Wedding fayres, Dale Campbell and playing cards.

 So thought I would post a couple of shots from a recent wedding fayre in Cheltenham at The Queens Hotel.

Its always a great fayre and last week I had my brother exhibiting beside me.  He is a great videographer and shot and edited all my promo's that feature on my website.

He was recently started making wedding films and examples of his work can be found on his website;

http://www.dalecampbellfilms.com/

Here is a recent purchase 180 decks of playing cards which should keep me going for a long while.  I use one deck of cards at most gigs sometimes two if it is a large event.

So I buy them in bulk which makes sense.

A few shots form a recent wedding in Clevedon Bristol.

I was recently lucky enough to have a photographer friend come along to a wedding booking with me and take a few shots.  The wedding was at The Walton Park Hotel in Clevedon and I was booked to perform during the drinks reception whilst the photographs were being taken.

Jason did a great job at capturing the guests reactions to my magic please take a look at his website for your photography needs http://soundawake.500px.com/#/0

Brighton.

Just got back from a great gig in Brighton last night and was lucky enough to have 'Anderson entertainments' take a few snap shots of me at work. The event was for Care UK and was held at The Brighton Hilton which is right along the seafront in Brighton. I entertained guests during the pre dinner drinks and then at the tables up until the main course. So here are a few snaps form the event.

Anyway enjoy the photos and check out www.andersonentertaiment.co.uk for more information on the photographer and DJ services.

Its Christmas!!!!!

I haven't blogged for awhile and I feel bad about this so I will begin with an overview of October and November and that'll lead nicely to now. So October had a couple of lovely weddings one at The Matara centre which is a beautiful venue set in stunning grounds and has a really unusual ( good ) vibe to it.

Also I performed at Clearwell castle which is a very old venue again set in stunning grounds. I was hired for during the photographs at both of these weddings and it went down very well with the guests and bridged the gap to the wedding breakfast very well. Halloween I found myself performing at a local venue who had put on a burlesque evening and I was entertaining in the crowd between acts great fun and a highly entertaining evening. Also I headed out to Cranham for a Cricket clubs Halloween party some great costumes at this gig.

November was busy but all the bookings seemed to be booked last minute. I spent one evening entertaining the members of the Bath Rotary Club who were all celebrating their 90th Anniversary as the club. It was a great evening and I performed alongside a fantastic acoustic guitarist and Opera singer.

My regular Christmas slots at Byzantium in Bristol started at the end of November so I will be there most Wednesdays and Saturdays entertaining the many many Christmas parties that they have booked over the festive season. I had the pleasure of winning a stand up magic competition at the Cotswold magic society it was a great night and am please

d I managed to baffle the judges and spectators alike.

The new wedding showreel is up on my website please check it out at http://www.dcmagic.co.uk/weddings.html and spread the word to anyone you know who may be getting married in 2012/2013.

Now we're into December and I have had a busy start to the month travelling to Sheffield for a gig at Sheffield United Football ground which was a fantastic night. I also had the pleasure of performing at The Penny Reading in Liverpool I performed a 10 minute cabaret act on stage in front of the 400 strong audience and it was such a exhilarating experience. The audience

was great fun and really got involved which made the gig for me.

So thats all for today I'm heading to Brighton tomorrow for a gig which will be fun. More blogging soon.

September ( a little late).

Well its been too long since my last post I had a busy September with quite a few weddings a couple of wedding fayres and a birthday all thrown into the mix. I have been to Bath, Worcester, Chew magna and Bristol for various wedding during September and met some lovely people along the way.

Also I performed at the Tortworth Court wedding fayre and can be seen in the promotional video for the Love Actually wedding fayre site. A link to this video is here http://vimeo.com/29662959 ...... it was shot by White Villa films who are a fantastic videography company as you can tell from the video.

I also attended a wedding fayre at Bowden Hall in Gloucestershire. Again a great day exhibiting alongside some great companies.

I also had the pleasure of running a small card workshop for members of 'The Cotswold Magic Society' which was great fun.

Right now we're in October I'll post again soon and leave a link to my new wedding promotional video.

All the best,

Darren

August

August was a great month for me and different because I had a real range of gigs. My first of the month was working alongside Crispin Jones who is a fantastic watch designer from London. I had the pleasure of doing a product launch for the company in 2008 and it seems they have been going from strength to strength since then. We spent a whole day filming close up footage of his watches to be used at tradeshows all over the world. It was an intense day of filming but great fun and his watches are in my opinion the most innovative and stylish on the market today.

http://www.mrjoneswatches.com/watches/

Here is a link to the Mr jones website check it out and also if your in London check out his shop in the Oxo tower near the south bank.

I also had the pleasure of performing my cabaret act at 'Theatre 503' in London which is a fantastic theatre in Battersea. It was part of an evening of comedy and improvised theatre and I must give a massive mention to http://theimprosarios.com/ they are a improvised theatre group who basically make up plays every evening depending on the input from the audience. Each member has razor sharp wit and comic timing of the highest level.

I was lucky enough to have my very talented brother film me at this event and we even put together a short showreel from the footage that can be found on the Cabaret page of the site.

No month would be complete without a couple of weddings and August was no exception I had the pleasure of performing at two intimate weddings one at the gorgeous Rococco Gardens in Painswick and the other at The Green Dragon Inn in Cockleford.

A summer party and company fun day was on my agenda for the end of the month. Malvern Instruments is a leading company in material characterization. I had the pleasure of entertaining staff family and friends at their annual summer fun day. It was a lovely day and I enjoyed mixing and mingling with the crowds entertaining them with my magic.

Thats all for this blog post be back soon with updates from September so far.

July.

Well July has been and gone and it was a highly entertaining month for me, filled with weddings and private parties. I got to visit Highclere Castle in Newbury as the first wedding of the month and what a stunning venue it is. The grand exterior is really quite breathtaking as you approach the castle from the winding driveway. The interior doesn't disappoint either and is full of renaissance charm and elegance. On such a beautiful day though I entertained the guests outside as the newly wed couple had their photographs captured in the stunning gardens and grounds.

Other highlights from the month include an evening entertaining at Fulham Palace in west London. Again a venue with a certain elegance and charm about it. I was hired for post dinner entertainment around the tables and amongst the various small groups of guests standing. I am always fascinated with the almost military style operation for these sorts of events that occurs behind the scenes. I arrived as the desserts were being delivered to the tables and watched as an endless stream of waiting staff served the perfectly identical desserts to the 100 or so guests. Compared to my performance which varies significantly with each new group os guests, even though I maybe performing similar effects the group dynamic changes with every encounter, which is one of the joys of the job I do. No two audiences are ever the same.

I had the pleasure of working for a company who do a very unique job. The company is called 'Snow Business' and they produce artificial snow for films, tv and corporate events all over the world. I was invited to their headquarters in Stroud to entertain at their annual conference and summer party. I would urge anyone to take a look at the showreels on their website because I imagine you have all seen their work in a film or on Tv and were blissfully unaware of the origins of the snow or ice. http://www.snowbusiness.com/ The event itself was a hive of activity when I arrived hot air balloons were taking off from the field, a marquee was set up ready for a storyteller and then a band later on. I could see a bonfire ready to be lit later on and various employees and family members enjoying the festival feel of this event. My brief was simple walk-around and entertain and thats exactly what I spent the evening doing. As the light faded I moved closer to the lights of the marquee and at one point had guests with torches over my hands to see the magic as clearly as possible. It was a highly enjoyable evening and I will look forward to working with them again in the near future.

Other wedding venues I visited this month included : Hatherley Manor , Cadbury house, The Egypt Mill and The Dark Barn. Along with a number of busy evenings at Byzantium restaurant in Bristol.

Well we're already in August now but i'll save that update for another day. Maybe even a video in the next blog.

Over and out.