26 January 2006

Kostya Kimlat lecturing at Paisley Magic Circle

Last Thursday night saw American performer Kostya Kimlat lecture at Paisley Magic Circle. Having helped to arrange the lecture, I was nervous about how many people would turn up to see him and what they would think of him.

During the day, we met up in Glasgow so Kostya (pronounced Coast-yah) could meet Roy Walton in his shop, Tam Shepherd's in Queen Street. Kostya performed a few things and Roy, along with the other magicians visiting the shop at the time, was very impressed by both his technical skill and his enthusiasm for magic. Roy even performed a few things for the group - including "Stage Shout", the first effect in Volume 2 of "The Compete Walton." It was great to see Roy do some of his own material and I just wish I could see him perform more often.

That night, a large number of visitors came to St Margaret's Church in Renfrew, the venue for Paisley Magic Circle's meetings, to see the lecture. Kostya did not disappoint the large group that had gathered to see him and he very quickly sold out of all the lecture notes he had. What impressed me even more was that his entire lecture consisted of card magic. That's it! 2½ hours with just a deck of cards and his amazing charismatic character.

I always knew that Kostya would go down well, especially after seeing him in London at the International Magic Convention, but was always wary of the "club magician mentality" and what they would think. I was glad to hear them all rave about what they had seen. Phew!

Let me just say that if you get the chance to see Kostya perform or lecture, take it with both hands and don't let go! He has some great stuff and he's also the nicest guy you could ever wish to meet.

Best wishes

The Cardman :-)

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