Trix in the Stix

I have just spent two awesome days in Shropshire attending a children's entertainers convention called Trix in the Stix. This was thanks to my wife who got the tickets as a surprise and what a surprise it was. I love attending conventions as I learn something new which will help make my shows / business better also getting to chat to fellow entertainers and sometimes buying a new prop which will keep the show fresh. Vicki on the other hand has never been to a convention so it was interesting to see what she would make of the whole experience.

We set off on the Monday at 4pm and the drive down was long but at least we did not hit any traffic. We got to the hotel where the event was being held on time for the evening show. The show had a mix of parody sketches taking the mick out of entertainer's, a speciality bubble act

and a small performance from each of the lecturers. After the show there was a chance to chat and check out the dealer hall where all the magic, balloon and puppet shops had there props on display for sale it was a late night for us getting to bed at 3am.

We woke up at 7:30am and was feeling a little rough but the adrenalin of what lies ahead for today kept us going. After breakfast we signed in and took our seats for the first two power presentations which was very informative. There was a small break then we had the first lecture of the day by Mike Bent an entertainer from America I enjoyed his idea's on tricks so much I got myself a set of his lecture notes. 

We then had time to look around the stalls and I had a chat with Eric Sharp who I had the pleasure of meeting in September 2014 at another convention called Kidology.

 Eric was a full time magician and published several books which have some great ideas and tricks, one of my favourite books is called Specialised Children's Entertainment published in 1981. We had a talk about Punch and Judy and the unique sketches he put together. After dinner it was time for the second lecture of the day by Mel Mellers who has a very different approach to entertaining an audience compared to Mike Bent. I did not know what to expect but I did take a few notes and picked up a few tips so all in all enjoyed his talk.

Me and Vicki went back to out hotel room as we needed to catch up on office work, even when on the road were still working. We managed to get most of it done in time before the next two power presentations which focused on social media and a trick with some sponge balls and a silk.

Buster Balloon gave a talk on...... can you guess, that's right BALLOONS! I really enjoyed his presentation not only on his skill with balloon modelling but his theory on showmanship. I now have a book I want to find as it goes into more detail in regards to his talk. 

The evening ended with me buying a new trick, I have been researching it for a while and by chance there was a nice make for sale so happy Dan more in this will be revealed in the future.

Comedy writing was the last subject of the day and after all that me and Vicki were knackered. It was 2am when we got to bed that night and I think I have just about recovered from a great two days. After my experience I will definitely be attending next year.

Thank you all for reading until next time bye for now.