More features

John Milner

John Milner has been a professional magician for over 40 years, having performed in thousands of live shows, on television, at corporate events and even on cruise ships.

A member of the prestigious Magic Circle in London, the hundred year old magic society, John owns the House of Magic in his hometown of Stourbridge, the aim of which is to encourage new blood to get into the magic business.

"When I was about four my uncle gave me a box of magic tricks one Christmas – and like that I was sold on magic," he explains.

John in the House of Magic

"I just carried on buying tricks whenever I could. I'd practice them on my family. Then when I went to grammar school a master there, Mr. Davis, had a brother who was a member of the Cambridge Magic Circle and they sent me a copy of a magazine called Abracadabra– which is the only weekly magic magazine in the world. There was an advert for a convention type thing at the Midland Hotel in Birmingham. I went.

"There was a man there called Ken Brooke – I stood by his table all day and that was it. Ken was a professional magician and he started to teach me. I was eleven. I'd get the train from Stourbridge to London and Ken used to meet me. Ken was master – he taught Paul Daniels and all sorts of people like that."

Going professional

John's passion for magic tricks intensified throughout his teens and he reached the finals of the Magic Circle’s 'Best Young Magician' competition at the age of 14 and 16.

Wizards and magicians

"I started my A-Levels but just wanted to become a magician so gave them up. I worked for my father for a while in his shop. I found I could earn as much money working one night at the weekend doing magic as working for him for an entire week. So that was it – I became professional (laughs).

"I did everything – working men's clubs, parties, children's parties. It was just word of mouth really. Clubs found out about it and I'd get invited. It just got huge. In 1982 I did 48 weeks, seven nights a week – a different place every night, all around the country.

"A lot of the things I did were the tricks at the time. Like the multiplying bottles that Tommy Cooper used to do. Levitating people – I still levitate them now. But I've got better at it after 40 years (laughs). I did a lot of cruise ships which were amazing. Then I met a puppeteer so we started doing combined magic and puppet shows in schools – we ended up on telly with it. Heartbeat – all sorts of things like that."

Secrets of magic

Even professionals must have off nights though. Has a trick ever gone horribly wrong in front of a live crowd?

"Oh, once I was on this cruise ship. My reputation had gone before me I think. I needed somebody to saw in half so I got the captain's wife out of the crowd. I'd put my props somewhere and reset them. What I didn't know was that a waiter had got in and interfered with them and they all fell apart on stage. I couldn't do anything (laughs). It was just rubbish. So that was the end of that show! It's very rare to mess up though. After 40 years you do get good."

The masked magician

In the era of Harry Potter, magic it seems is as popular as ever and society's fascination with illusion and trickery has endured. This is in spite of – or perhaps because of – the recent fad of 'expose' programmes on television that gave the audience a peak behind the curtain at how the magician does his tricks.

John shows some rare magic books

"The masked magician shows?" says John. "I don't like them. They don't affect the professionals because we move on to find a way of doing things differently but they can affect the amateurs. For example the zig-zag girl where you have a girl standing in a box and they push the middle out. That was exposed by the masked magician. If you've got an amateur magician who’s saved up and bought that box for several thousand pounds it suddenly becomes useless. That's really annoying.

"Harry Potter though hasn't really changed things in terms of upping business. If anything it's David Blaine because Blaine sort of changed the image from the Paul Daniels dress suit style into a cool young man with black shirts. He made magic more fashionable."

House of Magic

In 2001 John opened the House of Magic in Stourbridge, where a new generation can purchase the finest tricks and learn the art of illusion and wizardry. Most significantly, John’s running magic classes, where anyone with an interest in becoming a magician can come and have lessons.

John outside the House of Magic

"It was so hard for me to get a break and to learn how to do magic," he says. "With these classes, people can have a place to go. It's important to keep the tradition alive. Doing magic does build confidence. It gives people something slightly different especially if they're a bit shy.

"Classes will be on a Wednesday night – we just shut the shop and start. They aren't just lectures or demonstrations. We try and focus on the performance. You will have to stand up and perform and talk to the audience. It is drama. And psychology. You don't have to have any skill. Anyone can come along."

John Milner's magic lessons run weekly from Wednesday 8th October 2008. Starting at 7pm, the workshops take place at the House of Magic in Stourbridge.

For more information, visit: www.houseofmagicuk.co.uk