Shoot Ogawa

Ok this weekend was the annual trip to the Blackpool magic convention.
There was various high and low lights with the acts and performers.
By far the best lecture and performance was by Shoot Ogawa.
The lecture although late at night was heavily attended and Shoot demonstrated some super direct super clean magic with cards and coins.
What makes Shoots material super strong is the visual straight forwardness in the approach. During the lecture Shoot also demonstrated some old techniques like the Olram move, but it was super clean and a bit of a magician fooler.
Also Shoot also demonstrated a new ring move which was so cheeky as it was linking two rings while a spectator was holding one only to be examined.
Also Shoot has a very likeable character with a very charismatic sense of humour. This lecture alone was worth the price of admission as it was a great lesson in skill and timing.
Shoots horseshoe performance was nothing short of excellent. Performing coin effects followed by a vanished ring in card effect. Without giving too much away, using the muscle pass so effortlessly to vanish and transfer a coin is a thing of beauty (when Shoot does it)
Funnily enough in the Horseshoe third session shoot changed his act slightly and included a great little effect where he produced live goldfish in a glass. I have no clue why he changed his act but hey it was great to see.
10/10

www.magician-nottingham.co.uk

Vegas show Reviews

Well it has been ages since I last blogged as I have just got married and come back from my honeymoon. I had a great time in San Francisco and Las Vegas.
Whilst is Vegas fortunately we got to see stacks of great and not so great shows so here is my reviews which I hope will be of some use. I have given scores out of 10 on both mine and my wifes opinion which was the almost the same.

“O” – Cirque de Soleil – Bellagio This is the top cirque show so had a LOT to live up to. Personally I couldn’t follow the story but the spectacle was truly amazing and definitely worth it. 7.5/10

Ka – Cirque de Soleil – MGM – This also was really great and was not much to chose between this and ‘O’. However if you are a newcomer to the cirque de soleil productions I would just watch one of them. 7/10

Terry Fator – Mirage - Incase you don’t know, this guy was the winner of Americas got talent and is a ventriloquist and does great impressions, oh and is an awesome singer and quite frankly is far too talented by my liking.
This was definitely one of the best shows in Vegas and well worth the money and thoroughly entertaining. Personally Terry was not quite as good as the ventriloquist (Kimmo) that I had at my wedding, but was still awesome. 8/10

David Copperfield - MGM – Well I have seen a lot of Copperfield’s footage over the years so was sort of knew what to expect, but how wrong was I. David Copperfield presented a greatly scripted and hugely magical show, switching between close up and stage illusions.
Did any effects fool me? No, But his magic was pure beauty and for me was the BEST SHOW IN VEGAS. 9/10

Lance Burton - Monte Carlo – I was very much looking forward to this act especially seeing his Dove act, however both me and my wife were sadly disappointed. Lance performed a poor imitation of his dove act, followed by very disjointed effects with no continuity and was very wooden. The crowd after from what I heard what not that impressed either!
The highlight was his appearance from the chandelier but the rest was very mediocre for such a great. 5.5/10

Mac King - Harrahs – Well we got a super discount and paid $10/£6.20 to see his show which included a free drink. This show was great value and a really funny show and the crowd loved it. 100% recommended and after the show Mac took time to meet the guests and he came across as a genuinely good guy. Bravo 8/10

Nathan Burton – Flamingo – Well from seeing the odd clip of this guy on the net etc over the years I was quite exited and the ticket price included a free buffet. What could go wrong. This show was VERY POOR and not worth seeing. The total act lasted 1hr which included a 20 min comedy act by someone else. The effects performed were very standard and without being nasty were not routined particarly well. What mainly disappointed me was the lack of professionalism. One trick messed up, one forgot part of the illusion so had to run to the side, the stage manager (his sister) had a face like a smacked arse and the seating positions were just ridiculous. To top in off, the buffet was rubbish also. 3/10