The Magic Mod in Conversation

The Magic Mod, aka Ben Taylor, is a magician like no other. Inspired by cultural icons from The Jam to Oasis, his act is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. The Magic Mod plays Liverpool’s Blackstock Market on the 25th of October.

So Ben, can you introduce the tour in your own words?

We start in Manchester in October, and the last date is in November in Belfast which is actually where I live. Along the way we’ve got some lovely places that we’re performing at. Liverpool, London, Cambridge, Glasgow, Birmingham. I’m looking forward to it because it’s not your usual magic act or your usual magic show. I’m used to being on tour with bands and opening up for them. When people come to my show they’re not sure what to expect, and then by the end they want to see it again because it’s just so action packed. It’s 90 minutes I do, two lots of 45, and there’s just so much crammed in to there. It’s real value for money, like six magic shows in one. I love it, and I’m glad that’s where the act is now. It’s one of those ones where people need to see it to really understand it. Social media’s great, but in the world we live in people think there’s camera cuts or that you’ve edited the tricks. When you see it live, you can’t edit that. 

Where did your act come from?

I started magic when I was 6 years old. My parents bought me this Paul Daniels magic set and at the time I wasn’t ungrateful, but I didn’t quite understand it. The moment I understood it and learnt the tricks it was like a drug because you get so much out of it. When you learn a new trick it’s unbelievable. And when you go and show someone a trick and see their reaction there’s nothing like it honestly. I’ve always wanted to be involved in Entertainment in one way or another because I’ve got the love for just entertaining people. But the more tricks I learnt, the more set I was on becoming a magician. Taking a deck of cards everywhere and just performing on the street for people. I came up with the name, The Magic Mod and it all sort of snowballed from there really. 

Who are your magical influences and idols?

Of course Paul Daniels, because if it wasn’t for the Paul Daniels set I don’t know what I’d be doing. And Tommy Cooper who was one of the most loved comedians in the world. They both just went hand in hand. You’ve got Paul Daniels who was just an absolute elite magician and was so far ahead of his time. People would be trying to work out Paul’s tricks and then he’d come up with something else. And then Tommy Cooper was just a genius. I know people call people ‘the GOAT’ but he really was the greatest of all time. No one could come near him in terms of his wit and his humour was absolutely incredible. But the way he did tricks to make them look like they’d gone wrong is a hard thing to do. It’s easier to do a trick and make it look right than make it look wrong. You need to be so far ahead of your time to be doing stuff like that. He made a living of people thinking he was a shambolic magician, but he was actually very well respected and a member of the magic circle as well.

Why do you think magic continues to be so popular? It feels like it’s never gone away.

I don’t think it ever will go away. I guarantee someone in your family, somewhere along the line has received a magic set. It’s like a stocking filler. You can get the small boxes with a couple of tricks, or the big ones with up to 250. You get to learn new skills without even knowing if that makes sense. If you’re using cups and balls, you’re doing things with your hands and your dexterity that you wouldn’t normally do. It’s exercising your brain and exercising your hands. There’s stuff I can do with a deck of cards now which I wouldn’t have even dreamt of when I first started. The longer you do it, the more your hands adapt. It’s an amazing thing, and I don’t think it will ever go away because people like to be entertained. When you see big illusions on the TV, even with animals like Siegfried and Roy in Las Vegas, who isn’t fascinated by stuff like that? Who doesn’t want to be amazed? You go back to being a kid again, when you opened your first Christmas present, from that element of surprise and excitement. When I perform magic I like to take people problems away, even for that split second. All they think about is being a kid again. It opens up all these different emotions in us that we didn’t think we still had. 

What does Mod culture mean to you, and has it been present throughout your life?

Definitely. From a young age listening to bands like the Jam, the Kinks, the Who, the Small Faces, the Beatles. It’s like a domino effect. Once you’ve listened to one band, it opens another door to another band, another one, and before you know it you’ve got this backlog of all these bands you’ve been listening to and you start dressing like them. You start really going in depth on how it all started. That’s how it started for me. Of course I’ve seen Quadrophenia, it’s the film that lots of people my age has seen and then it all kicked off for them. Listening to the Jam, and then moving into Paul Weller’s back catalogue, listening to the Style Council, and just from that one band I’ve reached so many other things. That’s how it started for me. It’s formed how I dress and how I look, while I’m performing and on a day-to-day basis.

What’s it been like to work with the icons that shaped you?

If I was a band and I’d performed with all the people I have performed with, people would be raving about it. It’s different because I’m a magician, and a lot of the time people don’t really understand it. It’s fine because I don’t go onto a stage thinking everyone is going to start loving me. If I thought like that I’d be in the wrong job. But you need to win people over. It has been a dream to have worked with so many of my heroes, that’s what it’s all about. I would love to have just met Paul Weller. Not only have I met him, I know him, I have a friendship with him and his recent book has a bit in it about me which is just absolutely mental. It just proves anything in life could happen. It’s an incredible journey, what I’ve been on and what I’m on now. You never know what’s round the corner so I’m just enjoying every minute of this ride.

What did the Oasis reunion tour mean for you?

I’m 35, and growing up they were everywhere. You couldn’t walk into a shop without hearing one of their songs. They were a band that I really got myself attached to. Oasis is a band that I think everyone loves, and you can tell that from the reception they had on the tour. Everything was selling out, the t-shirts, the bucket-hats, jackets. Listening to those songs live when you thought you’d never hear them again was an amazing feeling. I’ve been playing up with it a bit on social media just for a laugh, but I think they mean a lot to everyone. You’ve only got to look at the reactions of the tour and see grown men and women cry to see that. It’s wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.

What do you think the cultural legacy of the Oasis tour will be?

100%. A lot of people these days are naive and think that Liam Gallagher invented the Mod haircut and Mod Culture. So, people will go down a rabbit hole of how Oasis were created and how the band took those influences. Noel’s been open about how the Smiths were a band that shaped him. That’s why he now gets on so well with Johnny Marr, who I believe gave him one of his first guitars. You only have to look at early Sex Pistols videos and think that is like a young Liam Gallagher. Johnny Rotten is one of the best frontmen that’s ever been around. I think that Sex Pistol’s album, never mind the bollocks, is an absolutely iconic alum. When it came out there was absolutely nothing like that, so they changed the mould. I think I’m write in saying they actually had one of the most influential concerts because Mick Hucknall was in the crowd, Peter Hook, the Stranglers. So many bands and people were in attendance for this iconic Sex Pistols gig and later on they became household names. They are still going now, but is it the Sex Pistols without Johnny Rotten? He is the Sex Pistols. But, you can definitely see Liam has got a little bit about him which comes from Johnny Rotten. Again, no one can sing the songs like Liam sings them. It takes a special kind of character. God bless them both.

Are you excited to bring the tour to Liverpool? Is it a city you’ve visted much before?

Me and my wife both love Liverpool. My wife is a big Beatles fan, and I am too. I just love the history of the place and it’s a place like no other. I remember the first time I went did a Beatles tour. I went to Liverpool last year and played the Jacaranda and went on a bigger tour of Liverpool and just found out so much about them. I went to the Cavan Club which is somewhere I’d love to perform. You look outside and look at all of the names of the icons that have played there. It’s also just a beautiful city. They’ve got a great sense of humour too, similar to Belfast. I’ve played there a fair few times and they’re always up for a laugh. The first time I was there I was with Revered and the Makers at the O2 academy, and then I’ve played at Camp and Furnace and the Jacaranda on my own. It’s just a lovely place as all the people are easy going and up for a laugh, and that’s what I like. You’ve got to be chilled out in this day and age, there’s too much else going on. I’m really glad that people come and watch me as it means the absolute world to me. Going out is an expensive thing to do these days. You’re not just paying for your ticket, you’re paying for your drinks, a cab if you don’t drive or parking if you do and it soon mounts up. If people are willing to pay their money to see me, then I’m very grateful. I make sure every show I do is the best. No two shows are the same, and every single one is the best in its own right.

Do you have any long term milestones or ambitions you would love to achieve?

I never want to be famous, or a celebrity. That’s not who I want to be. I’ve found myself being good at something, and it’s opened the door to something else. I am so grateful to have people follow me on social media or come up to me and say they enjoy my magic. It’s a wonderful thing. I just want to be successful in my career as I can be. If that means continuing to be at a level where I perform comfortably in cities then so be it, one day performing at big areas then so be it. The thing is with this career, you never know what’s going to happen because anything can happen and it’s just an incredible journey. It’s already given me everything. If it wasn’t for magic, I wouldn’t have met my wife or had a son. Magic really is my life and I don’t think people understand that until they’ve seen my act. Not to turn it into a sad story because it’s not, but growing up I wasn’t too sure what I’d end up doing. I was in a football academy for two years in London and I thought I was going to end up being a footballer but that didn’t work out. I got myself into a state where I was so down and depressed that magic sort of revived me. It’s always been in my life. I’ve always practiced, I’ve always played but it was only after I’d bombed out of this football academy that I thought because this gives me so much happiness I am going to see how far I can take this. How many people can say they’ve performed with their heroes in front of thousands of people? If for whatever reason my career had to end now and I looked back on that I’d go ‘you know what, I did alright there’. I’m a member of the magic circle and there’s less than 2,000 members in the whole world. I’ve often thought about that and gone ‘what?’ That is absolutely mental. I just don’t see myself doing anything else because this is my happy spot. I’ve got good support with my family over here [Belfast] and my family back in England. They give me love and support and they know that this is what I want to do. When you’ve got that behind you you’re already winning. I’ve been in and out of so many jobs because they won’t give me the time off for doing a magic show. Looking back I’m very grateful and this has been so rewarding, and this show says everything about that.

The Magic Mod plays the Blackstock Market on the 25th of October

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