Ardgowan Hospice Ball 2012
I was honoured to be invited along to the Marriott Hotel in Glasgow to host The Ardgowan Hospice Ball last Saturday evening. I was joined by my girlfriend, my mum and my sister who were all as excited for the night as I was.
I had performed at the ball last year and had such a great night that I was eagerly awaiting the phone to ring or my inbox to flash with an invitation to perform some close up magic around the tables again. When I got the e-mail asking me to HOST the evening I was extremely flattered and didn’t have to think twice.
Signed £20 note in a kiwi fruit
From the moment guest started arriving on the red carpet into the champagne reception until the last chord of the band it was an amazing night!
The evening involved introducing speakers, performing some magic on stage, and trying to encourage the audience to part with their money for such a great cause. There was a raffle, an unbelievable auction that included a framed Spain jersey signed my World Cup winners Andres Iniesta and Vicente del Bosque, a silent auction and phenomenal live band The Riffreshers.
Gaining and holding the attention of the rowdy 300 or so guests was proving very difficult. The opening trick of the evening was vanishing a signed £20 note and making it reappear in a freely selected kiwi fruit from on of the 28 tables in the room.
The guest speakers on the evening were terrific and the audience managed to stay silent for the duration of their speeches.
Then I played the whole audience at a game. The prize was dinner, bed and breakfast in The Marriott. I had to influence the audience to either put their coin in their left hand or right hand. In 2 rounds I’d got almost all the room back in their seats. when we got the final 8 we got them onstage and changed the rules a little bit. For 2 rounds in a row I got all 8 of them out leaving no winner. Sometimes I’m just too good! Once we got it whittled down to 4 it didn’t take long to find a winner.
Dinner was great and the company at our table was even better. We enjoyed some great chat and the hospitality of our table was much appreciated.
After dinner I had one more trick. Staple Gun Roulette. The audience member I picked wasn’t the best as she looked genuinely frightened and looked very uneasy firing a loaded staple gun into my face and neck.
The raffle and auctions were the final part of the evening’s ‘formals’ and as I introduced The Riffreshers my work was done. I went up to my room, took my mic pack off and returned to enjoy the company of my family and fellow guests.
Kyleen, Me, Mum and Laura
All in all it was a great night! It never fails to amaze me the passion ordinary people show for The Ardgowan Hospice every year at all their fundraising events. Another amazing and well organised event raising over £21,000.
It is a pleasure to work with the hospice and I look forward to the next time…
Ryan x
