David Redfearn
David
Redfearn was a late starter in magic, but he can remember rushing home
from school to watch Kreskin predict serial numbers and thinking "how the
hell is he doing that?" His first introduction to a real magician was at a
friend's party where an excellent magician named John Kenton was
performing. John, who is now a very good friend, changed David's life
forever "I could not believe what I was seeing, in fact we sometimes laugh
as we discuss the magic John performed that night. There are two things
that I will never forget: he bent my Yale door key, and performed a chop
cup routine which ended with the chop cup being solid." "I was now totally
hooked and fascinated by magic, I could not read enough, there were not
enough hours in the day. I went through the stage of attending conventions
and buying everything in sight but eventually found my feet and realised I
enjoyed sleight of hand study more than anything else."
In the early eighties David joined The Magic Circle as an associate. He
joined the London Fire Brigade in 1983 and can remember having to stand in
front of his new squad 785/Red, talking about himself for five minutes,
what did he talk about? You guessed it, The Magic Circle and magic, much
to the amusement of the rest of the recruits. He went on to be top recruit
and was posted to a busy East London station.
His enthusiasm for reading and practice did not stop, and he always had a
boisterous audience at the Fire Station, wanting to see the latest
miracle. These guys did not hold back their criticism if things were
sloppy! Over the years David performed stand-up magic at every
opportunity, and will always be grateful to Nic Picot and his wife Lesley
for booking him into the corporate close-up market.
Bookings were coming in on a regular basis and David would constantly push
to the back of his mind the idea that he may turn full time professional
but one incident was instrumental in his decision to leave the Fire
Brigade and pursue a career as a full time professional magician, the
Kings Cross Fire.
Since David's early retirement from the Fire Brigade he has never looked
back. He has performed cabaret & close-up magic all over the world from
Las Vegas to Hong Kong, performed on the same show as Russ Abbot and Bobby
Davro, and has been resident magician at Chelsea Football Club for four
years. "Magic has given me the opportunity to perform at the most
incredible parties and meet the most wonderful people, sometimes I have to
pinch myself to make sure it is not a dream."
Top Trick?
"Impossible to answer there are so many wonderful effects, cups and
balls, bill in lemon, floating bill, etc but sometimes I see a trick and I
know commercially it will get me rebookings and be worth the effort needed
to practice and perform it in my own style. Three tricks that shook me in
the last 8 years are Spooked, the first time I saw Nick Einhorn
perform it at the Circle I didn't sleep that night, I would have paid 5
times the price he charges, if presented correctly people will never
forget the effect. Signed card under watch is the same, when I first met
Tim Saiet at The Magic Circle we were in the bar and he performed this
effect to another magician and blew me away, thankfully he taught me every
important subtlety and now I couldn't work without performing this trick.
Finally the Reformation in Guy Hollingworth's hands is pure magic, I have
studied this for a long time and have just recently started to perform it
when the situation allows, I have a long way to go (probably years), to
gain the smoothness that Guy has but the effort will be worth it. The
above effects cannot be perfected in weeks or months - they have to be
honed in thousands of performances."
Top Book?
"The Magic of Michael Ammar, enough class commercial magic to last
a lifetime this book has paid towards my children's education, the card on
ceiling and the bill switch are worth the price of the book alone."
Top Magician?
"The magician who mesmerised me when I was just starting in magic was
Johnny Hart and his card manipulation and budgie act. Tom Mullica: comedy
timing, Michael Ammar: technique, David Berglas: class. Real world
performers Tim Saiet: cheek, Anthony McDaniel: skill, and wait for it the
magician who I in my humble opinion think is the most skillful magician I
have ever met: Kevin Reay. I have watched him perform to a group of the
top London boys and some of them did not really have a clue as to the
techniques he was using. Magic needs him back amongst magicians, he is
generous and patient, he has to be he taught me to second deal."
Top Magic Quote?
"'I once watched a Wayne Dobson lecture and he said something along
the lines of 'you shouldn't have anyone involved with your career, who may
be envious of you' a bit deep I know, but he was describing me. I changed
the situation I was in and I never looked back and felt a lot happier!"
Top Magic Moment?
"After drinking a few Beck's beers on a night out with a friend in
Stringfellows, I was suddenly asked by Peter Stringfellow to come to the
VIP area and perform some magic to Tom Jones and a large group he was
entertaining. I performed an ambitious card routine to him and he was ok,
but you could tell he wasn't happy he explained that David Copperfield had
performed this for him back stage at Caesars in Vegas. But I knew that the
ending to my routine would be totally different to Copperfield's. I asked a
very attractive companion of Mr Jones if she could help I explained that
she could mix the cards and them deal them into Toms hands she could stop
at any time and I would influence her to stop on his signed card. She
dealt the cards down and turned over a card - it was not Toms Card, by now
there were 30 to 40 people watching in silence and looking for a reaction
from Tom. I looked at Tom and said "watch, watch, look under your watch"
he turned his diamond incrusted Rolex and there neatly folded into six was
the Welsh boys card the house went wild Tom kissed me (an experience I
will not forget), and many glasses of champagne were drunk - I don't
remember much more about that night! I met Stringfellow a month later, he
said Tom was totally blown away and was still telling people when they met
up in America, I will never forget looking into Toms big blue eyes knowing
that card was perfectly loaded under his watch and just holding the crowd
in the palm of my hands!"
© MagicWeek 2002