Hey presto! It’s 60 up

Hey presto! – magicians from across the generations gathered in the Black Country to celebrate 60 years of pulling rabbits out of hats, coins from behind ears and doves from bundles of scarves.

About 80 members of Wolverhampton Circle of Magicians attended last night’s anniversary meal at The Holly Bush pub, Penn, where card whizz Steve Dela, current International Brotherhood of Magicians’ close-up magic champion, performed a spectacular mind-reading cabaret for fellow diners.

The 20-year-old, of Newport, said: “I’ve been mad about magic since I was four when my uncle pulled a coin from behind my ear. From then on it was magic sets for every birthday and Christmas.

“I’ve concentrated on card tricks but I’ve also developed my sense of mind magic because TV’s Derren Brown has become hugely popular and I could see which way the business was going.”

The club was formed by former Wolverhampton solicitor Donald G Crombie in 1947 and has members in the Black Country, Staffordshire and Shropshire.

One of the longest-serving is George Shinton, 73, of Wollaston, a retired car sales manager, who took up magic to help him recover from a serious arm injury in his early 20s.

George learned how to make sponge balls disappear, with the gripping action a form of physiotherapy to help repair the four severed tendons in his right wrist.

He progressed to the rings trick – unlinking five joined hoops – and making balls disappear under beakers.

Now he regularly visits Las Vegas to learn new tricks. “I don’t perform much any more but I’m still hooked,” he says.

Jon Marshall, 59, of Stafford, is one of the 30 per cent of members who earn a living by performing magic.

In his younger days Jon was known as The Man With The X-Ray Eyes, when he would drive blindfolded round an obstacle course in his old Vauxhall car to the amazement of crowds at summer festivals.

He started performing when magicians still wore top hat and tails, silk cuffs and white gloves, following in the footsteps of his magician father Stan Marshall.

“The camaraderie is great,” he smiled.

“I remember when I started – the older magicians being wonderfully kind to us younger ones and that same spirit is still there. It’s a real brotherhood.”