We admit it – British magician Tom London has officially blown our minds with his recent America’s Got Talent audition.
The 25-year-old sailed through to the next round of the US show after pulling off a trick involving numbers, mobile phones – and a whole lot of very baffled judges and audience members wondering just how he did it.
But in a year in which magic proved so popular on Britain’s Got Talent, just what made him make that leap across the pond to its US equivalent?
Here Tom tells metro.co.uk why he chose AGT over BGT, as well as revealing more about his rather unique brand of magic…
Why did you go for America’s Got Talent and not Britain’s Got Talent?
‘I’ve been thinking about doing Britain’s Got Talent for a while now, but for me the dream has always been to do a show in Vegas – in London we don’t really have that sort of environment – and I’ve always wanted to do this massive show in Vegas that pushes the boundaries of magic. So for me America’s Got Talent was the show that would put me on the track to get that show or to have that show that can kind of change magic. And that’s what it’s always been about for me, not about being famous or trying to win the prize money, it’s been about trying to change the way magic is perceived by people and moving it in a new direction.’
What was the audition process like?
‘Lots of waiting, lots of talking about yourself, it’s really good fun. I decided to take a very honest strategy out there, I wasn’t going to be too dissimilar from who I really am, I tried to be very honest and very open about what I’m there to do and let the people be the judge of what they think of that. For me the process was quite stressful – I wouldn’t say I’m an anxious person but I’d never done this trick before ever, and there was so much that could have gone wrong, so I was gambling, and I knew full well when I walked on that stage that if I messed it up that would be the end of my career. I’d say it was easily a 50-50 that it was going to go wrong.’
What is it about technological magic that appeals?
‘I’m a video game developer, that’s something I spent several years of my life doing, and I’m passionate about computers and gadgets – my whole house is a Smart home, things like that really excite me. I’ve always been really into computers and magic is one of my other great passions, so to be able to merge the two is a no-brainer.’
Who do you think your main rivals are on America’s Got Talent?
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‘One thing I do have to say is that the levels of talent out there are insane. These people spend their whole lives doing what they’re doing and they’re the best at it. I think in terms of competition I don’t compare myself to any magic act because I think that what I’m doing is so different, I’m not a card magician so I can’t be compared against the card magicians, or the illusionists. I think that my main competition is going to be acts like Light Balance who are just incredible, and what they’re doing, they’ve nailed it – it’s modern, it’s technology, it’s captivating and it’s high impact. What I do is a bit more of a story, you have to sit down and listen to it – so that’s going to be a bit of a challenge for me but I’m excited to take that on.’
Which other magicians do you admire?
‘I have a lot of respect for David Blaine because he was the first of his kind to do something and he had to really push to get this new style of magic to work. Derren Brown is a huge, huge influence in what I do because yet again he was one of these guys who chose this very far out magic style and he went and created this whole new genre behind it and it took him a long time and he worked really hard but it was so inspiring to watch him do that. So I would say both of them are probably my greatest inspirations when it comes to magic.
And then also I watch a lot of people like Wayne Dobson, who was a famous magician 10 or 20 years ago. I remember being on the plane out there and watching his videos to try and soak up his style. I try to be a normal person and very approachable,so I was watching Wayne and he was just a normal guy having a joke and a laugh with people but doing this incredible magic at the same time.’
Finally, do people constantly come up to you and ask you how you do your tricks?
‘Yeah! It’s been funny recently, a lot of people have been saying “how did you do it, I don’t know how you did it?” It’s funny, when I was doing card tricks and things like that everybody would be like “show us a trick” but now I’m doing this they know I’m a stage magician and nobody asks me to do any tricks.
I’m so happy that it’s baffled people and that’s excited them and done something new, that was something I was really passionate about getting into this. I’m really happy with how it went down and I’m so excited for the next round.’
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America’s Got Talent airs in the UK on TruTV on Tuesday nights at 8pm.
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