A Magical Evening at HOFS

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Sewell Cabinet

National Trust Museum of Childhood at Sudbury Hall, Derbyshire

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Rapt gardeners

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Terry Herbert and Barry Wootten

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Terry Herbert  gave a talk at the HGA 15th May 2014: My Magical Life

He had started by practising with the Ernest Sewell Cabinet of Conjuring Tricks,  Ernest Sewell having been a very famous conjuror in the 1920s and 30s.  

Terry’s first performance at a concert party when he was 14 years old yielded 2/6d (=12.5 p.)     After an early concert party performance, he was told by a blind member of the audience,  “One day you will be a Maskelyne“   and in 2010 he was indeed awarded a Maskelyne by the Magic Circle.

{John Nevil Maskelyne (22 Dec 1839 – 18 May 1917) was a famous English stage magician and inventor of the penny door lock for London’s public conveniences.}

Terry worked at Butlins and moved into management, booking acts for the Streatham Ice Rink; he became a sales rep and then turned professional — appearing on Opportunity Knocks in 1966 with Hughie Green – – and going on to appear in numerous television shows both here & abroad, including the Paul Daniels Show.

Terry was elected President of the British Ring of the International Brotherhood of Magicians in 1993. John Fisher the producer of PD show Best of Magic series in 1990 featured 50 of the world’s top magicians which included Terry.

Terry used to buy tricks at Gamages and at the oldest magic shop in the world, Davenports of Charing Cross – – which is still going.   Having given us his background and career, Terry launched into a fascinating series of demonstrations of “close magic” with strong audience participation.

After the break, Terry held the gardeners spellbound with a series of different tricks and the applause was enthusiastic.  We were not surprised to hear from Barry that our guest speaker was one of the top 15 in the world – – he certainly made our evening disappear very enjoyably!

Terry’s website is at  www.comedymagic.co.uk

Lastly, Terry – with his expert knowledge of the genre – offered the following excellent advice: NEVER join in with street games like the 3 shells, and similar “cons.”