Paul Kieve (born 1967) is an English professional illusionist and whose consulting work for both stage and screen has contributed to changing how magical special effects in productions are approached. He is the only illusionist ever to have won a New York Drama Desk award (for Ghost the MusicalonBroadway). He created the illusions for the 2014 Kate Bush concert Before the Dawn.
Kieve first performed publicly in 1983. In January 1984 at the age of 16 he performed card tricks in the music video for the Sade single Your Love Is King, his arms having been shaved to give the impression that the singer was performing the prestidigitation herself.[2]
In April of that year he made his first television appearance on the BBC TV children's show Blue Peter, apparently cutting presenter Janet Ellis into three pieces .
In 1985 he was a finalist in the "Young Magician of the Year" competition.
In 1986 he and Lawrence Leyton formed The Zodiac Brothers and performed resident seasons in Sendai, Japan, on board the Cunard Line's QE2 and at the Magic CastleinHollywood. When the Zodiac Brothers split in 1991 and Kieve made plans to attend university an approach from the Theatre Royal Stratford East to assist with illusions for a production of The Invisible Man[2] marked the beginning of a new career as a magic consultant.
'"Derren Brown's Ghost Train" at Thorpe Park. Paul worked with Derren Brown and Merlin Magic Making to create some illusions for the attraction opening at Thorpe Park in May 2016
Seeing is Believing, the Dynamo live show, UK Tour 2015
Kieve was magic consultant on the 2004 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for which he created a number of 'live' illusions including the floating spheres in the astronomy room and the self-folding marauders map.[4] He also appears in the film performing sleight of hand magic making candles multiply in his fingers in the Three Broomsticks. He is the only real life magician to perform magic in any of the Harry Potter films.[5]
Paul Kieve worked with French artist OrlanonWoman with Head, Woman Without HeadatLondon's Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1996 and with multimedia artist Christian Jankowski on the short film The Flock in which he also appeared. with video artist Jonathan Allen He also created a ghostly dove sequence for the performance art project Carnesky's Ghost Train.
He worked with performance artist Rose English on Tantamount Esperance at the Royal Court Theatre[6] and has collaborated with Marisa Carnesky on several projects including Carnesky's Burlesque Ghost Box for Duckie in 2002.
Kieve was magic consultant to Guinness World Records for its 2004 and 2005 magic sections (the only such sections ever carried by the book), researching with other illusionists including Penn and Teller, David Copperfield and Siegfried and Roy.
British Magical Society's David Berglas Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Magic, 2007
Guinness World Record in 2003 for quick change costumes in the West End musical Our House in which the lead character changed costumes 28 times in each performance.[7]
Awarded Gold Star membership of The Inner Magic Circle, London
Academy of Magical Arts Creative Fellowship Award 2013 and Honorary Lifetime Member of The Magic Castle, Hollywood
Hocus Pocus: A Tale of Magnificent Magicians 2007 (UK), 2008 (US)
A fantasy-biography of sorts including various magic tricks and backstories on some of the world's most famous magicians, along with an introduction by actor Daniel Radcliffe, who Kieve coached during the filming of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
A keen student of the history of magic Kieve regularly lectures both on the history of stage magic and his own work. In 2011 he presented a talk on 'The Magic of Theatre' at the Magic Live conference in Las Vegas.[8] He presented Grappling with Ghosts: Staging Ghost Effects in the Modern Theatre at the University of Westminster[9] in 2009.
He has presented at the Essential Magic Conference - the ground-breaking online magic conference pioneered by Portuguese illusionist Luis de Matos[10] and has lectured at the Magic Circle and the Hackney EmpireinLondon.
Paul Kieve owns an extensive collection of historical magic memorabilia, some of which he loaned to the Hayward Gallery for its touring Magic Show (2009-2010) exhibition. He is a consultant curator of The Magic Circle Museum
