Andrew Murray at Surrey: Small Moves, Big Difference

Andrew Murray lectured at the Surrey Society of Magicians this week and it was a really solid night - polished, practical, and packed with material that felt genuinely workable.

He opened with a clean four-of-a-kind effect from a genuinely shuffled deck. It’s the kind of routine that sets the tone straight away because it looks fair from start to finish - no sense of “procedure”, just a clear premise and a strong payoff.

From there he moved into something I always appreciate in a lecture: proper thoughts on fundamentals. He focused on the double lift and the cull, and framed them as things you can deliberately refine rather than “moves you either have or you don’t”. It was refreshingly specific too - what to practise, what to prioritise, and how to make the mechanics disappear in performance.

There was also a very fair mentalism piece with invisible coins and a prediction, built around clarity. The audience always knew what was meant to be happening, which made the ending feel properly impossible.

A highlight for a lot of people was his gambling routine. It’s close to self-working, but with a really clever method underpinning it. The strongest part was the final phase - a neat solution that avoids an awkward magician’s choice, so the ending feels cleaner and more inevitable.

He also shared a strong packet trick, and later a snappy Dr Daley variant called Sonic - direct, commercial, and easy to imagine going straight into a working set.

He finished with a film prediction that played like a proper closer and left the room in good spirits.

Overall, Andrew was clear, thoughtful, and generous with detail. Plenty of practical takeaways, whether you’re a hobbyist or a professional.

Thanks Geoff!