Nick ( UK's most popular magicians. )

Nick is one of the UK's most popular magicians. He is a London based magician travelling internationally.His friendly manner and style has seen him perform around the world for numerous organisations, individuals and blue chip companies. He has presented his blend of magic and comedy to private and corporate clients that have included Royalty, Heads Of State and major celebrities. He was chosen to perform and provided magical entertainment at Buckingham Palace as part of the Queen's Jubilee Celebrations.

You may have seen a magician performing at an event before or you may be looking to book a magician for the very first time.

Below you will find a brief descriptions on some of the services that Nick offers.For further details take a look at the individual pages.

Close Up Magician - This is the most used type of magic and is ideal for stand up buffets, receptions and seated meals.Take a look at the close up magician page for further details.

Corporate Magician - Providing magic for all corporate events,from small boardrooms to large outdoor summer parties

Wedding Magician - Wedding magicians have become increasingly popular over the last few years as they are used to break the ice for people who are not familiar with each other and also to fill long time gaps for instance when photographs are being taken.Find out more by taking a look at the wedding magician page.

Cabaret Magician - This type of magic can be used as after dinner entertainment and is performed for the whole group. For more details of Nicks cabaret take a look at the cabaret magician page.

Trade show Magician - A trade show magician is ideal for drawing in people to a trade show or exhibition stand. Find out more and take a look at the trade show magician page.

Team building Events - A magician can add fun to team building events at the same time teaching new skills and the secrets of influence, charisma and showmanship.Find out more on the team buildings page.

Product Launches - A magician can add extra interest to a product.Find out how Nick can add magic to your product or service.Find out further details on the Road shows page.

It does not matter how big or small your event or party is, Nick will assist you in making the occasion special. Excellent magic inter twinned with comedy and fun providing magic with a smile.

An Equity and ‘Magic Circle’ member Nick has appeared on television in both a magic and non-magic capacity for the BBC,LWT, Channel 4,Sky, Bravo,and QVC.

Nick’s skills as a presenter/compere have been utilised by various companies for presentations, awards ceremonies and corporate videos.He has also appeared in TV commercials as a featured performer for companies such as Vauxhall, Wimpy and Walkers.

With his gentle brand of humour Nick is able to amaze and amuse, forming a relationship that creates a lasting impression on all who see him.
Please take a look around the site to obtain further information and if you would like to add some magic to your event or party then contact Nick now to find out how to book him as your magician.

Magic (illusion)
Magic is a performing art that entertains an audience by creating illusions of impossible[1] or supernatural[2] feats, using purely natural means. These feats are called magic tricks, effects or illusions.

An artist who performs magic is called a magician. Magicians (or magi) are also referred to by names reflecting the type of magical effects they typically perform, such as prestidigitators, conjurors, illusionists, mentalists, ventriloquists, and escape artists, etc.

History
The term "Magic" is etymologically derived from the Old Persian word Magi. Performances we would now recognize as conjuring have probably been practiced throughout history. The same level of ingenuity that was used to produce famous ancient deceptions such as the Trojan Horse would also have been used for entertainment, or at least for cheating in gambling games, since time immemorial. However, the profession of the illusionist gained strength only in eighteenth century, and has enjoyed several popular vogues. Successful magicians have become some of the most famous celebrities in popular entertainment.
From 1756 to 1781, Jacob Philadelphia performed feats of magic, sometimes under the guise of scientific exhibitions, throughout Europe and in Russia. Modern entertainment magic owes much of its origins to Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin (1805-1871), originally a clockmaker, who opened a magic theatre in Paris in the 1840s. His speciality was the construction of mechanical automata which appeared to move and act as if they were alive. The British performer J N Maskelyne and his partner Cooke established their own theatre, the Egyptian Hall in London's Piccadilly, in 1873. They presented stage magic, exploiting the potential of the stage for hidden mechanisms and assistants, and the control it offers over the audience's point of view. The greatest celebrity magician of all time, Harry Houdini (real name Ehrich Weiss, 1874 - 1926), took his stage name from Robert-Houdin and developed a range of stage magic tricks, many of them based on escapology (though that word was not used until after Houdini's death). The son of a Hungarian rabbi, Houdini was genuinely highly skilled in techniques such as lockpicking and escaping straitjackets, but also made full use of the whole range of conjuring techniques, including fake equipment and collusion with individuals in the audience. Houdini's showbusiness savvy was as great as his performing skill. There is a Houdini Museum dedicated to him in Scranton, PA. In addition to expanding the range of magic hardware, showmanship and deceptive technique, these performers established the modern relationship between the performer and the audience.

In this relationship, there is an unspoken agreement between the performer and the audience about what is going on. Unlike in the past, almost no performers today actually claim to possess supernatural powers (although there are exceptions to this, they are regarded as charlatans). It is understood by everyone that the effects in the performance are accomplished through sleight of hand (also called prestidigitation or léger de main), misdirection, deception, collusion with a member of the audience, apparatus with secret mechanisms, mirrors, and other trickery (hence the illusions are commonly referred to as "tricks"). The performer seeks to present an effect so clever and skillful that the audience cannot believe their eyes, and cannot think of the explanation. The sense of bafflement is part of the entertainment. In turn, the audience play a role in which they agree to be entertained by something they know to be a deception. Houdini also gained the trust of his audiences by using his knowledge of illusions to debunk charlatans, a tradition continued by magicians such as James Randi, P. C. Sorcar, and Penn and Teller.

Magic has come and gone in fashion. For instance, the magic show for much of the 20th Century was marginalized in North America as largely children's entertainment. A revival started with Doug Henning, who reestablished the magic show as a form of mass entertainment with his distinctive look that rejected the old stereotypes and his exuberant sense of showmanship that became popular on both stage and numerous television specials.

Today, the art is enjoying a vogue, driven by a number of highly successful performers such as David Copperfield, Lance Burton, Penn and Teller, Derren Brown, Barry and Stuart, Criss Angel, Dorothy Dietrich and many other stage and TV performers. David Blaine is sometimes included in this category, though his major performances have been more a combination of Houdini-style escape tricks and physical endurance displays than the illusion magic performed by others. The mid-twentieth century saw magic transform in many different aspects: some performers preferred to renovate the craft on stage --- such as The Mentalizer Show in Times Square which dared to mix themes of spirituality and kabbalah with the art of magic --- others successfully made the transition to TV, which opens up new opportunities for deceptions, and brings the performer to huge audiences. A widely accepted code has developed, in which TV magicians can use all the traditional forms of deception, but should not resort to camera tricks, editing the videotape, or other TV special effects --- this makes deception too "easy", in the popular mind. Most TV magicians are shown performing before a live audience, who provide the remote viewer with a (sometimes misleading) reassurance that the effects are not obtained with the help of camera tricks.

Many of the basic principles of magic are comparatively old. There is an expression, "it's all done with smoke and mirrors", used to explain something baffling, but contrary to popular belief, effects are seldom achieved using mirrors today, due to the amount of work needed to install it and difficulties in transport. For example, the famous Pepper's Ghost, a stage illusion first used in 19th century London, required a specially built theatre. Harry Houdini led the field of vanishing large objects, by making an elephant disappear on stage, although not using mirrors, and modern performers have vanished objects as big as the Taj Mahal, Statue of Liberty, and the Space Shuttle, using other kinds of optical deceptions.