London’s longest running magic show is on tour … and it’s coming to Dartmouth.

The show is one of the West End’s top attractions featuring the best in magic, illusion, mind-reading, comedy, juggling, glamour and sheer variety.

Simply called West End Magic, it’s been at the Leicester Square Theatre for the last 10 years and to celebrate the decade it’s now on a nationwide tour with the two-hour show at Flavel Arts Centre in Dartmouth on Saturday, April 15 at 2pm.

Every show is compered by comedy magician Wayne Trice who is a master of close-up magic and each show will also include guest acts.

Every performance will also feature multi award winning magician and Magic Circle member Oliver Tabor who is current president of the International Brotherhood of Magicians in the UK and a former European and British magic champion.

Oliver has been a consultant for film and TV productions such as Hollywood blockbuster Now You See Me 2 and the BBC series London Spy where he taught film actor Ben Wishaw - Q from James Bond - sleight-of-hand.

Oliver, who is renowned for using doves in his graceful stage magic, said: “The show is all about variety and being family friendly. Anyone from a toddler to a 100-year-old will enjoy it which is what variety is all about.

“We have one mission with this show and that’s to entertain in a way the audience has never been entertained before. You’ll see things that’ll make your jaw drop, but there’s also glamour and comedy. We want people to leave happy and chatting about the show knowing they’ve seen something unique, something they’ll always remember.”

Every show on the tour will feature special guests and the one at Dartmouth will be Matt Ricardo who has been called ‘the Derren Brown of juggling.’

Mat, a Londoner who now lives in Southend, said he was inspired into magic after watching a street performer.

He said: “As a young teenager, I saw a street performer and my mind was blown by the way he turned a patch of street into a theatre, just by skill, craft and force of will.

‘‘He was a juggler, but more than that he was a showman. I went back to see every show. The next thing I did was buy three rubber balls from a pet shop and get a book on how to juggle from the library.”

Mat’s trademark is his smart suit, along with a liberal sprinkling of sarcasm and bad jokes.

You won’t believe what he can do with a tablecloth. It’s one of those tricks you have to see to believe.

Mat, who has performed by Royal command privately for King Charles, is known on the circuit as The Extraordinary Gentleman as he’s regarded as a cultured person doing incredible things.

Show compere Wayne Trice said: “The show is all about the audience having a great time and there’s a trick I do with rabbits that gets all the children shouting out … but, being a magician, there has to be a twist. I’ll also be doing some escapology trying to escape my own jacket which is far harder than you’d think.

“People will always like magic as they love that sense of mystery but it’s all about the delivery as much as the technique behind each trick or illusion. We only have guest acts that have that wonderful delivery, weaving a totally engaging story into the magic.

“We’ll have people on stage and have some fun with them, making them the stars of the show while they are up there with us.”

Wayne says when he does close-up magic he can have two very different reactions.

“Many simply accept it for what it is and don’t want to know how it’s done,” he said. “But then you’ll have others desperate to know to the point of following you around to closely watch your every move.”

For more information go to https://theflavel.org.uk/TheFlavel.dll/WhatsOn?f=7980150