When Warwickshire based magician Angus Baskerville returned to Ventnor Fringe last month, he left the audience with minds boggled as he performed his illusions to the crowds at Boniface Studios.
“When I first started doing magic I was very nervous performing in front of people. The more I have done it though, the more I have built up confidence.” Angus added that when he first played Ventnor Fringe, his tricks were relatively basic compared to nowadays. “[Performing the basic magic] gave me a big boost of confidence and I’ve been adapting lots of tricks since,” Angus said. He noted that magic is “really good for improving resilience, patience and focus.”
Angus shaped his Mind Trickery show around his own life growing up as an autistic child in South Africa. He said that he is always passionate about raising awareness of both mental health problems and autism.
Hoping to follow in the footsteps of his idol (Bradford-born magician Dynamo) and sell out stadiums, Angus joined the prestigious Magic Circle in recent years. “The biggest crowd I’ve performed to is probably 600 to 700 at The Mermaid Theatre in London. I was more nervous performing to the Magic Circle judges though! Regardless of how long you’ve been doing it, it’s always gonna be a bit nerve wracking.” Angus explained that the nerves soon go away as he gets into the swing of his show.
Like many performers, the COVID-19 pandemic affected Angus’ line of work (as a magician anyway!) “I was working in retail then as I wasn’t a full time magician then. For the vast majority of 2020 my magic business was on hold. In 2021 I took it online and I started doing Zoom shows. I had people tuning in from Abu Dhabi and Spain and all over the world! It feels so much better to be back into reality and doing magic in person.”
Whilst Angus is keeping busy running magic clubs at schools, he said he had a lot in the pipeline. With a message to any aspiring magicians, Angus said that “when you find your passion and embrace it, opportunities are endless.” Maybe the next time you see Angus Baskerville he will be headlining the O2 Arena, just like his hero, Dynamo.
By Jake Curran and Oliver Murphy
