Pete Firman isn’t giving anything away. The Middlesbrough-born talent, who has made a name for himself melding comedy with magic in the kind of mind-boggling act that is proving a runaway success at the Edinburgh Fringe, is the kind of showman that likes to surprise us.
And, as his regular slot on the festival circuit proves, he manages that every time.
We might not know what to expect at a Firman night, but we know we won’t be disappointed.
He likes to keep himself on his toes too, he explains, which is why he loves the uncertainty of a live show.
“This is my eighth consecutive Edinburgh Festival,” he says of new show Trickster, which he’ll be taking on a national tour this autumn, stopping off in his home region on October 7.
“I’m not going to say exactly what it’s about because it’s full of surprises. You’ve got to try keeping the momentum going.
“In the past, I’ve done magic tricks with mind-reading, so I thought ‘how can I ring the changes and do that in a slightly different way?’, and I can tell you that in my new show I get two people out of the audience and one reads the other’s mind. It’s a good moment in the show!”
The 34-year-old tells how his interest in magic started out when his mam bought him a magic book as a child, and his unique mix of sleight-of-hand skills and sharp humour has gone on to make him a star, with memorable performances across the UK and abroad and a huge range of TV appearances from primetime BBC hit The Magicians, to guest slots on the likes of The One Show, BBC Breakfast and The Sarah Millican Television Programme, saying of his fellow North East comedian: “I love Sarah”.
He’s written a book too – Tricks to Freak Out Your Friends, which includes such tips as how to take a bite out of a glass and swallow a knife.
Again, he’s not giving anything away, but Trickster does have a stand-out moment.
“You know Russian Roulette?” he asks. “I call this Middlesbrough Roulette – it doesn’t use guns, but people do watch through their fingers.”
He’s looking forward to bringing his show to the Stockton Arc on October 7.
“It sounds a cliché, but it’s nice to come home,” says the now London-based performer; not least because his friends and family will be among the audience, although those who know him best are probably the hardest to catch out.
“If my dad asks ‘how do you do that?’, I know I’ve got a good trick on my hands!”
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