Cambridge Pentacle Club pull a ‘daft lecture’ magic show out of a hat
Hugh Newsam and Jez’O, from the Cambridge Pentacle Club, are putting on a fun and informative magic show, with a little help from their friends, as part of this year’s Cambridge Festival.
Titled More Magic of Cambridge, the Club is back in conjunction with the Festival to present the show on Sunday, 23 March, at Cambridge Junction (J2).
The organisers say: “You will be taken on a magical journey through the people, objects, ideas, words, and inventions that have made our little town famous around the world.”
Hugh, an engineering consultant “in the real world”, said: “We’re one of the oldest magic clubs in the country – most of us are members of the Magic Circle as well – and for the last six years, we’ve teamed up with the University of Cambridge to explain to people what the university has done, what Cambridge has done, but using the medium of magic to try and get people to remember it.
“So we’ve had all sorts of topics, but this year we’re going to talk about who founded the SAS, because he was at Trinity College, we’re going to talk about the discovery of subatomic particles at the Cavendish Lab, we’re going to talk about the music of Cambridge.
“For example, not many people know Olivia Newton-John was born in Cambridge, and Charli XCX, who just won loads of Brit Awards, was as well. And of course Pink Floyd.
“We’re going to look at noise, [Ray] Dolby, he was a student at Cambridge and left the university a lot of money, and I actually visited the Whipple Museum – and we’ve got a video of me looking at some 500-year-old books that have got moving parts inside them.”
Hugh notes that Jez’O, a renowned local magician and president of the Cambridge Pentacle Magic Club, will be doing a trick he performed on Britain’s Got Talent as one of his two spots (Jez’O also works behind the scenes on the popular television programme).
On the education side, Hugh will be talking about teleportation, the waterways of Cambridge, and Cambridge University Botanic Garden, among other things.
“I’m going to be co-hosting with an animatronic toucan, called Tony,” said Hugh, “which I think will cause a bit of hilarity!
“One of our members, Mandy, she’s an actress, she was actually on the West End stage for 10 years as Madame Thénardier in Les Misérables, she’s doing the voice for Tony.”
Other members appearing include Dr Bondini (Philip Bond - Jez’O’s dad), a well-known prop-maker who has created props for the West End and Britain’s Got Talent, Alistair Brown, a local GP, Stacy Smith, a computer expert, Chris Kostecki, a retired plumber, and author Ian Thomson.
Hugh says that “every single story has got magic associated with it, so it’s 10 per cent talking, 90 per cent magic”, adding that “it’s kind of in the style of a daft lecture”.
The Cambridge Pentangle Club Presents More Magic of Cambridge will be performed at the Cambridge Junction (J2), as part of the Cambridge Festival, on Sunday, 23 March, at 2pm and 6.30pm.
There will be close-up magic performed in the foyer before the show and during the interval by Brent Swann-Auger, a chef, and Hugh says people should be able to get their photograph taken with Tony the Toucan.
Tickets, priced £15 for adults and £12.50 for children (15 per cent off for two adults, two children), are available from junction.co.uk. For more on Cambridge Pentacle Club, go to pentacleclub.com.
