Meet Tom London, the magician who’s changing the face of magic in Britain

There are several different kinds of magic in this world. From card to coin tricks, escapism and fire eating, magicians have experimented with new and fascinating ways of entertaining baffled viewers all over the world for centuries.

As technology evolves, and our society with it, new forms of magic are being created day by day. It is in this thriving environment that Tom London was born.

He is a magician of the future. His cards are people’s smartphones, his hat a blackboard with apparently random numbers.

Tom, whose performance for America’s Got Talent wowed hundreds, told the National Student that “magic in London is thriving in the sense that there are a lot of magicians working at corporates events [where they can meet other magic performers].

“It’s very different from the US were magicians are [mainly] on their own shows”.

In this fast paced environment, Tom met his mentor and world-class magician Etienne Pradier: “I used to work in a restaurant and I started doing magic tricks there.

“One night, while I was performing, Etienne came to me and I found out he was a member of The Magic Circle.

“He asked me to join his group and so I became one of the youngest members of the Circle”.

When asked why would he choose to embrace technology magic, rather than a more classical type, Tom said that surely one of the reasons was his father.

“[He] has been working as a web developer since the 80s and I’ve always been fascinated with technology and so when I started doing magic I decided to mix these two things.”

“I wanted to make a statement hoping to inspire people to take this more seriously. What I wanted to do was to focus on technology and make it magical.

“Why are we not doing magic on Snapchat?” Tom asked “Why are we not doing magic on Facebook? That’s what I think it’s going to change with magic the next five years.”

When asked what his projects for the future are, Tom said that “I believe we are all connected on a far deeper level.

“What I want to do with my magic is to prove [it] and explore that concept far, far more.”

For more info on Tom and his upcoming shows see his website here. UK viewers can watch America’s Got Talent on truTV every Tuesday from 8pm (truTV is available on Freeview 60, Sky 185, Freesat 154 and Virgin 212).