Coming Down to the Farnham Maltings

Hey all,

I’m gearing up for tomorrow’s show in Surrey. I’ll be performing for an hour at the gig; it’s great, the feeling of tour mode is beginning to kick in for me! Come and check out my new tricks tonight at the Farnham Maltings @ 8pm!

Ali x

Zombies in Real Life & Bill Pullman

There’s nothing freakier than zombies, so what if they actually existed? Scary stuff! I remember as a kid there was a movie that was eerie because it was true.

The Serpent and the Rainbow ’touched upon the subject of zombies and how a powerful poison powder (tetrodotoxin) would actually put a person into a near dead state. The freakiest part of this powder was that the person who took this poison became a prisoner in their own body. They are awake but they can’t move or speak…Imagine taking the powder and being buried alive!

I have to give a nod to the switcheroo scene in the movie where Bill Pullman uses sleight of hand to switch the poison vial with a fake vial…I also remember that the nail scene in The Serpent and the Rainbow was extremely uncomfortable to watch as a child, but it was way more horrifying to see the psychological brutality unfold in Hard Candy. So much pain inflicted to male private parts in movies, Ouch.

Ali x

The Psychology Game in Movies

Psychological horror is a big interest of mine, I get my kicks from watching movies and playing videogames about Horror; in fact I recently found some time to buzz my way through a PS2 classic I picked up a while ago; a cult classic called Project Zero II. It’s a mind-bender of a game that works on so many levels because the message of spirits, kinship, promise, betrayal and sacrifice is so powerful.

Good horror movies such as Shutter, and the Orphanage also tend to carry a fable-like quality to them. They drum up the level of suspense and mentally invade your comfort zone. I don’t know what makes a great horror movie but I do know that the art of misdirection is a big plus in my books. The ‘knocking noise’ in the Orphanage and the ‘neck pain’ in Shutter are seeded at the start of the movie and called back to for the big reveal.

Ali x

Misdirecting the Truth

We all lie right? The world is made up of truths which are clouded by our own theatrics; I like to see the world as a big blank canvas in which everyone can paint on with their own kind of brush.

It gets to the point where lies can’t really be recognised. Even Exaggerations and Fabrications are types of lies which ever so slightly bend the truth. Well I wouldn’t hold it against us, it is part of our design and how we are all able to get along so marvelously.

The video below shows how easy it can be to manipulate truth using wordplay (3mins) and hide truth from plain sight with misdirection (5mins):

Michael Finney is a master of misdirection. He shows that truths can be indistinguishable from lies if framed correctly.

Ali x

Optical Illusions are the Simplest Form of Magic!

An optical illusion for you, a real trick to the senses wouldn’t you agree?

I just love optical Illusions. The experience is based on our sight and how our eyes interpret what we see. Optical illusions are all about perception and presentation, it’s the simplest form of magic!

The illusion of 3D in cinema is a hot topic these days but I won’t tell you how it works. It takes the magic out of the experience, and to be honest I really don’t know. I just know that the amount of technology used to trick our brain into seeing 3d images in cinemas is immense.

Ali x

Also here’s some last minute news for a show I’m doing tonight at Shoreham’s Outside the Box Comedy Club  here, Come on down if you’re nearby!

Off to Momo Bar in Northampton

What a great video this is. Climbing up a ladder to catch a massive spider whilst letting your daughter videotape the whole thing. Sure, why not!

Off to Northampton for my next show at the Momo Bar. It’s a new lounge bar establishment that has a great atmosphere surrounding it, I know it will be an awesome show on Thursday.

Momo bar aside, I hear that this place is home country to Alan Moore, he’s pretty well-known for writing graphic novels and also is quite the magician, big fan of his stuff.  By the way,  the new Doctor Who is from Northampton, maybe I’ll see the TARDIS on my way here. Can always hope!

Ali x