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James is no flash in the pan!
SIMON Cowell may be a lot of things, but one thing he ain't is a fan of illusionists.
South Shields-born James Hudson – aka Flash The Magician – knows this, but is still supremely confident that come January 30 at the Tyne Theatre in Newcastle, he'll win over Cowell and fellow judges Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden.
"Simon has said in the past he doesn't like magicians, but I think he can recognise a good act," said the 29-year-old who grew up in Westoe, South Shields, but now lives in Newcastle.
"Though he can be a bit mean sometimes, he generally gets it right."
"I can't wait to show the judges what I can do."
We shall have to wait and see how he goes down, but in the meantime we at the Gazette were intrigued as to how good he actually was.
Though he still has a day job in customer services for courier firm TNT, he was only too pleased to return to his home town to give our editorial and advertising staff a private show.
Having performed for six years under his pseudonym at private events and comedy clubs across the region, he thinks his act is finally honed to the point where he can achieve national recognition.
"I want to go on cruise ships and travel the world. I would be happy to do this as a job and entertain people as a living."
For our visit, as we were in a small meeting room rather than a theatre, he decided to stick with what is known as 'close-up' magic, involving cards, coins, rings and ropes.
He started with the ball and cup routine, which he said is more of a 'con' than an actual trick.
He performed this act on his first appearance on the ITV flagship show in 2007, but it failed to win over the judges.
Unsurprisingly, it won't be in his set this time, but more about that later.
Next he moved on to the rope-cutting trick, which is certainly impressive, but hardly anything new.
He said: "I was on honeymoon with my wife Lana in Kenya and I preformed for tribes who couldn't speak much English, but still enjoyed it."
"I kept the patter to a minimum, so they could concentrate on my magic rather than what I was saying."
So Is Lana a fan? One would certainly hope so.
"Yes. She loves what I do, and helps me get my material just right for when I'm performing."
The first card trick he showed us was his favourite, called Sam The Bell Hop, which is basically a story punctuated by his pulling certain cards out.
"Three Jacks walk into a bar..." whereupon he then pulls out three jacks from the pack, etc, etc.
This famous five-minute trick, much revered by those in the industry, he learned from one of his sleight-of-hand heroes Bill Malone.
Though impressive at a dinner party, it wouldn't really work on Britain's Got Talent.
It's far too intimate.
I suspect his later trick will, though.
Having rolled up his sleeves to show there was nothing up, or down them, he then proceeded to flick out his hands, each time revealing cards, singles and whole packs, as if from out of nowhere.
It's good.
Very good.
This, along with a few more ambitious ones, he thought should be enough to get him the nod from Cowell et al.
"I'm going to transform into Joe McElderry and make an elephant appear. I'm also going to levitate and remove my head."
Phew, it sounds like an awful lot could go wrong in his two-minute spot, but the former Mortimer Comprehensive pupil wouldn't be where he is if he didn't have genuine talent.
"I think I'm good enough to do this professionally now, and I hope Britain's Got Talent will help me do it," he added.
Shields Gazette intern, Ruth Aiken, was certainly impressed.
Having watched him up close for more than 20 minutes, she said: "I thought he was very talented. I was really impressed with his tricks and he's obviously put a lot of work into what he does.
"I liked how he was very passionate about the magic he was performing, and I wish him the best of luck in Britain's Got Talent."
It goes without saying all at the Gazette wish you good luck Flash!
Unless Simon Cowell has suddenly gone mad for magic, you're going to need it.
To find out more about Flash, log on to www.flashthemagician.co.uk.
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Weather for South Shields
Thursday 24 May 2012
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