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Marcel Oudejans

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  • Magic at the “Bobs For Good” Spring Ball!

    I’ll be one of the guest performers at the Bobs For Good Foundation Spring Ball!

    Bobs For Good FoundationAbout the Spring Ball:

    It started with Bob and Ron’s idea to bring friends and colleagues together in Johannesburg to have a small charity ball and to tell their guests about the Bobs for Good dream: To provide shoes for every child in South Africa who has to endure physical and social torment because their families cannot afford this luxury. The event, of course, went down in history and helped spread the word of Bobs for Good. It also inspired guests to get out there and do more good for people less fortunate.

    A year later, Bobs for Good has a dedicated team, a new office for 6 passionate staff, a successful fundraising campaign under its belt and importantly, there are nearly 7000 children walking proud in their new shoes, thanks to Bobs for Good.

    With all the achievements and amazing people we’ve met on our journey, we’ve decided to celebrate in style by hosting our 2nd annual charity Spring Ball. This year, Bobs for Good is bringing the Ball home to Cape Town – Simon’s at Groot Constantia was the undoubted choice to host the glitzy occasion, set in the lush Constantia Wine Valley and surrounded by the mountain and vineyards, the perfect setting to welcome in Spring.

    Bobs for Good has named this year’s edition ‘Welcome Back Blue Skies‘ to promote our new brand look and feel – a bright, fresh, sky blue set on a new cleaner, more playful logo and neutral background to represent the earth of Africa that children walk barefoot on. And of course, let’s celebrate the fact the suns shines a whole lot more in September!

    The Bobs for Good Charity Spring Ball is one not to be missed. The team are working around the clock to ensure you are treated to a night of special guests, top live performances, relaxing on the rooftop balcony with delicious welcome drinks and meet amazing people who have helped make our achievements happen. Enjoy gorgeous food, complimentary wine all evening, win fabulous prizes in our small auction, delight in the detail of spectacular decor and let the good times flow. We won’t mention everything just now, we want to get a few surprises in!(Spoiler Alert: I’ll be performing magic for all the guests throughout the evening!)

    The celebration kick starts at 6.30pm so come hang out with us on the rooftop balcony overlooking the mountains and vines, get your photo taken with our team and browse the small exhibition we’ve made to showcase our work so far.

    So get your dancing shoes ready and your ‘touch of blue’ and book your ticket now! All funds raised from ticket sales, donations and the auction will be used to put shoes on the feet of children across South Africa in our national campaign (tour), Shoesholoza, next February 2011. The Shoesholoza campaign is a national equivalent of Walk This Way, a provincial campaign held in February this year, that put over 5000 pairs of brand new school shoes on children from all over the Western Cape.

    Join the Bobs for Good team and help continue their rewarding work by celebrating the doing of good at their charity Spring Ball: Welcome Back Blue Skies. Grab your friends or bring a date or buy a table to entertain your clients. The more the merrier and its all for good.

    Originally posted on http://www.bobsforgoodfoundation.org/2010/06/bobs-for-good-annual-spring-ball/

    It started with Bob and Ron’s idea to bring friends and colleagues together in Johannesburg to have a small charity ball and to tell their guests about the Bobs for Good dream: To provide shoes for every child in South Africa who has to endure physical and social torment because their families cannot afford this luxury. The event, of course, went down in history and helped spread the word of Bobs for Good. It also inspired guests to get out there and do more good for people less fortunate.









    A year later, Bobs for Good has a dedicated team, a new office for 6 passionate staff, a successful fundraising campaign under its belt and importantly, there are nearly 7000 children walking proud in their new shoes, thanks to Bobs for Good.

    With all the achievements and amazing people we’ve met on our journey, we’ve decided to celebrate in style by hosting our 2nd annual charity Spring Ball. This year, Bobs for Good is bringing the Ball home to Cape Town – Simon’s at Groot Constantia was the undoubted choice to host the glitzy occasion, set in the lush Constantia Wine Valley and surrounded by the mountain and vineyards, the perfect setting to welcome in Spring.

    Bobs for Good has named this year’s edition ‘Welcome Back Blue Skies’ to promote our new brand look and feel – a bright, fresh, sky blue set on a new cleaner, more playful logo and neutral background to represent the earth of Africa that children walk barefoot on. And of course, let’s celebrate the fact the suns shines a whole lot more in September!

    The Bobs for Good Charity Spring Ball is one not to be missed. The team are working around the clock to ensure you are treated to a night of special guests, top live performances, relaxing on the rooftop balcony with delicious welcome drinks and meet amazing people who have helped make our achievements happen. Enjoy gorgeous food, complimentary wine all evening, win fabulous prizes in our small auction, delight in the detail of spectacular decor and let the good times flow. We won’t mention everything just now, we want to get a few surprises in!

    The celebration kick starts at 6.30pm so come hang out with us on the rooftop balcony overlooking the mountains and vines, get your photo taken with our team and browse the small exhibition we’ve made to showcase our work so far.

    So get your dancing shoes ready and your ‘touch of blue’ and book your ticket now! All funds raised from ticket sales, donations and the auction will be used to put shoes on the feet of children across South Africa in our national campaign (tour), Shoesholoza, next February 2011. The Shoesholoza campaign is a national equivalent of Walk This Way, a provincial campaign held in February this year, that put over 5000 pairs of brand new school shoes on children from all over the Western Cape.

    Join the Bobs for Good team and help continue their rewarding work by celebrating the doing of good at their charity Spring Ball: Welcome Back Blue Skies. Grab your friends or bring a date or buy a table to entertain your clients. The more the merrier and its all for good.

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  • Amazing Light Show Magic

    This has to be the closest thing to real magic that I’ve ever seen before – this would be fantastic to see ‘live’! (Just wait until the 0.50 mark for the fun and illusion to begin…)

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  • How I’ve found my Flow in Magic and Business

    Marcel Oudejans presenting the Flow Marketing SeminarOver the past few months I’ve been spending my time starting a new business – something that I’ve been wanting to do for some time but have never found the right opportunity for.  That was until I met my business partner Christoff Oosthuysen last year: he’s a successful business developer and coach who has already started and sold several small companies. We immediately found that we complemented each other’s personalities and skills, and so decided to take a concept that I’d already been working on much, much further…

    That doesn’t mean I’m not performing as a magician anymore! Quite on the contrary: it’s actually a great benefit to this new business :)   The way we see it, I need to continue doing what is in my ‘flow’ (more about this in a minute) and use my talents and skills as a performer and speaker to produce exciting, fun and valuable presentations that will give our clients something that they simply can’t forget. (On that note,if you are planning a corporate event that needs to be extra-special and unforgettable, click here to find out how I can work with you…)

    What do I mean by ‘flow’? Well, Christoff and I have become huge advocates of the concept of flow, as defined by Prof. Mihaly Csikszentmihaly. He’s spent over 30 years researching and publishing books on how we can become happier in the work that we do, experiencing a sense of enjoyment and bliss while we are using our skills in a challenging and fulfilling way.  In fact, it’s been found that when we regularly experience this sense of flow that we are able to achieve goals seemingly without much effort, have less stress, and find a greater sense of purpose!

    Well, I don’t know about you but that certainly sounds like something for me: in fact, this is what I experience every time I perform magic for an audience.  I have a process, a system, that I’ve rehearsed to a point of unconscious competency so that every trick I perform seems to work ‘auto-magically’. Every trick is basically a combinations of moves and tools that ‘automatically’ produce a result; it’s also a good name for a solution that makes everyone go “WOW! How’d you do that?”!

    And while you may be very interested to know how a trick is done, it’s not a very practical skill. I’m pretty sure that you wish you could ‘use magic’ in your business every day … who wouldn’t?

    That’s why I’m now the proud co-founder of Flow Finders International! We aim to help our customers achieve their goals by doing more of what they love doing, while their teams and systems look after the rest.  While we have the opportunities to apply our knowledge and experience to solve a range of business problems, we’ve decided to focus on a single issue right now: how to grow your business by getting more customers.

    Or, as we like to put it: We help you grow your business by attracting the customers you’re meant to serve.

    Marcel Oudejans presenting the Flow Marketing SeminarWe do that through our product, Flow Marketing.  Whether you love marketing your business, or you think of it as something that you simply have to do, Flow Marketing is going make attracting customers so much easier.  That’s because it’s a simple concept that is easy to understand, but more importantly, quick and cost-effective to implement.

    The feedback we get when Christoff or I explain Flow Marketing is also a “WOW” moment – it helps you see your marketing activities as a continuous ‘game’, with a set of ‘rules’.  This ‘game’ we call the Flow Marketing Cycle and it makes a profound difference when you are a new marketing campaign (or evaluating an existing one).  Put simply, the Flow Marketing Cycle is used to set your objective and check whether you have all milestones in place to meet this goal.

    It’s a process that I’m very excited about because it’s a great way to solve most of the marketing ‘problems’ that I’ve been approached to solve!

    I invite you to find out more because I know that the concept of ‘flow’ will be beneficial both in your day-to-day work as well as the way that you grow your business by attracting new customers.

    So remember, I’m still South Africa’s Corporate Magician – but now I can use my skill and expertise to help you grow your business ‘by magic’!

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  • My Favourite Magicians

    Often after a presentation or a performance, audience members will ask me what I think if David Copperfield/David Blaine/Derren Brown (who I all admire as excellent showmen), or who my favourite magician is.

    The problem has been that the magicians that I find amazing and who have inspired me are relatively unknown to the lay public, particularly South African audiences.  South Africans have simply not seen enough world-class magicians to appreciate the talents, skill and techniques that are required to make magic truly amazing.

    I’ve been studying magic since I was 8 years old, mostly from books but more and more from videos and DVDs. Obviously I can’t share these with my audiences – until I realized today that I can share videos of my ‘mentors’ & ‘idols’ on my blog!

    So here, in no particular order, are the magicians who have influenced by performances, my ‘tricks’ and my love of the Art of Magic. I’ve also added some comments about how they influenced me, or what I enjoy most about their attitudes toward Magic. I’ve tried, where possible, to include each magician’s “signature” trick. Enjoy!

    Don Alan
    What I learnt: timing, motivation, being prepared, good clean fun

    Click here to view the embedded video.

    David Williamson
    What I learnt: Be silly – naturally, incredible skill can be hidden by hilarity, be the character, have fun!

    Click here to view the embedded video.

    John Lenahan
    What I learnt: Who you are off-stage is far more important that who you are on-stage, & never give up on your hopes & aspirations. John is a warm & sincere individual who always has a smile on his face! He spent a month in Cape Town in 2009, we spent many evenings together & I’m proud to consider John one of my very good friends…

    Click here to view the embedded video.

    Michael Close
    What I learnt: Even if you have skill it shouldn’t be more important than the magic effect.
    (He’s also a hilarious joke teller…)

    Click here to view the embedded video.

    Mark Wilson
    What I learnt: Without Mark’s book, I would not be a magician today. When I first started performing, 80% of my tricks was from his book. Ironically, right now is the first time I’ve ever seen him perform …

    Click here to view the embedded video.

    Bill Malone
    What I learnt: Connecting with your audience is as much a part of the performance as the ‘trick’ itself.

    Click here to view the embedded video.

    Richard Osterlind
    What I learnt: Magic of the Mind doesn’t need to be serious to be seriously fun!

    Click here to view the embedded video.

    Paul Daniels
    What I learnt: It’s called “Show Business” for a reason … (and never work with animals). I met him when I was 20 & even then he was willing to give me such sage business advice.

    Click here to view the embedded video.

    Banachek
    What I learnt: Performing with conviction is the secret to belief. When I spent a few days with him, I found him to be very thoughtful & deep …

    Click here to view the embedded video.

    Tom Mullica
    What I learnt: If you have a unique skill, use it in your performance – nobody can copy you.

    Click here to view the embedded video.

    Greg Wilson
    What I learnt: Do magic anywhere, anytime. I also had the good fortune to a week with Greg, and he is a wonderful, principled & warm person!

    Click here to view the embedded video.

    Michael Ammar
    What I learnt: The character you see on video is different to the real person. Once again, I had the fortune of spending time with Michael & he’s such a nice guy!

    Click here to view the embedded video.

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  • Free Event Planning Templates For Corporate Events

    Since I started my professional  entertainment & speaking career, I’ve worked with many South African & international event planners: from intimate VIP performances to shows in front of several hundred corporate clients.  As you’d expect, I’ve worked with too many event planners to count — all with different levels of experience.

    event worksheets cover Free Event Planning Templates For Corporate EventsOver the past few years, I’ve observed the difference between a successful event planner & someone who is clearly not a regular event organizer.  What is becoming apparent is that many people are looking for the ”secret” online. They’re like the many people who approach me after a show, telling me that they’ve tried Googling for the methods to my magic, but could not find a suitable solution!

    Well, here’s what I’ve learnt from my experiences: the biggest & best events are planned & organised early, from the early budget stages right down to the last minute.  Events can be planned & held in a very short time, but unfortunately most people can experience quite a lot of stress if they forget how vital the planning stage is.

    So I decided to create a basic tool to help initiate the planning stage so that an event planner, just like you, would be able to know that you’re getting off to a good start.  It’s a basic guide for how to plan a function,  and will definitely help you avoid the common mistake that most event planners make!

    A few months back, I posted a short list of free event planning software and templates on my company’s blog & discovered that many people would like an event planning template manual that would making planning an event easier: a simple, easy to use, “connect the dots & fill-in the blanks” guide that will get your successful event started!

    Best of all, I wanted to make this shareable so I’ve licensed it under Creative Commons so that it’s open-source. You can get your FREE copy of ”Event Planning Templates For Planning Corporate Events” simply by completing the form below!

    This free manual includes 9 basic event planning templates that you can print as many times as you require — just mark what is appropriate to your function requirements & you’ve got a basic event proposal!

    Here’s what is included in the ”Event Planning Templates For Corporate Events”:

    magician south africa Free Event Planning Templates For Corporate Events

    • Pre-Planning template,
    • Guests, Venue & Catering template,
    • Decor & Flowers template,
    • Table Planner template,
    • Entertainer quotation/service template,
    • Presentations, Technical & Recording template,
    • Delegation of Tasks template,
    • Service Providers quotation/brief/service template, and
    • Post-Event Evaluation template!

    Whether you decide to use any other free event planning software or not, we hope that we can give you some inspiration to help you create the kind of event that your bosses, colleagues, friends and family will thank you for!

    Request your FREE Templates by completing the form below:

    I’m requesting your email address so that I can send you any updates or additions to these templates in the future.  Your details & information will not be shared or sold & you will always have the ability to unsubscribe.  Of course, I’ll make sure that you can contact me at so that we can assist you in making your event a success.

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  • Advice for Hiring Live Entertainment For Your Corporate Event Or Party

    How can you get the most out of your corporate event by using live entertainment?

    And what’s the best way to find a corporate event entertainer in South Africa?

    Here is an article I wrote that was published in the March/April 2010 edition of“Meetings SA” magazine that should help you answer these questions.

  • Just a Talking Head that’s Infecting The City

    itc2010 logo21 180x70 Just a Talking Head thats Infecting The CityTonight I’ll be one of the “Talking Heads” at the 2nd annual “Infecting The City” public arts festival in Cape Town.

    Subtitled “Speed dating for your brain”, the concept is for everyday Capetonians to spend an evening engaging with passionate & fascinating people.

    A vast wealth of knowledge, wisdom and trivia is stored in isolated pockets in the collective consciousness of Cape Town.

    For one night only, the UCT Graduate School of Business invites you to interact with an encyclopaedia of fascinating people in a beautiful location. 60 experts from a wide range of fields and backgrounds gather in the depths of the Iziko South African Museum to share revelations with you. Their brief is to respond to the topic “This information could change your life”.

    A bell marks the time and you move from table to table engaging in four intimate 20 minute conversations with … a cosmologist, a trends analyst, a sex worker, a nuclear physicist, an ecologist … who knows who you will meet and how your life might be changed.

    Originally posted on www.infectingthecity.com

    This event is made possible through the generous funding of UCT’s Graduate School of Business, where I regularly speak on magic, marketing and creativity.

    I consider it a great honour to have been selected along with well-known and respected entrepreneurs, politicians, speakers, engineers, artists and activists!

  • Interviewed by “Izimvo” blog, adding my South African voice Izimvo, the Zulu word for  ”our voices”, is a new blog focusing on every-day South African life. Founded by two proud South Africans, Shaun Trennery and Marc Forrest, Izimvo shares interviews with people from every walk of life. Questions asked of those featured on the site try and provide some insight to what life is like within this great country of ours. Marcel was kind enough to answer the following [...]
  • Advice for Hiring Live Entertainment For Your Corporate Event Or Party How can you get the most out of your corporate event by using live entertainment? And what’s the best way to find a corporate event entertainer in South Africa? Here is an article I wrote that was published in the March/April 2010 edition of”Meetings SA” magazine that should help you answer these questions.
  • Sheraton Hotel Pretoria security left lacking & service fails to satisfy On Friday 5th March 2010, my laptop bag containing my laptop, BlackBerry, wallet, mobile office devices, iPod & several other items was stolen from the Jacaranda Ballroom at the Sheraton Pretoria Hotel & Towers.  The bag was stolen from a supposedly “safe” location: I made this (mistaken) assumption based on the reputation of the hotel and from seeing several security guards placed around the hotel lobby.  I found out the hard way [...]
  • “Three Of A Kind” Enjoyed By All! On Saturday 20th February 2010 I performed a stand-up show, together with my friends and colleagues Jacques le Sueur and Andrew “Magic Man” Eland, for the Upliftment Programme’s benefit show, “Three Of A Kind”. Although we were unable to raise the R50 000 we were aiming for, we still managed to raise R10 000. This is an incredible achievement considering that the idea to host a benefit evening was only thought about in January, [...]
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