Paisley Magic Circle
 | |
| Abbreviation | PMC |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1938 |
| Purpose | To help its members to advance on the art of magic |
| Headquarters | St Columbas's Church Hall, 35 Campsie Drive. Renfrew PA4 0RB |
| Location |
|
Membership | ~50 |
Official language | English |
President | Tommy Templeton (2018) |
Main organ | Elected Council |
| Website | PaisleyMagicCircle.co.uk |
Paisley Magic Circle is a British organisation open to professional, semi-professional and enthusiastic amateur magicians, who share a love of the conjuring arts and wish to develop their performing skills in a friendly and supportive environment.[1]
History[edit]
Paisley Magic Circle was formed in September 1938. Originally it took the name of the former Paisley magical club: Paisley Magical Society (abbreviated PMS). It kept this name until 1967. The founder members were Tom Ellis, Watson Black and Wyndham Lee.[2][3]
The first meeting was held in the YMCA building in the High Street, Paisley. This meeting place lasted a very short time as the YMCA was handed over to the War Office for use during the war years. The first meeting saw Harry Fenton, Alex Gillougley and Malcolm McIntyre joining with the founders. During the war years the club took on the role of a transit club. Many magicians both British and American landed at Glasgow, Greenock and Paisley harbour and were soon making their way to Paisley Magical Society meetings. Despite the rationing there was always tea and magic on the menu.[citation needed] Like the London Windmill the society never closed.[citation needed]
The club moved to many meeting places over the years. These included: Miss Balmford's home in High Street, The Masonic Hall in Ralston, Methodist Hall, Coats Memorial Hall, Coats Memorial Church Hall, Paisley Town Hall and the Boys Brigade H.Q. in Paisley.
Like most other clubs PMS started to present magical shows annually from 1943 and after a long run the members decided to stop in 1963. A few have been organised since then, but usually along with some other organisation such as Church groups. The entrance fee is shared with the organising group and the club.
The club organised a one-day magical convention in 1979. It was held in Johnstone Town Hall and had lectures by Peter Jeffries and Paul Scott and a gala show with Bill McBrinn, Jimmy Fleming, Les McLean, Freddy Lee, Les & Lynn Paul, Cadabras and Paul Scott. This one-day convention was so successful it was repeated annually, remaining a main part of the club's programme for many years.
The Renfrew District Council have supported the club by providing Civic Receptions for the Fifty and Sixty year celebrations. As part of the fifty year celebrations the council also worked with the club to present the first one-month Museum exhibition of magic in Scotland.
The club started its own club magazine in 1997 entitled The Pattern (the Paisley Pattern!). The magazine contains reviews on magical effects, suggested reading, personal best books list, coming events and some history of the club and magicians of the past.
Membership[edit]
Paisley Magic Circle membership is open to any individual over 16 years of age, although younger individuals are accepted as Junior members. The club meets in St Columbas's Church Hall, in Renfrew,[4] the first and third Thursday of every month from September to May. Many of the meetings are open to other magicians who are members of a recognised magic club and society. In addition, the club schedule events that are open to friends, family and members of the general public.[5]
Elected council[edit]
The club's main body is a council elected during the Annual General Meeting (AGM). During this meeting, committee and non-committee posts for the council are proposed and voted for by the club members. Junior members can attend the meeting but cannot vote.
Council 2018-2019[edit]
- President: Tommy Templeton
- Vice President: George Speirs
- Secretary: Harry Tunstead
- Treasurer: Alan Bowen
- Immediate Past-President: David Ennis
- Committee Members: Jason Ward, Stephen Grimes and Terry McEwan
- Host: Terry McEwan
- Librarian: George Speirs
- Tea Convenor: Michelle Grimes
- Auditor: Graham Whyte
- SAMS Representatives: David Ennis & George Speirs
Council 2017-2018[edit]
- President: Tommy Templeton
- Vice President: George Speirs
- Secretary: Harry Tunstead (replacing Guillermo Amodeo)
- Treasurer: Alan Bowen
- Immediate Past-President: David Ennis
- Committee Members: Stephen Grimes and Terry McEwan
- Host: Terry McEwan
- Librarian: Greg Mitchell
- Tea Convenor: Michelle Grimes
- Auditor: Harry Tunstead
- SAMS Representatives: David Ennis & George Speirs
Council 2016-2017[edit]
- President: Tommy Templeton
- Vice President: George Speirs
- Secretary: John Campbell
- Treasurer: Alan Bowen
- Immediate Past-President: David Ennis
- Committee Members: Stephen Grimes and Guillermo Amodeo
- Host: Terry McEwan
- Librarian: Greg Mitchell
- Tea Convenor: Michelle Grimes
- Auditor: Harry Tunstead
- SAMS Representatives: David Ennis & George Speirs
Honorary membership[edit]
Paisley Magic Circle has honoured many magicians over the years:
Honorary Presidents[edit]
Harry Fenton, Jimmy Flemming, David Haggarty, Val Le Val, Margaret MacLean and Brian Jeffrey.
Honorary Vice Presidents[edit]
Peter Allan, Les Levant, John Ramsay, John Cranston, Zina Bennett, Tom Ellis, Harry Fenton, George Birrell, William McDonald, Colin Goodburn and Jim Cuthbert.
Honorary members[edit]
Harry Willane, Tom Ellis, Charles Wilson, Tommy Frederick, George Willison, Fred Balme, Bill McBrinn, Adrian Harris, Stuart Leith, Cynthia Neptune, Bill McLeod, Roy Scott, Paul Daniels, Tommy Templeton, Paul Nardini, Peter McLanachan and Doreen Clark.
Club lecturers[edit]
The club has provided the magicians of Scotland with a number of magical lecturers. These include Val Le Val, Jim Cuthbert, John McCracken, Colin Goodburn, Peter McLanachan, Paul Nardini, Jimmy Fleming, Tommy Templeton, David Ennis and Guillermo Amodeo.
Club competitions[edit]
Every year the club holds a competition night where members can compete against each other in three categories of magic. Selected from the following four:
- Novice: Loosely defined as being someone comparatively new to magic, or someone who is new to a magic club environment, say within the last 12–18 months.
- Close-up: This is ‘intimate’ magic, usually performed sitting down at a table, using small objects like cards or coins.
- Stage: This is an act performed on a stage and it can be anything: comedy magic, mentalism, ropes, productions, manipulation and even children’s magic if not specific category exists.
- Children's: This is usually a stage act of magic for children.
- Best Card Trick: This is a small trophy -with no certificate- that its given to the participant who has performed the best card trick of all of card tricks performed during the competitions.
The Malcolm Taylor Trophy[edit]
In 2015 the committee decided to create the Malcolm Taylor Trophy, which is a competition where the participants have to perform just one trick, and a jury composed by one professional magician, one amateur magician and one non-magician person decides which trick is best and gets awarded the trophy. The competition is specially aimed at club members that do not have the time or will to prepare a complete act for the other competitions, and therefore is held on a separate date due to the high number of participants. The trophy is named after Malcolm Taylor, a magician whose huge collection of rare props and books was donated to the club after his passing.
Winners[edit]
- Novice: Terry McEwan and Ross McRae (2014). Chris Whelan & George Speirs (2015). Douglas Hendry (2016), Aiden Boyd (2017), John Morrison (2018).
- Close-up: Tommy Templeton (2013), Amanda Gott (2014), Guillermo Amodeo (2015, 2016), Peter McLanachan (2017), Brian Jeffrey (2018).
- Stage: Tommy Templeton (2013), Afzal Aziz (2014), George Speirs (2015), Brian Jeffrey (2016), Guillermo Amodeo (2017), George Speirs (2018).
- Children's: Tommy Templeton (2013), Brian Jeffrey (2018).
- Malcolm Taylor Trophy: George Speirs (2015, 2016), Peter McLanachan (2017), Jason Ward (2018).
- Best Card Trick: Chris Whelan (2016)
The Scottish Association of Magical Societies[edit]
Paisley Magic Circle was one of the six founder members of the Scottish Association of Magical Societies,[6] when it was called the Paisley Magic Society (PMS). It was the PMS which proposed the formation of The Scottish Association of Magical Societies in 1950 and Max Raskin was invited to carry out all the planning on behalf of the club. A record of this intended meeting with all the magical clubs in Scotland is recorded in the minutes of Perth Magic Circle [7] of 16 May 1950. Max was the first President of SAMS and presented the Max Raskin Cup for children’s magic in the SAMS competitions.
Presidents of SAMS[edit]
Some Paisley Magic Circle members are or have been presidents of SAMS: Jim Cuthbert, Jim Fleming, David Haggarty, Brian Jeffrey (twice), Robert Lees, Max Raskin (3 times), Val LeVal, Margaret Maclean and David Ennis.
SAMS competitions[edit]
Paisley Magic Circle and its members have won many of the SAMS competitions:
- Sir Alexander Cannon Trophy (Best Magical Society of the Year): 1985, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2015 (Shared with Kilmarnock Magic Circle), 2018.
- John Ramsay Rose Bowl (Best magic effect in Close Up): Bill Miller 1985, Nigel McCulloch 1988, Ina Cuthbert 1993, Alan Duncan 1995, Paul Nardini 1997, John Kelly 2000, Amanda Gott 2014, George Speirs 2015.
- Anne Warlock Cup (Best act in Close Up ): Bill Miller 1985, Alan Duncan 1995, John Kelly 1998 and 2000, Peter McLanachan 2017, Billy Reid 2018.
- Stuart Leith Shield (Runner Up in Close Up): Guillermo Amodeo 2014.
- Harold McMillan Shield (Best act in Stage): Harry Willane 1961, Secret Service (David Ennis, Brian Jeffrey and Karen Kelly) 1997, Pavneesh Gupta 1999, Afzal Aziz 2013, Afzal Aziz 2014.
- The Fletcher Cup (Runner Up act in Stage): Hugh Gillies 1969, Hugh Gillies 1977, Brian Jeffrey 1988/89/90, Brian Jeffrey 1992, Paul Nardini 1997, Paul Nardini 1999, Brian Jeffrey 2014, George Speirs 2015, Brian Jeffrey 2016.
- Max Raskin Cup (Best Act in Children's Magic): Bill Miller 1985, George Speirs 2015, Brian Jeffrey 2018.
- Murray Wand (For the person showing the most showmanship at the convention): Leslie Melville 1993, Margaret McLean 1991, Afzal Aziz 2013, Afzal Aziz 2014.
- Ian Adair Award (For the person showing most originality in the competitions): Peter McLanachan 2017.
- Craig Quaich (Presented by the SAMS President who in their opinion has done the most for Scottish Magic): Ina Cuthbert 1992, David Haggarty 1999, Peter McLanachan 2017.
References[edit]
External links[edit]
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