Leigh was bitten by the magic bug from a super-early age, when he witnessed his very first trick performed by his grandad… and “just like that!” he was hooked!
From that moment on, life for Leigh was all about performing for his family and bamboozling his buddies at every opportunity, magic sets for Christmas and Birthday prezzies and entering as many school and local talent shows as was humanly possible.
Magic had always been a hobby for Leigh, until he was asked in 2010 to entertain at one of his friend’s dad’s corporate events in London. Not only was this the very first time Leigh was going to perform in public, it was also his first time venturing into the Capital by himself! No pressure! But, needless to say, he accepted… even though he had absolutely no idea how well a magician would be received at such an event.
But, as with all the greatest feel-good stories, Leigh and his magic went down a storm and you can read all about it with his first ever testimonial from this particular event below. To this day it remains one of his favourite nights of all time, both personally and professionally. And so began his love affair with performing at events.
Then, soon after the closure of Woolworths, Leigh was seeking a new job – something a little different from his last – and happened to catch a magic show when he and his friends paid a visit to Regent Street’s world-famous toy store, Hamleys. It was after this show that his friend got chatting to the demonstrator and mentioned Leigh’s passion for performing magic. Before he knew it, Leigh was clutching the phone number for the world’s leading luxury department store, Harrods, who just happened to be looking for new demonstrators too.
Ringing the number just as soon as he could, Leigh spoke with the manager and was invited to attend an interview at the famed London store. He had no idea what the job would entail, how long the hours were or what the pay was – all he knew was that he could soon be a working magician at Harrods and he couldn’t have been any happier! And after passing every step of the interview process with flying colours, completing a two-day induction at Harrods and three days of training at Hamleys, Leigh was finally awarded his golden Harrods employee badge and could officially call himself a Harrodian.
It really did turn out to be the opportunity of a lifetime. Not only did Leigh get to sell magic sets and demonstrate magic tricks to enhance the Harrods in-store experience for a living, he soon became the store’s Resident Magician too, which gave him another incredible opportunity – performing to high-profile clients including Britt Ekland, Fearne Cotton, Michael McIntyre, Frank Lampard, The Beckhams, Scarlett Johannsson and Adele at the store’s exclusive events. Staying with the luxury retailer for three years (becoming Assistant Manager in 2013), he finally bid his beloved Harrods a fond farewell in 2014 when he left to pursue his dreams of becoming a full-time magician.
"Oh Wow, That's Amazing!"
"That cool mate, thanks for the show".
"Stop it, you're freaking me out!"
"Do you know where I can find the Lego?"
Beginning the next phase of his career as MagicLeighMagic, his next quest was to become a member of prestigious magician’s club, The Magic Circle and, yep, you guessed it… by July 2015 he was! In the same year he was also offered the position of Resident Magician for Reading’s Specsavers store, entertaining customers who’d popped in to get their eye exams, glasses fixed or hearing checked. It was a job that Leigh absolutely adored and he stayed with this residency right the way through to 2019 (with turns in-between as the preferred magician for The Phyllis Court Club in Henley and QHotels performing as ‘The Edge of Magic’).
It was in 2019 that Leigh decided to rebrand as The Professional Icebreaker, when he realised that, rather than simply performing magic at events, he was – more often than not – using magic to break the ice and get guests talking to each other. Add to this his unexpected ability to memorise over 250 attendees’ names at an event back in 2017 (now a staple of Leigh’s icebreaking entertainment which astounds guests to this day) and he realised there was so much more he could be offering.
These days, Leigh continues to be living his dream: bringing people together all over the world with his rousing repertoire of magic, comedy, laugh-out-loud cabaret and emceeing, creating the most magical memories to all who witness him in action.
When Leigh was dark and mysterious... This is what he was known as when starting out
In 2016 Leigh was asked by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales to create a bespoke stage act for their Halloween Spook-tacular evening at St David’s Hall in Cardiff.
Leigh performance had to be no longer than 6 minutes 20 seconds and compliment the piece of music which was The Planets Op 32, Uranus: The Magician by Gustav Holst.
This is one of Leigh’s highlights in his career and describes performing magic to a live orchestra in front of 1500 people to be an ‘epic experience!’
For Easter in 2018, Leigh had the pleasure of being invited to entertain the guests staying at the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa in Muscat, Oman.
He performed daily around the pool areas and on the beach in the 34degree heat. Normally wearing a suit, all he was able to wear was shorts and a T-Shirt!
In the evenings Leigh would dazzle guests with his spectacular illusions with X2 45 minute cabaret shows a night. He loved every second of being out there performing.
On Leigh’s 24th back in 2015, he had one of the best birthday’s as he entertained at Avis Budget Group’s Senior Directors Dinner and as such entertained Larry DeShon the President of the company.
It was great to perform my signature routine borrowing a €10 note from his table and then magically changing it to a green £5 note before making it appear in someone else’ pocket.
After the event I received my proudest testimonial written from Larry himself which I would love to share with you below:
Leigh had a great evening performing for all the guests who came out and queued up at midnight in the cold outside Waterstones Piccadilly.
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