Paisley Magic Circle

History

Paisley Magic Circle was formed in September 1938. Originally it took the name of the former Paisley magical club: Paisley Magical Society (abbreviated PMS). It kept this name until 1967. The founder members were Tom Ellis, Watson Black and Wyndham Lee.

The first meeting was held in the YMCA building in the High Street, Paisley. This meeting place lasted a very short time as the YMCA was handed over to the War Office for use during the war years. The first meeting saw Harry Fenton, Alex Gillougley and Malcolm McIntyre joining with the founders. During the war years the club took on the role of a transit club. Many magicians both British and American landed at Glasgow, Greenock and Paisley harbour and were soon making their way to Paisley Magical Society meetings. Despite the rationing there was always tea and magic on the menu. Like the London Windmill the society never closed.

The club moved to many meeting places over the years. These included: Miss Balmford's home in High Street, The Masonic Hall in Ralston, Methodist Hall, Coats Memorial Hall, Coats Memorial Church Hall, Paisley Town Hall and the Boys Brigade H.Q. in Paisley.

Like most other clubs PMS started to present magical shows annually from 1943 and after a long run the members decided to stop in 1963. A few have been organised since then, but usually along with some other organisation such as Church groups. The entrance fee is shared with the organising group and the club.

The club organised a one-day magical convention in 1979. It was held in Johnstone Town Hall and had lectures by Peter Jeffries and Paul Scott and a gala show with Bill McBrinn, Jimmy Fleming, Les McLean, Freddy Lee, Les & Lynn Paul, Cadabras and Paul Scott. This one-day convention was so successful it was repeated annually, remaining a main part of the club's programme for many years.

The Renfrew District Council have supported the club by providing Civic Receptions for the Fifty and Sixty year celebrations. As part of the fifty year celebrations the council also worked with the club to present the first one-month Museum exhibition of magic in Scotland.

The club started its own club magazine in 1997 entitled The Pattern (the Paisley Pattern!). The magazine contains reviews on magical effects, suggested reading, personal best books list, coming events and some history of the club and magicians of the past.

Membership

Paisley Magic Circle membership is open to any individual over 16 years of age, although younger individuals are accepted as Junior members. The club meets in St Ninian's Church Hall in Paisley, the first and third Thursday of every month from September to May. Many of the meetings are open to other magicians who are members of a recognised magic club and society. In addition, the club schedule events that are open to friends, family and members of the general public.

Elected council

The club's main body is a council elected during the Annual General Meeting (AGM). During this meeting, committee and non-committee posts for the council are proposed and voted for by the club members. Junior members can attend the meeting but cannot vote.

Council 2016-2017

Council 2015-2016

Council 2014-2015

Honorary membership

Paisley Magic Circle has honoured many magicians over the years:

Honorary Presidents

Harry Fenton, Jimmy Flemming, David Haggarty, Val Le Val and Margaret MacLean.

Honorary Vice Presidents

Peter Allan, Les Levant, John Ramsay, John Cranston, Zina Bennett, Tom Ellis, Harry Fenton, George Birrell, William McDonald, Colin Goodburn and Jim Cuthbert.

Honorary members

Harry Willane, Tom Ellis, Charles Wilson, Tommy Frederick, George Willison, Fred Balme, Bill McBrinn, Adrian Harris, Stuart Leith, Cynthia Neptune, Bill McLeod, Roy Scott, Paul Daniels, Brian Jeffrey, Tommy Templeton, Paul Nardini, Peter McLanachan and Doreen Clark.

Club lecturers

The club has provided the magicians of Scotland with a number of magical lecturers. These include Val Le Val, Jim Cuthbert, John McCracken, Colin Goodburn, Peter McLanachan and Jimmy Fleming.

Club competitions

Every year the club holds a competition night where members can compete against each other in three categories of magic. Selected from the following four:

The Malcolm Taylor Trophy

In 2015 the committee decided to create the Malcolm Taylor Trophy, which is a competition where the participants have to perform just one trick, and a jury composed by one professional magician, one amateur magician and one non-magician person decides which trick is best and gets awarded the trophy. The competition is specially aimed at club members that do not have the time or will to prepare a complete act for the other competitions, and therefore is held on a separate date due to the high number of participants. The trophy is named after Malcolm Taylor, a magician whose huge collection of rare props and books was donated to the club after his passing.

Winners

The Scottish Association of Magical Societies

Paisley Magic Circle was one of the six founder members of the Scottish Association of Magical Societies, when it was called the Paisley Magic Society (PMS). It was the PMS which proposed the formation of The Scottish Association of Magical Societies in 1950 and Max Raskin was invited to carry out all the planning on behalf of the club. A record of this intended meeting with all the magical clubs in Scotland is recorded in the minutes of Perth Magic Circle of 16 May 1950. Max was the first President of SAMS and presented the Max Raskin Cup for children’s magic in the SAMS competitions.

Presidents of SAMS

Some Paisley Magic Circle members are or have been presidents of SAMS: Jim Cuthbert, Jim Fleming, David Haggarty, Brian Jeffrey (twice), Robert Lees, Max Raskin (3 times), Val LeVal and Margaret Maclean.

SAMS competitions

Paisley Magic Circle and its members have won many of the SAMS competitions: