We are pleased to release the final line-up for the NMC 2012 Convention, following on from Luke Jermay, Matthew Wright and Paul Gordon.
Mark Shortland: Mark will be your host on compere for the evening gala show and will also be performing his stage act. Over the last twelve years Mark has gained twelve National and International Awards including:- Four times winner of the International Brotherhood of Magicians Comedy Award 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2004, Stage Magician of the Year 2001 and Close-up Magician of the Year 2002, culminating in his Membership of The Inner Magic Circle and the title of ‘British Magical Grand Prix Champion 2005-2007’.
Lee Thompson: A world renowned pickpocket from the famous Cirque Du Soleil we are extremely pleased to welcome him to the NMC Convention. A mulit-competition award winner including International Buskin Competition and European Festival of Street Entertainers Award. Lee will be performing on the gala show and will then present his lecture with a full breakdown of how he achieves his steels and misdirection, this is the premier of Lee’s lecture at a magic convention and is one not to be missed.
High Jinx: We are pleased to welcome back High Jinx who will be performing their illusion act in the gala show, Michael will also present his juggling act in the first half of the show. Straight from their appearance on Penn & Teller : Fool Us and having achieved second place in FISM Europe illusion category, Michael and Tamsyn are sure to be a big hit, with their act receiving rave reviews and having just been booked for the season at the Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
Make Believe Magic: Consisting of past president Steve Gore and joined by his daughter Deanna, Make Believe Magic have been receiving rave reviews for their relatively new act, and we are sure they will appeal to the whole audience.
Ian Barradel: Ian will be performing in the close-up gala show and will also be presenting his extremely informative lecture about the magic maker Tenyo. Ian has the 3rd biggest collection in the world of these ingenious props and their clever principles are sure to have you puzzled, a thoroughly entertain lecture awaits.
The Childrens Showtime will be held on the Saturday afternoon and we are absolutely delighted to say that the star of the show will be Richard Cadell and Sooty, this is a fantastic coup for the NMC and is sure to bring in a healthy audience. Sooty will be joined by our regular clown hosts Jeanie and Clivo, along with the perfect manipulations of Brian Sefton and wizardry and magic from Doug Gregg and David Tomkins, a show which we are sure will appeal to all.
The NMC 2012 Convention team work incredibly hard to bring you a modern and appealling convention each year. In fact, in recent years the team have brought you many ‘firsts’, all of whom have gone on to appear at other magic conventions, AFTER they have appeared at an NMC Convention. We all work hard finding acts which we hope to appeal to all, and although we can’t please all of the people all of the time we do try and provide events, lectures and performances which you will enjoy. The NMC Convention team recognise that we cannot rest of the laurels of days gone by when the Northern would have 400+ attendees and we now need to appeal to the wider magic community with the acts and events which we host. We hope you will all continue to support us as you have in the past.
Matthew is one of the most decorated magicians in the country having recently won the IBM Close-Up Magician of the year and also having won such prestigious awards as The Magic Circle Close-up Magician of the Year, The International Champion of Close-up Magic and being placed 2nd in the FISM European Championship of Magic. His quirky comedic style has seen him work all across the world. Matthew has recently released his Unusual Suspect DVD which has received critical acclaim. He will be lecturing and performing in the Close-Up and Stage Gala Shows.
Making a speedy return visit to the convention is international Mentalist Luke Jermay. Luke has recognized what the convention team are trying to achieve and is championing the convention and Northern in many ways. Luke is the only professional mentalist specializing in corporate stage and private stage performances in the UK and is an authority on mind tricks. He has been a consultant and creative coach to the likes of Derren Brown who said of Jermay: ‘so creative and original... he puts the rest of us to shame’ as well as headlining his own one man show on the world famous Las Vegas strip which gained five star reviews and astonished audiences five nights a week. Luke is also a much sought after adviser for TV programmes having helped with Penn & Teller, David Copperfield and as an advisor of the recent Dynamo:Magician Impossible series. Luke will be presenting a new lecture as well as performing in the close-up gala and an extended excerpt from his stage show in the main Gala show.
The Paul Gordon Close-up Card Magic Lecture has travelled the world in recent years. In fact, Paul has lectured in America seven times since 1997; the first being at Tannen’s Jubilee in New York and most recently at FFFF (Fechter’s Finger Flicking Frolic) in New York. In The UK, Paul Gordon has lectured for over 90 clubs since 1994 including three times at The Magic Circle. Not to mention his lectures in France, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Monaco (Monte Carlo All Stars), Scotland, Italy and Germany. Every lecture has received a 'rave' review! It’s entertaining and full of 'doable' usable magic from Paul Gordon's professional repertoire. If you think that card magic is awe-inspiring or, dare we say it, dull - you will be pleasantly surprised by Paul's great enthusiastic approach; he teaches a lot of magic – and more! Paul performs and teaches (in his fun & informal way) magic from his best-selling books & dvds. Paul is a good teacher and he makes the lecture informative, but not 'heavy.' Paul will be performing in the close-up gala and will be presenting his lecture during the weekend.