The Hour

Award-winning magician Mandy Muden is the only woman ever to combine comedy and magic on the UK comedy and corporate circuits. The magic maestro has appeared in numerous magic shows on TV and she is now branching into full-on comedy.

“What’s good about doing comedy and magic is if you muck up a trick, which happens quite a lot, people think it’s just a joke and you get away with it a bit more,” Mandy said.

“If you’re being all serious people are really horrified when you muck up a trick, but if you’re mucking about with it, in a way they don’t want you to get it right so it’s quite handy really.”

Mandy was the13th woman to join the magic circle. “When I first joined it was a bit weird because I’d go up to a table where they were doing magic and they’d wait for me to go away, but that’s changed now.

“I worked with two Scottish magicians who really helped me a lot. One was Jerry Sadowitz and the other was a guy called Patrick Page that the public would never have heard of, but he advised all the big magicians all over the world, and he died earlier this year. He was an amazing influence on me.”

Mandy used to perform at Princess Beatrice and Eugenie’s parties, and she has performed at the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.

“It was quite surreal performing for Beatrice and Eugenie doing magic tricks and dressed in a mad costume. I’ve done a few little things for the Royals over the years and you’re always told not to go near them, but they’ve usually got someone really boring sat next to them and they’re desperate for someone just to come over, even some old drunk,” she joked.

The comedy chameleon has appeared in several TV shows including Faking It, Heroes of Magic and The Big Stage, and she is highly respected in the world of magic.

Mandy is performing at Edinburgh Fringe. Sleight of Tongue is on at the Voodoo Rooms until August 27.

Read more about Mandy on her website