CABARET COMPETITION RULES

1. At least two entries will be required to stage the competition, and the maximum numbers of competitors will be six.

2. Entry will be accepted on a first come first served basis, if more than six entries are received, additional entrants will be placed on ‘standby’ and may compete only if a vacancy occurs.

3. A competitor may be assisted during their act by not more than one magical assistant. However members of the audience may be used.

4. A draw will be used to determine the order of the competition.

5. The act must be a minimum of 10 minutes and a maximum of 15 minutes in length.
• A reasonable amount of time will be allowed for preparation and stage setting.
• A warning will be given after ten minutes and after 14 minutes (if required).
• Any competitor who has not completed his act in the allowed time will be penalised.

6. A timekeeper will be appointed.

7. The competition will be judged on the following factors:
• Entertainment value.
• Presentation style.
• Magical content.

8. All people present apart from competitors are entitled for vote for the winner.

GOLD STAR RULES

The Rules of the Society provide that: “A Member may, on completion of three years of membership, apply in writing to the Membership Secretary to be granted the Gold Star designation. The Membership Secretary will confirm the Member’s eligibility and forward the application to the Committee. On receipt of such an application, the Committee will appoint a panel composed of a minimum of three persons, each being either a Member, who holds the designation of Gold Star or Fellow, or is a Life Member, to examine the Applicant.”

1. An application for the Gold Star must be submitted to the Membership Secretary, and must be accompanied by a fee of £10.00 to help defray the cost of the provision of a framed certificate which will be presented upon successful completion of the examination.
• Should an Applicant be unsuccessful in the examination the fee will be refunded.
• Should the Applicant fail to appear at the time set for his or her examination the fee will be forfeited.
• Should an Applicant withdraw his application, the fee will be forfeited.

2. The three or more members of a Gold Star Examination Panel, and if deemed appropriate by the Committee alternate members to serve in the event of the absence of one or more members of the Panel at the time of the Examination, will be appointed by the Committee not less than two weeks before the date of any Examination. The names of Panel members will be available to an Applicant from the Membership Secretary on request.

3. The Panel will choose its own chairman, who will manage the proceedings at the Examination and will be responsible for timing each Applicant’s performance.

4. An examination for Gold Star will be held in conjunction with a regular meeting of the Society, before members of the Society, on a date determined by the Committee. An Applicant, unless he or she agrees otherwise, will be given not less than two weeks notice of his or her Examination.

5. The Committee may announce the date on which Gold Star Examinations are to be held and may invite qualified members to apply. The Committee may waive the need for an Applicant to obtain its approval before being examined, and may require only that the Membership Secretary be satisfied that the criteria have been met. Such decision of the Secretary may be reviewed by the Committee before a Gold Star is awarded.

6. Where there is more than one Applicant being examined on the same date, the order of performance will be the order in which applications were received by the Membership Secretary.

7. The candidate is required to submit a list of their act’s effects in advance to the Committee so that it can be clarified that the requisite two classics of magic are included in the act. Each Applicant must submit their programme and perform a stand-up or cabaret act of not less than 10 minutes and not more than 15 minutes that includes at least two Classics of Magic (as listed below) and such other effects as the Applicant may choose to perform, if any, if the act is less than the minimum time or more than the maximum time allowed, the applicant will fail the Examination.

8. Panel members will independently mark each Applicant and submit their marks to the chairman of the panel. Each member will assign a mark, up to the maximum indicated, in each of the following categories:
• Techniques, handling, and magical performance ability: 65 marks.
• Patter or mime and presentation: 25 marks.
• Appearance and personality: 10 marks.

9. In allocating marks the Panel members must be guided by the Society’s expectation that there will be a high standard set in awarding the Gold Star.

10. In order to be successful, an Applicant must secure an average across all Panel members of not less than 85 marks.

11. The chairman of the Panel will advise the Committee and each Applicant will be advised in writing by the Membership Secretary as to whether they have been successful.

12. The following well-known effects are recognised as Classics of Magic for the purpose of the Gold Star Examination:
• Cut and Restored Rope
• Torn and Restored Paper
• Miser’s Dream
• Multiplying Billiard Balls
• Sympathetic Silks
• 20th Century Silks
• Cups and Balls
• Chinese Rings
• Egg Bag • Dyeing the Silks
• Rising Cards
• Three Cards Across
• Cards to Pocket
• Book Test
• Billet Reading
• Burnt Rope Routine
• Gipsy Thread
• Coins Across

Close up Competition Rules

1. At least two entries in each category will be required to stage the competition, and the maximum number of competitors will be eight.

2. Entries will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis, if more than eight entries are received, additional entrants will be placed on ‘standby’ and may compete only if a vacancy occurs.

3. Separate lists of professional and amateur entrants will be maintained. A maximum of four entrants in each class will be permitted, unless at the start of the competition there are less than four entrants in one class, in which case additional competitors will be allowed in the other.

4. A draw will be used to determine the order of competition.

5. The act must be a minimum of 8 minutes and a maximum of 15 minutes in length.

6. A warning will be given after 10 minutes and after 14 minutes (if required).

7. Any competitor who performs for less than the minimum time or who has not completed his act in the maximum allowed time will be penalised.

8. A timekeeper will be appointed.

9. The competition will be judged on the following factors:

• Entertainment value
• Presentation style
• Magical content
• Technical ability (not lay judges)
• Time keeping

10. The performer will be restricted to an area four feet by three feet behind a table, as shown in the diagram.

• Any competitor who moves completely outside the performance area will be penalised.
• Spectators (who should, if possible be lay people) will be located at each end of the table, and only such spectators may assist with the performance.

11.All people present are entitled to vote for the winner

Most Novel and Entertaining Card Effect

1. At least two entries will be required to stage the competition, and there is no maximum number of entrants. No person may compete more than once.

2. Entries may be submitted to the Social Secretary anytime up to the end of the completion of the first competitor’s performance.

3. A draw will be used to determine the order of the competition.

4. Only one effect may be performed, however, it may have more than one climax. The decision of the person presiding at the meeting as to whether more than one effect has been performed will be final.

5. The competition will be judged by all the audience present for all entrants’ performances

Those judging the competition should consider the following factors:

• Novelty value
• Entertainment value
• Magical content
• Presentation style

6. At the end of the competition each person will submit his or her vote for the winner to the person presiding at the meeting. The person receiving the most votes will be declared the winner of the competition. In the event of a tie, the person presiding will choose the winner. Scores will not be made public.

The Bunny Pull

1. The competition is open only to Society Members of all classes, Associates may not compete.

2. There will be two competitors; the Champion and a Challenger; the Champion being the previous years winner of the competition (except as provided below).

3. The Challenger will be selected by the Social Secretary, in consultation with other Officers, from among those indicating that they wish to enter the competition.

4. In the event that the previous year’s winner of the competition is unwilling or unable to enter the event, the Social Secretary, in consultation with other Officers, will select a second Challenger.

5. There will be five rounds to the competition, each involving a single magical effect chosen from a specific category.

6. Examples of categories are: card effect, coin effect, children’s’ effect, mentalism, illusion, rope magic, non-card close-up effect, classic, etc.

7. The categories will be chosen by the Challenger, and must be notified to the Champion not less than two weeks in advance of the date of the competition.

8. In the event that there are two Challengers, each will submit a list of five categories to the Social Secretary who will select the categories to be used in the competition; giving preference to categories that appear on only one list.

9. In each round the Challenger will perform first.

10. When there are two challengers, the one to go first in all rounds will be selected by the toss of a coin.

11. All those in attendance at the meeting, including: Members, Associates and guests, except the competitors, will act as judges, unless they choose not to do so.

12. Judges may award up to 20 points to each competitor in each category based on their general perception of the effectiveness of the effect.

13. At the end of the competition the judges will total the number of points they have awarded to each competitor and notify the person presiding at the meeting of the results.

14. The winner of the competition will be the competitor who is awarded the most points by the judges.