If you have a specific event in mind you can enquire here, to save yourself some time and a member of our team will be in touch.

Here are a few of our favourite clips of the man with the magic:

Tweet us your attempt at this trick:

The Expert at the Card Table tells the story of two boys whose innocent love of card tricks develops in adulthood into a dangerous game of hustles, street cons and murder. Published anonymously in Chicago in 1902, the book describes in great detail, original and brilliant methods for conjuring effects, whilst at the same time revealing the author’s true intent, a full exposé of the underground techniques used by hustlers, card cheats and con artists.

For tickets and more information follow this link.

Exactly 100 years ago today, a famous magician called The Great Lafayette perished in a fire in the Empire Theatre, Edinburgh. His life was extraordinary and this week, magicians are appearing in Edinburgh to pay homage to the master illusionist.

Read more here: The Great Lafayette

I placed a Wanted Ad recently for some old pickpocket posters. Maybe I shouldn’t have used the phrase ‘cash waiting’ which prompted a suspicious email reply. The whole saga is told here…
The original advert said:
WANTED Any pickpocket posters, photos or other ephemera & pickpocket themed effects. Cash waiting…

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From David Balgetti
5 Nov 2010, at 11:52
I am DAVID BALGETTI, from MADRID,SPAIN,i came across your advert on website that you are in need of the above subject stated,i just want to used this little words of mine to let you know that i have it for sale,and still in a good condition,and i will need your complete address for shipping purpose, please i only need a serious buyer and i do accept international money order and western union money transfer,Money Gram money Transfer and also let me know what method of payment you prefer… or send me an email for further discussion.

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From James Freedman
Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 1:21 PM
Thanks for your email.
I’m delighted that you have ‘Pickpocket Posters’ for sale. Do you have the wooden one or the cheaper plastic model? What colour is the flight case? Is the sprottle nib intact and as new & what is your price? I have a maximum budget of $3500.
Thanks again

James

—————————————————————————————
From David Balgetti
5 Nov 2010, at 20:06
Thank, i got your mail with the content well noted,i will be happy to inform you that i have both the wooden and the cheaper plastic model and the colour is black and red and the sprottle nib is very intact and very new as well you have nothing to worry about ok.
and the price of the pickpocket posters is $3000usd
thanks
balgetti.

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From James Freedman
Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 10:11 PM
Thanks for getting back to me.
OK so I would like to buy just the wooden pickpocket poster please, with black and red flight case plus sprottle nib of course. I do NOT want the cheaper Japanese plastic version at all because they are all spherical and I really prefer corners.
I don’t suppose you have the ORIGINAL warple flanges as well do you? So many of the pickpocket posters I have seen have these missing or badly damaged. If you do have these too, I could increase my offer depending on the condition.
So please let me know if you have the warple flanges and if you do, what colour & condition are they and are they fitted with bongo nut or wibble tacks?
How much do you want for them?
Please reply quickly. I have a show soon and want to put these in the act.

Thanks again
James
PS Did we meet at FISM last year? Your name seems to ring a bell.

—————————————————————————————
From David Balgetti
5 Nov 2010, at 21:51
thanks for your mail  i want to give you the full assurance that it is not the Japanese product ok it is the Spanish product and it has corners. i have the original warple too and it is in a perfect condition that i can assure you too. The colour of the warple flanges is white and black ok and the condition is good as well. u have nothing to worry, the wibble tacks are on the warple flanges and i am giving it away for $2500usd

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From James Freedman
Sat, Nov 6, 2010 at 12:52 AM
Great. Thanks David.
So just to confirm, you are selling me pickpocket posters made out of wood with black and red flight case and a new and very intact sprottle nib manufactured in Spain. You are also offering the original warble flanges in both black and white in good condition and fixed with wibble tacks. That is great – I didn’t even know they ever made the flanges in white!
I will probably never find another one with all these features but my budget is limited. Can we agree $3,500 for all this including shipping to London please?
How would you like me to pay you? I’d like to arrange for quick delivery if possible.
James
—————————————————————————————

From David Balgetti
6 Nov 2010, at 02:16
thanks i got your mail. ok you can go to any western union nearest to you to make the payment, below is the payment information needed as soon as you do you sent me the details of your payment and and i will commerce shipment of your product and i will give you the shipment tracking number ok
www.westernunion.com and click on send money online then enter my account officer information below
Receiver Name..Denis Clark
Address.. Avda Del Rosario 8 50410 Cuarte De Huerva Zaragoza SPAIN
As soon as payment is made,you are to forward me the following details below
Sender Name
Address
Mtcn Number
Exact money sent
As soon as i get this information,i will package and  i will ship and i will forward you the shipping tracking numbers.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Regards,

—————————————————————————————
From James Freedman
Sat, Nov 6, 2010 at 11:06 AM
I’d like to finish this matter soon so I can share the wonderful entertainment of the ‘pickpocket poster’

I could go to the nearest Western Union on Monday to pay you. I am busy today dealing with a muppet.
A magic friend has told me that some of the wibble tack fitted warble flanges on the wooden poster can rub the cillit bang off the sprottle nib. If course, this cannot happen with the plastic Japanese copy but as your posters were made in Spain, would you please inspect under the Morton fittings and just check that the booby threads are OK? I’d really appreciate it if you could check that or if you could send me a photo of your boobys that would be great. It would be expensive to repair them if they are not OK.
I really want this item quickly. Could you ship it to me today if I PROMISE to go to Western Union on Monday? My shipping address is:
Yoobin Planning
2 Conme Avenue
Nochance
Sorrey
PI55 0FF

Let me know if you need any more intelligence.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
James

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From David Balgeti
6 Nov 2010, at 10:31
My dear friend i am so sorry i would have love to ship before payment but they are standard procedures as regard shippment matters, i will commerce shippment when i get the details of your payment ok
i assure that the morton fittings and the boobly thread are in perfect order u have no need to make any repair that i assure you ok, sorry i can”t sent you photo cos my scanning machine is bad for now but you have nothing to worry about i promise you that.
regard
balgetti.

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From James Freedman
Sat, Nov 6, 2010 at 2:19 PM
Dear Balgetti
I completely understand why I must send you my money first. Of course you must be cautious, there are some bad people out there but I can assure you that I am not a fraudster.
I’ll go to Western Union on Monday to send you the money
Thanks for checking the Morton fittings. One small thing, you mentioned BOOBLY threads but I need boobys not booblys. Was this a mistake? Do you have boobys or booblys? You can check this easily by examining the grunge capstan. If it says ‘WTF’ then you have what I want BUT if it says ‘OMG’ then they are boobly threads which is nonsense. I want boobys.
 
Let me know.
 
Your new best friend
James

—————————————————————————————
From David Balgetti
6 Nov 2010, at 14:26
oh my friend it was totally a mistake i miss type ok very sorry for that,it is the boobys i have ok, u know u are very lucky,  i checked the grunge capstan it is WTF you have nothing to fear

once again i am so sorry for the mistake,let me assure you are buying the best product you will not regret i promise you.

thanks my new best friend James

regard
balgetti

—————————————————————————————
From James Freedman
6 November 2010 22:29
Dear Balgetti

I went online to my bank to get the $3,500 to send you by Western Union and I discovered some very bad news. I’d been the victim of a scammer who had taken all the money from my bank account!

To be honest, I wasn’t sure how I was going to pay you but when I turned on my computer I had some very good news.

A lawyer in Sierra Leone has contacted me concerning his client who recently died leaving over $200,000,000.00 (TWO HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS) in trust for me. Unfortunately it is in a foreign bank so all I have to do is send him my bank account details, sort code, account number, $150 for his legal fees and a copy of my signature and he will make a bank transfer of $200,000,000.00 to me.

As soon as it clears, I’ll be in touch.

James

… to be continued!

Playwright Alan Bennett was mugged this week by a gang of girls who secretly flicked ice-cream onto his jacket, then as they ‘helped’ him to clean it off, they quietly helped themselves to his wallet too.

But another similar distraction scam is currently doing the rounds in London and one of our team, professional mindreader Graham Jolley has been targeted. He writes – This scam caught me totally by surprise. Please don’t be naive enough to think it couldn’t happen to you or your friends and please pass this information to any men who may be regular supermarket customers.

Here’s how it works. Recently, I became a victim of a clever scam while shopping at Tesco.  Two very attractive girls in their early twenties, came over as I was packing shopping bags into my car. One of them had a bucket of soapy water and the other started to clean my windscreen with a sponge. They only wore skimpy t-shirts and I realise now that they were distracting me. When I offered them a couple of quid they declined but asked for a lift to the local McDonalds.

Stupidly I agreed and on the way, one of them took off her shirt claiming it was wet from the water. Then she started climbing onto my lap while the other one stole my wallet.

I’ve had my wallet stolen on May 4th, 9th & 12th – twice on the 15th and the 24th – three times last Monday and probably once again next weekend.

So please tell your friends to be vigilant. This is a horrible way to take advantage of us older men.

By the way, Tesco has wallets on sale at £2.99 each.

Graham Jolley

The team behind The Magic Circle Headquarters has been awarded the title “Venue Team of The Year”.

The announcement was made by the Association of Event Organisers at the annual Excellence Awards held at the Hilton on Park Lane and hosted by comedian Jason Manford. This is the latest industry honour for the team responsible for London’s most magical venue.

Entries for this award were at an all time record level this year, so to win is something very special indeed.

The Magic Circle Headquarters was shortlisted for the prestigious award with four other world-class venues; Earls Court & Olympia, the Business Design Centre, the Scottish Exhibition Centre and ExCeL London.

A spokesman for the AEO revealed that the judges had been impressed by “excellent new marketing initiatives and a highly successful and focused sales approach”.

Magicians.co.uk is proud to be an Approved Supplier of entertainment at The Magic Circle Headquarters and to support the venue team at promotional events.

To add a touch of magic to your next event or to experience this multi-award winning venue, call us on 0845 00 62442.

After dipping our toes in the social networking pool by joining Facebook, we thought we’d try our hand at the latest craze to sweep the world – Twitter. So if you already a member, follow us ‘Magicianscouk’ and if you aren’t then we feel it is high time you sign up!

Our parent company Magic Management (magicmanagment) are also ‘tweeting’ along with our associate company The Magic Circle Headquarters (magiccirclehq) – follow them for your daily dose of Magic and keep up with all the latest news – we have some fantastic interactive links in the pipeline for this summer. So what are you waiting for – get tweeting!

Yes we’ve given in to the world of social Networking! You can catch up with the latest news, gossip, offers and events going on in the wonderful world of Magicians.co.uk on Facebook! We will also be adding the link to our fantastic ‘Trick of the week’ podcasts, where subscribers can see a trick and then learn how it’s done (coming soon)! 

So join us by clicking here and enjoy!

James Freedman was invited to 10 Downing Street again recently and was caught on camera by the policeman who took this photo!

James, a stage pickpocket and magician, was described in Time Out as “possibly the world’s best pickpocket”. He has entertained royalty, heads-of-state and celebrities in over 25 countries and has earned himself the title ‘The Man of Steal’.

James has been a specialist advisor on several feature films and television programmes and also lectures to groups including security professionals and police.

Last year, he gained some notoriety when he ‘borrowed’ the Chancellor’s wallet.  It’s amazing they let him back again.

As you can probably imagine, December is a very busy time here in the Magicians.co.uk offices. And it’s not just our performers who are busy, the bookings team are doing their usual brilliant job scheduling the hundreds of magical appearances (and disappearances!) we make in the weeks before Christmas.