MOBO interviews Damien O'Brien!!

From the Big Smoke steps out Damien O’Brien, the magic world’s gifted boy wonder and leader of the new school of street magicians.

Damien’s wizardry has no limits or boundaries, utilizing all types of magic from cards to coins, watches to fire, even mind control and levitations. A natural performer mixed with boyish charm, his magic leaves
even the biggest skeptic in the room bewitched.

Honing his skills as both a showman and entertainer, Damien began gigging in local venues, until 2005, when a impromptu performance outside a London night club kick started a chain of events that would catapult this 25 year old into the big leagues.

Damien O’Brien has performed at some of most illustrious, star-studded events in the world including: The Brit Awards, The Wireless Festival and T4 On The Beach!

We had the opportunity to catch up with the man himself, ahead of his gig at the MOBO Nominations Launch party taking place on Wednesday 8th September!

1. You were introduced to magic by Richard Bellars at the age of 12, but what was it about the craft that made you pursue it?

It started with watching peoples reactions; I had never seen anything like it before. How someone could hold an audience and perform that type of magic. So for me it was like, I need to learn how this is done! And ever since I’ve been hooked, I could not, not do it, it’s the best thing in my life!

2. What are your memories of entertaining at The MOBO Awards?

Doing magic for Flo Rida and Rev Run was really cool. I managed to grab Flo Rida as he came off stage, you know, doing magic that meant he actually couldn’t lift me up, and Flo Rida is a big guy, I was doing things that resulted in him not being able to move me an inch, he went crazy for it! Rev Run started taking his hat off and scratching his head about it. He said that he would usually take this stuff as devil type stuff but he thought it was actually cool! You know, for people as big as that to really take an interest in what you are doing and be grateful for what you are performing is a really nice feeling.

3. Are there any magicians that inspire your craft?

You know what, I try not to inspire to other magicians because sometimes it results in you trying to be them too much. But I definitely have a lot of respect for David Blaine for instance he’s phenomenal. Without him magic would not be as big as it is today. Before him you had the likes of Paul Daniels and David Copperfield but David Blaine took it to the people and did magic in front of people on the streets without a big stage or set or anything, it could be done right up close to someone. He’s probably the main person. When he did that one at Tower Bridge, when he stayed in a glass box for something like 44 45 days and thousands of people saw him I was like, this is definitely what I want to do, to just have thousands of people see what I do best.

4. You have performed in front of celebrities and at events such as 50 Cent, the G unit after show party, Ciara, and at the UMA Awards 2007, how does it feel to attract such a prestigious audience?

It’s incredible! Being younger I didn’t think I would get that many people who took me seriously. Sometimes you say to people ‘I’m a magician’ and they look down at you like ‘oh really’? you know, they expect it to just be cheap box set tricks. But then, when they see what you do they realize and they’re like wow, he is actually really good and entertaining. It’s really nice to know that these people will take time out to see what I’m doing and actually respect it as a really true form of art and it is absolutely fantastic what can actually be done.

5. Are there any celebs in particular that you would love to bamboozle?!

I’d defiantly like to do magic for Eminem! He is the main person that I’d love to get at! I’ve always listened to his music from a young child. He doesn’t care you know, he seems like one of those people that just says what he thinks. I’d love to perform for him; he seems like someone who would really get into it! Other than that, probably Angelina Jolie maybe! Obviously because she’s majorly hot but she also seems like a really down to earth person, so I’d love to do magic for her I think she’d really enjoy it!

6. You have a wide range of effects from cards, coins, watches, rings and even mind control. What would you say is your favorite trick and why?

Erm, my favourite trick, now, the one I do is actually when you use a piece of thread. It was like one of the first tricks I had ever seen; he took the piece of thread, swallowed it, and then pulled it through his nose. But when I do it, I pull it out of my eye and the whole room goes insane! You actually see the thread coming out of my eye, and I get someone to pull it put for me! It’s a little bit grim but its great entertainment! Another one I’m working on is taking an empty Coke can or something and rubbing my hand on top of it, crushing it, and then shaking it and all the dents come out and it fills up with coke! If got another one lined up that I’ll soon be releasing to the market!

7. Interesting...Can we get some exclusive information?!

Basically, it’s similar to the card trick I did with Nelly where my signature ends up on the same card as his. But with this one, they’ll be holding their card, I’ll be holding mine, I shake mine and you see my signature jump off and end up on the back of their card! I’ve performed it to a few magicians and they just can’t figure it out! It’s taken me a year and a half to perfect it!

8. Being a magician yourself, do you find that you are no longer deceived by other people’s magic?

Sometimes I watch them do it and it’s like, yeah, I can figure that out. But you do get that odd one that you can’t work out. It’s good to have times like that; it reminds me why I love magic so much. But I just enjoy watching to see how well a person performs their magic!

9. Where do you see yourself taking your magic in say the next 3 years?

For me, I really want to try and get into TV and get what I’m doing as recognised as possible. I also want to get more involved in hypnosis, the hypnosis I’m doing at the moment is in its infant stages really. I just want to show the world what I can do, you know travel and take it to different places, I travel a lot to Dubai, Barcelona and Spain, I just want more people to witness what I can actually do, and show people that nothing is impossible!