This is the first of a number of articles that will detail magic clubs in Ireland.

The ‘Southern Brotherhood of Magicians’ is the name of the IBM (International Brotherhood of Magicians) ring that meets in Cork. They normally meet towards the end of the month January-June and September-November, and most of the meetings are held in a Cork city center hotel. To visit the club you will need to be accompanied by another member (This is done to ensure that only people with genuine interest can join), but if you don’t know anyone you can email John Casey, the club secretary and he will sort you out.

There are about 25 magicians on the books there, with 10-15 turning up to each meeting, and the membership consists of a good mix of pro and amateur magicians. Magic societies like the SBM are a great place to connect and network with other Irish magicians. Any magic club can be a great advantage when you are starting out as a magician as it is the perfect place to get advice on landing gigs, your routine, your performance or just on nailing that difficult slight.

There is a minimal membership fee (If I remember correctly it’s 50 euro or so), but that is a small price to pay. The club generally gets two magicians in per year for lectures and the odd time a club member will give a short talk on their area of expertise. In addition to this membership entitles you to attend lectures at other IBM rings around the country (If you are in Cork or Kerry it is often pretty convenient to attend lectures in Limerick and it’s usually possible to scab a lift from another member).

The club is also a great place to find out about charity gigs, which is not only good for the charity, but can also be a wonderful learning experience for a magician who is just trying to break into the pro market. And of course, as you get to know some of the other magicians, there are often opportunities to fill in for some of them for gigs they can not make or need a second body for.