Darcy Oake: 'Britain's Got Talent has won me some amazing gigs'

Britain’s Got Talent magician Darcy Oake has revealed how being on the show has led him to some pretty amazing places…

The Canadian illusionist finished fifth in last year’s series of the ITV1 talent show, which was won by musical group Collabro.

Among his engagements was a set at a royal charity polo match at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s home, where Princes William and Harry were playing the posh sport.

“We did a show at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s estate. I don’t know if Princes William and Harry were in the room but I did a show after the Princes played a polo match,” he said.

“Andrew Lloyd Webber’s estate was massive – there was like a castle and a polo field!”

He added: “It’s been pretty wild – a snowball effect. I’ve been travelling around a ton, doing lots of shows, shows in places I never thought I’d go to. It’s been insane.”

As well as royalty, Darcy has also performed for the president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev…

“We did a show for the president of Kazakhstan, right after Britain’s Got Talent. He saw the bird act and personally requested that at his garden party,” he said.

But the performance was hampered by mishaps, after the equipment didn’t turn up on time.

Darcy recalled: “The show was supposed to be at 5pm and the stuff wasn’t even there yet at that time. We were like, ‘What do we do now?’ and running around, panicking and trying to get everything in.

“We were doing a silent act because of the language barrier, but because nothing showed up, I can’t just slap together a 15-minute silent act. The stuff finally showed up at 6.30, we set it up and did it right away and it was so stressful. Because it’s for the president, the military are there and they have to search through all the cases so that was definitely one of the most stressful shows.”

Darcy Oake

Darcy Oake (Christie Goodwin)

Darcy, who starred in his own ITV show Edge Of Reality, will embark on a UK tour throughout September and October. Tickets for the tour are available now from www.gigsandtours.com.

“We’re bringing the full illusion show on tour. I’m really excited to do stuff that wasn’t seen on Britain’s Got Talent or the Christmas special,” he said“We’ve got some new stuff, some new things in the works that I’m really excited to debut. It’s my take on the classical style of magic…

“For the longest time, street magic has been the theme and that’s what audiences have really loved. But I’ve always been a stage guy so I wanted to explore that after Britain’s Got Talent.”

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