Order of The Magi
The Manchester Close Up Magic Competition 2019
Tuesday 11th June 2019 saw a group of Manchester Magicians gather at The Irish World Heritage Centre to compete against each other to find out who was to be crowned the best Close Up Magician of the year in Manchester.
Unlike the infamous wizarding Battle of Hogwarts, there were no injuries sustained, and we are pleased to confirm that everyone attending behaved with decorum, and thoroughly enjoyed themselves!
The evening was slightly quieter than usual, due to personal reasons among members, and the fact that David Blaine had inconsiderately decided to perform his show at the Manchester Apollo, just a couple of miles away, on the same evening. However, we must commend our President David Owen for choosing to join us at The Order of The Magi, instead of taking advantage of the complimentary tickets offered to him to see Mr. Blaine’s show. We doubt that was an easy decision!
We’ll not bore you with a list of competitors and their routines, but we can reveal that amongst the offerings were a wide range of magic tricks using Lego, pyramids, poker chips, coins, lottery tickets, and even the “Fork of Death”, as well as the obligatory packs of playing cards. The extremely varied choice of routines by our members is always a great source of wonder and enjoyment to all.
The standard of the evening’s offering by all participants was extremely high, and our Entertainment Secretary reported that it was the closest run competition for many years, with only a small number of points separating all competitors.
The Order of The Magi Close Up Magician 2019
Congratulations to our newly appointed Life Member, Mike Sharples who was awarded the trophy for Best Close-Up Magic Performance 2019. A thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining 15 minutes of trickery, and an award well deserved.
The Sly Smith Trophy for Best Card Trick
John “Sly” Smith was unable to attend this year’s Close Up Competition, so the unenviable task of deciding who was to be awarded the trophy for the best card trick of the evening fell upon one of the visiting magicians in the audience. After some deliberation, it was awarded to Adrian Sullivan for his very spooky routine using the hand of an Egyptian Pharaoh to locate a chosen playing card
Congratulations to both Mike and Adrian on their awards.
We would also like to extend our gratitude to all the participants in the competition, members and non-members of The Order of The Magi who turned out to support our performers, and finally, and most importantly to the evening’s Judges.
Magic Circle Affiliation & Membership of The National Society of Magical Societies
Unsurprisingly, after 110 years, our archives hold many interesting items, many of which have a great historical value to magicians, that may have been long forgotten, if it wasn’t for the foresight of the committee to save them.
Several documents within the collection refer to the forming of an affiliation between various Magic Societies in the U.K. (and around the world) with one of the most famous magic clubs – The Magic Circle.
The affiliation was active between 1921 and 1944, before becoming The National Association of Magical Societies (N.A.M.S).
Five years after the formation of N.A.M.S. The Order of The Magi hosted a weekend-long event in Manchester, for representatives of other Magic Societies consisting of Dinner, Committee Meeting, Shows etc.
In 1949, the National Association of Magical Societies included the following clubs as members:
The Aberdeen Magical Society
The Associated Wizards of The South
The Barnsley Circle of Magicians
The Bristol Society of Magic
The British Magical Society
The Cotswold Magical Society
The Edinburgh Magic Circle
The Exonian Magic Society
The Guild of Magicians
The Hull Magicians Circle
The Home Counties Magical Society
The Ilford Magical Society
The Leeds Magic Circle
The Leeds Magical Society
The Leicester Magic Circle
The Lincolnshire Magic Circle
The London Society of Magicians
The Magic Circle
The Mystic Seven
The Newcastle -on-Tyne Magicians Circle
The Northamptonshire Magicians Club
The North Wales Magic Circle
The Order of The Magi
The Plymouth Magicians Club
The Sheffield Circle of Magicians
The Staffordshire Magical Society
The Society of Irish Magicians
The Southport Magic Circle
The Ulster Society of Magicians
The Wessex Magical Association
The Western Magic Circle
The Wirral Magical Society
The Yorkshire Magical Club
At this time, the President of N.A.M.S. was Evelyn Seymour, The Duke of Somerset, also President of The Magic Circle (1935 – 1954).
In “A Message from the Chairman of the Committee of Management” at the back of the N.A.M.S. Souvenir Programme, Robert Edmanson wrote:
“I gladly accede to the request to provide a short message for the Programme prepared for the visit of The Committee of Management to Manchester on March 12th, 1949.
Can any Magical Society have a more intriguing name than The Order of the Magi ? I have always admired their sturdy independence and the work they have done in the best interests of Magic, and we expect to get from them that touch Magic of straight- from – the – shoulder comment we have a right to straight from Industrial Lancashire.
Perhaps I bad better content myself by expressing the hope that our deliberations will be of value to all our member societies, for I know they are all looking forward keenly to this visit.“
ROBERT W. EDMANSON.
(Chairman NA.M.S. Committee of Management)
On 7th June, 1952, Magic Magazine “Abra” reported that The National Association of Magical Societies was to be liquidated, with the remaining funds to be distributed amongst the thirty six member societies.
Further Images from the Souvenir Programme of March 12 – 13th 1949:
Members’ Only Area now live!
After a little web-wizardry, we have now created a “Members’ Only Area” to the Website.
Currently it includes the latest Magi Magazine, both as a PDF download, and as a Flipbook link, allowing members to access the longest running magic magazine from anywhere in the world, even if they cannot access their emails!
No matter whether you are at work, sat in the dressing room before a magic show, delayed at the airport, or just hiding from the family in the garden shed; as long as you have an internet connection, you can read the latest news and reviews from Manchester’s Magicians’ Society.
As time allows, we will be looking at adding back copies of The Magi Magazine to download as PDF files, along with a list of contents for each edition.
Also included in the Members’ Only Area is the Catalogue of Books & DVDs from the Order Of The Magi’s Magic Library. This means that if there is a particular item you wish to borrow from the library, you can pre-order it. This should be advantageous for all members, and especially for our dedicated Librarians, who can bring a smaller selection of items to each meetings. Additional books and DVDs from the library will still be present at meetings where possible.
We plan to have a PDF download of the Library Catalogue available within a few days.
If you have a suggestion for how else we can utilise the Members’ Only Area to benefit members, please let us know.
If you are a member, and are having problems accessing the “Members’ Only Area” please contact Stuart.
A Magical Joke
An amateur magician accidentally turns his wife into a sofa and his two kids into armchairs. He starts to panic.
He tries every trick in the book but none work so, in desperation, he decides to take them to hospital. Once at the hospital, the magician spends a sleepless night while the medical staff run numerous tests on the unfortunate woman and children.
Finally, the head doctor comes out into the corridor to speak to the magician. “How are my family?” he asks worriedly, “Are they alright?”
The doctor replies, “they’re comfortable…”
The Madness of Running a Magical Society’s Social Media Accounts
Don’t tell anyone, but the job of Webmaster & Social Media Manager for The Order of The Magi is relatively easy. I’m given some of the content and of course the programme of events for the year, and all I have to do is share them on the website, Twitter, Facebook etc. whilst drinking lots of tea.
The rest of the “job” is to browse the internet for interesting magical related news articles, cartoons, facts, events etc.
…And reply to any enquiries that come through the Social Media accounts
Now anyone who has spent any time on the internet will know that there are some interesting characters out there at the other end of cyberspace! And anyone who has had the pleasure of running a social media account for an organisation, whether it is a business, magic society etc. will probably have interacted with some of these characters. We accept it as part of the role.
Sometimes these characters can amuse us, confuse us or just leave us scratching our heads wondering if they should really be left alone with a computer unsupervised.
I recently had a message sent to The Order of The Magi’s Facebook page from a random member of the public that was certainly strange, unique, and a little odd:
“Is anyone available to chat?”
“I have some questions, considering the original magi come from Persia, and your located in Manchester, would you initiate a man who has a birth right to be initiated considering you stole my ancestors books and spilt blood in the name of your king! If this is the society of magi I would like special consideration!”
The Facebook page is quite clearly associated with a performing Magical Society in Manchester; The finger flinging activities of Tricksters, Cardicians, Illusionists and Children’s Entertainers in the North-West of England. Apart from the name of the society (which has been in place for 110 years) there is absolutely no association with Persia or Iran, the biblical wise men, or Zoroastrianism.
Either this person, who it turns out was not living in either Manchester or Iran, was very mistaken about our origins, or perhaps, just perhaps he was an internet troll. Either way, I decided that his enquiry deserved a reply:
“Thank you for your enquiry.
Unfortunately I think that you may have mis-understood the background of The Order of The Magi, Manchester. We are one of the oldest societies within the U.K. for performing magicians (entertainers). The name of the society was chosen 110 years ago.
As far as I am aware, none of our members have stolen any books, and I would be very upset if they had spilt blood (theirs or anyone else’s). If you have evidence to the contrary, please forward it to us, and I will mention it to our President (we do not have a King) at the next meeting. If we do have any books that belonged to your ancestors, I’m sure he will make arrangements to return them to their rightful owners.
You are more than welcome to join The Order of The Magi, however we are not currently accepting claims of birthrights, and all applicants must fill in the application form on the website, detailing your interests in magic (performing), your experience as a magician etc. On receipt of this, and the annual membership subscription, I have no doubt that the members of the Council will give your application the consideration it deserves. I cannot promise that you will be given any special consideration, but I will be sure to discuss this with our President at the earliest opportunity. If you live more than 20 miles outside of the city centre of Manchester, you benefit from a special membership rate of £22.50 (U.K. Sterling).
If you have any more questions regarding The Order of The Magi, Manchester, or about performing magic please do not hesitate to contact us. Unfortunately we are probably unable to help you with any historical matters, and questions regarding such details should probably be directed elsewhere.
Have a Magical Day!
Despite the message being marked as “read”, I never did get a reply!
If you would like to join The Order of The Magi, Manchester (A society for performing magicians and entertainers, and not relating to the activities of Persians 2,000 years ago), please check out our membership page for details and an application form. We usually meet every 2nd & 4th Tuesday of the month at The Irish World Heritage Centre, Cheetham Hill, Manchester at 7.30pm.
No matter what your background, we promise not to spill blood or steal any of your books!
The very beginning of The Order of The Magi in Manchester 1909
The Order of The Magi is one of the oldest magical societies in the U.K. and has an extensive archive of historical documents dating back to the establishment of the society in 1909.
(date circa 1909-1914)
Here is a article published in “Wizard Magazine” about inaugural meeting of The Order of The Magi just 1 month after it’s founding:
A Manchester Magical Society
A month ago Mr. G.W. Panter, M.A. (Member of Inner Magic Circle) conceived the idea of forming a Magical Society for Manchester and district.
With this end in view, he arranged with Mr. Waite, magic dealer, of Peter Street, Manchester, to display a notice asking all those willing to join to give in their names.
As a result of this, on the 11th inst. a most enthusiastic meeting was held at the “Cities Hotel,” Deansgate, Manchester, at which about 30 conjurers attended.
It was decided to form a Magical Society, and Mr. G.W. Panter, M.A. was unanimously elected President, Mr. Waite, Hon. Treasurer and Librarian, and Mr. T.H. Halsall, Junr., Hon Sec. (pro tem.).
Mr. Panter spoke about the objects of a magical society, and referred to the success of the British Magical Society, and the Magic Circle; he also read a very interesting letter which he had received from Mr. Fred Walker (Hon. Sec. of the B.M.S.), wishing the new society every success.
Mr. T.H Halsall, Junr, (Hon. Sec.) also read several letters from conjurers anxious to join., but, owing to engagements, unable to attend the meeting.
Speeches were given by Mr. Fredrick W. Collins, Mr. L.M. Varney, Mr. Waite, Mr. Thomas French, Mr. Wildman, Mr. Ritherdon, Mr. J.W. Riley, and others, who all spoke as to the advisability of working together.
Business being suspended, Mr. A. Buckle obliged with a few card tricks, introducing a very pleasing and novel effect by fanning a quantity of cards and making them grow smaller, and finally disappear, bringing them back again to their original position, electing a round of applause for this clever sleight.
Mr J.W. Riley then being called upon gave a monologue, entitled “Oh Memory” in which the speech and mannerisms of an old man were portrayed to the letter.
Mr. Sugden then gave a recital from “The Merchant of Venice,” the rendering of which proved him to be a talented artist.
Mr. E. Wilburt gave the passing of 12 cards from hand to pocket, which as an example of Digital Dexterity left nothing to be desired.
Mr. T.H. Halsall Junr., then presented the passing of coins from left hand to tumbler held in right hand; he proved himself to be a master of coins, and Mr. Whitehead showed no mean ability with cards in the Four Ace Trick.
A few of those present gave their experiences with children in the course of entertaining, which were very amusing.
A meeting of the Council was arranged for the 13th inst., at which Mr Halsall, on account of business, wished to resign the secretaryship, and Mr. J.W. Riley, being asked to take the position (subject to the sanction of the members) decided to accept.
Anyone interested in magic residing in Manchester district, and wishing to join the society, are kindly requested to send in their names to the Hon. Sec., J.W. Riley, De Mcglio, Eccles, Manchester
Edwin Hooper & The Supreme Magic Company’s Rainbow House Rabbit Production
Few professional magicians in the U.K. can deny that they have heard of “The Supreme Magic Company”. It is doubtful there are more than a handful of those who grew up reading the company magazine “The Magigram” or carefully reading through the thousands of effects for sale in their extensive catalogues, that haven’t heard of Edwin Hooper – founder of The Supreme Magic Company, and inventor of many tricks.
One of Edwin and Supreme’s most iconic magical effects had to be “The Rainbow House”. There couldn’t have been many Children’s Entertainers who didn’t own, or long to own this fantastic “mini-illusion”.
The Effect
For those who don’t know the trick, whilst presentations would vary, the effect went along these lines. The performer would display a large model of a white house with black line details. A sort of 3D version of the illustrations found in colouring books.
This would then be placed inside a square tube bearing a colourful rainbow motif. Then the magician would use his favourite colouring routine by-play. Perhaps using a number of coloured silks which when placed into a bag would magically turn white, or one of the various other colour effects sold by Supreme.
Eventually the tube would be lifted to reveal that the model house was now brightly painted!
If this wasn’t magical enough, it was then time to find out who lived in such a small house. On lifting the house, a live rabbit would be shown to have appeared!
All in all it was a fantastic effect, and a great show closer for many magicians around the country. But why are we sharing this today?
It has come to light recently that Edwin Hooper first discussed his ideas for The Rainbow House at a magic lecture in Manchester for Order of The Magi in 1984, as mentioned in this website’s text. I wonder if on that evening, 35 years ago, he (or any of the magicians who attended) had any idea how popular and iconic the trick would become?
Broken Wand – Jack Griggs
It is with deep sadness that we inform you of the passing of Jack Griggs, Lifetime Member and Past President of The Order of The Magi.
Jack was a much loved, and active member of our magic society; President from 1976-77, Life member, and Council Officer. Outside of the society, he was a Punch & Judy performer, accomplished magician, inventor of many magical effects, author, artist and former editor of The International Brotherhood of Magicians’ magazine – The Budget.
Away from the stage, Jack had a distinguished career in both the RAF, and Greater Manchester Police, retiring in 1992 as an Inspector.
His funeral will be held on Wednesday 16th January 2019 at 10am at Blackley Crematorium, Victoria Avenue, Manchester, M9 8JP.
Afterwards there will be a reception at Hopwood Unionist Club, Manchester Road, Heywood OL10 2AP
Family flowers only please; donations in lieu to Springhill Hospice via the Funeral Directors – Mitchell Funeral Services, 94-96 York Street, Heywood, OL10 4NS. Tel 01706 360368.
Our condolences go out to his friends and family. He will be greatly missed by all at The Order of The Magi. Rest in Peace.
Presidential Ponderings – May 2017
As entertainers, we (hopefully) bring a little joy and happiness to our audience. On the night of Tuesday 22nd May, the heart-breaking news began to break of the terrorism attack at The Manchester Arena after the Ariana Grande concert. I myself had just returned home from what seemed to be a particularly tough gig, but suddenly everything was put into perspective. The feelings of joy and happiness experienced by thousands at Manchester Arena would suddenly be replaced with feelings of fear, worry, terror and tragedy.
At least 22 people went out for a night of entertainment but sadly would never return home. Many more were injured, and thousands of concert goers, the majority of whom were children and teenagers, will never forget the horrific events of that night. It is hard to imagine the effect that night had on the brave staff at the venue who stayed to help, the emergency services who had to deal with the aftermath, and the hospital staff who treated the victims. Ariana tweeted that she was “broken from the bottom of my heart, I am so, so sorry. I don’t have words.” and has announced that she was to postpone the rest of her tour. She and her team of fellow entertainers and crew must be totally devastated that a wonderful night, sharing their talents of music and entertainment, ended so tragically. Finally, many of our members will have family or friends who work at The Arena, or who were affected by the terrible incident. I sincerely hope all are safe and well.
Given everything that happened, it was an extremely difficult decision whether to hold a meeting of The Order of The Magi in Manchester less than 24 hours later. Should we cancel the meeting or carry on in spite of the events the night before? Manchester Comedy Store cancelled a benefit show for fellow comedian Jim Taveré saying that “As much as we feel that people should carry on as normal we’re not sure that today is a good day for comedy”. This was an understandable sentiment in the circumstances.
The decision to hold society meeting certainly wasn’t made lightly, but I personally believe that the right decision was made. In this context, the saying “the show must go on” seems rather flippant, but perhaps it goes just a little way to express the spirit of the people of Manchester, those working in Show Business, and our members. To those who came to Geoff’s excellent lecture, thank you for your support. To those who didn’t (or couldn’t) attend the meeting for whatever reasons, it is of course very understandable. Each of us has to make a decision based on our own personal circumstances, feelings and beliefs.
At times such as these it’s important that we, as entertainers, keep entertaining; bringing a smile to those around us, a little joy and happiness. A world without entertainment would certainly be a terrible place. It can’t undo the terrible events of that night, but perhaps you can change the future, in a small, positive way. The world always needs a little magic!
“Believe something and the Universe is on its way to being change, because you’ve changed, by believing. Once you’ve changed, other things start to follow. Isn’t that the way it works?”
– Diane Duane, So You Want to Be a Wizard
Stay Safe & Keep Entertaining
Stuart Cassels
President
It’s All Greek To Me! The Origins of Modern Words in Entertainment & Magic
I am sure, like me, many of you will be familiar with this expression without knowing the real significance. It was only on a Classic Greece holiday that I found out just how many words we use every day in the English language actually have Greek origins.
Here are a few examples.
- Antiqua – antique, antiquity, ancient.
- Biblos – book, bible.
- Cosmos – (world) cosmopolitan.
- Dynamis – (power) dynamite, dynasty.
The list goes on, so what has all this to do with magic you are surely already asking. Well now having an interest in the subject I started to look up words relating to our art and found some interesting results.
The first word that came to mind was morph(e) meaning shape or transforming bringing about metamorphosis – the substitution trunk.
Scopos means watcher and leads to horoscope cinemascope etc (oops! etc that’s Latin).
Pyr or pyro means fire, hence pyrotechnics.
In Greek mythology the name Luna is sometimes used as a nickname for any goddess associated with the moon. Remember the Luna Trick – children’s effect a la die box.
I could go on but I feel our website will not have space for more than a page so I’ll finish with a few words from the entertainment world generally.
Cine means motion so we have cinema. The theatre name of Adelphi comes from Adelphoi meaning brothers. Presumably this refers to the brotherhood of actors appearing on the stage. Theatron (theatre) was a place where the audience of a Greek tragedy sat to watch the performance. Finally choreography appears to derive from khorus (chorus) and/or khoreia (dancing in unison). There you have it then, now it’s all Greek to you too!
Geoff Newton
Webmaster Note: I couldn’t leave this post without adding a favourite of mine – Hippodrome, from the Greek word Hippos – for Horse (and not Hippopotamus, which means “water horse”). Originally a Hippodrome was an ancient Grecian stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The word was resurrected in Victorian and Edwardian times for buildings constructed specifically for animal & variety acts (such as the World Famous London Hippodrome, and more locally The Rochdale Hippodrome), which often became theatres in later years. Thank goodness they never raced hippopotamuses / hippopotami!
The modern word circus, now associated with entertainments such as clowns, jugglers, acrobats and magicians, originates from Roman horse racing tracks (circuits) which were very similar to Hippodromes. But as that is a Latin origin, and not Greek, it might be best to leave that for another post!