May 2005

THIS MONTH:
On the Island of Sark
Photo-shoot
Shows
Art for Art's sake
Derren Brown
Book
Feel Small

ON THE ISLAND OF SARK
Highlight of the month – if not the year – was a visit to Sark (a tiny island in the Channel Islands.) Okay, this was no ordinary visit, and was surrounded by secrecy that would have made Area 51 proud. Sark is only one mile wide by three miles long and has a population of only 600. It has no real roads to speak of, no street furniture, and no street lighting. The only way to get around is by walking or on bike. That’s yer choices, mate.
But to this place came some of the top mindreaders in the world – and me. (I think I was invited to make the others look good!) It was a private invitation to a social function, from our wonderful host Peter Willats, but we also agreed to put on a couple of shows for the islanders... in the village hall. No lights. No PA. Just a hall and folding chairs.

It really took the island by storm, and word that a top-flight "magic" show was taking place spread like wildfire. (Somebody calculated that the second show pulled in around 30% of the island population. If that had happened in London, we would have filled Wembley Stadium 15 times over. Nice thought!) Here were seven top-class acts plus Drew McAdam, performing together on the same stage. Unbelievable. The list of performers boasted Romany, (Diva of magic), John Archer, Marc Paul and Banachek. The next night, it was Ian Rowland, Yours truly, Spyros Melaris, Luke Jermay and Banachek. Now look, I know these names might not mean much to you... so just do a quick Google search and scare yourself... these are SERIOUS performers in my industry. And I must say, besides being Great Fun (despite arriving late due to airport delays) it was also an incredible honour. Guys, I’m delighted that the Sark Pirates will be back on the open seas soon!

Oh, by the way, you can read the story here. And, if you’re eagle-eyed, you’ll see a couple of photographs of me in a kilt!

http://www.sark.info/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.index

PHOTO SHOOT
There was one reeeeally long day at the beginning of May. It began in the morning with a photo-shoot for a big article that’s appearing in the prestigious SHE magazine. (Thanks to top feature writer Joan McFadyn for that.) The article is planned for the August edition, which means it will be out in July – you work it out! . Thanks go to makeup artist Vanya, and top photographer Mark Hamilton.

By the time we had finished it was almost evening, so I had to drive straight up to the St Andrews Bay Hotel for an after-dinner cabaret spot for select employees from a hotel chain.

SHOWS:
I was back at the Hilton Treetops, Aberdeen AGAIN, three times this month for a total of five appearances, performing for a variety of oil companies. And as always I took my mini DVD player to fill in the long lonely hours (yeah, right!) and happened to take a Billy Connolly Live – greatest Hits DVD. I had forgotten how funny that is... only to be watched if you have an inhaler and you’re wearing incontinence knickers. I also had a private function at the Yu Chinese restaurant in Union Street, Aberdeen. As always, I went there early to check out the location, and parked in one of the nearby carparks. Getting out of the car, I turned round and bumped right into Billy Connolly! Of course, I just happened to have his DVD and a Sharpie pen handy. Woo-hoo! How cool is that?
Interestingly, following a chat with the car park attendant, I was given a challenge: if I could tell him how much change he had in his pocket, he would let me park for free... so THAT saved me £2.60!

ART FOR ART’S SAKE:
One of my other gigs was a reception at the Glasgow Museum of Modern Art. Okay, I’m a Philistine, and I really don’t get that stuff. Am I the only one who finds this funny – thoughtfully scrutinising a fire extinguisher then casually asking passers-by: "I don’t know... What does it say to you?" Hee hee.

Oh, and Brian? Thanks for the wonderful cut-out silhouette you did of me.

DERREN BROWN:
I do hope some of you at least managed to catch Derren Brown’s live shows – the Something Wicked This Way Comes tour. The show is superb. There was also The Gathering on Channel 4 this month, in which Derren performed most of his act from the first tour. I reviewed the Edinburgh Show for the Evening News, and you can read the review at www.scotsman.com – or from this link http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=591952005 (hopefully that will get you past the need for a password.) By the way, it was great to meet up with so many old friends, who had come independently to see the show. Andy, Thornton, WeeVonn (no E) Tod, Mark, Andy (2), and all the others... I seemed to bump into so many of you. And,, Martha, thanks for the invite to the wee games night afterwards. The chilli chocolate is still working its magic – and the toilet roll is in the fridge!

BOOK:
At long last, my book (only for those in "the industry" I’m afraid!) is printed and at the distributors, ready to go. There’s going to be a couple of week’s delay, due to unforeseen circumstances (I’m not psychic, you know) and then it’s off and running. If pre-publication interest is anything to go by, the distributor is going to be busy!

HERE’S A FUN THING IF YOU WANT TO FEEL SMALL:
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/View the Milky Way at 10 million light years from the Earth. Then move through space towards the Earth in successive orders of magnitude until you reach a tall oak tree just outside the buildings of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. After that, begin to move from the actual size of a leaf into a microscopic world that reveals leaf cell walls, the cell nucleus, chromatin, DNA and finally, into the subatomic universe of electrons and protons. "And I think to myself, what a wonderful world."

Hope you all keep in good health – and I’ll see you next month. If there’s anything interesting going on in your life, PLEASE drop me a line and let me know. I love to hear from you all.

Best wishes,
Drew