THE MAGIC INTERVIEW 01-13:

THE OTHER MICK MAGIC!

If you Google the name Mick Magic (er… well, so a friend tells me, like as if I’d do it myself, oh be still my pounding ego), it doesn’t tend to be me that you find at the top of the screen, you actually get a Scottish children’s magician! I first discovered my namesake circa 2001, when I 'accidentally' typed my own name in the search box (oops). Finding it utterly amusing that two of us had come up with a name on a par with Roger Rainbow, I dropped him a line to say hi. Then, as I typed his e-mail address in the ‘to’ box, it immediately changed itself to the name Mark Fisken. So, he’d already been in touch with me, without tipping his hand. Hmmmn. So was this a genuine interest in underground music… or a sneaky little spying mission? Let’s find out…

ME: Greetings! Many thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to us. Now, I see you work under the names of Mick Magic and Kramus (yeah, I like that one, use that instead!) The Magical Wizard, but naturally enough, it’s the former I’m more interested in. With me, the name was something of a Camberley thing. Just a local habit of referring to people in relation to what they did, remember a guy who worked in the local record shop known as Dave Our Price. Thus Mick who played in Magic Moments At Twilight Time became Mick Magic. Not to mention Shona Moments, Kate Twilight and Jay Time. So what was the story with you, how did you end up being a Mick Magic too?

HIM:  Greetings to you also! Why Mick Magic? That is a good question. First the easy answer; it sounded better than Mark Magic. The real answer; I was part of a double act - Mick n’ Mack . I was, of course, Mick the Magician, and the other half of the act was Mack (or Mac) the robot ( robot character/dancer). After the act ceased, I was asked to appear in a Gala show performing magic and was asked what I called myself, my reply - Mick Magic. The name stuck, and after an internet search, I found I was the only magician. I guess that’s how I came across you and made a sneaky purchase of CD’s to see what the other Mick Magic was all about LOL ! 

ME: So I suppose I should ask the question; what exactly are your musical leanings?  

HIM: I love music, the nemesis of  magic. I am a frustrated musician, I want to do all the fancy solos but can’t be bothered with the basics. My music leanings are a wide and varied mix of  heavy rock, original film score, electronic instrumental, anything really, if I like it, I listen, if I like it a lot I’ll buy it. Always looking for something new and interesting. My guilty pleasure is, with out a doubt,  Whitesnake!

ME: I grew up with a love of magic. As a child, I used to be mesmerised watching David Nixon on telly, though I was none too pleased when he made Lynsey de Paul disappear, I had a wicked crush on her. I remember being convinced that Basil Brush was the great magician on Earth, was that so wrong? Who were your own early heroes in the world of magic and what was it about them that appealed so much? 

HIM: Like most kids in the 70’s and 80’s, TV’s Paul Daniels, Wayne Dobson, the Great Soprendo (Geoffrey Durham) and, of course, Mr. Ali Bongo. I have had the pleasure of meeting all four and they have lived up to expectations. They were the last of the great TV Magicians before reality TV ate up all the great variety shows. The magic was entertaining without being cheesy, all true professionals and masters of magic. In the late eighties early nineties, I enjoyed watching the Secret Cabaret on Channel 4 where Simon Drake presented magic in a macabre style in a fantasy gothic horror world.

ME: I remember one Christmas, I’d have been junior school age, my parents bought me a magic set, oh wow! Keenly, I learnt all the tricks (badly) and continually made a hash of them, though little would dampen my enthusiasm. If mum and dad fell asleep in their armchairs, I would sew their clothes to the cushions so I would have a captive audience at hand when they awoke. Bless them, the always pretended to enjoy my ‘shows’, possibly for those rare moments I actually got a trick right! Did you have a magic set yourself as a kid, or failing that, when and how did you get the bug? 

HIM:  Yes, I did have a magic set. Relatives still remind me of my shows as an eight year old, at family gatherings, with a gimmicked top hat that, when you poured a glass of water into it, you could turn it over and wear without getting wet. Most of my relatives enjoyed the effect, and the use of the towel that my Mum would  always have on stand-by as, without fail, most would end up soaked. However, my love of magic started much younger, when my Grandfather would show me coin tricks and taught me my first card trick. Thanks, Grandad!

Click on the magic wand, and as if by magic, you will be transported to the next page of the interview. I pull out all the stops, don't I?

This is MAGIC MIKE! Neither of us appreciate being confused with HIM!