Today was the last day of the Stage Magic Competition - though many people attended the Topas lecture which they said was excellent, but they missed out on some of the best and most interesting acts of the competition - but I'll leave reporting on the competition to Sue-Anne.
After lunch was a Henry Evans lecture, a McBride Masterclass (extra cost I think?), a Shoot Ogawa lecture and the FISM General Assembly meeting where they accepted membership of three new societies (including The College of Magic in South Africa), put forward a rule about abuse of people and animals on stage during the competition, and voted Blackpool as the next FISM venue. (Apparently, if more people voted against Blackpool than for it, Eric Eswin would have had 12 months in which to find a new FISM host city).
Finishing off the night was a big banquet (and I mean BIG!). Same place as the welcome dinner but with a different menu, just as glamorous and luxurious and with a feast of the best entertainment Beijing has to offer. Not a single magic trick but no-one seemed to mind.
We had a full orchestra on stage as opposed to the usual trio, and acts included operatic singers, ballet dancers, a troupe of plate spinners and an acrobatic duo who were truly astonishing. We even had a Chinese version of the all-girl classical music group 'Bond'. Even the songs they played sounded like (but weren't) Bond's hits. The debate of the night was "Were they really playing or doing a Milli Vanilli?" because once or twice not a bow was touching a string but the music still continued... but whether they really were playing or not didn't seem to matter as hundreds of people from the back of the room rushed forward to take photos.
You can see A LOT of FISM pictures here in the Flickr FISM Pool.
Also that night the FISM Special Awards were presented.
CREATIVITY went to Jim Steinmeyer (Mike Caveney accepted on his behalf).
HISTORY & RESEARCH went to Bill Kalush (Max Maven accepted on his behalf).
PHILOSOPHY & THEORY went to Juan Tamariz and the crowd exploded with joy.
It truly was a sensational night and one of the best FISM banquets in past memory.
As the night went on and the drinks flowed we had a debate with some people who didn't think the Jury should ever "Red Light" any competitors. Their logic was that the competitor might be upset and go off and kill themselves. However, they had no problem with acts using electric chairs on audience volunteers or hitting their assistants on their heads because they considered that funny.
Some people just don't get it...
