finished with the David Regal version of Jim Steinmeyer’s Nine Card Trick. The final revelation of all the other eight cards being blank was a stunner.The final act was Dan Taylor, another first-timer who had only finally decided to enter the competition ten minutes before it was due to start. He impressively performed two items recently purchased following the David Ginn lecture and concluded with a prediction using Jumbo cards.
So ended a strong and successful competition. Danny Hargreaves as compère and Marley Rudland as stage manager deserved a lot of credit for ensuring everything went smoothly. Judges, (all the HMC members) placed Grant Constable first and Thomas Collinson as runner-up. The competition was well attended and it was good to see so many Mums, Dads, grandparents et al, supporting their youngsters. Ray Burrell, as Vice President, made the presentations and everyone seemed happy. With youngsters like these waiting to join HMC the future looks bright. But just a note of caution. As things stand, sixteen-year-olds still at school will now have to find £50 (entrance fee and subscription) before they can become members. Food for thought!!
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