Magic Workshops

Adult Workshops

Stephen offers a variety of workshops, but his most popular one is the 60 minute Magic & Mentalism workshop, where he teaches a selection of simple tricks that can be performed with very little practice. There is very little sleight-of-hand involved and most of the tricks are self-working, meaning we can concentrate on performance and showmanship with each effect.

Often Stephen teaches his Mentalism Magic workshop to adults, for over 50 Social Groups, Team-Building days and after-local resident meetings. He teaches on average 8 different effects, first performing the magical fete, before explaining how it is done and teaching the attendees.

The number of tricks we get through will depend on the number of students, but usually it is about 8 tricks. All the props that are required to perform the tricks are given away to the learners to keep and continue practicing with at home. Instruction sheets are also available for all the attendees so that they will never forget what they learnt.

One-on-One Private Tuition

Often Stephen is asked to teach private lessons as a 50th birthday present or special treat for an occasion. In these cases, Stephen adapts his lesson to what the student wants to learn. Often simple magic is taught like Mentalism and Mind Reading, along with some additional effects using coins, rings and elastic bands. There might be some elementary sleight-of-hand and I can happily teach more of that if appropriate for the student.

These private lessons last for an hour and all props required for the workshop are given away to the student.

Teenagers Workshop

For children aged between 9 and 16, the normal magic show may not be suitable, in which case the magic workshop is definitely a good way to go. I teach a variety of 'street' effects, made popular by David Blaine and Derren Brown. Most of the effects are easy to learn, but require some practice to master. They include several mind-treading effects, optical tricks, coin tricks and card tricks.

The workshop can last all-day if needed, but most often I am asked to do just 60 minutes. Often I perform at after-school clubs, birthdays, end-of-school term parties and fun-days.

Children's Workshop

The Children's magic workshop utilises very simple, almost self-working magical feats. Stephen has even written a book on this subject and several of the effects from that book will be included and taught in this workshop. The effects involved include some basic mind-reading, optical illusions, body tricks, and coin tricks.

Stephen successfully ran his own magic school in America over the summer of 2007 where he taught magic each day to groups of children for 8 weeks. He then returned home to return to his job as an ICT high-school teacher, before leaving that profession to become a magician full-time.

Most recently, he has been teaching a series of weekly magic workshops in several primary schools around Manchester for their after-school clubs.

Stephen prefers to work with small groups so that he can teach more effects in each class, but has done lessons in the classroom for up to 40 children in the past with great success.

I have taught this magic workshop in the living room of the home, village halls, school classrooms and school halls. They are great for after-school parties during the week and for the older children who wish to learn some magic to show their family and friends.

All the props & magic sets required to run the workshop are provided, and the children can take them away to continue practicing at home.

There are a selection of workshops available, so different ones can be requested for repeat bookings. But most often he teaches a variety of effects including Ring Manipulation, Card tricks, Money Tricks, Dice Tricks and Body Tricks.

After-School Clubs

When performing a weekly magic class, each class will be structured around  a different area of magic and planned around the age and ability of the children attending the class. A rough idea of the core structure is:

Week 1: Money Magic

Week 2: Ring Tricks

Week 3: Body Illusions

Week 4: Card Tricks

Week 5: Simple Toys (Compass, Paddles)

Week 6: Around the Classroom Magic

Week 7: Cut-Out Magic

Week 8: Circus Skills Workshop

Week 9: Balloon Modelling & Puppet Making

Week 10: Illusions (Including levitation)

Week 11: Elastic Bands & Matchsticks

Week 12: Dice & Paper Magic

Week 13: Final recap and performance

All props required for the tricks taught are given to the children to continue practicing at home (apart from the circus skills). Some of these classes will include a complete magic set, while others will take advantage of what is readily available around the home.

The price for a series of weekly workshops is considerably less than the standard show due to repeat bookings. Contact me for a quote for your school / club.