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Watch: See magic man Phil
Tilston perform his tricks

by Adam Williams

awilliams@thekmgroup.co.uk

Magician Philip Tilston has a trick
or two up his sleeve after conjuring up a career change more than
15 years ago.

The father-of-three, from
Goodnestone, near Wingham, had an eureka moment one night in 1995
when he picked up a book of easy to do magic tricks at a motorway
service station.

He said: “We’d been living in Sevenoaks at the
time and I was commuting back and forth to Manchester each week for
work.

“One night I stopped on the M6 and
I saw this book on a table of cheap items you always see at those
kind of places. I’d always loved magic when I was a child and I
thought I could practice tricks while I was away from home and then
show them off to my kids.

“The more I practised, the more I
enjoyed it and not long after that I joined a magic club and caught
the bug.

“I was just a mere accountant back
then and now I combine my magic shows with running my own
management consultancy firm.”

Philip, 51, was invited into the prestigious
Magic Circle after impressing judges at a series of competitions.
He is also a member of Equity and his routine specialises in close
up and cabaret tricks made famous by TV magicians of yesteryear
like David Nixon and Paul Daniels.

He added: “I came into magic quite
late, but I remember watching both of them on the TV. I used to
love it when they would get audience members on stage and make the
magic happen right under their noses.

“That’s what my routine specialises
in, it’s all about getting a reaction from people and using
everything from cards, coins, ropes, fruit and rubber bands.”

Philip and wife Letitia , 51, moved
to Goodnestone a year ago after 15 years in the north west. Philip
is hoping to perform his tricks at festivals this summer and
recently was runner up at Kent’s Close Up Magician of the Year
competition.

Their youngest son Douglas, 18, is
also a trainee magician and has impressed in junior competitions
across the country.

Philip will be showing off his
tricks at the Wingham Garden Safari and Scarecrow Trail on Saturday
between 2.30pm and 4.30pm and at the Goodnestone Fete on Saturday,
July 2.

For more information on his
tricks and shows visitwww.kent-magician.org.uk