John Hotowka Lecture

John Hotowka is a Yorkshire-based magician with over 30 years’ experience, performing close-up magic for many of the UK’s blue chip companies at corporate events, trade shows and conferences. He’s also the author of Everything You Wanted To Know About Table Hopping But Were Afraid To Ask.

John’s lecture — “Close-up that paid off my mortgage” — has been created as a way of giving back to the magic community that helped and inspired him along the way.

What to Expect:

• Routines John still uses today, honed over three decades.

• The “wrinkles” that make material work in practice - not just the method.

• The theatre of close-up under fire: working in tough conditions, with all types of audiences.

• Performances, explanations, and real-world anecdotes from a busy professional career.

If you enjoy close-up that’s been properly stress-tested - the kind of material you can take straight into restaurants, walkaround, and corporate work - this should be a very practical, experience-packed evening.

Where and When

Thursday 16th April 2026 Nomad Theatre - KT24 6RT

Doors 7:30pm • Lecture 8:00pm • 15-min interval • Finish ~10:00pm

Hosted by the Surrey Society of Magicians.