JULY 10 – OFFICIAL WRAP

The Melbourne Magic Festival is over for another year and we’re already in full swing planning for 2011. Here are some amazing statistics about this year’s event:

Of the 101 performances 53 were completely SOLD OUT while another 15 were 85-95% capacity.

Approximately 7,500 people attended shows at this year’s Festival (substantially higher than last year with around 4,000).

All we can say is, next year’s MMF will be bigger and better than ever, BOOK EARLY!

_____________________________________________________________

JULY 10 – CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEW CHAMPION!

The Australian Magic Championships are over for another year, and big congratulations go out to our new Champion – in both the Close Up AND the Stage Magic categories – Dom Chambers.

Dom performed a signed card to block of ice for Close Up, and an entertaining thumb tie for Stage. The competition standard was very high this year, and we look forward to what exciting new magic our juniors will come up with next year.

_____________________________________________________________

JULY 6 – CATCH THE MMF ON HEY HEY IT’S SATURDAY

Yesterday Russell Gilbert paid a visit to The Melbourne Magic Festival and brought his Hey Hey film crew along with him. What mischief did he get up to? You’ll be able to see tomorrow night on Hey Hey It’s Saturday! Tune in to Channel Nine on Wednesday night and see Russell with Tim Ellis, Sue-Anne Webster, Lee Cohen, Simon Coronel, Anthony DeMasi, Joel Howlett and Nicholas J Johnson.

_____________________________________________________________

JULY 5 – EXTRA TICKETS ADDED FOR ILLUSIONARIUM 2010

Due to overwhelming demand and a week of SOLD OUT shows – 15 extra tickets have just been added to every remaining performance of Illusionarium 2010 starring Ellis & Webster. Don’t miss out, click here to go direct to the online booking form or call the box office on 9481 9500.

_____________________________________________________________

JULY 5 – OCEANIA CHAMPIONSHIPS OF MAGIC – 2011

Coming next year as part of The Melbourne Magic Festival 2011 is the first ever FISM OCEANIA CHAMPIONSHIPS OF MAGIC. Open to all magicians, amateur and professional, in the Oceania region, the competition will seek out the best Close Up Magician and the best Stage Magician and send them to the FISM World Championships of Magic in Blackpool, England, in 2012. This will be an astonishing competition of magic not to be missed. Entries will be accepted from January 1, 2011, and tickets will go on sale in May 2011. DO NOT MISS OUT!!!

_____________________________________________________________

JULY 4 – MMF MERCHANDISE AVAILABLE

Everyone’s been asking about the MMF Windcheaters the staff are wearing this year. Well you can get your own, plus mugs, T-Shirts, even the official MMF Flip Camera, at The Melbourne Magic Festival Merchandise store. Click here to take a look at our range and order online.

_____________________________________________________________

JULY 2 – EXTRA TICKETS RELEASED FOR CLOSE UP GALA!

Due to overwhelming demand we have ADDED 20 TICKETS to the AIM Close Up Magic Gala Show on Tuesday night. The extra tickets go on sale Friday – first com, first served! Here is the direct link to buy yours.

_____________________________________________________________

JULY 2 – WEEKEND SUNRISE LIVE FROM MMF

Weekend Sunrise will be broadcasting LIVE from The Melbourne Magic Festival from 7am on Sunday Morning. Be there to join in all the fun (and maybe get on TV) or stay at home in your warm pjs and watch us live on Seven. Don’t forget, we have a BIG line up of shows on Sunday starting with The Massive Little Magic Show at 11am and ending with Mada vs Vegas at 9pm.

_____________________________________________________________

JULY 1 – TWITTER LIVE FROM MMF

You can keep up with the goings on behind the scenes at The Melbourne Magic Festival by following the tweets from Simon Coronel at Twitter #MMF2010 – sign up now and join in the conversation. You can also keep up with us on Facebook here and don’t forget you can WIN a GOLDEN PASS to see EVERY SHOW at next year’s Festival FREE. Click here for full details!

_____________________________________________________________

JUNE 30 – LUIGI ZUCCHINI SOLD OUT!

Anthony DeMasi, one of the stars of last night’s sold out AIM STAGE GALA SHOW, has also sold out both sessions of his hilarious show Luigi Zucchini: Spaghetti Spaghetti. Fans of Anthony who missed out are advised to book now for his other show Magic Tony Cartoon Hero, or the duo show he’s performing with Sydney magician Joel Howlett I Want To Be A Magician. Anyone having trouble with the online booking system is advised to call the box office directly on (03) 9481 9500. Don’t miss out!!!

_____________________________________________________________

JUNE 26 – BOOK NOW OR MISS OUT

With The Melbourne Magic Festival starting on Monday, ticket sales have been unprecedented with many shows already being SOLD OUT! The AIM Stage Magic Gala sold out last week – if you missed that we can recommend Section 9 on Monday night, or The AIM Close Up Magic Gala Tuesday week. But book now, because they are both over 60% full. Several sessions of Illusionarium 2010 are already sold out, it’s a great family show starring Ellis & Webster and very popular so again we recommend booking in advance to avoid disappointment. Illusion & Delusion starring Christopher Bisset has also sold out on Friday July 9, but there are tickets remaining for his other sessions so get in fast. To keep up to date with ticket sales, click on the DAILY SCHEDULE button on the top right.

_____________________________________________________________

JUNE 22 – MAGIC CLASSES FOR KIDS

Over 150 kids have already signed up for Magic Classes these school holidays – interest in learning magic has never been so huge! If your kids haven’t done so already, get your tickets now for either Dazzling Dan’s Magic Workshop on Saturday July 3, or The Trick or Treat Magic School Monday to Friday June 28 to July 9. Don’t feel left out if you’re older though, there’s still plenty of opportunities to learn some great magic! Try Simon Coronel’s Adult Close Up Magic Class for Beginners or Learn Sleight of Hand the John Fung way. We even have something for experienced magicians with an advanced Lecture from Shoot Ogawa direct from Hollywood’s Magic Castle!

_____________________________________________________________

JUNE 19 – NEW VIDEO ONLINE

‘Mada vs Vegas: The Dueling Magicians’ has a great new teaser video online. Click here to go check it out. You may have seen Adam Mada on ‘Today Tonight’ on Monday as he spoke about The Masked Magician, and you’ll also get to see him on Channel 9 very soon in the upcoming TV series ‘The Real Hustle’. But nothing beats catching Adam and Richard battling it out live in ‘The Dueling Magicians’ – a show like no other! Book your tickets now – TWO SHOWS ONLY!!!

_____________________________________________________________

JUNE 14 – THE MASKED MAGICIAN AT THE FESTIVAL?

The man everyone loves to hate, The Masked Magician, is rumoured to be planning an appearance at one of the AIM Magic Gala Shows. It seems everyone who’s anyone in magic (and even this guy who’s no-one) will be at The Melbourne Magic Festival. So far his theories as to how magic tricks are done have been way off the mark, so what will he attempt to expose live at the Festival???? Book your tickets now before they’re all sold out! (Just a hint, I heard he’ll be doing stage magic).

_____________________________________________________________

JUNE 9 – LOTS OF MAGIC IN THE MEDIA

Everyone is talking about The Melbourne Magic Festival. In Saturday’s Herald-Sun Corinella is running a coloring competition with 50 family passes to Magic Festival shows up for grabs. On Sunday Nicholas Johnson will appear on Weekend Sunrise at 9am on Channel 7. On Monday, ‘Today Tonight’ are running a story promoting their ‘Masked Magician’ series which will also feature The Melbourne Magic Festival. On Wednesday tune in to 774 ABC FM from 11-12pm and hear Nicholas Johnson talking magic with Jon Faine. Nicholas will also be appearing on JJJ Radio next week, and Ellis & Webster are being plugged everywhere on 89.9 LIGHTFM.

_____________________________________________________________

JUNE 6 – MADISON MAGAZINE

The Melbourne Magic Festival is included in the Calendar listing in this month’s Madison Magazine. The listing features a picture of magician Lee Cohen who will be appearing in several shows during the Festival including: Section 9, The AIM Close Up Gala, The AIM Stage Gala, The Massive Little Magic Show and Kobi’s Magical Menagerie.

_____________________________________________________________

JUNE 2 – MELBOURNE’S CHILD

The June issue of the popular parenting magazine has a feature listing in it’s calendar profiling some of the many family-friendly shows at this year’s Melbourne Magic Festival. Families are expected to flock to this year’s event so we encourage you to book early – each show only seats 80 to 100 people so they are starting to fill up already! If you can book a group of ten or more, not only will you get amazingly discounted tickets, you’ll also get priority seating being ushered into the theatre before the general admission ticket holders.

_____________________________________________________________

MAY 28 – SHOOT OGAWA LECTURE ANNOUNCED

Multi-award winning American magician and special guest of The Melbourne Magic Festival, Shoot Ogawa has agreed to present his exciting new lecture as part of the Festival. From 4-6pm on Sunday July 4, Shoot will explain and teach his devastating close up and stage magic techniques. The lecture is only $20 and spaces are limited so we recommend you book now by clicking here. This event is geared towards those who wish to perform magic themselves. If you’d like to watch Shoot perform, we suggest booking now for his show by clicking here. Shoot will also be giving a private, intensive workshop while he is in Melbourne. To be a part of this call Simon on 0411 3011105 .

_____________________________________________________________

MAY 22 – JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP TICKETS SELLING FAST

The interest in the Australian Junior Championships of Magic is growing every day. Ticket sales have taken off with the Close Up Championship now 50% full and the Stage Championship 40% full. If you’re interested in seeing Australia’s next generation of magicians competing during the Festival, we recommend you book early! Spaces still remain in the competition so if you, or someone you know, would like to compete, call Lee Cohen now on 0411 644 931.

_____________________________________________________________

MAY 18 – INTERNATIONAL GUEST – SHOOT OGAWA

For the first time in the history of The Melbourne Magic Festival were are joined by an international guest artist – not just any magician, but multi-award winning close up magician Shoot Ogawa. Shoot was awarded ‘Close Up Magician of the Year’ by Hollywood’s legendary Magic Castle in 2002 and has won ‘Parlour Magician of the Year’ in 2008 and 2009! Shoot will be presenting FOUR SHOWS ONLY at the Festival so book now by clicking here and DON’T MISS OUT!

_____________________________________________________________

MAY 15 – INTITIAL SALES GOING WELL!

Tickets have only been on sale for two weeks and already TWO performances of ‘Illusionarium 2010′ have completely SOLD OUT! Other shows selling well include ‘Simon Coronel: Manipulations’ and ‘The AIM Stage Gala Show’ which is already 20% full. ‘The AIM Close Up Gala Show’ is selling quickly too, and judging from last year, these Galas both sell out very quickly so don’t delay and miss out – book in now!

_____________________________________________________________

MAY 13 – NEW VIDEO FOR SLEIGHT OF HAND WORKSHOP

John Fung has a great new video demonstrating some of the astonishing techniques you can learn at his magic workshop ‘Sleight of hand: Learn it the John Fung way’. Take a look at the video here and sign up so you too can master the art of manipulation.

_____________________________________________________________

MAY 7 – NEW POSTER FOR ROCKSTAR MAGIC

John Fung has a new updated poster for his show ROCKSTAR MAGIC. You can view this dynamic poster at the Rockstar Magic page here. Many of the great posters for this year’s magic shows will be on sale at the Festival. Plus, don’t forget you can buy MMF 10 Merchandise here too!

_____________________________________________________________

MAY 6 – NORTHCOTE LEADER FRONT PAGE

Anthony DeMasi was featured on the front page of the May 5 issue of the ‘Northcote Leader’. You can read the full article by clicking here. (And no, the Festival does not run from June 28 to May 10. It’s only two weeks long, not 11 months! I think that was a typo.)

_____________________________________________________________

MAY 6 – MAGIC TONY VIDEOS ADDED

Anthony DeMasi (aka ‘Magic Tony’ from the popular Channel Nine TV show ‘WB Kids’) has added new video clips to his show page ‘Magic Tony: Cartoon Hero’. Take a look at the clips here and enjoy a sample of Tony’s crazy magic. It’s even better live so book your tickets now!

_____________________________________________________________

APRIL 8 – SCAMTASTIC NAME CHANGE

Australia’s Honest Con Man, Nicholas J Johnson has changed the name of his new show from SCAMTASTIC 2 to SCAMAPALOOZA. He’ll be demonstrating many of his astonishing cons and scams (as seen on Channel Nine’s upcoming TV series ‘The Real Hustle’ so book your tickets fast because, no matter what he calls the show, you can be guaranteed that just like last time, his show will sell out fast! .

_____________________________________________________________

MARCH 28 – AIM GALA SHOW LINE-UPS ANNOUNCED

Always a sell out at The Melbourne Magic Festival are the two AIM Gala Shows. The line-ups for The AIM Stage Gala and The AIM Close Up Gala have been announced. They both look like incredible shows – and there’s even more acts yet to be added! Tickets go on sale on May 1 so mark that date in your diary and get ready to book because both shows have only 100 seats available.

_____________________________________________________________

MAR 16 – SAVE $$$ ON GROUP BOOKINGS

Group bookings are now open for most Magic Festival shows so take advantage and book early. Those who book a group of ten or more now will not only get priority seating, but they’ll also save up to 50% off regular ticket prices! That means even if you can only get 6 people together, and buy ten ticket, you’ll still save money and you’ll have four extra tickets to sell or giveaway later! Group booking information is available on each shows webpage.

_____________________________________________________________

FEB 14 – ELLIS & WEBSTER ESCAPE FROM REALITY

Posters are appearing all over Hong Kong for the ‘Wow Magic On Earth II’ show which will feature the debut Ellis & Webster’s new show Escape From Reality on March 20 & 21. You can see it on July 7, 8, 9 and 10 at The Melbourne Magic Festival.

_____________________________________________________________

FEB 13 – MADA vs VEGAS

Adam Mada is interviewed HERE by the Sydney magazine Central and talks about his new show Mada vs Vegas: Duelling Magicians. You can see it on July 4 & 5 at The Melbourne Magic Festival.