James inherits dad's magic touch

Oct 26 2006 By Steve Johnson, Birmingham Mail

TEENAGE Black Country magician James Milner has plenty of tricks up his sleeve after inheriting his father's dazzling sleight of hand.

Fifteen-year-old James is following in dad John's footsteps, having appeared in his first magic show with his father when he was just five.

And his quicksilver hands have already conjured up his first TV appearance and earned him the accolade as one of the ten best young magicians in the country.

Proud dad John, who runs the House of Magic, in Brook Street, Stourbridge, and is a gold star member of the Inner Magic Circle, said his son was already better than him.

"James has got a great deal of skill and has obviously inherited a love of the art of magic tricks," he said.

"He has ambitions to have his own TV magic show one day and the way he is going that could easily happen."

James will appear on Tricky TV, a children's satellite channel, on November 7 and the magic shows will be shown on CITV in the New Year.

James recorded his "quick trick" in the summer, when he met Tricky TV presenter Steven Mulhern.

John, aged 58, who has been involved in magic since he was four, said that James recently met legendary American magic man John Calvert at the International Brotherhood of Young Magicians Convention.

"John is 95 but still performing. He saw James doing his card tricks in the lobby and was very taken with his skills," he said.

"Who knows where that connection might lead - John is an amazing man and very much a revered name in the international world of magic."

James is already a seasoned performer at charity events staged by the House of Magic and has appeared at Rotary, Round Table and Masonic functions.

He is hoping he will have several more tricks up his sleeve for the Magic Circle's Young Magician of the Year competition, the finals of which take place next July.

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