The Assembly Convention set a new standard for boutique magic conventions in Australia.
Hosted by Piper Magic, The Assembly 2019, brought together some of our industry's best creative minds from around the world to share, explore, learn and discuss all facets of the art of magic.
Over two and a half days our guests witness multiple lectures, enjoyed hands-on workshops, experience sessions, parties and performances. Our international guests included creative genius and Penguin Live host DAN HARLAN from the USA, prolific close up creator JOHN CAREY from the UK & one of the world’s foremost card magicians JASON LADANYE from the USA. And we were delighted to welcome our Guest of Honour, Australian Comedy Magic legend, PHIL CASS.
This SOLD OUT event was held at the Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane, between June 21st - 23rd 2019.
HERE’S WHAT OUR 2019 CONVENTION INCLUDED!
Guests of Honour: Phil Cass & Philippa
It is with tremendous pleasure we welcome one of Australia’s most talented performers and Brisbane native PHIL CASS to The Assembly in 2019. Phil is a show-business professional who has actively pursued excellence in live entertainment for the last 36 years. On five separate occasions, Phil was nominated by his peers in the entertainment industry as one of the top 5 variety entertainers in Australia, of any category… and was finally awarded the Gold ‘MO’ Award for Australian Performer of the Year in 2014/15! During their career Phil & Philippa have been honoured with 27 show business awards for excellence in live entertainment...
8 ‘MO’ Awards for Best Speciality Act in Australia; 8 Awards from the Queensland Wallace Awards including The Entertainer of the Year Award; 3 Comedy Sight Act Awards from the Australian Club Entertainment Awards (ACE) ; 7 magician of the year type awards ; & as already mentioned 2014/15 GOLD ‘MO’ Award for Australian Performer of the Year.
Further, Philippa was awarded at the NZ conference in Oct 2015 by MAGIC New Zealand, a Life Time Achievement Award in recognition of her outstanding work as a professional magic assistant and stage partner.
He is considered by his peers to be Australia’s #1 corporate comedy magic act, and with a middle name like ‘Trust Me’ you can be sure of one thing… Phil Cass defies the conventional pattern of mayhem in live entertainment with his unique on-stage persona that safely runs the gamut from insult to result!
His lecture for magicians, seen in over a dozen countries, will consist of both close-up and stand-up effects that are guaranteed commercial items as they are or have been regular excerpts from his show. The emphasis will be on comedy magic that is performed with a strong on-stage personality. Magic that is both amazing and entertaining on an emotional level.
“With heart felt appreciation, it was absolutely amazing, well done Sean - you totally blew me away... thank you & congratulations!!!!!!”
The 2019 Registration Packs
Our international guests for The Assembly 2019 included...
DAN HARLAN
Dan Harlan is one of the most prolific creators in the world of magic with an extensive background in theatre.
Over the years Dan has created some of the most highly-prized effects in magic, including Hover-Card, All-Seeing Eye, Stash, Vortex, SpeakEasy, The Awakening, Card-Toon, Crazy-8, Color-Mixer, Hold It Buster, Hot Crossed Ones, Missing, Think, My Word!, Red Rover, Royal Oil, Switchblade,... and the list goes on!.
Dan Harlan has also consulted for top professionals including: Kevin James, Jeff McBride, Keith Barry & David Copperfield.
JOHN CAREY
We were overjoyed that John Carey came to Australia to perform at our convention! In recent years John has established himself as one of the most creative card & close up magicians in the U.K and Europe, lecturing and holding workshops in 15 countries.
Having published 4 critically acclaimed books and myriad DVDs and downloads, John’s streamlined, powerful and practical material is in the repertoires of magicians around the world!
JASON LADANYE
It is with great pleasure that I announce our third international guest for The Assembly 2019 is none other than Jason Ladanye.
In 2013, Jason released his first book, Confident Deceptions and in 2018, he releases his second book Game Changer. Jason is known for creating high-impact card tricks that play like miracles for lay audiences. His peers consider Jason one of the best card magicians in the world.
“Jason Ladanye is a new and exciting international cardician whose passion for the subject is second only to the uninhibited skill he has worked hard to achieve. He brings a refreshing perspective to the subject – his material and virtuosity sparkles with raw power and energy.”
-Michael Vincent
“It was a great convention with just the right amount of performers. Great lecturers and a great group of attendees. ”
NICK BRITT
Nick Britt is one of Australia's busiest family performers, covering close up, stage and corporate magic shows around the world with a unique offering of themed shows and tailored presentations.
Nick’s themed shows over recent year’s have included
Nickleby vs Blaze: World’s Greatest Magic Battle
The Magic Chef
The Greatest Kid’s Show on Earth
… and many more, making him a firm favourite for venue bookers around the country.
His lecture, titled "How to book out a year in advance with out spending a cent on marketing" is a MUST SEE for anyone in the birthday party & family show market.
OFFICIAL EVENT PHOTOS
Includes welcome reception, lectures, workshops and shows.
“An excellent, well run convention. Something for everyone.”
The Assembly Convention -
A Convention for the Art of Magic
(Report by David Jones)
In a nutshell, this was an excellent convention! Sean Piper organised the entire event magnificently; from choosing a superb venue (Eaton Hills Hotel), selecting outstanding overseas guests (Dan Harlan, Jason Ladanye and John Carey), and then running the whole weekend very smoothly and efficiently.
The weekend kicked-off with a Welcome Reception on the Friday afternoon where we got the chance to check out the usual dealer stands and nibble on the complimentary snacks, which were both very good and very plentiful. The first performance was an evening show from Phil Cass and Philippa, hosted by Nick Kay. Phil and Philippa were the Guests of Honour for the convention and it was great to see them do their show again. They have been so busy cruising around the world the last few years it has been difficult to catch them in Australia.
Following this, we had the first lecture for the weekend from Dan Harlan and what a fabulous lecture this was. Dan is a very clever guy and he described six routines in great detail. He showed us radically different and improved methods for standard effects as well as emphasising the importance of presentation, and he gave us excellent examples of strong presentations. I really enjoyed the lecture. Later that evening we had the chance to stay “Up Late” with John Carey and watch him perform some impromptu magic at the bar.
Saturday started with a lecture from Jason Ladanye. I’d not previously seen much of Jason and so watching him perform and lecture for two hours gave me the opportunity to appreciate what a skilled performer he is; his technique is flawless and he has created a strong character which enables him to get a lot of humour out his routines. Following a short lunch break we then had a lecture from Phil Cass and again we were shown the importance of creating a strong presentation based on a well-defined character. The highlight for me was watching Phil perform his walnut shells and pea routine again; he is the absolute master at extracting the maximum amount of entertainment possible from this effect.
After a coffee break we then headed into the John Carey workshop. John taught us nine routines, starting with his stripped down C/S/B and then giving us a mixture of card routines which can be performed from a borrowed deck as well as several packet tricks. All John’s routines rely on relatively simple sleights and clever presentations and routining and came as a welcome break from the knuckle busting sleights that Jason uses in his routines!
After dinner we started with the Gala show featuring Dan Harlan, Jason Ladanye, Joel Howlett, Nick Kay, Josh Norbido and John Taylor, with Dean Atkinson acting as the MC and doing a fabulous job. Dan again showed his brilliance at creating very strong and hilarious presentations and Jason, who is primarily a close-up card guy, did some strong stand-up card routines. After that we again had the opportunity to stay “Up Late” and watch both John Carey and Jason Ladanye performing impromptu magic at the bar.
Sunday started with a lecture from Nick Britt on how to effectively market your show. Must admit that I didn’t catch this, but everyone I spoke to who did see it said that it was excellent. After a coffee break we then went into a workshop with Dan Harlan, titled “Turning Tricks … intoMagic”. This was a TRUE workshop; we were all given worksheets and encouraged to fill them out, and then we watched six brave attendees each perform a routine in front of Dan and then receive constructive comments from Dan on how they could improve their performances. In all cases, the improvement that Dan was able to bring to each of the routines was astounding. He very quickly identified any weak spots in each routine and then offered ingenious ways to overcome them. We were all left in awe at his ability to do this on the spot, over and over again. This was indeed quite a lesson in how to construct strong and entertaining routines.
The final session of the convention was a card workshop with Jason Ladanye. Again, this was a true workshop as Jason simply invited questions from the floor as to what techniques he should help us with. As a result, we got his insights on the Strike Second Deal, Faro Shuffle, Pinky Count, Double Turnover, Zarrow Shuffle, Tilt, the Cull, and many other techniques, as well as the importance of having the correct misdirection and motivation for each of the moves.
It was a jam packed weekend full of great performances, lectures and workshops. I think that everyone enjoyed themselves, and we were all pleased to hear Sean announce at the end of the convention that he has decided to run another one in 2021. I’ll be there!
- David Jones
Registration included admission to all sessions & events held formally as part of The Assembly Convention only.
Hotel/Accomodation, food, drinks, merchandise, travel, transfers and all other ancillary costs are not covered by the registration fee.
There is a single rate for every registrant which covers all convention events. Should you not wish to attend sections of the weekend, we will not reimburse or subsidise the registration fee.
*WE DO NOT PROVIDE DAY PASSES OR PARTIAL REGISTRATION*
Below you'll find a rough outline of the 2019 convention schedule
Friday June 21st
3:30pm - Registration available
5:00pm - Welcome event. Dealer booths open.
7:00pm - Official Welcome. Phil Cass LIVE
8:30pm - Dan Harlan Lecture (2 hours)
11:00pm - 'Up Late with John Carey' Session
Saturday June 22nd
9:00am - Dealer booths open.
10:00am - Jason Ladanye Lecture
12:00pm - Lunch break
12:30pm - Phil Cass Lecture (2 hours)
2:30pm - Coffee Break. Dealer booth open.
3:00pm - John Carey Workshop (2 hours)
5:30pm - Dinner Break
7:30pm - International Showcase of Magicians Stage Show
11:00pm - 'Up Late with John Carey' Session
Sunday June 23rd
9:00am - Dealer booths open.
10:00am - Nick Britt Lecture (1 hour)
11:15am - Coffee Break. Dealer booths open.
11:45am - Dan Harlan Workshop (2.5 hours)
2:30pm - Jason Ladanye Workshop (2.5 hours)
5:00pm - Official Close / Shuttles return to airport