A JOURNEY TO BANNON.... by Owen Packard

One of my greatest ambitions, as someone involved in the world of magic production, was to work with John Bannon. From the moment I had the inimitable 'Twisted Sisters' packet trick pressed into my hand (during my very first foray into Davenport's subterranean store in London) I was hooked. Both his 'Impossibilia' and 'Smoke and Mirrors' books were glued to my bedside table - pored over. Read. Re-read. Bannon's eye for a solution that satisfied both plot, presentation and juicy entertainment seemed unparalleled. I was a fan.

Then in 2005 the 'Dear Mr Fantasy' book was released. By this time I was much further into my own magical adventure. I was better read. I had met many clever, inventive magicians. I was slowly digging my way into the secretive world of magic - making friends, learning plots and endlessly thinking about ways to solve age old riddles. I had even released an effect of my own ('The Rama Deck'). I was (like us all) getting a bit obsessed with magic!

But 'Dear Mr Fantasy' blew my tiny little mind. The things I had learnt over the preceding five years simply served to underline just how CLEVER and downright BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE'S this material was. How could so much brilliant thinking be stuffed into one book?!? In the words of The Simpson's comic book guy - BEST. MAGICBOOK. EVER. I was completely blown away. Bannon just seemed to find a way to take a plot that had existed for decades and deliver a more elegant, logical solution. So I went from fan to UBERfan. Bannon occupied the top slot in my magician's chart of awesomeness.

Around the same time I was starting up Bigblindmedia - a production company specialising in magic. Working with the hilarious Dave Forrest, DVDs were produced for Iain Moran ('The Cullfather' and 'Covert Magic'), Liam Montier ('The Wicked World' set), acclaimed journalist Jon Thompson ('Strip'), Alan Rorrison ('Fingers Of Fury') and George McBride ('The Classics'). Things were going well. Bigblindmedia was a part time endeavor (I also had a full time job running a music PR company!!), but it was becoming a more and more serious proposition.

I decided to take the plunge and go full time producing magic. BBM became my full  time gig! The next project I shot was Joshua Jay's 'Methods In Magic'. Filmed more like an 'on the road' documentary, it had a very different feel to the usual magic DVD. During the promotion phase for the release I sent out 'review copies' to a huge array of big names in the magic world. John Bannon was one of them. I was thrilled to have contact with him.  And excited for him to see the Josh Jay DVD. I was hugely proud of it (still am!), and I felt that getting a positive quote from John Bannon would be the ultimate accolade for Josh's DVD.

In the end it went a bit better than that. John gave us a lovely quote and while responding to thank him I mentioned that if he 'ever wanted to talk about shooting a project together I would happily remove one of my own arms'. Seconds after sending the email, I received a reply. John said that he had indeed been thinking of filming a DVD - an exploration of 'Dear Mr Fantasy' actually - but he had been holding back because he didn't want to film just another typical magic production. He really enjoyed the Josh Jay DVD and was happy to look at how we could collaborate on a new shoot.

Well, I can tell you - it was like winning the lottery. Magic was now my full time occupation. John Bannon was my favourite magician. 'Dear Mr Fantasy' was my favourite book. AND WE WERE GONNA BE WORKING TOGETHER ON BRINGING IT TO THE VISUAL MEDIUM!!!!

And that folks, is called a RESULT! A few, short months later we were filming what would become the double volume set 'Bullets After Dark'!