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Andrew Van Buren is a British multi skilled performer, illusionist, plate spinner and showman who specialises in presenting large-scale illusions, plate spinning routines, magic, juggling and circus style skills in all type of performance venues.
Andrew Van Buren spent his childhood touring the world with his parents' Fred Van Buren and Greta's magic and illusion show. Having been taken on stage for the first time at just six weeks old, he learned his trade growing up in theatres and circus, in television studios and on film sets, on-stage, off-stage and backstage as well as gaining experience in fairgrounds. During this time he met many stars of yesteryear, including spending time on the Muppet Show and Star Wars sets in Elstree Studios London. He teamed up with a Hungarian State Circus artiste who taught him the art of trick cycling, which led to his performing unicycling, juggling and plate spinning with real breakable plates.
Andrew now tours his own shows and specialises in theatre, corporate and cabaret settings, cruise liners, television and outdoor events. Other than in a performer capacity he is also associated with and runs several ongoing parallel entertainment industry based projects, the highest profiled being The Philip Astley Projects CIC.
Andrew has a daughter with his long time partner and stage assistant Allyson Ford.
Van Buren and his team have performed around the world, notably at the Brit Awards in the London Arena, the 2002 Commonwealth Games and before members of the British Royal family at World Expo in Seville, Spain. He has regularly performed with and made appear, disappear and float in mid-air the cast of British soap opera Coronation Street , comedian Peter Kay and Lulu. He has worked in British venues including The Royal Albert Hall and Wembley Arena in London, as well as regularly performing on international cruise ships and regularly presenting shows in the United Arab Emirates. Andrew also has advised in the television and film industry, for resident shows, bespoke productions and theatre tours, including for The Royal Shakespeare Company.
On 8 September 2011 Van Buren presented the opening show of the New Mitchell Arts theatre in his home area of Hanley Stoke-on-Trent England - the first theatre stage he worked on as a child solo performer, returning 30 years later to present one of his illusion shows as the launch of the new £4 million refit venue.
During 2013 amongst other projects Van Buren rescued and worked as Magic consultant, stagecraft choreographer and adviser on the show Houdini, which toured theatres in the UK - written by and starring BAFTA winning actor, writer, director and producer Stuart Brennan, with Jamie Nichols as Houdini and the Harry Potter Film actress Evanna Lynch as Bess Houdini, the play received strong reviews with The Stage Newspaper referred to the play as "a delicious piece of theatre that combines great drama with a generous helping of tricks and illusions".
After touring with his parents shows Andrew headed off performing on his own at a young age. He started off at the bottom of the showbusiness ladder working in nightclubs, raves and clubs, until he got the break into a new level of show, he was asked to represent Great Britain at World Expo before Prince Charles and Diana Princess of Wales. From this point Andrew was offered a nine and a half week tour with Music Hall Legend Danny La Rue, the nine and a half weeks ended up nearly three years touring the biggest UK theatres with the Danny La Rue show. From this new theatre tours and Summer Season shows poured in, allowing Andrew to work alongside veteran theatre and television stars of the time, including John Inman, Little and Large, Cannon and Ball, Hinge and Bracket, The Nolan Sisters, Jimmy Cricket, Ray Alan and Lord Charles, Paul Daniels, plus from the pop music industry Bucks Fizz, Erasure and many more. These shows paved the way for Andrew to upscale his own shows to a grander scale and in new directions. Seeing that there were less traditional variety shows and summer season shows, Andrew headed into corporate events with his plate spinning, working for large global companies at their conventions, conferences and meetings, often alongside the companies CEOs, also then touring his own themed magic and illusion shows, often combined with his circus skills.
Andrew Van Buren presented a large-scale magic illusion show called Van Buren's Abracadabra Magic Around The World in Blackpool Tower Circus during the 2007 season supported by a cast of 24 international performers and numerous large-scale illusions themed to a journey around the world. Van Buren and his team have also made regular appearances in the Middle East - UAE, Dubai, Doha, Sharjah, etc. with their themed magic illusions and circus skills mixed into their shows, as well as regular performances on some of the world's largest luxury cruise liners.
In partnership with Gandey World Class Productions in 2013 Van Buren & Gandeys launched The Victorian Wonders Carnival Show - The tented show description is "a mixture of Victorian Steampunk wonders mixed with elements of a theatrical play, sideshows and a large-scale magic and illusion show with the showmanship of the fairground". Its first performance was at the Brighton Festival before launching it on its still ongoing world tour, currently based in the Middle East and Far East as well as touring with Cirque Surreal.
Alongside "Van Buren & Gandeys touring Victorian Wonders Carnival", Andrew and Allyson are currently themselves personally touring the UK with their Outdoor arena show - "Van Buren's Victorian Wonders Show" performed at fetes, carnivals, festivals, Rallies, agricultural and all forms of outdoor event. This show is performed from their touring Art Nouveau theatre stage.
The Magic Circle - Andrew is one of only a few Gold Star members of The Inner Magic Circle - Andrew Van Buren MIMC.
Equity Andrew is a long standing member of Equity The Actors union.
"Association of Independent Showmen" (AIS) - Andrew is a member of the fairground outdoor events industry body the Association of Independent Showmen.
Grand Order of Water Rats - Andrew Van Buren is a long-standing member of the Theatrical showbusiness charity organisation The Grand Order of Water Rats.
Allyson is a member of the Grand Order of Lady Ratlings.
"Big Top Label" Rating System for European Circus. Andrew is a Committee Member of The Big Top Label, the Michelin star of circus arts, an independent quality assurance system guaranteeing quality circus art and no maltreatment of animals. Created by Mr. István Ujhelyi, Member of the European Parliament.
"The Philip Astley Project". Andrew is Director of The Philip Astley Project.
Andrew also advises and sits on the council and committees of several event organising groups and organisations.
Alongside running the Van Buren Organisation and his other projects Andrew is continuing an on going quest to gain the inventor of the modern circus Philip Astley greater recognition, which was started in 1981 when Andrew's father Fred Van Buren helped to create and themed Philip Astley / Circus the Newcastle-under-Lyme carnival in the UK.
Philip Astley was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme UK, which gives an even greater location connection for Andrew. In 1992 Andrew commissioned a portable life size statue to be made of Philip Astley, then alongside his father they created and developed a Summer of Astley events celebrating the 250th anniversary of Philip Astley's Birth. Over the years Andrew has become an expert on the life & legacy of the "original ringmaster" Philip Astley.
In 2009 Andrew Van Buren started a third personal attempt to not only raise awareness in Philip Astley and his legacy but also attempting to give Newcastle-under-Lyme a unique selling point to create tourism, this resulted in Andrew Van Buren and Cllr Wenslie Naylon creating the Philip Astley Project. Andrew is Director "Ringmaster".
The Philip Astley Project working committee alongside Cllr Wenslie Naylon and Andrew includes: Appetite, The Brampton Museum, The Friends of Brampton Museum, Keele university, Staffordshire University, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, Newcastle-under-Lyme Business Improvement District, Newcastle-under-Lyme Civic Society, Newcastle-under-Lyme College and Performing Arts Centre, New Vic Theatre, Staffordshire Film Archive, Staffordshire Libraries and Information Services, The Van Buren Organisation. Working together they are creating events, overseeing art installations, uniting archives, developing exhibitions and curating cultural and heritage links globally.
In 2017 The Philip Astley Project worked in conjunction with Manchester Metropolitan University and Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) Brazil to create the first Philip Astley & the Legacy of the Modern Circus Symposium.
During 2018 over 100 Astley events celebrated the 250th anniversary of the first modern circus. These included Andrew unveiling a plaque to Astley and the 250th anniversary of Modern Circus in Monte Carlo with Prince Albert II, Prince of Monaco and Princess Stéphanie of Monaco. During the anniversary year Andrew oversaw the unveiling of monuments in Newcastle-under-Lyme which generated news items and articles worldwide.
Andrew worked as adviser on the 2019 published hardback book The First Showman by New York Times Best Selling Author Karl Shaw, which tells the story of Philip Astley as well as Andrew's journey to gain Astley and his birthplace of Newcastle-under-Lyme recognition on the global map.
2024 saw the opening of the Philip Astley Visitor and Activity Centre in the heart of Newcastle-under-Lyme, a key feature of the growing Philip Astley Heritage Trail.
Van Buren has appeared as the plate spinner, illusionist, and special guest on numerous television programmes including Chat Shows, Gameshows, News shows, TV specials and pop music videos.
Regular repeat appearances on BBC TV Blue Peter, the first Blue Peter appearance was broadcast live from World Expo in Seville Spain where Andrew was representing Great Britain performing for Prince Charles & Princess Diana. ITV Cilla Black's Moment of Truth, Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway , The Generation Game , CBBC’s children's variety show The Slammer . Plus appearances on Noel Edmonds' Telly Years, and CBBC Best of Friends , The Des O'Connor Show, "Every Home Should Have One" series, CH4 Big Breakfast, and BBC The Money Programme as the corporate businessman / magician / plate spinner in the "Enron Special", "The Banks that Robbed the World" and "Money Programme Special". He also appeared on the opening credits and all of the links for the 20 episode series Spin Cities alongside international DJ Judge Jules as well as repeat appearances on Dubai UAE and Sharjah UAE TV.
Advertising: Van Buren has provided many circus skills appearances for the City of Culture adverts, Habitat adverts, Senate Services, plus more recently provided pizza spinning for the superstore Morrisons ident adverts "Pizza spinner" either side of the Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway TV show.
Music Video's include Charlotte Church's song "Call My Name" and appearances on CD-UK.
In 2015, Andrew starred alongside Stephen Mulhern & Sherrie Hewson plate spinning on ITV variety show Get Your Act Together with American magicians Penn & Tellar, Singer - Songwriter Brian McFadden, glamour model Danielle Lloyd, Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas, and singer Ray Quinn.
In January 2016 Andrew featured in an at the time ground breaking special 360 degree interactive film of BBC Breakfast News behind the studio scenes.
On 1 April 2018 Andrew and his assistant Allyson made a return appearance featured on the new version of BBC Generation Game with their Generation Game Show classic of the plate spinning with contestants smashing dozens of plates. The two episode show was hosted by Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins alongside Potters Wheel expert, comedian and actor Johnny Vegas plus Spandau Ballett's Martin Kemp.
Also during 2018 Andrew made repeated appearances on multiple TV and Radio News items around the world promoting the 250th anniversary of Modern Day Circus and its founder Philip Astley.
The 2018 World Juggling Tour film took covered twenty countries including Monaco, Russia, America, etc.
During 2019 Andrew Van Buren and Allyson were featured on the Channel 4 series Extreme Cake Makers which showed behind the scenes of the Van Buren Studio's as well as the creation of the Extreme Philip Astley Cake, commissioned by Andrew and created by award winning cake maker Suzanne Thorp of The Frostery.
2022 Television appearances include Channel 4 Grand Designs and the 'Made with Love' 2022 - 2023 marketing campaign for Summerill and Bishop luxury homeware.
The Van Buren Story, a documentary produced by Professor Ray Johnson MBE of Staffordshire Film Archive was released on DVD during 2010, with a new updated Directors Cut released in 2019.
Broadcast 13 November 2020 Andrew was interviewed by the 'Panto Podcast' online, in which he talked in depth about life growing up in show business, his families history, life behind the scenes and touring his shows.
Books
The following outline provides an overview of and topical guide to entertainment and the entertainment industry:
In North America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair, or other such attraction.
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclists as well as other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists. The term circus also describes the field of performance, training and community which has followed various formats through its 250-year modern history. Although not the inventor of the medium, Newcastle-under-Lyme born Philip Astley is credited as the father of the modern circus.
Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is adjacent to the city of Stoke-on-Trent. In 2021 the population was 75,082.
Philip Astley was an English equestrian, circus owner, and inventor, regarded as being the "father of the modern circus". Modern circus, as an integrated entertainment experience that includes music, domesticated animals, acrobats, and clowns, traces its heritage to Astley's Amphitheatre, a riding school that Astley founded in London following the success of trick-riding displays given by him and his wife Patty Jones in 1768. Astley's first competitor was equestrian Charles Hughes, who had previously worked with Astley. Together with Charles Dibdin, a famous author of pantomimes, Hughes opened a rival amphitheatre in London, which Dibdin called the Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy.
Pepper's ghost is an illusion technique, used in the theatre, cinema, amusement parks, museums, television, and concerts, in which an image of an object off-stage is projected so that it appears to be in front of the audience.
Ra-Ra Zoo was an English-based contemporary circus theatre company, active, a seminal group who created self devised physical theatre performance for theatres using comedy and circus skills. Founded by Sue Broadway, Stephen Kent, David Spathaky and Sue Bradley while they were all working and staying together at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 1984.
Plate spinning is a circus manipulation art where a person spins plates, bowls and other flat objects on poles, without them falling off. Plate spinning relies on the gyroscopic effect, in the same way a top stays upright while spinning. Spinning plates are sometimes gimmicked, to help keep the plates on the poles.
John Henry Anderson (1814–1874) was a Scottish professional magician. Anderson is credited with helping bring the art of magic from street performances into theatres and presenting magic performances to entertain and delight the audience.
Astley's Amphitheatre was a performance venue in London opened by Philip Astley in 1773, considered the first modern circus ring. It was burned and rebuilt several times, and went through many owners and managers. Despite no trace of the theatre remaining today, a memorial plaque was unveiled in 1951 at its site at 225 Westminster Bridge Road.
A spiegeltent is a large travelling tent, constructed from wood and canvas and decorated with mirrors and stained glass, intended as an entertainment venue.
Mark Kalin and Jinger Leigh are an award-winning American magic couple known for large-scale stage shows and for appearances on network television specials.
Johannes Franciscus Catharinus "Hans" Klok is a Dutch magician and illusionist.
Hippodrama, horse drama, or equestrian drama is a genre of theatrical show blending circus horsemanship display with popular melodrama theatre.
Carnival Diablo the Ultimate Sideshow is a travelling sideshow operating primarily in Spencerville, Ontario, Canada. Performances by the troupe follow a traditional Ten-in-One format featuring such acts as fire-eating, sword swallowing and a human blockhead, with show times lasting two and a half hours. Carnival Diablo opened on April Fools' Day 1992 by Scott McClelland, whose family goes back three generations in the carnival and side show business. Shows have been performed across Canada, including shows at The Calgary Stampede, Edmonton's Klondike Days Regina's Buffalo Days, and the Canadian Tulip Festival. In 2008 and 2009, Carnival Diablo was a featured act at Carnivàle Lune Bleue, a dedicated revival of a 1930s old-time carnival located in Ottawa, Ontario.
Andrew Mayne is a novelist, inventor, magician, original prompt engineer and science communicator for OpenAI and contributor to GPT-4 for novel capability discovery. He is a three-time Thriller Award finalist and an Edgar finalist for his novel Black Fall. In 2019, he swam alongside great white sharks using an underwater stealth suit in the Discovery Channel Shark Week special Andrew Mayne: Ghost Diver. Having written and produced over fifty books, DVDs, and manuscripts on magic, he was described in 2010 as one of the most prolific magic creators of the 2000s. He is also the publisher of iTricks.com and the host of the Weird Things podcast. In 2021, Mayne became the Science Communicator for OpenAI.
Marisa Carr, who performs as Marisa Carnesky, is a British live artist and showwoman. She uses spectacular entertainment forms, including fairground devices and stage illusion, and draws on themes of contemporary ritual, to investigate social issues from an ecofeminist perspective. Time Out declared that Carnesky's 'unique niche of interactive end-of-the-pier esoterica has fused ghost trains, anatomical models and tattoo culture with religion, feminism and class consciousness in ways both playful and rewardingly demanding.'
Robert Gandey (1894-1952) was a showman who founded Gandey's Circus that continues to perform in Britain. His parents were also showmen and he followed into the trade, training performing ponies from the age of nine. Gandey had become a performer in the Buffalo Bill Wild West show by the age of 15 and by 1918 operated his own circus tent. From 1943 he began touring Gandey's Circus as an independent big top show.