The Magic Circle- Top magicians meeting place and home of thousands of secrets!
The Magic Circle is the premier magic society and started over a 100 years ago. It has its headquarters in London and has a robust membership audition system ensuring a high standard of magicians.

The beautiful headquarters opens it's mysterious doors to the public about twice a month where they can be bamboozled and entertained with clever close up magic, an intriguing talk about the history of magic and finally see a stunning stage show. The Magic Circle also hosts an annual Christmas show which is very popular.

For magicians, the Magic Circle offers a stunning club room, two magic museums and extensive library and a great place to constantly improve and develop your magical entertainment skills.

The magic circle HQ has also been called the house of a thousand secrets and the extensive library and combined knowledge of all the members of the circle must be hundreds of thousands of magical secrets. Ultimately, it's not just secrets that make great magicians, it's performance and style- and magic circle magicians have more than a top hat full of both!

The Magic Circle headquarters

Surrounded by magic

The marvelous magic circle headquarters (Centre for the magic arts) is a two minute walk from Euston Station in London and comprises a beautifully designed, purpose built building recognised as being one of the best magic headquarters in the world.

The wonderful theater can be reached by ascending the spectacular spiral staircase, or by lift. The theater has seating for 162 people in raked seating.

There is also a clubroom where magicians regularly meet and the Devant room which is and a mysterious museum of magic from the past supplemented by a further museum on the lower ground floor hosting the most valuable and rare items. This area called the heritage area also contains the largest collection of magic books in Europe in it's library.

Great Stuff on Amazon

Amazon USA

The Magic Circle: Performing Magic Through the Ages

by: Michael Bailey

Amazon Price: (as of 10/01/2010)

Magicians performing at the Magic Circle in London

Here are a selection of spectacular sourcerers performing at the Magic Circle- including previous winners of the close up magic competition over different years- as you will see, the performing standard is very high and the magic is complemented with highly polished performances.

London Magician Matt Duggan Live at The Magic Circle

by WorkingMagic | video info

1 rating | 519 views

http://www.WorkingMagic.co.uk The last effect from my set from a show called 'The Graduate' - Live at The Magic Circle in London. The effect is called The Hindu Thread but is more commonly known as The Gypsy Thread. For more videos, check out the WorkingMagic Channel here on YouTube.com. Matt is a professional London magician who performs across the UK and internationally. He specialises in corporate events and private parties in London.

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curated content from YouTube

Indocilis Privata Loqui

Why magician's keep their magic methods secret

The latin expression translates approximately as "not apt to disclose secrets" and it is a solem oath that magicians swear on becoming a member of the magic circle to never reveal their secrets.

Like other magicians- I get asked for the secret as to how I did a trick or illusion, it's a certainty that people want to know something they are denied from knowing and it's human nature to try to solve mysteries. To a magician, the secret is a precious and rare gift, something they have earned, studied and perfected hiding whilst building their magic into entertainment. If someone told you the punchline of every joke of a comedian just before you went to see him or her- it would riun the comedy. Magic is similar- the secret is often a dissapointment when learnt and there is much more to being a good magician than the secret- the whole performance is magic.

It's also true that many magicians became magicians because they became fascinated by a magicians performance and just had to find out how to do the trick. If you've not performed magic, I can assure you that knowing the secret is far from enough to produce a great show or act, in much the same way as knowing the lines to a play doesn't make a person a great actor.

So, don't be offended when a magician simply wont tell you how a trick is done, however, learn a trick or two and a magician will be delighted to help you become a better magician.

Joining the Magic Circle

It's not easy but it's a mark of quality

Joining the magic circle takes some experience, expertise and alot of nerve! To apply you need to be proposed by two existing members then you must perform magic of the desired standard at an audition, in front of the examiners and other members of the magic circle.

The examination :
You will be asked to perform a close up or stage act of between 8 and 12 minutes and display the following qualities sufficiently:
Magical ability and technique- showing good sleight of hand ability and prop handling
Presentation and Personality - Entertainment Value and Patter
Structure of Performance- is the act well structured?
Originality- This is even more important for people applying to become inner member of the magci circle.
Appearance- You need to be smart and your props similarly smart.
Effects- Some sleight of hand will need to be on show- but all tricks need to be performed with polish.

It is also possible to apply to become a member by writing a thesis- although the Magic Circle prefer a practical performance.

Similarly it is possible to apply by sending in an unedited video of a performance in front of an audience- this would apply to a children's entertainer, for example.

Getting into the magic circle has a lot of prestige- that's why the exams are strict!

The Magic Circle HQ

The UK's number one venue

The Magic Circle headquarters in London was voted the best venue by readers of RSVP magazine, beating even Madame Tussauds, home of the spectacular waxwork manakins of the rich and famous. The Magic Circle HQ can be hired as a venue and offers drinks receptions, a stage show and close up magicians at the dinner table. It certainly offers something unique- a peek into the secret world of magic and magicians!

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