From Ring Reporter Peter Rodgers.
Ring 102 Sydney NSW Australia – The Maurice Rooklyn Ring
Meets 3rd Tuesday Every Month at 7:30pm at Northside Chatswood Salvation Army Church Hall Cnr. Bertram and Johnson Street Chatswood. Dale Trueman President email daletrueman@me.com
Our president Dale Trueman was unable to attend our November meeting so Peter Wood, our long running treasurer and “general dogsbody” introduced our lecturer for the night, it was Sean Taylor a great friend to our ring. Sean is a British/Australian magician who is one of the few Australian magicians who has regularly toured here and overseas with a lecture as well as authoring some well known books. The night was a selection of close-up and stand-up magic and mentalism. The first half was all new material and the second half, a retrospective of Sean’s better known effects. He mixed some of his dealer items with some things you can make with a little bit of arts and crafts and a trip to the office store. Sean is a worker and so not only are the tricks entertaining he’s also ironed out the wrinkles to make them into performance pieces.
4GONE Illusion and The Final Stop both use well known principles in a completely new way and are clever magician foolers. An experienced member was heard to whisper “No way” after Sean’s initial performance of The Final Stop an effect destined to become a classic. (I bought two of them), Four Eyes is a fun packet trick and FlipOut a card revelation which borrows from the venerable Insurance Policy and the Xerox deck. On Target is a 2 deck coincidence effect which proves that counting down 52 cards isn’t always as painful as we think.
The second half featured more parlour and stage effects with highlights being One, a named card in Envelope. PsyConFabulous which is Seans take on the Confabulation Plot, Sean’s Pro Envelope and Pineapple Surprise which was released 25 years ago, but still proves to be a winner with Sean’s audiences.
Sean explained that he will embark on an overseas lecture tour in 2023/24. If your local IBM ring is looking for a fun entertaining night of clever magic which anyone can do, I’d recommend Sean Taylor. You can find him on Facebook or via his website.
The evening concluded with our usual supper whilst sales were brisk and Sean was inundated with our members questions.
Peter Rodgers
Sydney Magic Club 