I.B.M. British Ring 83rd Annual Convention

Richard has presented The Sooty Show on stage and television for 20 years. He is also an entertainment entrepreneur, comedy screenwriter and award winning illusionist. Over the last 10 years, in addition to TV, Richard has presented The Sooty Show Live at over 500 venues across 8 different nationwide tours. Richard is currently touring 'Sooty's Magic Show' across the UK. This Christmas Richard will be joining an all-star cast in a lavish production of Cinderella at Nottingham's Theatre Royal, playing "Buttons" as well as presenting his spectacular illusion act. Richard is the former 2018 President of the British Ring of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

Amethyst are international illusionists Danny Hunt and Stephanie Clarke. Highly acclaimed as one of the UK's top magic and illusion acts, Amethyst have established themselves as world-class performers. With their fresh and dynamic approach, they lead the way in cruise ship, corporate and private events. Their unique and versatile shows have attracted world-wide acclaim and taken them around the globe, dazzling audiences in many countries. Presenting Side Show Stunts on the Wednesday afternoon before the official start of the convention.

Jamie Balfour-Paul (stage name Jamie Jibberish) has performed magic since he was a boy but for most of his 30 year career has also been an aid worker in various countries. The two passions came together in early 2016 when Jamie set up the charity Magic For Smiles. The objective is to provide trauma relief and psychological support to deprived, mostly refugee, kids through interactive magic shows (and some tuition), operating in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon with largely Syrian kids. The charity relies mostly on very welcome donations.

Deciding that he wanted to be a clown at the age of three, Bippo joined the circus as a young teenager, taking his parents with him! He has toured with Garry Cottle's and Zippo's Circuses, worked with Charlie Cairoli and Norman Barrett, appeared on television, in pantomime, and at St James Palace before Prince Charles. Bippo works regularly as a circus skills trainer and teaches young performers juggling and comedy skills. His lecture, 'My Life, the Circus', is an in-depth look into the circus world and his unique story of when he not just ran away to join the circus but took his parents with him.

Current Magic Circle Young Magician of the Year, Adam has had a passion for magic since around the age of 10. Adam has also won other awards including the Edinburgh MagicFest Under 18s competition in 2012 (aged just 11!), the IBM British Ring Theo Speaker Cup in the 2017 Stage Competition and the SAMS Scottish Stage Magician of the Year. A keen puzzle enthusiast, Adam has combined his love of the Rubik's Cube with his magic — when Rubik's needed a magician to entertain their guests at a London event, they turned to Adam. Hailing from Dunblane in Scotland, Adam was bitten by the magic bug after attending a magic-themed event at Stirling Castle. Since then, he has performed at events across the country, including Edinburgh Castle's first major evening event, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Scottish Television's "Live at 5" show and many of the Edinburgh Magic Festival's shows since winning that competition back in 2012.

After graduating from Ecole Superiore des Arts de Cirque in Brussels, Florian has developed his acts in some of London's most prestigious hotels and venues, leading to an elegant and nonchalant performance. With his love for what he has nominated as "useless skills", he brings a collection of surprising and intimate moments for the audience to enjoy.

Entertainer. Speaker. Pedant. Tom Crosbie is not a comedian, but he will leave you laughing, he's not a magician, but he will leave you scratching your head, he's not a juggler, but he will leave you with your jaw on the floor.

Roy is a fourth generation magician, and Member of the Inner Magic Circle. His many awards include World Junior Magic Champion in 1988 and in the senior category, British Magical Champion when only fifteen years old. Further afield, he has won competitions in Denmark, Italy, Austria and was a prize winner in Manipulation at the World Magic Championships (FISM) in Dresden in 1997, the first British success for 36 years. Roy trained at Mountview Theatre School, London, on the Musical Theatre and Acting course, and his experience includes summer seasons and cruise work on ships such as QE2. Contracts have taken Roy to theatres all over the world from the Cirque Magique D'Alsace in Strasbourg to It's Magic in Los Angeles, USA, the Hansa Theatre, Hamburg, Germany, and the Magic Castle, Hollywood. When Roy is not in theatre he is busy with private and corporate functions, performing close-up magic for companies such as British Airways, British Telecom, Credit Suisse, First Boston and Morgan Stanley at the Trianon Palace, Versailles.

Eddie, who in his Presidential year of 1972/3, founded and has since organised and chaired what has become known as the History of Mystery session, this year contributes to the programme the story of the meteoric but short career of Willane with his 'Music and Magic.'

A magician, comedian and the "Swiss Army knife of skills". Having spent his entire life learning magic, along with every other bizarre skill he could find, Harry De Cruz is now a master of the unnecessary. Blending these stunts with comedy and storytelling, he creates refreshingly unique and unforgettable performances. As well as his own smash-hit shows Harry is also at the forefront of the new generation of creative minds which led to him being 'Head of Magic' of the Dynamo creative team.

Having just completed a 100 date theatre tour with the Circus of Horrors, this summer she has appeared at many festivals here in the UK (including Download and Glastonbury) and in Germany and Holland. A former high flying trapeze artist, she now performs the funkiest and fastest hula hoop act you will ever see.

Keith Fields started his performing life as a street entertainer and his unique comedy style opened doors into the comedy clubs where he got as many laughs as the comedians. This led to headline tours in Europe and Asia, appearances at arts festivals, on TV and performances for the armed forces overseas. He was even asked to perform for the British royal family. Nowadays he works mainly in theatres but his style can still be traced back to its roots. A master of the art of audience participation, Keith manages to walk the fine line of being hilariously funny but never embarrassing his volunteers — people who would never normally get on stage simply love becoming the stars of the show, one of the hallmarks of his work. Lady Sarah is the daughter of a playwright who has been performing since she was five years old. She describes herself as 'eccentric but mature' and has an unrequited love for new shoes! Shakespeare said 'all the world's a stage', and for Lady Sarah that is definitely true. She is a real English lady and sounds like she has come straight from an episode of Downton Abbey. If she had time she would make you a nice cup of tea and some crumpets. She frequently has to keep Keith on track when he starts wandering off script, as he often does. Direct from the Magic Castle, Keith Fields and Lady Sarah present their show 'A Brit of Magic'.

James is a Member of The Inner Magic Circle and a two-times winner of The Magic Circle Close-Up Magician of the Year Award, but now uses sleight of hand in a different field... as a pickpocket! James has entertained the Royal Family on several occasions and is the only person to have picked the pockets of the Mayor of London, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Governor of the Bank of England! No wonder then that his hands have been insured for £1 million! In 2015, his one man show 'James Freedman: Man of Steal' transferred to London's West End and City of London Police invited James to become the UK Fraud Prevention Ambassador. He regularly speaks to business audiences on the subjects of crime prevention, social engineering and theft; combining performance skills and expert knowledge to help reduce fraud. His Sunday lecture, 'Go on... Steal Yourself', is a rare live masterclass from the man that Time Magazine called "the world's number one pickpocket".

Paul Gordon is a professional close-up magician and entertainer, best-selling author and an Associate of The Inner Magic Circle. He has lectured and performed at 4Fs, Tannen's Jubilee, Penguin Live, FFAP (France), At The Table Live, The Magic Circle, Monaco All Stars, Blackpool Magic Convention and more. The card magic of Paul Gordon has received rave reviews by many. As a close-up magician and entertainer for weddings, parties, dinners and corporate hospitality, Paul has travelled worldwide with an act that is great fun as well as very magical. In 2018, Paul was awarded The John Nevil Maskelyne Prize for Literature.

Mel's showbusiness career started as a Red Coat at Butlins. Since then he has appeared on TV, in theatre, in pantomime, and in a host of venues around the world. He presents Punch and Judy shows, his own magic show, works on various cruise lines, enjoys doing Old Time Music Hall and recently has become involved with Ghost Walks. Currently President of Northamptonshire Magicians Club, Mel brings a wealth of experience and performs his comedy show following the Stage Competition.

David, the Archivist of The Magic Circle and compiler of the invaluable Chronicle of Magic 1900-1999, has during the last two decades done a wonderful job in organising and cataloguing this tremendous historical resource which has been in existence since 1905. His History of Mystery contribution is 'Treasures of The Magic Circle Archive.'

Edward Hilsum was voted 'Stage Magician of the Year 2018' by The Magic Circle, 'British Champion of Magic' by the International Brotherhood of Magicians and 'International Rising Star of Magic' by the renowned Magicana organisation. His debut one-man show 'Edward Hilsum: Genie' won critical acclaim at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival and for five years he starred in the record-breaking 'Champions of Magic' spectacular, touring theatres throughout the UK and North America. Aside from performing, Edward is the founder of production company Love Variety. He has co-written and directed a number of productions including the hit West End show 'James Freedman: Man of Steal' and 'Sensation: The Greatest Variety Artists... Live!'. Direct from the 2019 Edinburgh International Fringe Festival, Edward closes the convention with his intimate and heart-warming new show 'Silver'.

From the famous Wookey Hole Cave complex deep in Somerset (the home of Carnivals and Festivals) comes Hocus Pocus. These female illusionists show a short segment of their amazing magic and incredible illusions spectacular that is usually only performed in the Wookey Hole Theatre. All originally members of the Gerry Cottle Circus family, the Witches of Wookey Hole will actually cut a man in half — not to be seen anywhere else!

Joshua Jay, a performer, lecturer, author, and co-owner of Vanishing Inc., maintains a globetrotting performance schedule, having performed in over 100 countries with regular appearances on national television. His performance style is completely unique: he performs with ordinary, borrowed objects, causing them to twist, bend, appear, and vanish at will. At only seventeen years old Joshua Jay was crowned world champion for close-up magic at the World Magic Seminar, and he is now regarded as one of the leading creative forces in the magic world. He was awarded the top prize at the World Magic Seminar in 1998. He fooled Penn and Teller on their hit show, Fool Us, and he holds a Guinness World Record for card tricks. Jay has done magic on numerous television shows, most recently Good Morning America and The Today Show. In January 2018, Joshua was recognised by the Society of American Magicians with their highest proclamation, for his contribution to the art of magic.

Graham has been in the entertainment business for over 29 years and is an experienced professional entertainer, entertaining family and young audiences all over the world with his magic and balloon art. He runs the Balloon Workshop, teaching balloon creations for everyone to learn, repeated across the convention.

Paul has been in the business for over 25 years, performing stage, close-up and children's/family entertainment. As a respected member of The Magic Circle, he has lectured for them on numerous occasions and now sits on the panel of experts for those taking membership examinations. He has performed in the National Finals of the Family Entertainer of the Year no fewer than 3 times and has never lost. He now judges the competition for the potential winners of this most coveted title. Paul joins Sooty this year as Colonel Custard, compères An Evening of Magic, and brings an all new lecture on family entertainment — last time it was all about the BUSINESS, now it's time for the SHOW, performing every routine on a regular basis and showing trick handling and performance techniques.

President of The Magic Circle, Scott has been described as "the epitome of the professional magician". He has won major awards within magic and now mainly works as a magic consultant and illusion designer. He has been involved with numerous films, TV shows and stage productions, working with many stars of stage and screen. In the 2015 Christmas Special of QI, he surprised Stephen Fry with membership of The Magic Circle. Penrose is associated with Andrew Lloyd Webber and made the magical effects for his musical Love Never Dies and the 2019 film adaptation of his musical Cats. Brian Lead introduces Scott for this year's Jeffery Atkins Memorial Lecture, "Owls and Oranges."

Scott Pepper has been a magician for over 25 years having started his career at just 10 years old when he won first place in a talent competition in Hastings and since then hasn't looked back. Scott has performed all over the world from theatres to cruise ships to 10,000 seat arenas to the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood. He was recently featured on the CW Network's hit show Masters of Illusion where he performed some of his own unique magic and illusions. He was a regular on the Disney cruise ships for over six years, performing his large-scale illusion show for thousands of passengers a week. Originally from Essex in the UK, Scott now resides in San Antonio, Texas, where he manages and performs at his own theatre called 'The Magicians Agency Theatre' which is rated as one of the top 3 attractions in San Antonio. His lecture covers family entertainment: creating and choosing material, getting the gigs, and perfecting your own product, plus what it takes to start a theatre from scratch and run it on a weekly basis.

Peter Rann is an archivist at The King's Theatre Portsmouth and a member of The I.B.M., The Magic Circle and Equity. A member of 'The Randini' family of magicians from the Isle of Wight, he began as an assistant to his father 'The Great Randini', along with his siblings, David and Janet. Peter was a finalist in The Magic Circle Young Magician of the Year competition in 1971 and took part with his father in the British Ring IBM Shield competition as 'Will'um and Twitt'. He has performed magic, Punch and Judy and has clowned both here and in France, Belgium and Holland. His talk, 'A Brief Visit to the Magic World of Matchless Matcham', covers theatre architect Frank Matcham, who built and transformed theatres — including the London Palladium, Buxton Opera House and The Grand Theatre Blackpool — giving them a magical atmosphere for greats such as Harry Houdini, Lafayette, Carmo and Chung Ling Soo to perform in.

Tim, who is the son of Paul Daniels' boyhood and lifelong friend Graham Reed, has been uniquely placed to research the history and career of Paul and to assemble an amazing collection of Daniels' memorabilia and artefacts. His History of Mystery contribution is 'The Paul Daniels Magic Show — The Legacy Continues...'

Another amazing act from the Wookey Hole family come the former flying trapeze act — Duo Roma (Craig Attmere and Walter Tacco). Now presenting their new and dangerous crossbow act. Daring to be different! Delegates are asked to please stay seated whilst Duo Roma perform.

Mike Sullivan is best known as the other half of DTRICK: The Magic of Wayne Dobson. Wayne describes Mike as his right (and left) hand man. However, Mike is also an accomplished professional close-up magician. A busy boy, Mike likes dynamic and to the point magic that will amaze and bemuse his audiences. Working with one of the world's most commercially prolific inventors of magic, it's not hard to assume his magic is exactly what it says on the tin. His lecture, 'System 32', is based on a system he came up with in 2015 — a secret to being a better performer which he has closely guarded, even from his closest colleagues.

Contemporary Conjuror. A multi-award winning magician, most recently winning at the 2017 European Championships of Magic and also a past winner of the British Ring Shield. Oliver is a full-time stage and close-up magician, specialising in stage magic and regularly performs in theatre shows and cabaret venues around the UK including residencies at the Leicester Square Theatre and the Hippodrome Casino in London. He has supplied entertainment to various events for over 20 years including corporate dinners, cruise ships, product launches, promotions, weddings, theatre shows, television, radio and private functions. He produces his own theatre productions throughout the year around the UK including his regular London show 'West End Magic' at the Leicester Square Theatre. He's also acted as a consultant to film and TV productions such as the Hollywood film 'Now You See Me 2' and BBC series London Spy. His lecture, 'Staging Magic', offers ideas and thoughts on effects for close-up, comedy, stage and children's magic, covering stagecraft, deconstructing routines, and the psychology of stealing and producing objects.

The Twins FX are leaders of theatrical visual special effects, illusions and animatronics. They make the impossible possible for theatre productions, film and television worldwide. Their portfolio includes soaring airborne flying dragons, a mighty 7m tall gorilla, slithering sea serpents, a hovering helicopter, monster sharks, Santa's levitating sleigh, a life size T-Rex, the world's largest pantomime giant, Cinderella's flying crystal coach, floating magic carpets, flying cars, 3 flying life size horses pulling a coach, a pink moped that flies and loops the loop in mid air, man eating crocodiles, a flying full size London bus.... The Twins FX were recognised as part of the creative team who helped Qdos Entertainments achieve their Olivier Award in London in April 2018. Led by identical twins Gary and Paul Hardy-Brown, located in Wareham in Dorset. Richard Cadell chats with Gary and Paul about their incredible lives in a Q&A session, with some questions taken from the audience.

Chris is a teacher who spends his spare time devising magic effects. He has invented numerous tricks and has authored effects for a wide range of publications for the best part of 20 years. His ideas have appeared in several books and have been featured on TV, radio and on the stage. He contributed over 100 tricks to 'Abra' magazine and his material appeared in Ian Rowland's column in 'Magic' and Andi Gladwin's column in 'Genii'. He has his own regular column in The Magic Circle's monthly magazine and is a former winner of The Magic Circle's Cecil Lyle Award. Together with James Ward, Chris writes the 'Collaborative Conjuring' column in 'Key Ring' magazine. Chris has contributed to 'The British Ring Trick Parade' in 'The Linking Ring' magazine for the past 16 years. Chris is a Member of the Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star. His lecture, 'Something Old, Something New', mixes favourite effects from over 20 years of publishing with brand-new items, covering close-up, stand-up, mentalism and children's magic.

Our current, and youngest ever, International President started out as many do when he received a magic set as a present when he was five years old. However, it was a visit to Tony Eng's Trick and Joke Shop in Victoria, Canada, where he took his first steps in the art of magic. With regional, national and international gold medals under his belt in comedy, children's magic, close-up and stage, his talents have been recognised many times over. Alex has served as a magic consultant for film and television on the CW network and Hulu. As a fulltime event producer and magician touring across North America throughout the year, Alex has gained insight into the true value of our magical fraternity. The I.B.M. has been an important part of his learning in magic and because of that he now seeks to do what he can to enhance this in his role as our International President.