Lifetime Achievement Award Winner | Andrew Van Buren – Director, Philip Astley Projects CIC
Philip Astley Projects CIC is proud to announce that Director Andrew Van Buren has been awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council at the Borough Heroes Awards Ceremony hosted by Keele University in recognition of a lifetime in showbusiness and work raising footfall of Newcastle-under-Lyme as the birthplace of Philip Astley – the Father of Modern Circus.
With a career spanning decades, Andrew has dedicated his life to not only performing in all aspects of showbusiness around the world but also to preserving circus heritage while dazzling the global audiences — from Buckingham Palace to Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.
Picture: Andrew Van Buren with Deputy Mayor Cllr Robert Bettley-Smith, Prof. David Amigoni & Cllr Craig Skelding
Andrew said: “I have been very fortunate to have some amazing people help me along the way and want to thank them along with those who decided I deserve this accolade”.
Early Life & Circus Roots
Andrew grew up touring the world with his magician / illusionist parents Fred Van Buren and Greta, his first time taken on stage was at six weeks old in the Great Room Grosvenor House, London.
Picture: Fred Van Buren with Greta
As soon as he could walk Andrew was helping backstage and performing onstage in shows, meeting and watching stars of stage and screen performing in theatre and television studios including the Muppets, David Nixon and Seaside Special studios. Touring with circus’s including Gandeys, Chipperfields, Austen Brothers, Cirkus Svenson in Sweden and Le Voix du Nord in Lille, France.
Picture: Andrew Van Buren with Carlos Svenson in Sweden
When he was 11 years old on Circus Hassani Andrew was taught unicycle and trick cycling by a Hungarian Circus Artist then juggling by a French juggler, this gave the ability for Andrew to work separate to his family, developing his own circus skills act.
Age 12 Andrew employed his first assistant – she was 19 and as well as helping in the act drove Andrew to the shows, these included nightclubs, working men’s clubs, store promotions, festivals and raves!
Andrew started uniquely mixing the magic and illusions of his parents shows with his growing circus skills.
Career Highlights
In his teens Andrews resurrected the art of plate spinning with real plates, this lead to him becoming recognised as one of the world’s top plate spinners, going on to appear on hundreds of television shows including The Generation Game, Blue Peter, Cilla Blacks Moment of Truth, The Big Breakfast, Noel Edmonds Telly Years, Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Judge Jules Spin Cities, Stephen Mulhern’s Get Your Act Together, Extreme Cake Makers, Grand Designs, plus music videos, films, adverts and many more.
Picture: (1) Andrew Van Buren on Blue Peter; (2) AVB with Mel Giedroyc & Sue Perkins
Andrew represented Great Britain at World Expo92 in Seville Spain for then Prince Charles and Princess Diana, this was the first of Andrew’s Royal appearances.
Theatre tours included 3 years with Danny La Rue, also touring with John Inman, Ken Dodd, Cannon & Ball, Hinge & Bracket, Little & Large, The Nolans and many more. During this time Andrew also worked more circus including Gandey’s, Gerry Cottle’s, Zippos and Starr.
Andrew developed his shows into large scale spectaculars, it also brought him to the attention of the cruise ship industry resulting in regular ‘Headline’ appearances over the next 15 years on various Royal Caribbean and P&O ships around the world.
The past 25 years have included Andrew and his partner Allyson (who is a trained dancer, make-up artist, ‘’head girl’ and illusion ‘box jumper’) working numerous theatre tours, festivals, summer seasons, performing at The Brit Awards, The Royal Albert Hall, The Commonwealth Games, Glastonbury Festival Blackpool Tower Circus and West End Theatres.
Picture: Andrew Van Buren & Allyson in Buckingham Palace; (2) Van Buren Show in Blackpool Tower Circus
Advising on numerous theatrical productions including Barnum, Rocky Horror Show, Houdini the Play, plus projects with the Royal Shakespeare Company, New Vic Theatre and many more.
In the Middle East – United Arab Emirates, Dubai, Sharjah plus Qatar they present their own Cabaret, Big Top and themed Spiegeltent shows often in conjunction with Gandey Worldwide Productions, plus touring Van Buren and Gandeys Victorian Wonders Carnival.
Other projects and shows have included working with Harry Hill, Peter Kay, Alex Horne, Paul O Grady, Penn and Teller, Johnny Vegas and Sherrie Hewson, also regularly appearing in shows with the cast of Coronation Street, making them float, appear and disappear.
Picture: (1) Andrew Van Buren & Company with Peter Kay; (2) Richard Osman & Lorraine Kelly with AVB
In the corporate world Andrew is known for making motorbikes vanish and cars appear for their launches, including XJ Jaguar, Peugeot and BMW, also spinning plates in conferences for Pfizer, ICI, BT, Ladbrokes, Santander and others.
Picture: Launch event of The New XJ Jaguar Car
Royal events have included shows for the Dubai & Sharjah UAE Royal Families, collaborations with the Monaco Royal Family and most memorable was an evening with the stars inside Buckingham Palace for Andrew and Allyson chatting at length with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and HRH Prince Philip.
Picture: H.S.H Prince Albert II & H.S.H Princess Stephanie with the Royal family, Monte Carlo Circus Festival Organisers & AVB in Monaco
Andrew is a Gold Star Member of The Inner ‘Magic Circle’, Honorary Lifetime President of the Mercian Mystics, member of the ‘Association of Independent Showmen’, member of the showbusiness charity ‘The Grand Order of Water Rats’ as well as working on the European Parliament Big Top Label Standards Award system judging committee.
Contributions to Circus Heritage
Following in the footsteps of both Andrew and his father Fred devising and spearheading the 1992 Astley Celebrations, commissioning the original Philip Astley Statue and the 1982 Astley themed Newcastle carnival: Andrew has for the past 16 years donated his time and knowledge to develop Philip Astley – the Military Hero, Father of Modern Circus and Original Ringmaster (plus his legacy) into a ‘Unique Selling Point’ to help with the regeneration of their hometown Newcastle-under-Lyme, spreading awareness worldwide.
Picture: Andrew Van Buren with the Philip Astley Statue in the Philip Astley Centre
Further details: www.vanburen.org.uk & www.philipastley.org.uk
