Simon Alexander Blog: Professional Magician

… to say that I’m taking a month off from blogging during the December mayhem but will be back in the New Year. 

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season.

Simon

I recently had the great pleasure of working at the wedding of Laurence and Lauren Wong at Horwood House in Milton Keynes.  The day was a wonderful fusion of traditional British and Chinese cultures as you can see below in the photos by Bernie Raffe.

Laurence & Lauren at their Tea Ceremony	A little Boon Spending – sorry couldn’t resist the Spoonerism. Ouch!
Strolling magic at the reception	No idea!
Before…	… and after!

the couple sent me this lovely email from Japan where they were honeymooning.

“Thank you so much for everything.  Everyone commented on how great you were and we were really glad you were there.  Not only did you impress our guests (and confuse a fair few of them!) but it really took the weight off the bride and groom a bit when people were so entertained!   Thanks again for everything!”

Thanks you two and please accept my very best wishes for many happy years together.

People often ask me what I enjoy most about my job.  Without a doubt, the biggest thrill for me is knowing that I’ve made a real difference to someone’s special occasion. 

So last Thursday was a particularly lovely day for me, as I received three thank you cards on the same day.  I was so chuffed that I couldn’t resist the opportunity to share them.

Last month, my old mate the professional wedding photographer, Simon Kemp and I worked at Pennyhill Park Hotel & Spa at the wedding of Mark & Carly Newman.

Simon is an amazing wedding photographer and always seems to be able to “catch the moment”.  He sent me this great (although less than flattering) montage, which really captured the fun of the afternoon’s magic.

Rest assured, in the official photos, the bride looked a lot more glamorous than the above magician!  Thanks for the shots, Simon.

Well, September’s been a fun, hectic and varied month, so rather than write reams on what I’ve been up to I’ve simply posted some photos of a handful of highlights.  It’s not a bad way to make a living, you know.

Trade Show Magic at The Speciality and Fine Food Fair, Olympia.	Parlour Magic at the swanky No5 Cavendish Square, London
A Princess Bride: Claire and Richard Cox.	The party spills out onto the street at George Smith Furniture and Fabrics.
Fun at Gary and Sarah Carstens’ wedding at Horwood House. Milton Keynes.	21st birthday celebrations for the gorgeous Heather Clarke(Rt) at Silvermere Golf Club.

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of working at the wedding of William and Lorraine Jones, which was held a the beautiful Nutfield Priory Hotel & Spa in Surrey. 

We had great fun during the day and this was captured on film by by professional photographer Jenny Tremlett who sent me these great shots.

I’ve worked alongside Jenny on a number of occasions and her work really is first rate.  You can find out more about her at www.jaytimage.co.uk.

Earlier this month I had the privilege of performing at the wedding of Bobby and Gurdip Rai, whose reception was held in the grounds of the stunning Syon House in Middlesex.

With over four hundred guests attending, my feet hardly touched the ground as I whizzed from group to group.  However, I did just manage to grab a minute at the end to take this photo of the truly stunning couple.

I was booked by Gurdip’s sister Mandy, who later sent me this lovely note.

“Thank you for entertaining us at my Sister Gurdip’s wedding.  You where amazing and all our guests thoroughly enjoyed your company.  It was an absolute pleasure having you there and I look forward to hiring you again.”

Well all I can say is thank you for allowing me to a be a part of such an amazing day.

Having a magician at your wedding is an unconventional thing, so the couples that hire me tend to incline more towards fun than formality for their big days.   Consequently, I have the pleasure of attending some pretty unusual weddings … but Phil and Pam Hobson’s wedding in August pretty much took the biscuit.

The day was held at the beautiful Sculpture Gallery at Woburn Abbey.  Phil is a marathon runner who runs in aid of Save The Rhinos.  He had always joked that he would have Pam mucking out the Abbey’s rhino enclosure on their wedding day.  Or at least, she’d always assumed he was joking.

As the wedding ceremony drew to a close and the couple enjoyed their first kiss, thundering hooves from the back of the room announced the arrival of two Wellington-wielding Rhinoceroses. (Yes, that is the correct plural … I looked it up!)

The blushing bride was then required to hoist up her wedding dress, don the wellies and follow them to the real rhino enclosure for the glamorous task to be undertaken.  Here are a couple of shots from the big day courtesy of Paul Marshall Studios.

Okay, so the real Rhinos were moved out … but that is real Rhino pooh: lucky girl!

Thanks Pam and Phil for allowing me to be a part of such a great fun day.

If you would like to find out more about endangered Rhinos or make a donation visit Save The Rhinos.

… is what they’ve been saying.

Well It’s been a frenetic few weeks in “The Amazing World, ” which is just how I like it. However, it has left me a little short of blogging time, so here’s a quick summary of what’s been going on since my last entry.

As well as working my magic at a positive stream of weddings, trade shows and corporate events, I’ve also been putting together some new material for my stage show. 

I love conceptualising new magic and inventing, plots and scripts which suit my stage persona.  I also love performing it.  However the downside for me is the endless hours of rehearsal, usually alone in my magic studio, turning a concept into workable piece of theatre.  It always shocks me how amazingly time-consuming the whole process is.

On that note, I’ve also been discussing the possibility of  putting together a show with my old mate, the mentalist Ian Souch for the Edinburgh Fringe 2011.  This is very exciting and Ian’s been checking out venues over the last week.  Ian’s style is quite different from mine and those differences complement each other very nicely.  We’ve come up with some great ideas but, at the end of the day, it’s all down to economics.  With two artists to pay, as well as sound and lighting guys we’ll have to really be sure of filling those seats.  Anyway, watch this space.

On a personal note one of my magic students, also a Simon, has his first wedding booking next weekend.  Simon’s been studying with me since January and it’s been wonderful to see his development.  Last night we popped over to Ye Olde Leathern Bottle in Wokingham with professional magician Clive Winterton and watched Simon practicing his material on some unsuspecting punters.  He got some terrific reactions and his confidence grew and grew throughout the evening.  He’s going to be a real hit at this wedding.  Following that we’ll be working on his Magic Circle audition piece, which will be a great boon for him.

Well this bank holiday weekend sees me at a whole host of events and this time I promise to take my camera so I can share the experiences with you.

Ta ta for now.

It’s been a really busy month since my last entry with a host of weddings, parties and trade show performance and, while I’ve been making hay while the sun shines, I must admit, I’ve been a bit bogged down to put a proper blog entry together.  Rest assured I’ll be back on it from Monday.  Ta ta for now.