I recently was asked to do an interview with HOLR magazine…
A fashion, culture and lifestyle magazine all about my move to Canada and the opening of Jamie Allan’s Illusionarium here in Toronto! You can find the full interview HERE but here are some highlights below!
Tell us about yourself and your interest in performing magic. How did you become a magician?
My interest in magic came through a fairly unusual route in the world of magic. Most magicians will be able to tell you some version of the story that they got a magic set when they were 10 and that was it – they were hooked! And while I always remember loving to watch magic shows growing up, my start in performing magic came a little later in life. I started performing magic when I was around 17 years old when a classmate of mine started doing a few card tricks to impress people at school. I’ve always had an interest in how things work (I actually always wanted to be an “inventor” when I grew up!) and so that part of me just HAD to know how the tricks worked. So off I went to YouTube and tried to find out the secrets – and eventually, I did! I also was lucky to grow up in Edinburgh, Scotland which; aside from being a beautiful city in itself; is also the home of the world’s largest arts festival – the Edinburgh Fringe. The sheer scale of the Fringe meant that I managed to secure fun little guest spots in small variety shows when I was quite young (and not very good!) which is really where I cut my teeth and managed to grow into the performer that I am today.
Jamie Allan’s Illusionarium will be opening on July 29th. Can you tell us about your role in the show as a lead magician?
Of course! My role as a lead magician started back in November 2020 when I moved across the pond from Scotland to start construction of the venue and rehearsals with the amazing team of creatives and performers. Since then, my role involves almost every style of magic where I help oversee everything from classic magic performed by our very own “Victorian Magician”, large-scale “Las Vegas-style” illusions, high-tech lasers all the way to close-up & sleight of hand magic that the lucky VIPs will have the chance to experience. I absolutely love this challenge as it really allows me to apply my knowledge of different types of magic across the board in a way that we magicians rarely get to do when constructing our own shows.
I know magicians are never supposed to reveal their secrets, but what are some of your favourite types of magic tricks to perform?
I personally love to perform a type of magic that is usually known as mentalism, but is sometimes referred to as “psychological mind reading”. It uses magic techniques along with psychology and showmanship in order to give the illusion that I can read your mind or influence your decisions. The beauty of this style of magic is that it all happens within the mind of the audience. There are rarely any big props or flashy boxes; it’s just me, my audience, and their thoughts and experiences.