To the Magic Circle and beyond…….

 Last week I was back in England visiting family and due to a last minute change of plans ended up with a free Monday night.  First time this has happened in 6 years and it gave me a chance to visit The Magic Circle – my favorite magic club.

Scott Penrose (President of the Magic Circle), me and John Lenahan

It was great to reconnect with some friends who I haven’t seen in a while.  And I got several complaints about my failure to send out any newsletters! So here is a quick update of a couple of fun things to share.

A few days earlier I was hanging out at Magi-Fest in Columbus and bumped into another colleague.  I was with a bunch of my American friends and we spent an hour or so chatting to Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee.  They all came away saying the same thing ‘What an awesome guy’.

 

Paul was amazingly frank discussing magic and his life in the entertainment industry. We all felt that he had shared something of himself with us, something personal, we weren’t just magic fans, we were his new friends.  This incredible ability is one of the things that made him such a big star.

As the dealer hall was packing up I was chatting to Gabe Fajuri of Potter and Potter Auctions, and there, sitting on his table was an old book.  On it was a piece of paper that said ‘The Discoverie of Witchcraft, First Edition’.

My eyes nearly popped out of my head – the first magic book in the English language printed in 1584, and it was just lying there on the table!

Admittedly it was only there for a few seconds as Gabe was packing up but I had to smell it and handle it for a moment.

As I held this book I felt the hairs on my neck prickle.  And yes I was very careful as I didn’t have the 25 grand to buy it if I dropped it.

All the above happened in a few consecutive days. Life is sometimes really magical.