In 2013, 24-year-old James More appeared in Britain’s Got Talent, where he made judge Simon Cowell’s eyes roll as far as his corneas would allow, when he explained he was doing magic as a full time job. Dressed in black, except for a grey blazer and sneakers, More then proceeded to be lifted by two hooded assistants, who placed him flat atop a rod, where he effortlessly spun like a human propeller. Dazzled by this virtuoso achievement, even Cowell had to give in to More’s charm and he advanced all the way to the show’s semi-finals. Fast forward a couple of years, and now he’s performing in New York City in The Illusionists: Live on Broadway, which sees him join six other world-class magicians, for one of the most entertaining spectacles in recent years.

More’s ascent towards magic superstardom is unstoppable, and thanks to The Illusionists: Live on Broadway, where he's billed as "The Deceptionist", audiences in New York can get a sample of his talent. We had the chance to speak to him, and found him to be quite funny, and eloquent. He talked about his origins, his mission in magic, and some of the Broadway shows he thinks we all should watch, after The Illusionists, of course...

I wasn’t expecting to have so much fun at The Illusionists, and assumed I’d ended up wearing my cynical hat throughout the show. Do you find that people have preconceptions about magic shows nowadays?

Yeah, I think that being fooled is not a good experience in everyday life, so it’s our jobs at magicians to let people know that it’s not about that, it’s about entertainment. Magic can be fun, it’s about losing your perception of your everyday worries, and trying to feel good about the mysteries of the world.

You’ve talked about how you would advise young magicians to join an organization like The Magic Circle, which you joined in 2011, what would you say is the biggest misconception people might have about this organization? Do you think they’re imagining it’s like Hogwarts? What would surprise people the most?

Magician organizations are the best place for young people to learn, they can share ideas, magicians are very protective about their secrets, but as a young person you need to learn. They have experienced magicians come and impart their wisdom, there’s no such thing as Hogwarts, so organizations are the next best thing really.

Are you planning on becoming a mentor or instructor at some point?

Yeah, certainly one day, when I’m older. I need to first gain a certain amount of knowledge I can impart to the world.

You were the first illusionist to appear at the O2 Arena in London, and now you’re on Broadway. Is this surreal in any way?

Of course! When I started doing this I used to sleep in a tent on the side of the road back in the UK, I was thrilled to be doing my magic. I look back now and can’t believe I did that, but at the time I was just happy to be performing. I never forget that, so now it really doesn’t matter where I perform, I’m grateful for any audience, I’m appreciative of the career I’m living. I pinch myself every day!

Why do you think people keep going back to see your Britain’s Got Talent video? I even went back to see it after having seen your show. Do you have people try to explain to you how they think you did it all the time?

That clip’s now got 60 million views on it, it was a big turning point in my career. It’s a whole different experience to see a video and then see it live. There’s no possible way for people to do things with the camera, so it’s a different emotion that you respond to, even if you’ve seen it before. Which is weird because there’s a shock factor to it, you know it’s coming, but it still hits you in the theater atmosphere.

When you’re doing a show like The Illusionists: Live on Broadway, how are you able to keep the act feeling fresh night after night?

I tend to make myself laugh, which sounds bizarre (laughs). When you do so many shows you tend to turn into a robot, so it’s good to stay positive and try to remember that the people are there for the show, so you give them the best show you can. A minute before I go onstage I think a happy thought. It’s better to have a real smile.

Being on Broadway means you sadly can never get to see any other Broadway shows. If you ever have some downtime, which would you be most interested in checking out?

I actually have already been to a couple! I went down to The Book of Mormon the other day, and played the lottery, and we won! We got front row seats…

That sounds like something that requires real magic!

(Laughs) that was real magic that day! We didn’t even know it was happening, we showed up to buy the tickets, saw the lottery was happening and had about 30 seconds to add our names, and we won! I recommend Mormon to everyone, also Jersey Boys and Avenue Q which was great.

You grew up listening to Michael Jackson, and studied dance as well, would you be interested in acting on a Broadway show as well? Play someone like Houdini perhaps?

When I was a kid I remember very vividly I wanted to be a magician, but there weren’t any schools in London, there were clubs but the closest one to me was two hours away, so the next best thing for me to do was to get on a stage and get stage time. I went to acting school when I was 16, and we studied dancing and acting. Studying those two things was one of the best decisions I’ve made, magicians get so caught up in tricks and technique, and methods, but it’s not just about that. It’s about telling a story onstage, it’s about creating drama and theatre. All the elements that surround the magic are what make it appealing to the audience.

You were pretty young when you got started, what do you think has changed the most in professional magic in the years since?

I think there’s a major change happening at the moment, in the early 90s and late 80s it was about David Copperfield, stage magic and illusion, and then after that we had David Blaine, and everything was about street magic, but I think there’s a trend and we’ll see stage magic come back, because everything old is new. The NBC special of The Illusionists, got a great response, it was filmed like an old Copperfield special, and it looked so fresh and new on television because it was unlike anything else we’ve seen for the past 15 years.

How do you deal with being recognized out in the streets? Would you say fame was something you were looking forward to?

Fame is a byproduct of hard work. I never got into this for fame, I got into this when I was 8 years old because I loved magic and cared about my art. It’s obviously nice in some ways, because it means people know your work. Fame doesn’t appeal to me, I want to be creative and make my mark in my industry.

Staying on that topic, your act keeps being referred to as “sexy”, and in the show, Jeff Hobson even refers to you as a sex symbol. Is that weird?

It is weird (laughs) I suppose when I was younger I never got thoughts from other people, so I don’t know. I’ve never had an interest in going to the gym, or grooming or being well kept. If other people want to think that, it’s a good thing, right? I’m happy, but I’m not trying to be Mr. Macho Man or anything.

What’s one simple magic trick we can all do at home?

Maybe I can refer you to some magic books, how about that?

Sure!

Let me have a look...I want to think about what I read as a kid, but actually instead I’ll say this: go to the library, find a magic book, because if you watch videos on YouTube you’re instinctively drawn to copy what you’re seeing. But if you read a book, you can learn a trick and present it your way, and that’s the only way to create your own persona around your magic.

For tickets to The Illusionists: Live on Broadway click here.