Love playing with these in my magic shows. I had time during the lockdowns to learn lots of new magic. I learnt a lot from the wonderful magician Jeff McBride’s tapes on the subject from the 1980s(?) and the brilliant Levent’s 3 dvd set where he goes into incredible detail about the history of how they have been performed and the techniques used to amuse.
Tag: Magic
I’m back baby!
Parties are in full swing now for 2022! I have many bookings for February, March, April, and later in the year. Wonderful to be back at parties every weekend. Soon, I should be able to buy back the kidney I sold during the lockdowns!
I’m facing a few cancellations when family members have tested positive. I got Covid myself a few weeks ago and for the first time in 8 years of doing magic shows, I had to cancel two parties myself! I had very mild sickness for one day but had to isolate myself for the safety of the guests. I made it up to the families in part by going to their houses to do some magic for the birthday boy/girl and we had a lovely time.
If you have me in mind for a birthday party; perfect for 5,6,7-year-olds, do book me as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
My magic teacher and CRAZY friend
Michael Wo is the best! He’s always full of jokes and fun. Michael sells magic but he performs non-stop all day long for mostly non-paying passers by. If he makes people happy and has them laughing and can make aa few sales along the way then Michael is happy. He’s such a giving person and helped me so much when I was first getting into magic teaching me all sorts of tricks.
Michael is an amazingly funny and lovely magician. Go to his magic shop. He is there (nearly) every day in Camden Lock market in Camden Town, London; not far from Camden Town and Chalk Farm tube stations. Great for gifts for kids and grown up kids. Michael Wo’s YouTube Channel
Missing My Friends
After a long time of being apart from my friends and family (they all live in Stoke On Trent and Peru); I was about to visit my best friend Lalla. We had such a fun day and I made a vlog about it. If you like magic, cats and very silly humour, you will love it.
Video Vlog
Rude comments and lovely postman. Aw, what a joy it is to get a knock at the door and be greeted by my lovely beaming smiled postman Simon. Was so happy to get a bit of him into my video vlog I made a few months ago in more innocent times.
I got a great comment on another video that I responded to in this video. It’s funny that now I am kind of hoping for horrible comments so I can use them for laughs.
Missing the Magic
My magic career was going great before the lock-down. It’s a funny time to be a magician/entertainer. Should I work on new magic and writing for my shows? Or will what I work on now go stale before parties start up again? For now I am working more on getting very fit and doing my comedy YouTube videos. I can’t wait to get out there and have fun and play with a room full of fun loving families.
New YouTube videos
Getting back in to YouTube in a big way. A lot of children’s entertainers I know are doing online shows and offering online party entertainment. I frankly think this is a terrible idea. For a family to go from Watching the greatest movies ever made through their laptop to Terrific Tony make a ball disapear and cutting a rope through and charging for it to me seems below par.
But I did want to do more of my daft comedy videos and vlogs. I had a great time doing this little one with my lovely wife. Enjoy.
#funk #bassplayer #bassist #davie504 #heavymetal #metal #magic #magician
Where To Buy Magic Tricks?
You can buy magic tricks all over the place these days. Even in the petrol station: “yeah, I’m pump number 4. And give me a Snickers, 3 foot of rope and head sword casket”.
The tricks inside magic sets tend to be poor quality and look rubbish when you perform and who doesn’t want to perform a magic trick they have learnt and even put on a magic show for your friends/family/at the bar down the local Wetherspoons?
You can buy tricks from all over the web but go for the websites/shops run by actual magicians. Give them a call or pay the shop a visit if possible. They know great tricks for the right ages and what beginners tricks will be easy to learn and will amaze people.
There are are many great DVDs to get but if you are more serious about magic, get some books and if possible attend a convention. Magic is like music, there are all kinds of styles. Not every trick will amaze or entertain everybody. I always loved the sillier, funny tricks and routines which is what led me to kids shows. Some have a stronger draw towards clever magic with card tricks, coin manipulations or….eugh. Mentalism! Booooooring!
Smaller tricks such as with elastic bands are great for showing a few people i.e. doing “close up magic” but if you use bigger items you can perform for a bigger audience. It does not necessarily require big items but needs things that “play big” like a large silk or a wand.
Buy/learn tricks that amaze you. And practice until you are confident before you show anyone. Practice in the mirror and video yourself to catch your mistakes. Performing a trick badly and nobody is impressed is a horrible feeling and believe me I know this feeling very well!
Also, join your local magic club. Email me if you need help finding one. There are many all over the UK. They are very friendly places and people share ideas and help one another with tricks and ideas. You will see lectures there from professional magicians. But if the lecture is about mentalism, bring a pillow.
It can get expensive if you get into magic to buy lots of tricks, but you can make your own tricks and do tricks with everyday items.
Magic Dealers
Brilliant website for children’s magic. Gary Dunn who runs it is a brilliant professional magician (and one of my biggest influences) with years of experience and only sells top quality tricks.
Propdog – online and fantastic magic shop in Hounslow
Run by Dave Bonsall who is a professional magician and magic engineer. He develops his own tricks and has a passion for the art and a passion for good quality products and will not sell the poor quality rubbish that you will find from many magic dealers. Visit his wonderful shop if you can. You will never forget going there!
Brilliant Magic Conventions
Children’s magic convention held every May in Shropshire.
Children’s magic convention held every September in Birmingham.
Massive magic convention. Incredible magic shows in the evening and huge dealer hall and lectures in the daytime.
My favourite Magic DVDs
Gary Dunn – Keep Them Laughing
Terry Herbert – Magic For Under 5s
New blog every Tuesday!
Check out Ritchie’s YouTube channel here
Ritchie Rosson is a children’s entertainer & magician based in Sutton, London UK.
Ritchie Rosson - Magic Shows/Children's Entertainer 