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would appear. ‘Oh, you’re back, boys. Who wants some bacon sandwiches?’ she’d ask. I think she worried about me and couldn’t sleep until I was home and safe. Nan did everything for me and tried to keep my feet on theground. If I said I wanted to be a magician she’d say, ‘Yeah and I’ve heard ducks farting in deep water before.’
    Nan fed me, she did my washing, and she paid the rent. I can’t even tell you what I spent all that money on. Stupid stuff that I couldn’t afford growing up: adidas trainers, Eckõ hoodies and New Era caps, rather than the non-branded cheap clothes from Woolies or hand-me-downs that I’d had as a child. ‘I’m gonna buy us all an Xbox each, then we can all play at the same time,’ I told the boys. We couldn’t have all just played on one together, of course. Stupid.
    These were the days, though, before I had any formal business plan. In my mind, I loved magic and performing, and it happened to be a great way of making money to buy nice trainers, but I didn’t even consider I could make a career out of it. We were just living day-to-day on whatever money we had. It was just pocket money really but it was nice to feel like I was making my own way in the world.
    With every booking I did, I quoted a low fee, so I was pretty much guaranteed to get three bookings off the back of it. I’d always set myself up for the next week on the night of the first gig. I wouldn’t charge people the earth so they’d book me, but then they’d tip me on top, and their friends would tip me, and before you know it you’ve covered your costs with a little extra. Occasionally, you would see the high rollers who want to show off to their friends. ‘Here you are mate, here’s fifty quid, good on ya,’ they’d say. But that rarely happened.
    It’s funny but it felt like I had a lot more spending money, doing things the way I was back then, than I do now. I’m very comfortable financially now, of course, but because I had no outgoings the little bit of money I had went a long way.
    Everywhere I went, my boys came with me. I wasn’t the leader of the group, but I was like the boss: a leader makes sure everyone knows to follow, but a boss makes sure everyone eats.
    I suppose I had a certain sort of fame back then. ‘ I’m the king of Bradford, man! ’ said the arrogant voice inside my head. In reality, I was nothing; I was a local kid with a bit of local fame. But I was popular for the first time in my life, and that was an incredible feeling. I’d finished school, so all the people who’d had opinions about me and who had judged me didn’t matter anymore. The ones who were important were my friends and they stuck with me.
    It was one of the most exciting times in my career. It was certainly when I was the most hungry. I’d get in at five in the morning and start preparing new ideas.
    It was before I’d been tainted by any of the negatives that success can bring, and before I’d had many knock-backs. I felt like I was totally in control. I was, if I’m being honest, probably caught up in the idea of potentially being able to make money from my magic. As I got older, I realised that money can only buy you things that make you happy in the short term, but there’s a bigger picture too.
    It wasn’t only at school and as a teenager that magic helped me. I’m not the biggest guy, so magic saved me at times. It got me out of scuffles, it’s distracted someone who was about to rob me. Magic would get me into a club even though the bouncers thought I wasn’t dressed right. It’s got me out of where I grew up in Delph Hill and taken me all the way around the world.
    I let people come to me and with that, the money followed. If it had been the reverse and I was trying to win people’s attention because I wanted money, it would never have worked.
    It wasn’t really that much of a conscious decision on my part; these are things I learnt along the way or have only come to realise now that I