The Competitons

There are magic competitions, as there is in all artistic disciplines. There are National competitions ( the French Championship AFAP, Prix Diavol ), European ones ( La Colombe d'Or, Ron McMillan compétition ) or even world-wide ones, such as the prestigious FISM ( Fédération internationale des Sociétés magiques), World Championship, which takes place every three years.

The "talents of tomorrow" are discovered through these competitions and also magicians can have their technical level evaluated in front of a jury ( often made up of magicians, but also recognized artists from various domains ) during a competition. Magicians participate by choosing to go in for close-up or stage magic, with an act no more than 10 minutes long. They then determine the category which they want to present ( cardmagic, close-up, mentalism, comedy magic, stage illusions, magic for children ).

DIAVOL Grand Prix

David Stone wins the Diavol Grand Prix

Jean-Yves Prost, Olivier Twist, Mimosa,
Elisabeth Amato, David Stone and Guy Lamelot.

"The seductive David Stone, who keeps a good timing and an impeccable technique, has performed classic tricks which run very smoothly. He is worthy of the title professional : Coins coming from a pen top, 4 coins appearing in his hands, larger and larger coins appearing. He makes a deck of cards appear from his pen and continues by choosing a card which transfers from his pocket onto his brow...by the end of the trick, all the cards are in his pocket except the chosen card. " (...)

The first prize for stage magic is awarded to MIMOSA

The winner of the prize for close-up to Olivier TWIST

The Diavol Prize is awarded to David STONE

Source : Arcane.

Colombe d'Or Grand Prix ( Gold Dove )

David Stone, International Close-up Champion

During the weekend of the 29th and 30th of March, 1996, the 5th Colombe d’or took place in Antibes/ Juan-les-Pins. This competition is twinned with La Baguette d’or of Montreal. Many European magicians attend this international convention in order to exchange and learn magic secrets which leave us in wonder and amazement. The close-up competition took place at Eden Casino in Juan-les Pins and the prize winner was no other than David Stone, who distinguished himself by his originality and his individual charismatic humour. That’s why he has been awarded the Colombe d’or at the age of 24, so at the same time he has become the youngest prize winner in France for this Championship. The winner of the stage magic competition, with a general magic show, was the duo Junge/Junge, two really nice young Germans with plenty of gusto. Let us recall that David Stone doesn't only give performances in private galas, he is the in-house magician on Radio France Picardie ( every second Friday on Alain Bernard’s show ) and he already won the Grand Prix Diavol, a national close-up championship, on the 11th November last year.

Source : l'écho de Méru.

Las Tunas Grand Prix

David Stone : The youngest "Gold Dove" of France wins

the close-up Grand Prix in Cuba.

The second international meeting for magicians in South America took place from the 21-24 November 1996 in Las Tunas, Cuba, which is located roughly 200 km from the Santiago coast in Cuba. After one week of accelerated training in Santiago to learn his act in Spanish, David Stone performed in a close-up championship on Saturday 23rd of November, alongside six South-American competitors.

Here is an amusing anecdote: Stone was the only foreign magician in the competition but he was the only one to perform his act speaking in Spanish, all the others worked with...music ! The jury announced the results: "The close-up Grand Prix is awarded to the French magician David Stone for his originality, the technical quality of his presentation, and for being the first foreign magician to compete in our country." The first prize was awarded to Américo Lorenzo, from Camaguay, the second prize to Umberto Mana, from Camaguay, the third prize to Juan Carlos Rambla, from Santiago together with Julio Velez, from Camaguay.

The stage magic Grand Prix was awarded to Eduardo Torres, Santiago de Cuba, who had a triumphant success through his magnificent apparition of doves and ducks.

After having been awarded the Colombe d’or last march, David Stone has become the first foreign magician to win a Grand Prix at the South American Championship in Cuba.

Source : l'écho de Méru.

Find out about the run-down of Cuba magic convention in ARCANE ( in French )

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