The June edition of the Melbourne Magic Night was an EPIC evening with EIGHT Melbourne Magic Festival shows previewed, an hilarious Kids Show Entertainers panel, and lots of surprises!

A big crowd had gathered at the fabulous Wesley Anne and excitement was building as we had the release of the 24 page Melbourne Magic Festival Programmes and lots of “Insider Tips” as well.

The show started off with host Tim Ellis performing a preview of his family show MAGIC vs MUSIC: THE AUDIENCE ALWAYS WINS – improvising his magic to music provided by the audience.

Next was Raymond Truong with a scene from A LONG WAIT featuring juggling, magic and comedy as he tried to impress his true love while waiting for a train.

Ashley Barnett performed a psychological experiment to give us a little taste of APPEARANCE vs REALITY: THE SCIENCE & PSYCHOLOGY OF MAGIC and probably had the most volunteers on stage at the same time ever!

Sarah Jones, ventriloquist extraordinaire, tried her hand at something completely different – literally! Her shadow puppets were truly enchanting and will no doubt be a highlight of TALKING TO YOURSELF: A HISTORY OF VENTRILOQUISM

Nigel Xu almost stole the show as the XCM expert turned his hand to comedy with a very funny interactive piece from his show HOW: HANDS OF WISE.

Nicholas Johnson, Ashley Barnett and Anthony DeMasi joined Tim Ellis for a panel session all about the delights and dramas of entertaining children. I’m sure everyone there learned something, especially the importance of positioning the birthday cake away from the entertainer! 😉

After a quick break we had a piece from INTRIGUED by Josh Staley which involved a very unexpected striptease… which I’m sure is burned into our collective memory…

Dane Certificate presented a buffet of magic with pieces from his two Magic Festival shows DANE CERTIFICATE’S MAGIC SHOE FOR KICKS and DANE CERTIFICATE’S VANISHING ELEPHANT.

Ben Sheldon was the final performer and he was representing THE CLOSE UP GALLERY. Ben’s trick wasn’t Close Up but it was filled with the type of multiple climaxes you can expect at The Close Up Gallery.

Lee Cohen, Director of The Melbourne Magic Festival announced a brand new event THE MMF AWARDS DINNER and gave lots of tips for people wanting to see multiple shows and still save money.

Finally, with the night having gone way over time, we had to squeeze just one game of MagicSports in and Nicholas J Johnson delivered! Playing ‘Instant Tradeshow’ Nicholas performed a spongeball routine that had us all convinced to buy a Coffee Machine. For many people, these MagicSports games are the absolute highlight of the Melbourne Magic Nights.

Coming up next week, don’t miss the MAGIC & MOVIE NIGHT and the launch of Nicholas J Johnson’s book CHASING THE ACE.

The next Melbourne Magic Night is on August 12 – mark it in your diary now!

Photos by Josh Boland Event Photographer