Billy keeps them guessing in Tayvallich
Tayvallich resounded to gasps of amazement and peals of incredulous laughter when award-winning magician Billy Reid brought his show,
Watch Closer, to the village hall on Friday November 29.
Scottish Close-Up Magician of the Year, Billy had a large crowd of all ages hanging on his every word and move as he wowed them with his cunning stunts.
In his introduction to the show, Billy asked the audience to practice their ‘Oohs’ and ‘Aahs’, but the rehearsal turned out to be unnecessary because these reactions erupted spontaneously during the performance.
Balloons burst to reveal confectionery; cards seemed to travel in time and space; mind reading had everybody wondering ‘How on earth did he do that?’; and balls shape-shifted to lemons and limes. Classic magic tricks were brought up to date with the aid of a camera and projector as Billy’s hands were projected larger than life on a screen at the back of the stage. There seemed to be no place to hide and yet the audience were still flummoxed.
Billy, a native of Glasgow, has a naturally engaging style and his patter and personality had the punters in his pockets: almost literally, when one young volunteer had to vouch for the whereabouts of a deck of cards.
The touching finale was a sustained card trick portraying the lyrics of Dougie MacLean’s alternative national anthem, Caledonia.
Billy encouraged everyone to follow their dreams, as he did three years ago when he gave up his day job to pursue a full-time career as a magician. Billy caught the magic bug as an impressionable 10-year-old, and perhaps the magicians of tomorrow in the audience will have been similarly inspired.