Professional Magician Simon Alexander

Julian Smith booked me as a surprise for his sister, Celia’s, fortieth birthday party a couple of weeks ago.  Sadly I didn’t get any photos of this one but Julian sent me some very nice feedback, which I’ve pasted below.

"Just a very quick note to thank you for providing a fantastic evening of entertainment at our party last week. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the ‘magic’ (even if you did come close to being burned at the stake for being a witch.)  I will be sure to recommend you to anyone looking for a close up magician in the future."

Many thanks , Julian.  It was an absolute pleasure.

Those of you who are up-to-date with your fashions will know that last week was London Design Week; an occasion for celebrating and showcasing the very best of the Capital’s design.

Quality furniture designer George Smith Ltd commemorated the occasion by hosting a champagne soiree for 350 of their clients and suppliers at their fabulous Fulham showroom.   The showroom was converted into a stylish nightclub, with delicious canapés, Champagne on tap, live music, a caricaturist and of course, yours truly.

Here are a couple of photos, the first taken by Ruth Herbert of George Smith.

Magic and Champagne - all the ingredients for a great evening!

The scene as I left at 10pm.  By this time the party had spilled out onto the street!

I also received some nice feedback from Hermione McLeod-Hatch, the evening’s organiser.

"We have had some great comments from our guests, so it would seem that the event was really well received and a great success.  Thank you for being one of the people that made our party such a success.  We will be in touch for future events."

It was great evening and I’m certainly hoping for the opportunity to be involved next year.

I’ve received a host of nice letters and emails this week regarding recent bookings.  Many thanks to those who took the time to write; it really means a lot.  I’ve shared some of the comments below.

"Everybody was absolutely enthralled with your magic. Thank you for exceeding our expectations, you really helped to make our day extra special."

Laurence and Maureen Nottage - Re Wedding Magic in Berkshire.

"Both Daryl and I wanted to say how pleased we were with the magic that you provided at our wedding.  Everyone we spoke to talked about it and the burning question was "How did he do that?"

Wendy and Daryl Palmer - Re Wedding Magic in Berkshire.

“Simon provided a fun and very professional magic entertainment experience. He adapted very well to our wedding environment and guests. I would wholeheartedly recommend him to anyone” 

David & Lesley Griffiths - Re Wedding Magic in Berkshire.

The Berkshire Magicians Present an Evening of Comedy, Magic, Illusion and Mind Reading at Loddon Hall, Twyford on Sunday 9th November

Following a sell-out show earlier this year, The Berkshire Magicians present the talents of Ian Souch, Simon Williams, Simon Alexander and the breath-taking illusions of The Molins in an evening of magic, illusion and Mind Reading.

Held at Loddon Hall, Twyford, The evening promises to be an extraordinary event packed with entertainment, humour, spectacle, mystery and magic.

Full details may be found at www.berkshiremagicians.com/

A few weeks ago, I worked at Tony and Charlie Raison’s wedding in Cookham Dean and professional photographer, Charlie Brown, very kindly sent me these great photos of the evening.  I really like the way that she’s mixed the dramatic black and white with the soft colour shots.  Still, I suppose that’s why she’s a professional.

You can see some more examples of Charlie’s work at  www.photosbycharliebrown.co.uk or contact her directly on 07766 753891.

Thanks Charlie!

It’s impossible to switch on the TV or radio at the moment without hearing the words "inflation, credit-crunch or recession."  Believe me, when your job is as far from being an essential service as mine, it’s a pretty worrying time.

However, with all this talk of doom and gloom, I’m finding that there’s a real appetite for a bit of escapism out there.  I’m delighted to say that these last few weeks have been pretty much back-to-back for me with weddings, corporate events and private parties.  I’m so lucky to be in a job where I have the opportunity to spread a bit of fun in these grey old times.

Stephen and Kelly Rothberg (pictured below) were just one couple of the many thousands who lost their holiday (in this case honeymoon) due to the collapse of the XL tour operators.  As you can see, this didn’t make an ounce of difference to their wedding day, which I have to say, was wonderful.  They were a truly charming couple.

Last Sunday was another good fun evening when Philip Wheelan invited a hundred and twenty friends to Cru Restaurant in West Wickham to celebrate his fortieth birthday.  This photo was taken at the beginning of the evening but by the end it was absolutely packed to the gills.

Phil sent me this lovely thank you email:

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for entertaining at my fortieth birthday party.  Not only were you charming, you kept all of the guests guessing and were very accommodating.  You made sure that you saw everybody, some twice, and as new guests arrived you entertained them too.  I was very
happy.  Everybody commented on ”THE MAGIC MAN” .

It was a great night and you, Simon, made it a really great night.  Thank you so so much!"

Then, later on I worked in West Sussex at the wedding of Daniel and Purdy Woodley.  This was a truly fun-packed affair with a henna artist, fire dancers and a belly dancer as well as yours truly.  Now you’d think with all that going on it would be easy to get forgotten.  However, mum, Caroline sent me this lovely thank you letter shortly after.

Everyone was unanimous in praise of your prestidigitation! It was truly a wonderful contribution to my daughter’s celebrations. We are still wondering how you did certain tricks and it will be a conversation point for a long time to come.  Many, many thanks for your superb efforts!"

So, with all this talk of economic gloom it’s great to see that the good old British public still have an appetite for a damn good time.  Long may it continue.

Yesterday I worked for one of the biggest software companies in the world, providing close-up magic to a hundred of so conference delegates, following a fairly gruelling day of technical training.

When I performed to the Global Vice President, a man earning millions of dollars a year, responsible for billions of dollars of turnover and hundreds of thousands of staff, this highly impressive individual simply melted into a state of wonder.  For the rest of the evening he was permanently on the periphery of my vision, watching the magic from afar before forming small huddles with colleagues as they expounded theories on what they’d just seen.

At the end of the event he shook my hand and said, "I know that wasn’t real magic … but that was real magic."

How refreshing that someone in such a "grown-up" position can still take time out for a little childlike wonder!

Well, it’s been a hectic but fun week in The Amazing World  with corporate events, weddings and private parties abounding; so much so that it’s been difficult to find the time to keep the old blog up-to-date.   So, rather than give you a blow-by-blow account, I’ve posted below a nice photo from Nick and Kelly Young’s wedding where I performed on Saturday, which I hope sums up the flavour of the last few days.

Nick & Kelly with my no.1 fan Ryan, hovering in the background!

I worked my magic at Zoe Hand’s father’s sixtieth birthday party recently and Zoe sent me a lovely thank you note, which I thought I’d share with you.

"I just wanted to say a big thank you for Saturday night.  You were absolutely brilliant, exactly what we wanted and we were all very impressed!  People were still talking about your tricks at breakfast the following morning.  I won’t hesitate to recommend you in the future.  Thanks again."

Thanks Zoe.  It’s lovely when people take the time to write when they’ve enjoyed the magic.  It’s always much appreciated.

This is the second top secret company that I’ve worked for in the last month; only this job was so top secret that even I didn’t know what was going on. 

I was approached by a London-based marketing company last week.  They wanted to use sleight-of-hand to illustrate a concept for a new product that they are promoting for their major technology client.

"What’s the product?" I asked.

"We can’t say?" came the helpful reply.

"Okay, I understand.  What’s the concept?"

"Well, we can’t say … but what can you do?"

I’ve had better briefs!

After a few false starts, it turned out that they wanted a series of highly visual transformations. 

So, Wednesday last week found me sitting alone in the corridor of a high-profile Head Office, listening to the ticking clock and the sounds of muffled voices occasionally seeping beneath a  locked door.  Twenty minutes later the doors were opened, desks were cleared and flip-charts covered.  I was invited in. 

I performed a five-minute set to the twenty-strong room; turning tenners into fivers, money into magazine clippings, rings into Polo mints and packs of cards into blocks of Perspex, before being ushered out.  I still have absolutely no idea what the product is but apparently the client loved the performance and I’ve been invited back to see the Marketing Director on Friday.  Go figure!

Having had a bit more time to prepare, I’ve worked in some stunning new transformation for this performance.  I can’t say too much but I’ll be concluding with a Kiwi fruit that changes into a pig!  Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, David Copperfield!

The exciting part is that this concept could lead to a major run of TV ads … but let’s not count our chickens.  I’ll let you know.