Thats the real magic

[Applause]

i’d like to begin by showing you

the first piece of magic i ever learned

i’m not going to do this for nostalgic

reasons

but perhaps some people think that

magic’s all about the quickness of the

hand

which deceives the eye so we’re trying

to do this one a little bit more slowly

nothing here

nothing here by the way if you’re hoping

for a pigeon just lower your expectation

you can still see it but it’s getting

smaller tension’s almost palpable isn’t

you tuck it right the way in

and since you’re so close you can see

there’s nothing between the fingers if

you give a little squeeze just for a

second

it does just seem to disintegrate into

nothing which speeches with gratitude

aren’t you i can’t believe it

just gather up the pieces let’s have

another show in april

busy busy busy

three months in a mine school just to

learn that seems to work

it should have been a one-month course

but i got trapped in a glass box for two

months very impressive

a little shaking a snap of the fingers

breaking illusion taking us back in time

just a few seconds ago

and it all seems to come back in in one

long piece i’m so glad you enjoyed it

thank you so much now i know what some

of you

are saying to yourselves isn’t it

pathetic at his age

but there’s others here who are probably

saying

what’s magic got to do with health care

well

i work with a team of young magicians

and performance artists and we work for

an organization

called breathe arts health research

which is a not-for-profit

social enterprise which gives

unusual answers to health care problems

crucially

we always work with clinicians and

researchers to make sure

it’s not only clinically effective it’s

also cost effective

today i’d like to shine a light just on

one small aspect of our work

which is the breathe magic intensive

therapy

where we work with young people with

hemiplegia or brain injury

which as many of you may know means that

one half of the body particularly the

arm or the hand

can be either paralyzed or significantly

weaker

this means that every day is a challenge

well actually every day is hundreds of

small challenges

from getting dressed in the morning

holding a knife and fall

is tough typical occupational therapy

means that the young people have to do

exercises hand exercises many times a

day

every day for weeks on end and sometimes

these young

people they’re not motivated to do those

they don’t find the exercises meaningful

they don’t have any fun so the magicians

have got together with the occupational

therapist and we’ve carefully selected

the magic tricks that have embedded

within them

all the two-handed movements the fine

motor skills they need to do the magic

but which are also directly transferable

to the daily

day functional skills that they need

amazingly

this means that we get these young

people coming to us for ten days

for six hours a day because they want to

learn how to become young magicians

and now they don’t mind that they’re

also doing 60 hours

of intensive therapy and it works

in fact it’s so clinically effective

that several ccgs in the nhs

commission young people to come along

and join us at the camp

and last year we were thrilled to be

awarded the nhs england award

for innovation and rehabilitation

you probably don’t want to hear about it

you probably want to see it so

we’ve asked a young magician to come

along here today he did the magic camp

several years ago

and he’s going to perform a piece of

magic for you now now you’re not just

going to be watching a small magical

illusion

what we’re really doing is celebrating

the two-handed actions the

the fine motor skills that he needs not

only

to do the magic but also he can use

every day

in those daily living skills to give him

a more independent life would you please

put your hands together

and welcome josh

[Applause]

thank you good evening ladies and

gentlemen

today i’m performing for you the cuts

and balls this is my favorite trick

i hope that you enjoy

[Music]

i love it

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

take it

[Applause]

wow

[Applause]

i hate it when the young people are

better at it than i am

so just very briefly can you tell us

about your experience of breathe magic

camp

sure well very much before breathe i’d

gone for a phase of being

bullied i i believe this was because i

was different to other individuals

um i couldn’t get dressed at home i

i had to rely on my parents to help me

get changed in the mornings

and i was very reliant on them

and at school with pe it become

embarrassing because i’d have to call

the teachers in

to help me it was just embarrassing and

sincere camp

and since the camp well i’m more

independent

i get myself changed now on my own so

i’ve also met other individuals like me

that have hemiplegia so i don’t

feel alone in the world i

also now next next month of going to

university

this is a big deal that shows a

milestone of how far my confidence has

actually come

so we’re super proud that josh has not

only done the magic program he’s been on

a mentoring program

so that means he now comes back year on

year helping guiding supporting

other young people with hemiplegia as

they go through the magic program

and we thought it was perhaps only

fitting and suitable that we end by

seeing some other young people that josh

helped just a few months ago

before the camp and after camp

struggling with their daily living

activities

and seeing how much their perseverance

has pushed through changed their lives

and that’s the real magic

[Applause]

it’s hot

sometimes it’s kind of hard

i just wish for a better hand

i haven’t met ever anyone with

homoplasia

it feels like

you’re the only one

i cannot do my buttons

[Music]

it makes me feel happy because i can do

all those things that

i wasn’t able to do before

it makes me feel really really really

really really really really really happy

[Music]

thank you very much

[Applause]