In recent years Kevin Quantum, physicist-turned-magician, has become a firm Fringe favourite in his home city of Edinburgh. Success on Britain’s Got Talent combined with a growing international profile has seen his career blossom.
I love bringing my silly, geeky and playful side to the fore
He’s a Guinness World Record breaker and consultant on numerous documentaries and movies for the BBC, among many others, as well as Broadway theatre productions. Thousands of live shows have taken him from five-star hotels in Dubai to Edinburgh Castle.
Magician to the stars - Kevin has performed for Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III, JK Rowling, the cast of Outlander, Sir Paul McCartney and many more. As Artistic Director of the Edinburgh International Magic Festival Kevin has, over 12 years, produced some of magic's unique performance formats. I spoke to him about science, magic and his great balls of fire.
Tell us how you went from physics researcher to magician – recently described by David Walliams as “a sexy Dr Who”.
Wow! Long story! Here’s the abridged version.
Fifteen years now. I was studying for my physics PhD in Edinburgh when I had the chance to go on a Reality TV show on Channel 4 called Faking It. The challenge was to learn enough magic in four weeks to fool a panel of expert magician judges into believing I was an actual wizard. I managed that with help from my amazing mentors Penn and Teller! An amazing experience. And I fell in love with magic.
I’ve been trying to fuse magic and science for the last seven years. It’s difficult. They’re opposites but I see the synergy. About two years ago I felt I had something spectacular enough for TV so I approached Britain’s Got Talent – and the judges loved my act! The “Dr Who” line was actually pretty insightful – I’d never realised that my Flaming Cannonball Act had a story of someone finding themselves in danger and then using science to escape certain death. But it’s the storyline for every Dr Who episode!
Would it be fair to say that some of your work is about using the “wow” factor of magic to get people to see the “wow” factor of science?
Yes. I’m an entertainer first. I want people to leave my shows having been amazed. Science inspires the plot, but it needs to connect in a human way. Laughter, amazement, empathy, joy… That comes first. But it’s also true that I use the wow factor of science combined with the showmanship skills of a magician to just find a new ‘wow’ for science.
You spend a lot of time inventing new tricks – what surprises do you have in store for your Fringe audiences?
I think the originality of my ‘tricks’ is something that keeps people coming back. The flaming cannonball routine is really the big one that holds the show together. The idea of walking blindfolded through a system of nine flaming cannonballs suspended from the roof of the theatre, swinging in an apparently random manner, is pure spectacle. Something no one’s done before. I’m proud of this one.
Also, I love bringing my silly, geeky and playful side to the fore. So one act is all about the idea of what it would be like to go on a first date with a magician/scientist: roses in a flash of light, strawberries from behind the ear and champagne bottles appearing on elaborate elevator systems…
I’m also a conspiracy theory fanatic, o the point where I’ve created a mini Bermuda triangle on stage, that someone must pass through every night…
You do a lot of educational work – how is magic useful in helping children and young people’s learning?
This is incredibly close to my heart. Post Covid, primary school children have really suffered. The impact that the lack of human to human contact for 18 months or more had, is only really now showing. And some kids are having a really terrible time of it through no fault of their own.
Magic can help. Magic stimulates the mind in ways that nothing else can. Kids that are often reluctant to get involved in class discussions will always offer an opinion of a magic trick – how it’s done, how amazing it is etc.
I’ve been trying to bottle this feeling and then direct it at as many schools around the country as I can. This has manifested as in-person workshops through the Edinburgh International Magic Festival, but also as digital courses using cutting-edge video technology that only the likes of Netflix really use on a commercial level. Over 1,000 kids are using the course (which is tied to the Scottish and English school curricula) Best thing is that this workshop is completely free to use. Go to Magicfest for more details.
Vexed question here – Magic: artform or simply entertainment? Discuss.
Oh, you’ll really open a can of worms here! Magic can be directed in many different ways, depending on the person wielding it. For many people magic is a craft, for others, it’s a puzzle. For me, it’s mainly art, especially when used in tandem with the full force of theatre.
That said even in isolation magic (and its primary emotion of amazement) resonates with people in a deep manner that we don’t really understand. Perhaps it’s something to do with just the general wonder of the world. If people see the mysterious, then perhaps they feel that they’re part of something bigger that they don’t understand…
Or maybe it’s just someone finding their chosen playing card inside a lemon.
Either way is properly entertaining.
