One Ahead: Magic Podcast

👋🏼 Hey, Rory here! Welcome to a ✨ free edition ✨ of my weekly newsletter. Each week, I share insights and secrets I learned working with the biggest names in magic.

“So, it’s a convention for magicians?” that’s what they say, “and only magicians can attend?” So I tell them that’s true. “How many magicians?” they ask, and I tell them six thousand. That’s when they spit out their coffee. After they take it all in, they’ll say, “And what do you all talk about?” I pause. Mostly just magic, I tell them. Satisfied, they drink some more coffee, “where did you say it was again?”

Blackpool, I tell them... Blackpool, England.

“Blackpool?” they say...

“Why Blackpool?”

This is a question every friend asks when I tell them I’m driving to the northern seafront town and into the February storms in pursuit of magic. It’s a question I still struggle to answer. It’s one I will try my best to answer for you today.

I just googled Blackpool so that I could share some details about the once historic and famous British seaside town, and these are the top results:

That’s the news of oil spill tar washing up on the beaches and a councilor comparing Blackpool to Chernobyl. The internet also tells me there will be strong winds of up to 96km/h over the convention this weekend.

I’d say pack a brolly, but I fear you will get blown away.

Alright. Blackpool is a large town and seaside resort on the northwest coast of England. It has an estimated population of 139,720 (which briefly becomes 145,720 for a weekend every February).

Blackpool became a major centre of tourism in England when some clever sods built a railway in the 1840s connecting it to the industrialised regions of northern England.

It was suddenly much easier and cheaper to visit Blackpool. By 1901, Blackpool became known as “the archetypal British seaside resort.”

Over time, people’s tastes in holidays changed and also flights to Spain are only a tenner (bargain), so Blackpool’s status as a leading resort came to an end.

Anyone visiting the town will see its businesses and economy have not quite received the memo or been able to change. Whilst it continues to attract millions of visitors every year, you do get a sense that you’re visiting a place that once was incredibly popular—and that you are visiting out of season.

What is the Blackpool magic convention?

Well, it’s the largest magic convention in the entire world. Thousands of magicians congregate to that little windy seaside town to watch lectures, buy magic tricks, network and get Nandos. It was founded in 1904 by the Blackpool Magicians Club, which certainly answers the question—why Blackpool?

If you are interested in magic at all, you should visit the convention. It’s the most insane event and weird in all of the best ways.

For an industry as niche as ours, BMC (as the cool kids call it) gives you the rare opportunity to meet and smell six thousand magicians all within the backdrop of the beautiful Winter Gardens Empress Ballroom.

Unlike so many hobbies and pursuits—you can meet your heroes in magic. You can stand alongside them as you watch a magic dealer pitch their latest magic trick. That’s right—there’s a dealers room that will host over 150 magic dealers from around the world this year.

I have an odd personal relationship with the convention. It was ten years ago when I attended for the first time. I only knew two magicians, and they’d been kind enough to drive me up from Bristol for the weekend. I signed away the rights to twelve tricks I’d created as a teenager at that convention.

I probably wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said I owe my career as a telly magic writer, and thus my career as a comedy telly writer, down to Blackpool Magic Convention.

A year later, I worked as a member of Dynamo’s creative team scouting new magic tricks. It was only a month or so after I’d accepted the job that would serve as my university degree equivalent in magic. I learned a lot in that role, and fast.

One year later, I was standing outside Winter Gardens (in the rain again) when Debbie Young (legendary Derren Brown TV producer) phoned to offer my first television gig as the lead magic consultant on ITV1’s The Next Great Magician.

That show quickly became my university degree equivalent in television. I learned how to produce hidden camera pranks, big dangerous stunts, studio shoots, and I also learned never to work with dogs again.

Since my first visit, I have only ever visited Blackpool in a working capacity.

This year will be my first convention back as an everyday visitor.

One year, in the rain outside The Winter Gardens, an Ex of mine broke up with me over a phone call between magic lectures. That was a strange, strange magic convention.

An hour or so later, Chris Ramsay (YouTube magician and expert puzzle solve...

The One Ahead Podcast is a monthly round-up of magic news stories and trick tutorials. In each episode, a guest co-host joins Rory or Nathan. Listen for free on One Ahead or podcast platforms like Apple or Spotify .

Stories Discussed:

Magicians Who Protect Their Ideas Don't Have Many

Sheep & Thieves: Magic Coin Trick Tutorial

David Blaine Injured Himself on Stage Again

The Magician with 200 Million Views the Community Hasn't Noticed

Why The Magic Circle Just Banned this Magician: Full Story

Steve Faulkner is this month’s guest co-host. You can learn magic from Steve and be part of his friendly online community. Get access to 600+ tutorials and weekly Zoom sessions.

Talk to us

Send tips, stories, and suggestions: [email protected].

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Hey! Welcome to an occasional ✨ free edition ✨ of One Ahead . Every week, Members get magic insights, tricks and secrets!

Does the war in Ukraine make you feel helpless?

I, too, feel helpless. My friend Archie felt the same way.

I met Archie many years ago. He’s lovely, and we’ve worked together on a few television projects. If you have never met Archie, I encourage you to picture the poshest magician imaginable and then multiply the level of poshness by a factor of ten. Add to that some charm and a big heart, and you’ve got an Archie Manners.

After several months of Russian military buildups near Ukraine's borders, Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. You will have seen the shocking images and videos from the war. The number of refugees fleeing Ukraine reached 2 million on Tuesday, according to the United Nations, the fastest exodus Europe has seen since World War II.

I began getting texts from Archie. He felt helpless, but he wanted to help. He wasn’t sure how. He’s not a medic, he’s not ex-military—he’s a magician. What could he do? How could he help? A few days later, I received a photo on WhatsApp from Archie.

He had found a way to help.

I asked him to write about it.

Four Days in Poland...

Written by Archie Manners

Like so many, I have been left aghast at the scenes we see from Ukraine, wondering what can be done for those forced to flee. Whilst donations are clearly an excellent way of helping, as a professional magician, it occurred to me that there might be another way to help. I wondered if performing for some child refugees might be a good idea.

That was on Friday morning. And everyone told me I was mad. But, by Friday evening, I was in the centre of Lublin, a Polish town 60km from the Ukrainian Border. Equipped with some warm clothes and a box of child-friendly magic, I met a man called Rob, who I had found through the Polish Red Cross. He, too, thought I was mad but was kind enough to help.

I spent a great deal of time working in the Red Cross Warehouse with Rob, sorting through the thousands of donated items – from toothbrushes and nappies, blankets and food. It was the perfect place to be useful when performing for the refugees wasn’t an option. But the primary purpose of my trip was to perform for children.

Unfortunately, I am not a children’s magician. Like many of you, I carry some sponge balls and have a thumb tip hidden away in the back of a cupboard. But I spend most of my year travelling the globe performing for quite glamorous people at quite glitzy parties. And my audiences are always adults. I packed some of those trusty sponge balls, a collection of rope, some silks, sharpies, cards, elastic bands, loops and flash paper. And off I went.

The first, in the swimming complex, housed 80 women and children. Formerly a sports hall, the lines of the basketball court were now covered by metal bed-frames, making it look part prep school, part prison. Women of all ages idled in the beds. Some were on their phones, desperately seeking news from loved ones still in Ukraine, others napping. The children sat in a play area – which was a corner of the Hall strewn with old toys, colouring books and sweets.

The first problem was getting in—the wonderful volunteers spoke no English, so I got out my phone and hit play on my pre-typed Google Translate message. The Google-voice read, in bit-part Polish:

‘Hello, my name is Archie, and I am a magician from London. I have come to Lublin to perform for the Ukrainian refugees here and wondered if I could come in and show the children some magic tricks’.

The look I received was as bemused as you’d expect. But after a bit of to-and-fro, I was welcomed in. Despite being full of mothers and children, I immediately noticed how quiet it was. Unsurprisingly, the Hall was not a place of laughter or smiles but instead had a funereal air. I struggled to imagine how these children felt, separated from their fathers and just about old enough to understand what was going on. They were supposed to be dreading going to school, dreaming of playing football, or irritating their parents over what to watch on TV. Instead, they were in a sports hall in Lublin, with no idea of what their future held.

With the help of the Red Cross, I was allowed in and sat on a bed next to two young girls. I asked them to put their hands out and gave them a small red sponge ball. Naturally, they didn’t speak any English and so had no idea why I was there, but with a bit of miming, I started making the ball disappear and reappear behind their ear – a simple magic trick.

The silence was interrupted by laughter. Slowly, all the children gathered around, followed by their parents. Before long, the Hall echoed with that most extraordinary of sounds –children laughing. It was such a simple thing, a ball just d...

Craig Petty, Noel Qualter, Michael Weber and Scott Perry all had one hell of a month. Nathan and Rory recap these stories and discuss Blackpool Magic Convention.

Stories Discussed:

1. "Mommmm, the magic reviewers are reviewing each other again."

2. Who's Got The Receipts? (Part One)

3. New Guys, Assemble! (Part Two)

4. Learn a Prediction Trick for Casual Performances

Written and produced by Rory Adams. Co-hosted by Rory Adams and Nathan Wilson.