Unbelievable Magic at Cain ManorPart of becoming a partner of Bijou means I have the wonderful opportunity to attend their brilliant Wedding Panning Wednesdays. These are days set aside for all brides and grooms that are booking with Bijou to attend and sample some of their recommended services. Photographers such as Bill Skye, Videographers like John Harris and other entertainers like the soulful voice of guitarist James Dean are all in attendance letting you, the wedded couple speak directly with each recommended service to get an idea of what may suit your day. Today I am at Cain Manor in Farnham, it is a wonderful venue, with an old barn style finish it really is the luxurious yet contemporary venue, perfect for any wedding. If you are getting wed with Bijou or thinking about it and wish to see me you can email me to check I will be at the Wedding Planning Wednesday for your venue. If I am not listed but free that day I will make sure I am attending so we can meet in person.
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I am very proud to announce that I have partnered up with Bijou Wedding Suppliers to become a Bijou Partner. With becoming a partner I will be working closely with Bijou and attending their Wedding Planning Wednesdays at their venues across the country. If you wish to hear more about what I do then you are in the right place, look up to the top of the page, click 'Contact' (or just click that link!) and then pop me an email, I am always happy to help! I really look forward to performing at all of Bijou's wedding venues throughout the year, they really are stunning. Well, it has been a month since my last blog post, how outrageous! I have literally been rushed off my feet with gigs, can't complain! So, for the end of November I spent my time entertaining everyone on the Saga Sapphire Cruiseliner. It is always wonderful working with Saga, the clientele is lovely, the staff are very attentive and great at what they do and I am treated very well throughout, every time I sail with them. Flying out to Tenerife to sail bacik up to Southampton via Maderia and Lisbon, it is a tough job that someone has to do! I am the only solely close up magic act that Saga have every booked and I have now been with them on 4 occasions. I meet some wonderful entertainers and people whenever I am aboard and this time was no exception. I got to perform to retired BBC news reader Peter Sissons, it is always great performing to someone that you recognise so well! I also spent a fair amount of my spare time with this couple of rapscallions - Bells and Baxter. Not only are they great people and loads of fun, but they are truly amazing at what they do. They have oodles of charisma and have a connection on stage that is quite simply electric. If you ever get the chance to see them do their thing I bet you will not be able to resist tapping your foot wholeheartedly and singing along! Enough about them though (I wouldn't want to give them a big head!) more about my experience. I was also lucky enough to spend some of my time with Captain Philip Rentall aboard the Saphirre, and I must have done something right! I was not only requested to perform on his final formal evening to his table of distinuished guests but I was also invited up to the bridge of the ship to see the sunrise and to watch us sail into Lisborn port. What an experience that was! It was calm and serene and the ship almost magically sailed in softly and docked without a bump. When I mentioned how amazed I was at how smooth the docking felt the captain simply said in a well timed fashion, 'yes, well the passengers don't like seem to like it when you do it fast!'. My thanks go out to Captain Rentall again for his kind words and hospitality. So that was the end of November, December has gone quickly, I will update you all soon with another blog post about the close up magic adventures of Ben Williams (that sounded cooler in my head than it did when I read it back to myself!). Until then!
I just wanted to put a big thank you up to Anninna and Mike for having me along to perform close up magic at their annual Bonfire Ball at Frimley Hall Hotel and Spa. There was a great energy in the room and it truly felt like a Christmas party where everyone is in the perfect celebration mood! Cheers and huge rounds of applause pulsed throughout the room all evening. It is a great feeling to know you are genuinely making a difference to an event. As I left, I was asked to show one more thing, having packed my bag away, all I had was a Sharpie. So I had to think on my feet. So I decided I would leave them with this. I drew an X on my palm with the Sharpie (they write on ANYTHING!), caused it to vanish and reappear on the shoulder of a guest (hello Mary!) that was 6 ft away! Moments like this really make my life more enriched, If I had left and never had this moment to create one last moment of pandemonium I certainly wouldn't have had as much of a smile on my face on the drive home!
The life of a magician is fun one, you are invited to some of the most wonderful places to meet wonderful people and you are required to have fun with them! I recently had the pleasure of performing for a private party at the prestigious Scott's Restaurant in London set in Mayfair. A great setting for an intimate night of astonishment. You also get to meet some great people, of course the guests were all on top form, helping keep my wit sharp! However, I also met a great photographer on the night, Anthony Hurren. He has a great eye for a picture and kindly I have been offered a few performing shots from the evening. I highly recommend checking his website out. Anthony really captured a few beautiful moments. I love photos like this as they are not just applause reactions, you can clearly see astonishment and a connection between everyone. This is really what I strive for, I truly wish to give everyone an unbelievable experience, for them to cherish and remember forever. I don't just wish to ever go out and just 'do tricks'. Thank you again to everyone involved with the evening, great fun was had by all! More details for Anthony Hurren Photography: Corporate & Architectural www.ajhurren.com Weddings & Portraits www.anthonyhurren.com Photography Tutoring www.phototutor.london I am lucky, I suppose that I am a creative individual. Sometimes my creativity is fresh and exciting, my brain travels at a million lightyears a second and almost can't catch up with itself. To have ideas bubble around your head and fill you with inspiration and motivation is a great thing, not so much if I am asleep and suddenly wake up, or if I am trying to do something, worse still if I am trying to listen to the all important information my wife is telling me about and all that occupies my brain is, 'I wonder if I can do this??!!?' All in all it is a great thing, I would worry if it wasn't there and I am at my most frustrated when I have a creative block. Having been a contributor and part of the magic community for over a decade I have been lucky enough to meet some fantastic people like David Blaine and Dynamo, Troy and Ben Hanlin, who have all made it big in the real world performing magic. However, one of my favourite feelings that comes from my creativity is when I work on an effect for a long time, put it out to the magic community and I see or hear about other magicians around the world that are performing this material. To have other people choose to use your ideas over someone else's, when they are paid to put on the best performance they can is truly humbling. I was sent a couple of shots of a couple at a recent wedding a magician colleague Steve Rowe was booked to entertain. He used my Polo mint trick at the top table for the bride and groom and got these great shots. Thank you Steve, for not only sending me these great photos of you getting great reactions but for trusting in my magic enough that you chose it to be in your top table set! If you are looking to book some magic for your wedding then please click here to enquire. Don't hesitate as dates go very quickly and it would be a shame if I could not be there to help make your day that little bit more magical! Magic for me is a wonderful ability, it is the ability to meet people, it gives me the ability to give them something and it also gives me the ability to leave my impression on these people forever. I was just at La Familia Restaurant in Esher today performing for Cathy and her family. It was Cathy's birthday and everyone was in great spirits already. I entertained the table in a cabaret fashion, making sure everyone got to be a part of the magic. After a huge rapturous round of applause (one of many throughout the afternoon!) and before I left, a gentleman named Mark pulled me to one side and said to me, 'I have seen magic before and like to think I can do a couple of tricks, but what you do is something else, it really is astounding'. These kinds of comments always mean so much to me, however it was Cathy's comment that is the reason I do what I do. It is to make positive memories for people that last a lifetime. Cathy who looked me in the eye and said, 'Thank you so much, you have made my day really very special' to me, that makes all the hours behind the scenes studying, practicing, and rehearsing for sometimes days on end all worth it. Thank you Cathy, happy birthday! Lots of fun was had here at the Rum Warehouse in Liverpool last week at the ECC Gala dinner for 2016. One of the great challenges I had not been warned about was that there would be people from all over the world. The Netherlands, Norway, the US, Australia, Malaysia and Japan just to name a few. It is always interesting seeing how other cultures react to magic. Some are absolutely blown away, some are quietly reserved and react with stunned silence. I have been lucky enough to perform all over the world so language is never a barrier to me. Magic transcends that barrier and brings people of all walks of life together. Below is a video of me performing at this event, it leaves a bit of a cliff hanger... So 2016 has been a great year for me. My son was born in February, cue puns about that being 'real' magic! As if that wasn't enough, I have been lucky enough to perform at tonnes of amazing weddings, some really fun corporate functions and in some wonderful unique places. One of my favourites has to be when myself and fellow magician Chris Webb mixed and mingled with the VIPs in the Driver's Lounge at Silverstone for the British F1 Grand Prix, that is one now ticked off the bucket list, roll on 2017! I also saw myself return twice to Saga on their wonderful ship the Saga Pearl II as their only close up magician. Cruising around Brazil, across the Atlantic and all around the Mediterranean. The experience is always amazing on Saga, such wonderful people, such wonderful staff, it is always a pleasure. Let's face it, with views like this below every night you have to count your lucky stars! I've also been all over the country from East sussex to Coventry, Goring on Sea to Liverpool and have met some wonderful people along the way. 2016 is far from over though, in some ways it is only just starting with the busy Christmas period ahead. If you are looking for a magician for your Christmas party then do not hesitate to give me a call or fill out the contact form here and I will get right back to you with my availability. Let's end 2016 with a bang! So today (today being the 9th October 2016) I exhibited myself (sounds strange!) and my close up magic at the wonderful wedding venue Rhinefield House in Beaconsfield Hampshire. The wedding fair was run by the wedding fair specialists Stylish Events, a great team; thank you Stella, thank you Tracey!
I was warmly welcomed by many brides and grooms looking for inspiration for their special day. There were some very memorable moments also for myself from the day. I learned a new and should we say efficient (I think that is the best way of putting it!) way to eat small chocolates from wrappers, I also found inspiration myself from Bob at Smooch Wedding Rings, a great wedding ring company that do amazing jewellery. However, I think though, hands down my favourite thing was seeing the very cool and wonderfully branded Champervan, a beautiful Volkswagen camper van that gives out champagne! Who could ask for more! Well instead of blogging about this I should get on with following up all the amazingly beautiful and talented (have I won you over yet?!!?) people who were kind enough to give me their time today. Thank you all. Au revoir for now! |
Ben WilliamsBen Williams is a member of the Magic Circle and a close up magic specialist Archives
February 2018
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