FISM 2012 - DAY ONE - BY CRAIG MITCHEL

Day 1 – Monday 9th July

It’s day one of the FISM World Championships of Magic ... and despite the grey skies ... there’s excitement in the air as magicians from far and wide have descended on Blackpool, England for a week of contests, gala shows and lectures.

With early registration taking place yesterday – the first order of the day was to penetrate the Winter Gardens and make it through the burly security stationed outside. For the poor delegate unfortunate enough to have mislaid their all-important ‘confirmation of registration’ letter – you were promptly greeted with a gruff “no letter, no entry” response. In a scene most reminiscent of “Little Britain” - appealing to the idea that maybe, just maybe if you were given access to the hallowed halls and reach the registration desk – they would possibly be able to assist - escaped the comprehension of dear security. After much pondering and a special escort later, the hapless delegate was permitted to enter ... and then in a special win for bureaucracy was promptly asked to complete a form for his missing form – along with the all important question ... “did you report the loss of your confirmation sheet to the police ...” and naturally – “you do have the police case number, don’t you?”
I can picture the scene ... “Hello, is this the Blackpool police ? Yes, I’d like to report a FISM Registration lost in the mail ...”

It brought such a smile to my face :-)



Delegates have been treated to a selection of goodies in the official registration bag complete with a hardcover Jack Hughes book by Derek Lever ( with the price embossed on the outside 150 GBP ) along with full color gloss program ( your price 10 GBP ) ... rounding things up with a commemorative Blackpool teddy bear, logo’d pen, lanyard and badge.



As many of you have by now read – Genii Editor, Richard Kaufman, and yours truly received special mention ( http://www.geniimagazine.com/forums/ubbt...nt=2&page=1 ) in the Official FISM Welcome – but not before Mr Lever reminded us of the merits of Blackpool ... “Whilst Blackpool may not have the glamour of Stockholm or Lisbon or Beijing it can boast that the Opera House is the largest theatre in Europe and that Blackpool has a unique 158m tower which houses a wonderful circus.”

The Blackpool Tourism Council would be proud ;-) 

Richard is labelled as having “openly supported vicious Hitler films” ( does his family know ? ) and I of having vented my spleen as “one South African magician.” I suppose in this era of Olympic pride – national identity is oh so important ... unless the organiser has an overt distaste for Africans perhaps?

Mr Lever seemed more concerned about attempting to secure his election as FISM Vice-President in the opening welcome rather than perhaps focusing on FISM’s key goal of committing itself to the enhancement, promotion and development of the art of magic. Quite the peculiar election strategy – hijack an entire event to air false and libellous accusations against the editor of one of magic’s most respected publications ... and do your utmost to engage in bizarre ramblings against a member of the FISM Executive Board ... whilst at the same time insulting an entire nation. Could you imagine what excitement would be in store for the world of magic should he succeed ?

With such a cheerful and joyful welcome to FISM 2012, let’s not forget why we are here ... 150 competitors from across the globe vying for the title of World Champion Magician.

Today’s program kicks off at 9 am with the Opening of the Dealers Hall, Official Opening Ceremony later at 11 am followed by the Stage Contests from 2 pm to 6:30 pm. Letures by Josh Jay, Matthew Johson, Borid Wild and Axel Hecklau round out the afternoon – ending with the “Late, late Gala Show” in the Opera House and lecture session thereafter with Henry Evans.

Let the games begin!

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