Blackpool 2024 Day One

The world’s biggest magic convention - in the dreariest place in Britain - it’s the much anticipated Blackpool Magic Convention 2024. Three days of magic overload - and a convention experience like no other.

On with the show …

REGISTRATION

In a word - shambles. Making hundreds of people stand outside in the cold and rain for close on 30 minutes is ridiculous. Making hundreds of people stand in the cold and rain for close on 30 minutes unnecessarily - just stupid.

For the uninitiated - Blackpool has different registration tiers - standard / Gold card / VIP. VIP has its own separate registration stand with a delightful lady who seemed perplexed why she spent most of her morning serving hardly anyone. The reason - the steward outside in his infinite wisdom steadfastly refused to form a separate entrance line for VIP registrants … instead making everyone stand in a single queue outside in the rain (!) despite the fact the VIP reg table was completely empty. Common sense is in short supply.

When dealing with over 3000 registrants you need military precision, active management and critically having someone hands on to oversee the process.

This area needs attention. It’s a bad first impression to have your attendees cold, wet and miserable ( all unnecessarily ) before they even get in the door especially having charged extra for express registration pickup. Thankfully it’s an easy fix for next year.

DEALERS

The dealers hall is enormous - growing bigger every year … and in 2024 BMC welcomes a mind boggling 170+ dealers from across the globe. Every which way you turn there are miracles for sale. And something which you can only experience at Blackpool. It truly is remarkable. You literally could spend the entire weekend in the dealers hall and still not see everything. There is that much to see!

INTERNATIONAL CLOSE-UP SHOW

*Michael O’Brian … what a disappointing way to start a show. Absolutely zero energy and zero motivation to make you want to watch the performance. Card tricks with printed beer logos. Card tricks with Pokémon cards. Card tricks with baseball cards (in England!) ending with a chop cup and a revelation of a NY Yankees baseball player. Besides choosing a subject matter that is completely irrelevant to 99% of your international audience - doing card tricks with objects other than cards does not an effect entertaining make. Lackluster.

*Kyle Purnell … a red bespectacled performer also hailing from the US of A.
“Calculator” style number cards help identify various selected cards eventually ending with a version of ACAAN. Kyle comes across as a nice guy but the performance misses the mark - and the need to put the focus on actual magic moments rather than weird and wonderful printed props that all just seem a little too ‘commercial’

*Bernardo Sedlacek from Brazil kicked off his show by inviting half the audience to join him on stage. He has an easy going impromptu nature that immediately makes you sit up and take notice. His magic is clean and direct and whilst there were one or two hiccups - he has a charm about him. Oil and water. Cards divined. Ending with a thought of card revealed in a triumphant finish

*Danny Goldsmith … hyper visual coin eye candy that is just made for magicians. Coins impossibly vanish / appear and even eaten. The visuals are just so good that he received an instant standing ovation. Danny has an unassuming manner about him - with his chops and the right support, he could easily come up with a FISM winning performance.

MAT O NEILL SHOW

Mat is a name to watch. Young, charismatic with a Hollywood look - he presents one of the strongest openers I’ve seen in a very long time … in the 20 minutes before the show he is casually introducing himself to those in the audience asking their names. As the show starts, he asks all those to stand - and promptly recites over 100+ names remembering each and every person - name to face. It’s remarkable and an incredible feat of memory.

The rest of his show is filed with card and name revelations, psychic touches, layered thought reveals and a full deck memorization involving once again the entire audience.

He has that “it” factor and I hope he continues to build and develop on what could turn into something quite unique.

MARVIN BERGLAS LECTURE

Founder of Marvin’s Magic - Marvin gave his insights into his famous toy company and the worlds of “magic, marketing and mojo”

Simply astonishing to learn how in a single weekend they moved over 90000 magic drawing boards thanks to the power of QVC.

Hailing from magic royalty - he certainly blazed his own trail. I still have fond memories of my first Dynamic Coins from Hamleys and the feeling of pure wonder as those coins materialized before my eyes.

Marvin is quite possibly responsible for introducing more youngsters than anyone else into the gateway drug that is magic.

MIKE CAVENEY & FRIENDS

When you see Mike Caveney’s name you know you are in good hands. He is a consummate professional whose act has been honed through decades of work.

His friends included:

*Tina Lenert - silken sorcery act. Elegant and heartfelt.

*Mat O Neil - repeating his memory work. Even more impressive as he had now included many of the afternoon’s names as well!

*Ardan James - his classic physical mime act. ( the additional rap dancing old man act needs to go though )

*Trigg Watson - combines technology and magic. With perhaps a little too much reliance on the tech and not enough on the meaning. A live camera feed is displayed on screen on the stage. A napkin is placed atop a glass … Trigg blows the image of the napkin on screen with the resultant napkin falling off the glass in real life. The sympathetic connections continue … a spectator holds a balloon. Trigg places a candle underneath the video screen - pop - the balloon bursts in real time. The piece ends with a spectator controlling a robotic Arm on stage via a phone app … in order to eventually get a card selected (and found) by the robotic arm. The routine is long and ultimately lacks substance sadly.

*Celia Munoz … a singing ventriloquist (don’t think Terry Fator) with the ultimate gimmick of “singing” whilst eating and drinking. The whole routine is anticlimactic.

FRIDAY GALA SHOW

A spotlight reveals a dancer on stage writhing on the floor flanked by giant LED screens and an ominous image of what looks like the masked magician keeping watch from above. After lots more writhing, a silk flies across the stage - into the theatre, back onto stage - as our forlorn dancer disintegrates into a flurry of feathers in what is an impressive vanish.

*With lots of smoke and dramatic music - Miki Dark appears from the back in full masked magician garb - wheeling on a giant (and its massive) guillotine. Craig Petty is hauled on stage - placed in the stocks and subsequently beheaded. In a bizarre follow-up - Mr Masked magician then attempts to do a torn and restored photo of Petty (with missing corner) in a blindfold routine with a gimmicked knife that didn’t quite work. A tad embarrassing as he walks off triumphantly into the smoke filled void as the music crescendos.

*Winston Fuenmayor repeated his FISM card act of a prisoner going mad - fighting off his addiction to cards - eventually being totally consumed ( and shackled ) by them. It’s a powerful act with a dramatic score that the audience loved.

*Our MC for the evening was John Kimmons. I never understand performers who come out and tell audiences to “lower their expectations” It’s not funny. You just demean yourself and your audience. Comments such as “I’m 56 - this is what I do for living” ( whilst often too close to reality ) are unnecessary especially when John’s two person vent act nearly brought the house down.

*The Clairvoyants gave a near flawless presentation of their famous second sight act complete with Amelie on a swing on stage.

*Adrien Quillen fuses bottles, bar magic with cups and lemons - complete with fireworks, flamethrowers and lots of sparkles. The act unfortunately is diminished on the giant Opera House stage and would be better suited in a parlour environment.

*Sweden’s Axel Adler presented his classic floating ring and silk act. Short, sweet and visual. It ticks the boxes.

*France’s Remi Lasvenes is a juggler with a difference … juggling with balls filled with helium. It’s new and novel and definitely a concept worth further exploration.

*Young Min treated us to his FISM winning sand act and he was in top form tonight. Objects dissolve, petals fall, flowers morph, whilst rings literally appear and disintegrate into cascades of glitter before your eyes. A guaranteed standing ovation to end the evening.

HARRISON GREENBAUM

This late night adults only comedy event was Harrison at his finest.

“Blood, *** and kryptonite” pretty much sums it up.

——

16 hours later - Blackpool Day One draws to a close. It’s literally been non stop magic - on the go - since 9 am. So many friends. So many things to see. So much to do. Sleep is desperately calling ( excuse the typos ) What a day!

Blackpool 2024 Day 2

Day 2 of Blackpool. Some general thoughts ahead of the day. The convention feels busier than ever … multiple venues are closed due to reaching capacity, queues to get in are not uncommon - and the schedule is the fullest that I recall … every hour is another event pulling you in a different direction making you pick and choose. And not just choice for choice sake - but difficult decisions … see the sublime Shoot Ogawa or the always fun Mike Caveney. The standard and breadth of content thus far has been impressive.

It’s worth noting that events have started spot on time, tech has been seamless and considering the sheer number of events happening - it’s an incredible feat! Kudos to the army of staff behind the scenes pulling it all together. It’s a monster operation working on overdrive.

What does today have in store…

FAMILY ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

Family entertainment or some decidedly off color humor? The event was hosted by Jezo who has that annoying children’s entertainer quality ( “oooh magic and illusion” in ‘that panto style voice’ ) complete with the most cringe worthy ( and ridiculously inappropriate ) one liners - “Do it again - one thing my wife never says” How completely out of touch do you have to be to think that’s an appropriate line for a children’s magic show?

Performers included:

*Ryland Petty - Harry Potter themed act with vanishing botania, dancing broomstick and an extremely elaborate floating hank setup that was sadly visible to the audience.

*James Flash Hudson - video games meet Rubik’s cube with a touch of misers dream ending in a sugary candy production.

*Jelly Kelly - this female performer gives the host a run for his money in an utterly inappropriate attempt at humor: “You need a hole in your bottom to make it work properly. You aren’t looking at my bottom are you ? For the dads in the audience that bit is just for the kids” And that old stalwart, “get your hands out your pocket sir, I’ll provide the entertainment” Just shoot me now.

And if the patter wasn’t bad enough - the table cloth looks like it was embroidered at home and there’s a suitcase simply strewn on the stage from which the props are extracted. Please don’t attempt to go to any extra work on your act before presenting it on one of the largest stages in Europe.

Just awful.

* Bill Sharp - game show host meets magician complete with red tails and a very high pitched, high velocity voice. Decisions are made by the audience using their phones in an interactive Russian roulette style routine with a child’s cellphone about to be destroyed by a hammer, brick and an extremely heavy safe.

* Lee Curtis - a jovial and traditional kids show performer with some pop culture references, silver scepter et al. If deciding whom you’d invite into your living room - he’s likely to be the most dependable choice.

Today’s show doesn’t bode well for the state of family entertainment in the UK unfortunately. Blackpool may need to reconsider hosting the event annually if they can’t attract sufficient quality candidates.

MONTREAL TRIO LECTURE

Michel Huot, Yannick Lacroix and Marc Trudel are the Montreal trio. Three performers. Sixty minutes. A jam packed hour. Bite sized chunks of magic lecture make for a welcome change.

Highlights include:

*Huot: a spectator thinks of a name for a plush toy, chooses a type of plush from a selection of cards only for the magician to later reveal the actual chosen plush toy in a gift box … and on the plush is a name tag featuring the toy’s given name. Clever method and a fun routine.

*Marc Trudel: janitors quick change outfit and clever handling on the diminishing cards

*Yannick Lacroix: matrix on the big screen

*Huot: the Richard Sanders co-marketed effect of an announced price appearing on a security tag on the performers jacket. Card “sword” featuring bubble gum and locating the card atop his shoe.

*Trudel: ace sandwhich routine and some added thoughts and moves on the classic sponge balls.

*Lacroix: he lost the audience here with zero engagement and went straight to the camera to perform yet another matrix. Note to the wise - one matrix is more than enough … even if your second variation features a cute little hammer and smashing a coin into four little pieces. Multiple people left the room at this point.

DAVID KAYE LECTURE

The venue was filled to capacity for David’s lecture on “Performing Magic for different aged children”

Key takeaways … customize your show for your audience:

3-6 all things silly
7-9 everything gross
10-12 eliminate all explanations

David featured various clips of the same effect performed to different ages demosntrating just how the responses differed.

For those entertaining kids - invaluable advice. And his latest trick “I’m a Dog” a guaranteed winner for any family entertainer.

SHOOT OGAWA LECTURE

What’s there to say about Shoot … the man is a finger flicking genius. Visual magic at its finest - card vanishes, coin purses, knuckle-busting moves, ninja rings and more.

Looking forward to seeing his FISM act again on the Sun gala show.

RICHARD ESSIEN MAGICAL BONES

Richard is a breakdancing magician who proclaims that he is “the most exciting talent to have emerged from the magic industry in recent years”

He may be advised to stick with the dancing - or performing on the streets - as he certainly lacks any inkling of how to construct an actual show.

There’s no routining, zero script, no motivation or semblance of presentation. His sole gimmick is doing a backflip whilst breakdancing catching a signed card amongst the flurry.

The downside is that he spends the next twenty minutes completely out of breath panting heavily.

His female assistant in very tight denim shorts is intended to add to the street cred. Unfortunately the gratuitous display of excess cellulite doesn’t help.

There is an incongruity of a hip hop street magician doing Rubik’s cube magic along with a large brown paper bag followed by a “shape of my heart” style routine to a custom recorded track ( with an accompanying shoutout to his DJ mate for laying down the beats )

Mr Bones then suddenly leaves the stage with no warning - with an ominous voiceover taking us back to the 1800s and the story of Henry Box Brown who mailed himself to freedom inside a shipping crate.

Yes - we went from solving a Rubik’s cube to now presenting a piece on the eradication of slavery in America (by a Brit no less) Our props of choice for this weighty subject matter … a branded “Big Yellow Storage Company” cardboard box and wooden spikes for the very consequential presentation of spikes through box.

I’m unsure whether the thrust of each spike by our denim wearing assistant ( to the haunting tunes of African tribal music ) now represents the subjugation of the oppressed … or product placement for the Big Yellow Storage Company.

In the final dramatic touch - our man of the streets, man of the people emerges victorious from the cardboard box of doom wearing an orange cravat having now transformed himself into Henry Box Brown. Or possibly the newly promoted deputy manager of the Blackpool Big Yellow Storage Co.

The whole concept is ridiculous.

Richard desperately needs a director, scriptwriter and some basic grounding on the fundamentals of stage performance.

I have no doubt he can likely deliver a great busking set or a three minute made for TV routine … but throwing together some disparate pieces of material and convincing yourself you have a stage show is just embarrassing.

MAC KING COMEDY SHOW

Tonight’s gala show is direct from Las Vegas - a true magic legend … Mac King!

The room was filled with such love for our guest of honour - and did he deliver.

An amazing performance! Pure comedy gold (and that’s coming from someone who’s seen Mac’s act many, many times)

Blessed with Christina - dithering spectator assistant of note - you couldn’t script it better.

Simply a joy to watch a performer getting the respect and gratitude of an entire community … and loving every minute of his time on stage. Bravo Mac!

An instant standing ovation for one of magic’s legendary performers brings to a close another jam packed day at Blackpool.

Best thing of all - we get to do it all again tomorrow!

Blackpool Day Three 2024

The sun is shining on day three of the world’s largest magic convention in Blackpool.

LUCA VOLPE LECTURE

Luca Volpe looks the part. Elegantly attired. Solid commercial mentalism. And most critically - material achievable by his Blackpool audience.

His performance was high energy ( an impressive feat for 930 am ) featuring some ingenious methods: his bulldog clip two way out prediction on the pocket drew gasps whilst his forcing of four cards using a dictionary as cover was clean, simple and oh so sly.

Luca is a great practitioner of the “method doesn’t matter - it’s all about the effect” approach …

And his back of room sales no doubt rewarded him accordingly.

CLOSEUP GALA SHOW 2

*PAUL RICHARDS
This is my first time seeing Paul - and he’s a great entertainer. Relaxed, confident and knows how to put an audience immediately at ease.

Coins across, three fly, triumph, bank night (Vinny and Vito’s bank of broken knees) - all solid material presented well.

*CAMERON FRANCIS
Vanishing and re-appearing name tag, deck transpo, visual ring on string and a great finale with a spectator counting to the chosen card with kicker on kicker ending in a royal flush and rest of deck revealed to be all blanks.

*DAVID REGAL
A consummate pro - dry wit, clever humor and powerful magic. Entertaining and mystifying.

*ANNA DE GUZMAN
We are finding ourselves in a new era where performers are achieving “celebrity status” and impressive success on TV and online - but ask them to perform a closeup show and the results don’t always match the slick highlights reel unfortunately.

Whilst Anna has a wonderful charm about her, she is out of her depth at an international closeup gala show at the world’s largest magic convention.

Performing David Regal’s Sudden deck in such a performance - when you just followed Regal - is terribly naive. When you announce to the audience- that you only just found out it was Regal’s effect doesn’t help.

A drawer box made from a cardboard shoe box looks amateurish, throw in a Svengali pad for a force and end with a Toxic style calculator number reveal - and you have a routine nowhere near the level it needs to be for such an occasion. Hopefully with the right guidance and support - she can find her own authentic voice (rather than the use of standard commercial Murphy’s items) and return to BMC in the near future.

HARRISON GREENBAUM LECTURE

Harrison is simply sublime. His “you are all terrible” lecture is a love letter to the art … and his earnest desire for us all to improve.

A line that resonates … “Most magic isn’t art. Art is about expressing your point of view - which means opinion - which means people will disagree.”

INTERVIEW WITH THE CLAIRVOYANTS

Hosted by David Regal, this was a fascinating behind the scenes look into the career of The Clairvoyants, their time on AGT, Vegas and how their latest touring stage show mixes magic, mentalism, second sight and more.

Two nuggets worth sharing …

*the day before the finals of AGT - a producer suggested that if Thommy proposed to Amelie live on air that would no doubt guarantee a win for them (Thommy declined the suggestion )!

*David had a beautiful line during the interview: “When an entertainer has been adopted by the audience - they want to protect the entertainer” It’s not what you do - it’s who you are that it is so important.

A MOMENT TO PAUSE - CREDIT TO THE UNSUNG HEROES

As we run between presentations - it strikes me once again just how much incredible content the organizers have lined up this year. It’s a veritable feast whichever way you look. And yet again - I marvel as to how smoothly things have been running. Kudos to all those unsung heroes and BMC volunteers responsible for working your magic behind the scenes.

SUHANI SHAH

Suhani Shah is an Indian performer whose bio advises that she is “the world’s most viewed Mind Reader on Youtube … Her on-stage presence is a harmonious fusion of style, sophistication, and charisma, complemented by a healthy sprinkling of wit, intelligence, and humor.”

The initial start of the show held promise. Great lighting. Sleek stage set. Ominous music.

Things, however, went downhill fast.

12 minutes in we still had seen no magic - instead we are treated to talking after talking after talking.

A spectator was eventually found and a ring borrowed.

Suhani asks: “Go back to the day you got this ring” The spectator replied, “ I can’t remember”. Visibly irritated - she tells the scolded volunteer to simply make up a date.

With lots of backwards and forwards she eventually goes to the envelope suspiciously attached to the curtain - and then spends the next three minutes struggling to extract the load from behind the “sealed envelope”

Choice lines included:
“I’m waiting for a music cue”
“You are not doing your job well” to the spectator. “Do your job well”

Unhappy with the lackluster response to the mediocre miracle - she promptly tells the audience off: “I’m good at what I do - I know it”

I’m sorry Suhani but you were not good. Your disdain for your audience was simply horrible.

The ring eventually vanished and was met with muted silence.

That healthy sprinkling of wit, intelligence, and humor we were promised:

“This is all [censored]”
“I have to train my audience - my god”

She missed the corollary to David Regal’s earlier mentioned point “When an entertainer has been adopted by the audience - they want to protect the entertainer” Conversely - when the performer antagonizes the audience, they quickly feel nothing for you.

At this stage there was blood in the water. The tension was palpable and the audience was not happy.

An audience is a gift. As a performer you treat them with love and respect. They give you their most precious commodity - their time.

Eventually the ring was found in an apple. But not before we were treated to a lesson in basic props management “Where’s my knife? Will someone find my knife”

Or lines completely forgotten: “What was I supposed to say” … awkward silence … “Oh I remembered”

The animosity continues to grow as a further two spectators are brought up - the one volunteering a handkerchief to be used as a blindfold to be combined with cookie dough over her eyes.

After an arduous tying process - Suhani exclaims that the hank is too small and we must start again and find another one. Once again she is visibly irritated with her spectators. Why not just supply your own handkerchief like every other mentalist rather then taking out your frustrations on the audience ?

Eventually another blindfold is found - and her eyes sealed. A giant white board is wheeled on stage. Our admonished spectators are told to write a number on the board. Suhani then promptly stares straight at the board (blindfold on) and duplicates the number. This is repeated three more times.

Generally when someone wears a blindfold - claims not to be able to see - but then intently stares at the board and knows exactly what is written there - I’m not going to credit that to your third eye but instead to the realization that you can simply see through the blindfold. Lay people know this. Let’s credit them with some intelligence.

We digress.

Five more volunteers are brought on stage and given a very odd looking wooden box to glimpse at in a “tossed out deck” style format. The box contains “cue cards” instructing them on how to direct their thoughts. Not suspicious at all.

We are then given a disclaimer - a first for any mentalist performance that I’ve attended - that the next mind reading sequence will take over ten minutes.

Someone is clearly punishing us.

After an arduous journey - all five “thoughts” are divined in unison with the spectators to take their seats if she was successful in mentioning one of them. I think they were only but too happy to finally escape being on stage.

For the grand finale - Suhani requires yet another volunteer. “Someone who is rich”

Lior Manor ran onstage. Either a terrible plant or hoping for the agony to end sooner rather than later.

His bill is borrowed and sealed in an envelope. Of course the tape was forgotten:
“I need some tape” Suhani shouts backstage.

Numbers are called from the audience and added on the calculator on her phone. She messed the numbers up (naturally the audience’s fault we are reminded) so we must start the entire process again.

Eventually we reach the forced number of 362024 … which conveniently matches the serial number of Lior’s supplied banknote in that not suspiciously taped envelope …

And finally the not appreciative audience are reminded that it took three decades (3) for that six (6) year old performer to reach the pinnacle of their performing career Blackpool 2024.

The traumatized audience are finally allowed to leave.

Just the gala show to go.

FINAL GALA SHOW

After what has been a whirlwind three days, the house lights dimmed and the final gala show begins with a slick highlights reel from this year’s convention. It’s well produced and a fantastic touch!

*Ikeda Yosuke: this is an act that is so difficult to describe - a fusion of magic, mime and music where the lyrics of songs ( think Hello Goodbye from the Beatles ) appear and vanish on signs in the most unexpected way. It’s the very definition of variety and oh so much fun.

*Mel Mellers: our host for the evening. Reminiscent of old school Blackpool, he reminds me of that aging relative - someone everyone loves but sometimes over stays his welcome. He is harmless enough but hosting a magic convention gala show is quite possibly the most difficult of all engagements and needed someone stronger.

*Trigg Watson: presenting his AGT act with giant cellphone screen - this looked amazing in person. Trigg interacts with the screen - pulling objects in and out of the device. The kicker touch is seeing the emojis literally fly off the edges of the screen into his waiting hand. Such a clever combination of technology and magic. Congrats.

*Axel Adler: a performer with three legs (think Rudy Coby style) seated on a chair in a routine that becomes more and more puzzling as it progresses resulting in him impossibly detaching all three legs at the very end. It’s a great closing visual.

*Phil Hitchcock: a floating fireball presented as a short homage to a performer by the name of Steve Walsh. Fire magic always draws oohs and aahs and it was an interesting interlude ending with an eruption of flames.

*Celia Munoz: our singing ventriloquist returns this time under the guise of summoning the dead at a seance. She drinks, smokes and eats whilst singing what sounds like “Ave Maria” - the name of our dearly departed. I much prefer my ventriloquists to have actual physical characters - without them, it’s nothing more than a technical skill of singing with your mouth shut. With them - you give life to something … and what is more powerful than that.

*Shoot Ogawa: presenting closeup on one of England’s biggest stages isn’t ideal. Even with camera projection - small objects such as coins and spoons can still look small from the back of the venue. For those upfront, however, Shoot demonstrated incredible skill as the simple objects of a coin and spoon morphed, vanished and appeared at will - even freezing in time as the spoon became suspended in midair. Shoot has an effortless quality about him that is just a joy to watch. Magic literally happens at his finger tips.

*Raymond Crowe: another master of his art, Ray treated the crowd to his now classic act of physical mime and magic with feather boa and dancing jacket. I’ve been fortunate to see this performance many times over the years and it never fails to impress.

*Alain Simonov: this act confuses me. A tortured soul with ominous red back lighting writhing on stage doing card manipulation - contemplating suicide - with pained expressions of intensity. And let’s not forget the smoke. Lots of smoke. Add some blood. And I feel I’ve watched a drama student trying to demonstrate the fragility of life (or some other very high brow concept) without success. Alain has some amazing chops but this was a classic example of meaning being lost in the execution.

*Montreal Trio: this act wins the prize for magic novelty for magicians. A giant covering is on the stage floor on which all three performers are lying on their backs looking upwards to the overhead camera - displaying the scene on the giant screens. Viewed from that vantage - our performers are now free from the confines of gravity and able to do all manner of illusion - broomstick suspension, Floating canes, zombie, cards falling in slow motion, asrah - even the snake basket. The scene is hilarious as three grown men are shuffling and crawling - backs to the floor - producing these comical miracles.

*Raymond Crowe closed out proceedings (or so we thought) with his ever-beautiful Shadows routine. As Raymond finished - Wayne Dobson was wheeled on stage. Tonight’s performance was ostensibly in Wayne’s honour. This, however, was mentioned not once during proceedings (a single line in the highlights video) and seemed like an afterthought. Wayne is certainly an outstanding performer - but if you are going to dedicate a show to someone - then you need to run with the theme throughout. Wheeling him out on stage “for the sake of” ( especially when this has been done so many times over the years ) just feels manipulative. I understand the intent comes from a good place but the execution just didn’t work.

So rather than end with a bang and a high- the closing gala of Blackpool 2024 ended on a bit of a whimper which is a shame.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Blackpool 2024 offered more magic per minute than any other magic event I’ve attended. There was so much on offer in three days that one is going to need a vacation after this just to recover.

Ever since Voldemort was deposed - and the new team took over - BMC has got better and better year after year.

Two areas for improvement that immediately come to mind:

*Registration needs attention. It shouldn’t be a pain-point. Open earlier. Move it to a hall. Provide lots of (indoor) space, plenty of stanchion, multiple staff and clear delineated lines for each registration type. The goal should be in and out within 10 minutes. Registration needs active management and monitoring.

*VIP: add value - don’t take away. Reinstate the reserved seating / early access across all events. Communicate this clearly to all staff and attendees. Signage is critical.

Relative to the overall picture - these are small (but meaningful) changes.

The overall production quality, design, app and the like - very professional. The number of talent booked - unmatched. The variety of events available - amazing. Dealers room unlike anything else imaginable. The tech was seamless. Events were punctual. And overall - everything just “happened” That in itself is a logistical miracle and the entire BMC team can be rightly proud of what they achieved.

There is a cautionary tale here, however. BMC runs the risk of becoming victims of their own success. As numbers continue to swell - the convention can become almost unmanageable. Continued investment in resources, people and planning are going to be critical to manage this growth.

For me - this was one of the best Blackpools yet. To everyone who helped make that happen - thank you!

Thanks for your reviews, I generally agree with everything you stated here. I really enjoyed it this year but it was definitely the busiest that I I’ve ever experienced.

Is attendance at Blackpool capped? I mean, there is only so much room at any venue. Seems to me the availability of day passes could be a big reason that it gets so crowded. But, since I've never been, I can only guess.

Mark

You have validated my partner and I's opinion on the Suhani Shah show. We were in the second performance and it went pretty much the same way as the first by the sounds of it. We were hoping to leave the last show of the weekend on a high but it did nothing but about us with how terrible it was.

That's the problem now with 5000 Plus, unlike Magic Live once the Tickets have been sold that's it with Blackpool anyone can turn up pay the fee, and get in
it was fine back in the day but lots of complaints from people on Facebook who said they stood for an hour only to be told the lecture was now full

so a lot of people just ended up spending the weekend going around the dealers (Great For the Dealears ) not so great if you have spent two Hundread plus Pounds just to visit the dealer's hall

Sounds like a terrific deal for the dealers and the organizers, not such a great deal for some (many?) attendees.

I know one thing, if I had paid extra for VIP perks and some yutz made me wait in line (in the cold & rain) with everyone else while there was NOBODY lined up at the VIP check-in, I'd be asking for a refund of the VIP fee difference.

I'd like to attend Blackpool some day, but not with these type of reports.

At Magic Live, everyone is assured of a seat. No single day passes and nobody gets access to the dealer room unless they paid for the whole convention. Fine by me. It ticks off the people that are too cheap to pay for the convention, but that's their problem.

Mark

That is not what I experienced at all. There was exactly one event (Ben Hart's show) where I waited for 30 minutes and only barely got in. I did not wait for more than 20 minutes for any other lecture/show and got in to every single one easily. I actually spend close to no time at the dealer's hall because I saw at least 6 shows/lectures every single day.
I did not go to the David Regal lecture but other than that I went to all the ones that people claimed they could not get in after waiting forever. I'm not saying it was perfect how it was, because I'd rather have spent the waiting time at the dealer's hall instead of waiting 15-20 minutes before every event, and I also realize that there are people who are unable to stand in line for an extended period of time. But what some people said about the times they apparently waited in line before being denied entry is simply exaggerated.