Naquada

Saturday July 7th is the London Mentalism Meeting in london (obviously!). I’ve done magic for years, purely as a hobby rather than paid performances, and over the last few years I’ve become more interested in the Mentalism side, to be honest I’m not 100% sure why, I think it’s basically just appealing to my people side more than the previous magic I’ve done.

To be honest, you can’t not want to attend an event with a poster as interesting as this one. It just reminds me of the old Victorian theatre posts. The poster is by Phill Smith of Mitox fame.

The meeting is organised by Dr Todd Landman, and is being held at Tredwell’s Bookshop, not far from Covent Garden, Tredwells carries a heady mixture of genres: poetry anthologies; fortune-telling guides; classic novels; grimoires (or Grymoire I never know how you actually spell it), art books, folklore studies; occult texts; etiquette manuals; literary essays; almanacs; paranormal study journals; travel writing; philosophical works; antique dictionaries; tarot cards; and biographies.

Tredwells is also awash with old engravings, carved wall-plaques, wall hangings, loose incenses, hand-made soaps, ceremonial daggers (including witches’ athames), wooden wands, antique candle-sticks, rock crystals and ethnic jewellery. So it’s the prefect setting for the meeting..

Tredwells is a step back in time: the building itself was constructed in 1710, and is listed. The interior is almost entirely original, right down to the archway sculpted with dancing fauns. The original hardwood floors are scattered with persian rugs and mismatched antique bookcases line the original plaster walls. Pride of place is given to the legendary “Browsers’ Sofa” on which customers have spent a blissful hour.

The meeting is going to be informal and the attendees have been invited to perform on a voluntary basis for comments and feedback (I think I’ll just be joining in the discussions rather than performing myself!). There’s going to be small group workshops on effects, tools of the trade, and tips on the business side of things. Todd is also hoping to get some output from the meeting (possibly a book or some notes) given the vast range of people going; authors, thinkers, photographers and the like..

I’m really looking forward to this now I’ve taken the plunge…

Technorati Tags: london, Magic, mentalism

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