Testimonials

Adult Magic

Thank you so much for coming on Saturday evening. It was a great success, you did a wonderful job. I’m so sorry I didn’t even offer you a drink – how rude of me! I was totally caught up in the event.
Ella.

Richard, I would like to thank you for the time and hospitality you gave to myself and Paul, my son-in-law, yesterday evening. I found the evening highly entertaining, educational and thoroughly enjoyable throughout. We were talking about the evening all the way home, and I cannot wait to start practicing the many tricks you taught us in the time we were with you. This was a really interesting and inspired 60th birthday present from my daughter, and I’m pleased that she came up with such a fascinating idea. Once again many thanks for your time, and I’m sure you’ll be hearing from me again, if I forgot anything you taught me, or if I want to learn more. I would definitely recommend this experience to anyone wishing to learn or advance in the world of magic, as you made the whole thing “magical” even though when explained so simple for the novice to learn.
Andrew Campbell

I just wanted to say Thank You for a super evening on New Years Eve. Your table magic left us with mouths agape and your main event was funny and magical ! I still have people now thanking me for a wonderful night, obviously a bit of credit must go to you too, lol I have already started thinking about this years New Years Eve party and it will have a lot to live up to, with you helping us getting the first one off to such a good start. Wishing you and your wife a very Happy and Prosperous New Year
Ruth

On behalf of Clevedon Probus Club 1974, I would like to thank and congratulate you for a most enjoyable hour of comedy and magic yesterday. To keep a large group entertained for an hour is quite an achievement—–Well done!!
Derek Reeve

Children’s Magic

Richard has been our entertainer at the Coach House Nursery in Portishead, North Somerset, for three years. Each year with us Richard joins us for our school leavers party. At this event he arrives early to set up so that the children do then not see him and bends over backwards to make sure that things are just right and that everything is in place. When doing the show he fills the room with the children’s laughter and always left them with lots to talk to their parents about. I now book Richard that the beginning of each year to make sure that we can have him come back and join us as he now feels like part of the team. We would highly recommend Richards shows and entertainment to anyone seeking these services. He was very good with the children recognising their confidence and self-esteem thoughtout the performance.
Emma Fairbrother

We just wanted to take this opportunity to say how brilliant you were at our nursery party. The children were enthralled by you, you captivated and enchanted the children and our parents were delighted also. Thank you very much.
Emma Binding, Rydal Day Nursery

My children (12 and 10) and I had a brilliant afternoon magic workshop at Richard’s house recently. What was booked as an hour turned into an hour and a half packed with many, many tricks. Richard’s preparation was excellent; for every trick we learned we came away with the required props and an instruction sheet to help jog our memories afterwards. Both the children already knew a number of card tricks and Richard was able to adapt the pace and range of material he covered as needed. His presentation was engaging and his explanation clear; it was a really good, intense session that greatly extended the children’s repertoires from what they knew already.
Richard Curnow

How do you entertain and hold the attention of 12 excitable 5 & 6 year olds. Easy, call on Richard. For one hour he had the children completely enthralled, involving each of the children with magic tricks that not only left the children wide eyed and baffled but also their parents.
Maureen Macloud

I took Xue to another little boy’s birthday party yesterday where they also had a magician. It made me realise just how brilliant you were!!!
Many thanks. Regards – Siddy.

Thank you very much for coming to my birthday party and entertaining all my friends and family, everyone enjoyed your show. We may see you again when Lucy is 5!
Love – Emily Bushrod.

Thank you so much for the magical contribution to Fay’s party last Saturday. Fay and her friends have been talking about it and yesterday I received lots of thanks from the parents of the children who came along – they all really enjoyed themselves.
A very big THANK YOU from Jane, Steve and Fay Purnell.

We just wanted to say thank you very much for the wonderful entertainment at the boys’ party on Sunday. The children absolutely loved it and the adults were all kept amused too. It was especially fun that you got Martin involved….Ha! Ha! It was a lovely afternoon and you worked really hard, thank you so much. Thanks also to your lovely wife for her patience – it was lucky the sun was shining!!
Anika Butler and Charlotte Barnett.

Just a short note to say thank you for helping to make Jack’s birthday party such a pleasant 2 hours. Everybody enjoyed it – adults and children alike.
So thanks again – Mr & Mrs Farler.

Close Up Magic

Many thanks again for an entertaining evening – the girls thoroughly enjoyed their surprise. I have already passed your card onto one colleague and have another asking me about you so hopefully you will hear from us soon.
Dr James Penny, Taunton School.

Just a quick note to say thank you for Saturday. It was a really good day and everyone enjoyed your magic. It was also nice that you were giving little tricks away. Peter – my son – is a bit frustrated that he couldn’t work out how you did certain tricks – but it isn’t good for a teenager to know everything, even if they think they do!!
So thanks for a great day and if anyone asks we would certainly recommend you in the future.
Cheryl

Thank you so much for last night everyone said you were fantastic, they enjoyed your great talent. I will put some feedback into your website. Thanks again you made our night :)))
Dave Smith

Thank you for attending our restaurant opening and for providing us with wonderful table magic. All the guests and staff very much enjoyed your entertainment. You really helped to make the event a special and memorable occasion.
Hayley Coombs

Clubs & Societies

I’ve had lots of good feed-back after your performance at our club and I will certainly recommend you in the future when an occasion arises. Glad you enjoyed your visit to us (not a bad lot really are we ?!!)
Jo, Bleadon Ladies Group

Members of Congresbury Over-60’s Club enjoyed a most entertaining afternoon when Richard Ballinger gave an interesting talk on Teaching with Magic which was also full of jokes and riddles. He showed how pupils could be taught mathematics in a way that was interesting but also made them think about how problems could be solved. Members had a lot of fun solving small problems and were enthralled by the clever card tricks performed. The afternoon passed very quickly and members hope that it will not be too long before Richard will return to give another talk. The next meeting will see the return of the popular Terry Merrett-Smith who will give a talk about Frank Sinatra. Final bookings were taken for the coach trip to Stratford on Avon and members were able to take home a hot cross bun to enjoy with their tea.
Congresbury Over 60’s Club

On behalf of the above Club can I thank you most sincerely for your magical entertainment show on 16th March. Your slight of hand coupled with your gentle humour held us all captive throughout your show. Thank you and we wish you every success for the future.
John, Portishead Rotary 73 Club

Can I say that your Comedy Magic session following supper was very well received by members and it provided a very good conclusion to the evening, which could have been rather flat without your contribution. I felt it was rather a shame that we finished up with a time constraint- sorry about that.
Alan Cowler, Chew Valley Probus Club

The start of a New Year and the start of a new committee for the Thursday Club. Sheila Allsopp, Pat Seabrook and Jan Williams (Di Harris Bryant will be joining us when she has recovered enough from her recent illness) welcomed the members that had come to see what this year has in store for them. We have an interesting and varied programme for the months ahead. We started with a very enjoyable “touch of magic” with Richard Ballinger. ‘ Magic and games to develop self esteem’ was the title of his “entertainment” and entertaining it was. We all joined in with his games and illusions and a light-hearted evening with a lot of laughs was just what we needed.
East Brent Thursday Club

Our entertainment was provided by Richard Ballinger “The Magic Man” with his mathematical puzzles, poems and quizzes. Richard trained as an engineer and latterly re-trained as a teacher. He is a supply teacher who uses magic to help teach children maths, and adults to enhance their business and presentation skills. The audience participated in picking several menus from “Fast Food”, “Vegetarian” and “Traditional” items but the cost was always the same! We tried some subtraction and addition using 4 numbers but the result was always the same – it must be magic!
East Harptree Womens Institute

Corporate Magic

I wanted to thank you again for the great showmanship you provided to the team here at the Hilton Bristol and professional approach to the event we hosted. The way you enhanced the event with the networking one-on-one magic shows and the table magic throughout the lunch really added to the overall ambiance. The guest feedback was positive and appreciative for this entertainment provided. We will definitely keep you in mind for future events. All the very best and thank you again.
Richard Finn, Hilton Bristol

The applause that I heard from across the room every time Richard finished performing at a table spoke volumes. He is a very personable, entertaining, performer; he was also extremely competitively-priced and therefore represented excellent value for money.
Darren Bane, Weston College

Magic Workshop

Further to our telephone conversation recently, I would like to thank you very much for the help and encouragement that you gave me. After a wonderful present of lessons with you( with the idea of entertaining the grandchildren) my husband and I went away with carrier bags full of tricks that you had shown us and taught us. This year, how ever, I needed reminding about one or two of them and rang you. You could not have been more helpful, and I am now geared up to entertain the grandchildren for the second year running !
Sarah Bibra

Just wanted to say a huge thank you to Richard for giving my son the most amazing afternoon of magic! He also let me (his dad) sit in and learn some tricks too! Richard not only explained the tricks clearly but made the lesson fun too! We came away with a comprehensive box of tricks and instructions which Tom has been using to amaze his friends and family with since.
Highly recommend Richard as a magician tutor , lovely guy and great host! We will be returning for more!
Mike (Cornwall)

Many thanks for the magic workshop you did with our team of Speech and Language Therapists in August 2015. You provided an enjoyable and informative day with a wide range of tricks and illusions that we were able to practice and master. We really appreciated that you had taken the time to consider which tricks would be most appropriate for the children we support and how we can adapt tricks to suit different age groups and abilities. We are looking forward to trying out the tricks when term starts again in September and would have no reservation in recommending you to others.
Rachel Browning

‘Richard came to train our team to deliver magic tricks to help us work with vulnerable children and families we work with. It was not only a good team building day but also provided great tricks, techniques and strategies to engage children and young people. We learnt a wide range of tricks, using everyday resources as well as more specific magic equipment that Richard left us with, including our own resources folder with instructions to remind us how to perform the tricks. Incredibly good value, delivered in light hearted and friendly manner. Thanks Richard!’
Dave Small, Barnado’s

Just to thank you for giving us such an entertaining morning. You were very generous with your time and we both enjoyed it a lot. Francis was totally surprised and pleased with such an unusual birthday present and we will keep at it until we are expert!
Best wishes – Liz & Francis (who used the workshop as a Birthday Gift)

Party Magic

I am writing on behalf of Backwell School Sixth Form Committee to thank you for providing some great entertainment at our Leaver’s Ball on the 3rd June. After speaking to friends, ‘the magician’ was mentioned over and over again as the highlight of the night! And I still can’t understand how you did some of those tricks… I hope you enjoyed the evening as much as we did.
Thanks again – Charlotte Bullock – The Treasurer, Backwell School Sixth Form Committee.

Thank you for a great party on Sunday the 12th February for Sebastian Curtis – everybody had a great time and everything ran really smoothly. I wish you all the best in the future and once again many thanks.
Karen Curtis and Sebastian Curtis.

Many thanks for helping to make our Golden Wedding anniversary such a happy day – the adults enjoyed it as much as the children. We are still wondering how you did some of the tricks. It was nice to know that you received further bookings from our party.
Thanks again and best wishes – Jim and Maggie Woods and Family.

Wedding Magic

Just a short note to say thank you for making our day so special. You were certainly a hit with our guests who were amazed and baffled at different times! Also you stayed beyond your allotted time which we also appreciated!
Yours – Richard and Kate, Westbury, Wiltshire.

I was impressed with the special way you entertained the children at Cassandra and Mike’s wedding – you achieved exactly what we wanted. Happy occupied – even at times – transfixed children all joining in and, at the same time, giving parents a lovely respite to enjoy some uninterrupted adult conversation. I would be more than happy to recommend your service to anyone, the adults too were suitably entertained and amused. Your ‘show’ is much more than that.
Thank you wholeheartedly – Elaine.

Thank you so much for all you did on the 10th – the children loved it. Felix is absolutely convinced he’s a fantastic magician now – we’re not so convinced. You really helped the wedding to be the success it was. Both children and parents were remarkably relaxed, and it was thanks to you.
Sarah & Mark.