BIO

It all started when…

I started performing magic age 16 towards the end of Year 11. I would only ever show my family, and occasionally my school friends but was usually worried that I’d mess up. Earlier on, I would watch magicians on YouTube for fun and I think thats where my interest flourished. David Blaine’s older content was my favourite. When I was very young, my dad would do the old ‘coin behind the ear’ if he had some loose change, to make me laugh. He would amaze me by breaking and then restoring a toothpick under a tea towel, he never got round to explaining how that one worked. The feeling that he gave me back then is what I love giving to people now. To do it as my career is a dream for me.

At school, I had a retractable belt clip that held a pen. I never used it for it’s purpose so I took the pen off and attached a small receipt to it. When I held it with my thumb covering the clear plastic holding the receipt, it literally looked like I was just holding a piece of paper, but as soon as I let go it would fly back into my blazer really fast because it was so much lighter than the pen. Fast enough so you couldn’t see it with a tiny hand movement. The reactions that got from that was so funny, my mates couldn’t figure it out for ages, looking inside my tie and everything.

When Dynamo’s Magician Impossible came out in 2011, it suddenly seemed possible to do amazing things with only a pack of cards and a sharpie, just by finding the power in your hands. It never felt relatable watching David Blaine as he isn’t British, it felt like I could never perform like that; I imagine Dynamo would have opened it up for a lot of young magicians in the UK at the time. It definitely inspired me to give magic a go.

Magicians are all amazing in their own ways. David Blaine is one of my favourites because anytime he is speaking he has the audience captivated and then pulls off the most unbelievable magic. His performances look extremely REAL. Dynamo has a completely different style, more flair and sleight of hand and a lot more visual tricks. Both are equally as good as each other, but David Blaine follows me on Twitter, so I think I know who I like most.

I enjoy doing magic like most magicians would say, for the reactions. Reactions make it so much fun, making grown adults feel like they’re a 5 year old seeing magic for the first time, doesn’t get old. I think it’s the reactions that made me want to carry on ever since I got my first one.

When I first started, I looked into how to handle cards properly. YouTube was a great tool for learning the basics in Cardistry. My favourite channels to watch were ‘52Kards’ and ‘Disturb Reality’. I’d actually cut my fingers all the time from the cards cutting past the same part of hand over and over again learning certain moves. Cards were always all over my room, trying to pop one up and catch it, id keep trying till I had only one card left in my hand, then pick all the cards up and start again. I would be up and down the stairs constantly, testing the tricks out on my mum. I did this for years as my passion for magic increased, until I gained the confidence to perform for people I’d never met.

My brother Michael got me my first booking, It was for a company called Convergys, I actually worked there myself for a short time before leaving to make magic my full time job. When I was 17, they had me perform for their Employee Appreciation Day. This was a relaxed day of fun entertainment for the offices. They had me chauffeured between their 3 different sites. Overall I had to perform for over 1200 people in groups of 30 at a time; a very long day. Michael even bought me 500 last-minute business cards to hand out, it went pretty well even though I was extremely nervous.

After getting the confidence from Convergys, I met Danny, the owner of ‘KO Promotions’. He would have me for his events at the Midland Hotel in Manchester. I would attend once a month for him as light entertainment for tables and drinks reception before everyone sat down for their meals. This was pretty good for my business as I was lucky enough to have opportunities to meet important people, who ran a lot of events for potential future bookings. One night after I finished the boxing event, I walked down and saw a huge queue outside Club Liv, and decided to show some people what I do. It attracted some good attention from the bouncers on the doors. After impressing them, they brought up the manager who offered me a job to work there every weekend.

This got me a lot of private events and really started my career. I now have regular restaurant work in Warrington, and cover my own wedding/party bookings.