A magical cure to recession blues
Published: 28 September 2009
Author: Rose Gamble
[ 1 ] Recommendation
Event organisers hope it will be a welcome distraction to financial worries
The International Magic Convention. It’s not something out of Harry Potter, but a two-day event, hosted in London’s Mermaid Theatre, bringing together the biggest names in magic.
Not only that, this year marks the 38th annual convention. So has anyone ever heard of the other 37? Apparently so. According to International Magic Co-coordinator, Martin Macmillan, over 1,200 people attended last year’s event.
The convention, held from 27th to 29th November, will star the Argentinean one-handed magician, Rene Lavand, and UK aerial acrobatic circus company, Heir of Insanity.
The International Magic Convention recommends international guests stay at a variety of hotels in central London. A spokesperson for The Crowne Plaza Hotel, Blackfriars, who will host many of the attendees of the Convention, told Sideways News:
“We are very happy to have these guests to stay. We don’t know if they will be performing any magic while they are with us.”
Originally intended for professionals in the business of magic, the conference’s evening gala performances have been open to the general public for the past 12 years. Macmillan, whose magician father founded the convention, believes the current financial climate will increase the event’s popularity.
“A lot of people want to get their mind off the economy at the moment,” he said, speaking exclusively to Sideways News. “They like the idea of a few magic tricks – it’s either that or they’re off to the pub.”
So, if drowning our financial sorrows isn’t the answer to recession gloom, perhaps learning to hocus pocus the occasional tenner into existence wouldn’t go amiss.
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