Have you been to Blackpool?

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I have sat down a dozen times now to try and write the words to tell you all about the Blackpool Magic Convention I just attended.

There was so much magic and so many magicians it was really “unbelievable.” There was great talent everywhere lecturing, on stage, and in session around hundreds of tables each night. There was an all around energizing vibe across the city center of Blackpool and it was all because of the magic! Magic everywhere!

But even saying that, I’ve finally come to the correct conclusion for this blog post: I am not the right person to tell you about the Blackpool Magic Convention. It’s true. I hardly saw anything. I was standing behind my table at the Copeland Coins booth, performing coin magic in a small corner of large room for ten hours a day, non-stop, without even a break for lunch or potty… I couldn’t feel my fingers by the end of the week! 

I was busy performing and chatting coin magic with folks who stopped by, but I don’t believe I even met even one-third of the convention attendees and I am sure I know why: there were some one hundred dealers of magic (does someone know a total number?) to talk to and watch perform in three rooms, not to forget there was a balcony in my room with even more dealers showing magic over my head!

This carnival of magic was off the chain! They had Conventioneers from around the world, Venders who brought their shops from every corner of the planet, and an evening show with Talent from the Moon and back!

Some of this I had to read about and watch in Youtube videos after the event. There was a whole world of magic in lectures and close up shows and contests that I didn’t catch a single second of the action. I’d love to tell you about those, but I can only repeat second hand stories. Because again, we were busy speaking with the magicians that came to see us at our happy, little “Make Beautiful Magic” coin booth.

But it was continuous magic everyday in Blackpool from 8am till sometime around 4:00 am or later when the last of the participants crawled out of the pub they called the Ruskin, where the magic afterparty with colossal break out sessions took place every night.

So what did I see, besides friendly faces at my booth? Each night my brother and I hung out with some fantastic new friends for dinner and then we caught the stage show in the 2000 seat theater. And what a show! Three nights in a row of unique, two-hour-plus, professionally-produced line ups of first class talent. And did I mention they filled the theater twice a night so everyone could watch the show? It was like best of the best in a Vegas Style, World’s Greatest Act that was fresh, new, and balanced each time. 

Besides looking over my 6 foot table and speaking with the thousand something people who stopped by my booth in the dealer’s room, these three nightly shows were all I saw. And if that was all you got to see, the trip to the Blackpool Magic Convention would have been worth it!

I have to tell you, I’m a close up magic guy and am partial to the small conventions by nature. I love the intimate environment of a small gathering and it often suits coin magic well. I’ll talk about some of my other favorite convention experiences another day, but this was a totally different and amazing experience. I hope that if you have not had a chance to experience the Mega Magic Gathering called Blackpool, it will go on your bucket list. (By the way, coin magic was very much alive and growing there, too.)

Go! Enjoy yourself at Blackpool next year. Be sure and stop by my booth, but take it all in and return and give a more detailed account than me!

What has been your best big convention or Blackpool experience?

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