That’s why when I approached Nikki in early January this year with the idea to give a benefit performance – my first public performance after 10 years in the corporate event entertainment industry. A few weeks later, and with the support of my friends, clients & other UPlifting sponsors, we’re very excited to send this news update to you!

“Three of a Kind” Charity Hat Trick

10 February 2010 – Three of the country’s top magicians, Jacques le Sueur, the only person to ever successfully steal (and return) former President Nelson Mandela’s wrist-watch (twice), Andrew “Magic Man” Eland, one of the most experienced and well-travelled magicians in the country and Marcel Oudejans, recognised both locally and abroad as one of the busiest corporate event entertainment specialists in Africa, will delight audiences at a charity benefit hosted by the UPliftment Programme at the Grand West Casino on 20 February.

Established six years ago, the UPliftment Programme has trained more than 50 volunteer care clowns who share joy with over 3 500 children every month. Operating across the country, the NPO visits children in hospitals and homes, providing them with regular doses of fun and laughter. All proceeds raised from the event will go towards uplifting a further 500 children every month.

“The UPliftment Programme is committed to sharing the healing power of joy,” Nikki Jackman, joy activist and founder of the organisation, said. “Three of a Kind will be a magical evening and a spectacular show. It’s an opportunity for us to share what the UPliftment Programme does on a daily basis – joy activism – a powerful and necessary healing tool.”

Audiences will be treated to a world-class performance. Le Sueur, Eland and Oudejans have all independently built international profiles for themselves, with regular invitations all over the world. Their performances will be filmed and screened live by Enterstage who have come onboard to provide lighting, film and live edits on the evening.

“We will be pulling out all the stops. Thanks to Enterstage, Three of a Kind will be larger than life event with real time close-ups, special lighting and effects. It’s not often that three of the country’s top magicians unite, audiences are in for a really special treat and it’s all for a worthy cause,” Jackman said.

Tickets will cost R130 and can be purchased on www.theup.org.za.

For further information on the” Three of a Kind” event, email: up@lantic.net.

Special thanks to our sponsors:
• Grand West Casino
• Enterstage SA
• Nomu
• Hirt & Carter

About the magicians:

Marcel Oudejans:
South African Corporate Magician & “Infotainer”, Marcel Oudejans, is recognised both locally and abroad as one of the busiest corporate event entertainment specialists in Africa by his peers and clients alike. At age 28, he has performed professionally for over 150 companies over the past 10 years, and has been invited to perform, lecture and attend at exclusive events as far as Los Angeles and India. As a enthusiastic entrepreneur, and author of “The Serious Business Owner’s Guide To Creating Customers For Life”, Marcel specialises in integrating his amazing sleight-of-hand and engaging personality with compelling presentations on marketing, customer service and sales. Marcel serves as the current Vice-President of the Cape Town Chapter of the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa, and is a regular guest lecturer at the UCT Graduate School of Business.
Marcel is also one of the directors of the UPliftment Programme.

Jacques le Sueur:
Jacques le Sueur, South Africa’s Premier Corporate Magician and “Professional Adventurer”, gives demonstrations of powerful, dynamic magic at society parties and corporate events worldwide. Clients from Hollywood to Hong Kong call on Jacques when they need his fun-loving, direct personality to amaze and impress their most jaded guests. He holds the distinction of being the only person to ever successfully steal (and return) President Nelson Mandela’s wrist-watch on two separate occasions! A leader in his chosen field, most of his current shows are for global corporations and high-end celebrity parties, but he has also performed in ludicrously extreme places: from nightclubs in Europe, the jungles of Central Africa, theme parks in Korea, and even inside the Pyramids of Cairo. Jacques has published two internationally acclaimed books on building a career as a professional magician.

Magic Man:
World-class performer Andrew “Magic Man” Eland is one of the most experienced and well-travelled magicians in the country. He has been touring North America, Canada and Asia for the past 15 years building an impressive list of achievements. Magic Man performed at the Edinburgh Festival and headlined at top nightspots across Europe, Canada and South Korea – entertaining the rich and famous – from the Rolling Stones at the Sticky Fingers restaurant in London to the “wrap-up” party in Vancouver for U2’s Zooropa Tour. Since 1999, Magic Man has been a hit at comedy clubs nationwide and has appeared on M-Net’s “It’s a Funny Country”, SABC 2’s “Chuckle and Chat Show”, and the 1998 Smirnoff International Comedy Festival in Durban and Cape Town. He currently performs regularly at Joe Parker’s “Comedy & Jive” comedy club in Monte Casino, Johannesburg, where he is considered to be a crowd favourite!

Distributed on behalf of the UPliftment Programme, for further information contact:
Beverley Houston beverley@mediaspot.co.za 082 824 8671

We’ve received an AWESOME sponsorship from Grand West Casino – we’ll be able to seat 750 people in their Market Hall – and from Enterstage SA – a full compliment of stage, lighting, sound and live video & projection!

This production will be of world-class quality, and your R130 ticket not only goes to assisting the Upliftment Programme, but you’ll also experience an unforgettable evening of laughter, fun & magic …

I truly hope that you’ll join me in making a real and sustainable difference to the youth of South Africa …

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS VIA CREDIT CARD, EFT BANK TRANSFER OR uKASH VOUCHERS NOW!

It’s well & truly winter in Cape Town now!  I’ve been so busy the last few weeks – preparing materials, meeting with my long-term supporters, performing & presenting – that the late nights & early mornings finally caught up with me.  After spending the past 2 days in bed watching cricket & struggling with the sniffles (shame, my daughter also has a cold), I woke up this morning ready to tackle the week!

And what a week it is going to be …

If you’re in Cape Town next week from Saturday 13th to Tuesday 16th June (this coming week), I highly recommend you take the time to visit the Cape Town Book Fair , at the CTICC.  It is a reader’s paradise & I’m really looking forward to it.  Be warned! If you love reading as much as I do, put a ‘daily limit’ on your cards BEFORE you arrive – I learnt this the hard way last year.

I’m happy to announce that this year my book, “The Serious Business Owner’s Guide To Creating Customers For Life“, is going to be on display at my publisher’s stand & I will be there for a book-signing, chat & a performance.  My book will be on sale, at R 75,00 (instead of R 99,00 at Exclusive Books)  but if you already have a copy then bring it with you – if you are willing to provide a written comment, I’ll give you another signed copy free!

I will be at stand J2a on Saturday 13th June from  13h00 – 15h00 & Monday 15th June from 13h00 – 15h00, so if you were planning to come let me know & I’ll see you there!

• Find out more about the Cape Town Book Fair at www.capetownbookfair.com
  
• Entrance fees & hours
• Here’s the floor plan

But this is the best part …

I’ve had a chat with my publisher, Barbara Meuller from New Voices Publishing & I’ve convinced her to create a very, very special offer.

As you may know, I strongly recommend publishing your own book & many of my clients & friends have asked me how I do it.  Well, I can explain it but why not ask someone who does it professionally?

I suggested to Barbara that she run a half-day workshop on how to write, edit, print, publish, distribute, sell & promote your own book in South Africa.  This workshop is worth about R 2 500,00 at least, but together we’ve come up with a unique opportunity.

Come visit the New Voices Publishing stand at the Cape Town Book Fair at stand number J2a & you will receive a free ticket to this half-day ‘How to Publish Your Own Book’ workshop!

This is a BOOK FAIR EXCLUSIVE, however Barbara has given me a few pre-booked tickets to the workshop which I would like to personally distribute.  I only have 5 right now, so if you would like to pre-book a ticket at no charge, please click here.  The date of the workshop has not yet been confirmed, but I let you know as soon as Barbara has secured the venue.

To pre-book one of these limited seats, click here.

I hope to see you there!

I thoroughly enjoy sharing my ideas, strategies & tips to a larger audience, as well as the experience of presenting on the radio. For someone who is used to working with the visual medium of magic, this is a great learning curve.

Thanks again to Leila for the opportunity!

clipped from www.mattersthatmatter.co.za Working From Home – Blessing or Not? Marcel Oudejans joined us today for another look at entrepreneurs and how to put the magic back into your business. We had a rather relaxed discussion and came up with the big question, whether or not working from home is a blessing or perhaps a disadvantage for your business and family life. Is this an arrangement that can work long term or just a short term solution? How do we balance the time we spent on doing ‘home’ stuff and office time? Do we create boundaries around the office space? We came up with many questions and real life situations that many entrepreneurs face daily with very little answers. We decided it might be a good idea to bring in a few experts to help us resolve this complicated matter as a follow up to this show. To find out more about the magic that Marcel can contribute to your business Click Here.

Marcel, the “Professional Close-Up Magician, Infotainer & Corporate Entertainer” will be joining us in Cape Town on the 12th of February for an evening of good friends and fun. Marcel bought his ticket and rallied to the cause even before we could approach him to be at our Cape Town Twestival. Like the other artists, he also donated an evening of entertainment at no cost because they believe in people and believe in social media for social good. Marcel Oudejans is a magician in more than one way…Cape Town South Africa Twestival 2009, Feb 2009

As a member, I will now be meeting regularly with other local professional speakers, to learn from their experience, knowledge & skills. Since I’ll be one of the youngest members, I plan to listen with both ears!  I’m really looking forward to developing my skills so that in the future I will be recognised nationally as a speaker who delivers thought-provoking, enthusiastic & entertaining performances that meet & exceed my audience’s expectations.

One aspect of becoming a member of PSASA is committing to the organisation’s Code of Ethics.  It says on the PSASA website : “By doing so, the members give notice that they recognize the vital need to reserve and encourage fair and equitable practices among all who are engaged in the profession of speaking.”  It’s great to know that I now belong to a group of people who have agreed to such high standards & values.

Through PSASA, I have now also become a member the International Federation of Professional Speakers (IFPS) which offers great benefits, including being eligible to attend conventions hosted by affiliated Speakers Associations around the world.

SPECIAL BONUS:
I also found a free resource section on the website, where you can find valuable articles, such as:

• Curse of the USP (Ian Rheeder)
• How to be a good conversationalist (Clive Simpkins)
• Immature Leaders Go Off Like Milk (Estienne de Beer)
• The day you start to believe your own PR… (Miles Crisp)
• and lots more!

Wow … I can’t wait to learn from these amazing people; you can look forward to my presentations becoming even better in the future.

View the individual photos, with explanation captions,
on my Facebook Photo Gallery.

Well, what a great way top officially open my blog!

This past weekend I performed for a global ’sales award’ gala dinner at the Zambezi Sun in Livingstone. I thoroughly enjoyed working with the Dialogus crew – thanks for all your work guys! I had the pleasure of entertaining the guests between long, but enjoyable, awards presentation where the highest earning salespeople from around the world were present to receive recognition. It was great to meet & get to know people from every corner of the globe & the response from my client was exactly what I had been hoping for … fantastic!

The staff at the hotel were great, as ever, & I would like to thank all those at the Zambezi Sun for their hospitality. I certainly look forward to working with you again! Hopefully, I won’t be long before I go back again.

I flew with British Airways & am already considering using them permanently. The seats were large enough, the food was surprisingly good. There were no hassles or unnecessary delays …

The check-in counter at Livingstone Airport offered me a Business Class upgrade – my client was only able to arrange Economy Class due to limited seats – which I really enjoyed.  A fantastic 3-course meal & service with a smile definitely makes the flight feel shorter. I listened to some jazz on my iPod as I imagined sitting on my own private jet; with a glass of champagne

Since I arrived home yesterday, I’ve been planning on some regular communication with you. I hope you’ll subscribe to this blog, or subscribe via email.

I look forward to some fun together!