Published in the reign of Elizabeth I, Scott’s intention was to show that those who, at the time were being burnt at the stake for practising what we now know as the art of magic, were not heathens, wizards and witches, but sadly much of this fell on deaf ears and the monarchy ordered that copies of the book be destroyed

Our copy, open at Book 13 (chapter 13 as we would know it now) shows the section in the book which deals with magic, the remainder of the book concentrates on witchcraft. It is worth noting that some of the ‘tricks’ shown within this chapter, are still used today, such as the Cups and Balls, which HRH Prince Charles chose to perform for his audition piece to join The Magic Circle in 1975, and also included effects such as the ‘Cut and Restored Rope’, and a ‘Four Ace’ production

It is widely believed that Shakespeare had read Scot and that the book is one possible source for the witches of Macbeth, the mock trial of King Lear, and for Bottom’s transformation and the hobgoblin character Puck or Robin Goodfellow in A Midsummer Nights Dream.

Paperback versions of the book are still in print, but you would have to save your pocket money for many years for afford the original with an estimated value of over £50.000, and was written around the time that Sir Francis Drake was knighted (1581)

The book is considered of such importance in the history of magic, that it is depicted on the timeline mural on the beautiful helical staircase which greets you upon entry to The Magic Circle building

In 1634, Hocus Pocus Jr the first book solely written in English on the subject of ‘Magic’ was published:

But it wasn’t until the 1834 and the publication of Professor Hoffman’s Book ‘Modern Magic’, that the general public were introduced to a contempory book written on the art of Conjuring. The book was highly successful and sold over 60,000 copies in its first 30 years, which may not sound much by modern standards but this was written when William IV was on the throne of England

Next article will be on the subject of ‘A Brief History of The Magic Circle’

This Friday night show (see www.themagiccircle.co.uk/events) is always sold out, and due to popular demand, we have now started to put on a second show each month on a Thursday night, which is becoming increasingly popular as the original Friday night show. We cap the audience at 100 people, but this thursday the audience was up to 77, so we were nearly at capacity for both shows.

The evening consists of four first class magicians rotating round four close up tables, performing for 20 minutes at each table, and there is a chance for the audience to explore the building and visit the museum prior to the start of the show, and also during the interval

Whilst these evenings are great fun not only for the audience but also for the performers we were, this week saddened to hear of the passing of the oldest member of The Magic Circle Fergus Anchorn aged 99 years young.

(Photo Courtesy of Mark Hesketh Jennings)

Fergus was an icon of a man with a well publicised  story of his time in a Japanese POW camp and how he used his magic to gain food and favours for his fellow prisoners

I will write more about Fergus later, however, the performers wanted to dedicate this weeks Close Up Show to our friend Fergus Anchorn

Fergus Anchorn, a true Gentleman in every sense of the word, Sleep well my friend

This is in addition to performing Close Up Magic at The Magic Circle Christmas Show, hosting The Magic Circle Close Up Show, assisting in the running of its Educational and family days, as well as being involved in the History and Mystery Days, as well as giving talks to outside organisations.

I also host tours of The Magic Circle Museum, at many of the public events, and whilst the whole building is a wonder of magic memorabilia, posters and history, our museum is situated in the basement of our building contains even more treasures. It is often known as the House of 10,000 secrets, and it was this which gave me the idea of writing some small articles on here about some of the exhibits which you may well see on display, and also associated stories, introducing you to some of the people and characters, you would hear about should you visit our lovely headquarters in central London, which is not generally open to the public.

These also form the basis of some of the talks I give to outside organisations, giving an insight to the History of Magic and also of The Magic Circle, and will be the subject of future articles

(Museum Tour Photo – Courtesy of Michael Vincent Photography)

Today, having finally finished tidying up after the 130 or so guests, Lesley sent me the following email:

Thanks you for entertaining at James 40th birthday Everyone that I spoke to said you were was amazing, and my friend Louise said that her husband Lee, is still dumfounded. I would thoroughly recommend you to anyone who was looking for a close up magician, whether it be a small or large gathering. You mingled in with everyone really well and were absolutely ‘Brilliant’

Dear Kev

Well what can we say other than a ‘massive thank you’ for yet another evenings entertainment from you! We have to say that you are always on the list to make any of our special occasions the best we can. The delight from other friends and family members when we say you are going to perform says it all!

You recently performed at our daughters wedding at Latimer Place, Buckinghamshire and wow’d the guests! You are such a brilliant close up magician that it leaves everyone astounded and wanting more, hence the many followers you had throughout the evening.

You know we are such big fans and would certainly recommend you to anyone thinking of making their event special, whether it be a social event or a corporate event.

Many many thanks again

Neil & Heather Francombe

 

Many thanks to David Morton (www.davidmortonphotopraphy.co.uk) for the wonderful images, I love looking at the reactions not only of the people I am directly performing for but also the smiles on the faces on those people watching in the background

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