We
spoke to the cast of Champions Of Magic and asked them a few questions about
what it’s like being a magician...
 |
| Left to right - Edward Hilsum, Alex McAleer, Fay Presto, Richard Young, Sam Strange |
What led you to become
a magician?
Edward Hilsum (EH) -
I’ve always been fascinated with the
art of the impossible. My parents bought me a toy magic set when I was eight
years old, and it was fun, but the real turning point for me was seeing the
incredible magician Lance Burton on television. He didn’t just do tricks, he
used amazing skill to create magic! Meeting Lance in Las Vegas is one of the
most magical moments of my life. Lance inspired me to become serious about
magic and to produce my first doves when I was 15… the rest is history!
Young & Strange (Y&S) – We’ve both been interested in magic since
childhood and had a passion for the art for many years. We started by
performing close up magic and progressed to developing a stage act with larger
illusions. A passion for daytime television and late nights, ensured it was the
right career path to follow.
Fay Presto (FP) – I needed to eat!
Alex McAleer (AM) - When I was a child I used to say I wanted to be either a Magician or a
shopkeeper – maybe I watched too much Mr Ben.
If you weren’t a magician, what job would you do?
EH - I
really can’t imagine doing anything else. But I’m genuinely interested in other
people. I got a degree in Psychology at university, so I’m sure that if I had
to do something else, it would still be something creative that involving interacting
with others.
Y&S - Young
would be a Ginsters Pasty delivery driver, Strange would be a paperboy.
AM –
Actor. Or keep bees.
Who or what inspires your
performances?
Y&S - Our
performance has been developed from our friendship and off stage personalities,
we love what we do and have a great time doing it. It is an honest and natural
process of developing material because essentially we’re ourselves onstage but
louder.
EH - I
find inspiration in all sorts of things, like films, theatre and art. I’m
always inspired by seeing a great performer, whether they are a magician or
not. Magic has the power to connect with people on an emotional level. So any
performance that makes me really feel something somehow inspires my own work.
AM - I’m a
fan of the Vaudeville and Music Hall era of entertainment, which was a golden
age for magic and variety on stage, so acts and performers from that time
inspire me, adding my own contemporary twists.
What are your greatest achievements
in your magic career?
EH - I felt privileged when I received The Magic Circle Youth
Scholarship Award to develop my career in America, honoured to be chosen to
perform at the London 2012 Olympics and it was amazing to perform in the ‘World
Stars of Magic’ show in Vegas.
FP - Being
trusted to entertain at Princess Diana’s first big charity event, The Queens 80th
Birthday, a BBC forty minutes documentary and surviving for thirty years!
AM - Lecturing
some of my own original material and ideas at the Magic Circle in 2013 felt
quite special.
How long do you have to practice a
new trick before you perform it to audiences?
YS - The time scale varies depending on the nature of the illusion, some
take weeks and weeks to get right before performing in front of an audience.
EH - Anything
from a few months to a few years... It’s the energy between me and the people
watching the show that creates the magic though, so I can’t perfect anything
without an audience.
AM - One of the problems with what I do, Mind Reading and Mentalism, is that you can only rehearse a routine on your own so much... You can theorise about how people will react and respond but you can’t know for certain until you’ve tried it one-hundred times with genuine living guinea pigs... I mean humans... I mean people.
AM - One of the problems with what I do, Mind Reading and Mentalism, is that you can only rehearse a routine on your own so much... You can theorise about how people will react and respond but you can’t know for certain until you’ve tried it one-hundred times with genuine living guinea pigs... I mean humans... I mean people.
What’s your favourite trick you
perform?
EH - My
latest idea is called ‘Silver’ and I love performing it. I decided that I
wanted to give one person from the audience a completely magical moment that
would remain with them. But I wanted to give them this gift without using big
props or equipment. The result seems simple but took over two years to create.
Please tell us about your favourite
performance in your career to date?
YS - We will
never forget our first show in Edinburgh in August 2011. Having appeared to
smash a spectator’s watch into several pieces, it was time for the big reveal.
A reveal that involved the spectators watch reappearing inside 2 locked wooden
boxes. Locked wooden boxes that required a key. A key that Strange had left in
the apartment, 3 streets away….
What can audiences expect from Champions of Magic?
FP - An
evening of enchantment.
EH - Magic is
hugely popular today and there are several great TV magicians in the UK. But for
many people, Champions Of Magic might be the first opportunity they have to see
real magic performed live. I hope those people have the same experience that I
had, seeing my first real magician when I was eight.
AM - A great
line up of live magic. You’ve not really seen a magic show until you’ve seen it
live, just on TV doesn’t count, and Champions of Magic has some of the best live
performers in the country.
YS - A spectacular visual performance including
vanishes, reappearances and dangerous illusions. We are privileged to be
performing alongside the best magicians in the country, who are all performing
different styles of magic. A true magical variety show which you will never
forget.
Click HERE to see a video trailer of the show.
Champions Of Magic is on tour in Spring 2015.
Full tour dates are available at www.ChampionsOfMagic.co.uk
