Latest News

Love is in the air....

With Valentines day just around the corner why not add some magic to our celebrations. If you have a venue and are planning a special valentines deal or menu, contact Matthew to hear about special deals and ways of adding something a bit different to your offer. If you are simply celebrating a birthday Matthew is still available this month and throughout the year for private bookings and corporate events. Click here to contact Matthew and enquire about having him at your next event.

With the Christmas party season almost upon us, there is still time to book some fantastic magical entertainment!!

Matthew returns from Portugal on "The Independence of the Seas."

Matthew has just returned from headlining the farewell show on the magnificent Royal Caribbean ship "The Independence of the Seas."

"Performing in the beautiful 1400 seat theatre was an absolute joy, especially as all the staff were so helpful. I'm looking forward to performing there again."

In the meantime Matthew is off on another cruise in August to Greenland and Iceland and then Barbados in November.

Matthew J Dowden Becomes Newcastle Magic Circle "Stage Magician of the Year"

On June 27th the annual stage magic competition was held at the Gosforth CivicCentre. Matthew performed some of his Rat Pack Themed Magic and some manipulation to compete with some fantastic acts doing a variety of different styles. This ranged from illusionist to comedy magicians. Matthew was given first place and now holds the honoured title of "Stage Magician of the Year" for 2011, and won the Edmund Younger Cup along with a cash prize.

st magic festival Matthew J Dowden Returns to the South Tyneside Magic Festival

Matthew recently performed in the "Family Extravaganza" for the South Tyneside International Magic Festival alongside some very talented local performers.

The show was a huge success and enjoyed by everyone involved, both on stage and in the audience.

Matthew J Dowden at The Theatre Royal Newcastle

Matthew recently performed his magic alongside X Factor Winner Joe McElderry in a charity variety show for a very good cause. The show was a huge success raising lots of money for charity. Keep checking back for more photos and video from the show.

josies dragonfly cards

All proceeds went to Josie's Dragonfly Trust which raises money for children with Cancer. To find out more about the trust go to their website www.josiesdragonfly.org/

some enchanted evening poster1

Some Enchanted Evening

Matthew has just returned from Edinburgh where he was performing a run of his one man show "Some Enchanted Evening" in the Edinburgh International Magic Festival.

The show was a combination of classic magic, extremely funny audience participation and sleight of hand.

Each night was a huge success with large audiences and received nothing but rave reviews from everyone that attended.

Please keep checking back for photos and video clips from the show.

Cabaret at the Edinburgh Film Festival

edinburgh film

Matthew was recently invited to perform his cabaret act at the premier of The Illusionist, an animated film about a magician set in the 1950's at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Matthew had been specifically brought in to perform some of his classy card magic and elegant manipulation.

Among the audience were Hollywood legends Sean Connery and Patrick Stewart.

Matthew was extremely well received, bringing down a packed house with some hilarious audience participation and incredible sleight of hand.

To read more about Matthew's Cabaret Magic please click here.

An Evening of Magic

After the success of his last show at the Customs House, Matthew appeared once again in his own one man theatre show "An Evening of Magic" on the 23rd May 2010.

The show was great success and has received rave reviews. To see some clips from the show along with footage his first show, check out Matthew's new video in the home page.

Edinburgh Magic Festival - July 7-10

Matthew will be appearing in a 4 night run at the Edinburgh Magicfest as part of a series of events and performances from some of the world's top magicians.

"Do Derren Brown and David Blaine use camera trickery to make their magic happen? Was that lottery prediction a little less than sincere? Why not make your own mind up and be inches away from the action when the best magicians from all over the UK and Europe come to Edinburgh for the first ever Edinburgh International Magic Festival.

Celebs and Royalty are the typical audience for these top magic pros. Most have never performed publically in Scotland before and may never again.

No stooges, no camera tricks, just the best magic and magicians in Edinburgh for a five day Festival."

To book tickets for Matthew's show "Some Enchanted Evening" in the Netherbow Theatre (Scottish Story Telling Centre) please click here and then go to the festival calendar to select the date you would like to come.

South Tyneside Magic Festival

Matthew recently performed at the Friday Night Gala Show of the South Tyneside Magic Festival along with some of the magic community's biggest names.

His act consisted of silent magic and audience participation and it was reviewed by Mystery Magazine.

“Local hero Matthew J Dowden followed with a smooth act which consisted mainly of silent card manipulations while seated on a barstool, before introducing a violin and bow. A loose hair hanging from the latter was used for a Gypsy Thread handling; then just as we thought that was the sole reason for the instrument’s presence, he confounded us all by actually playing it - and rather well!”

Adobe Creative Suite 5 Launch

Matthew was recently hired by global giant Adobe to perform some corporate magic at the launch of Adobe Creative Suite 5.

Having been the wedding magician at one of Adobe's executives' wedding, Matthew was asked to incorporate the theme of the new product in the magic and create some new routines.

The marketing campaign was all based around the number 5, with the launch starting at 5pm on the 5th floor of Harvey Nichols in London.

The event was a complete success and the reactions to the customised magic were fantastic. If you would like to hire Matthew to perform at your next corporate event please click here.

Blackpool Magicians Club Lecture

Matthew has just returned from giving a lecture on close up magic to Blackpool Magicians Club, where he shared his thoughts and routines to a very responsive audience.

A big thank you to everyone involved at the club including Russ Stevens for his idea of using footage from Matthew's DVDs as a demonstration of how the material works for non-magicians.

Matthew finishes filming on "Wayne Dobson - A Life in Magic"- April 2010

Matthew has just finished filming his part of the new fantastic DVD set "Wayne Dobson - A Life in Magic"

Wayne Dobson has been a big name in magic since the 70's achieving more in his career than most people can ever dream of doing. In 1989 he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis having just signed a deal for his own T.V. series. Cut down in his prime he was confined to a wheelchair and yet still managed to be as creative as ever. In fact, as his condition worsened, Wayne found that his creativity actually increased.

Wayne and RSVP Magic (who produced Matthew's Self working card magic DVD's "1 Deck, 14 Tricks, 24 Hours) approached Matthew, along with Mark James and Michael J Fitch to be part of an exciting DVD project. Wayne was known for some classic routines that he had performed on stage in some of the biggest theatres in the world. It was Wayne's opinion that these routines played as well close up as they had done in cabaret, and with the help of that select group of magicians these routines have now been filmed up close and explained along with Wayne's unique insights into why they work so well.

Matthew was honoured to be part of the project and is looking forward to seeing the finished product. Here is Wayne in one of his classic clips, the 1989 Royal Variety Performance.