The dad and son magic duo who read BGT judge’s mind
EVER wondered what is on Simon Cowell’s mind? Well, a Welsh father and son duo will aim to find out as they take to the Britain’s Got Talent stage in the first round of auditions for the 2020 series.
The ITV talent contest will return to our TV screens tonight.
And among the first trying their luck at impressing judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams to win a place on the Royal Variety Performance bill, will be father and son magic act James and Dylan Piper from Aberdare.
James, 38, has been performing magic across the country professionally for 20 years, and actually auditioned for the variety show back in 2018.
He got “four yeses” from the judges, but did not get selected to go onto the live semi-finals, a setback which he admitted at the time caused him to become “disheartened with magic”.
But that was until his son Dylan, 13, also took an interest in the art form, inspired by his dad.
In the last year, the Ysgol Rhydywaun pupil has been performing at school events, such as Year Six leaving dos and proms to rave reviews.
It led to the father and son deciding to give Britain’s Got Talent a go as a duo.
They travelled to the London Palladium to audition.
Tonight’s show will see the pair perform a card trick and mind reading trick with the help of Simon.
The pair tap into Simon’s own father/son relationship with his son Eric, making for a very family-orientated and warm audition.
Mr Piper said: “I auditioned in 2018 and got through, but didn’t make the live semi finals. I still carried on doing shows but I became a little bit disheartened with magic at that time.
“My little boy Dylan then started to show an interest in magic and we decided to put a little act together and it’s gone from there.”
Dylan explained he had been into magic all his life, having grown up seeing his dad perform, before deciding to do it himself in school.
“It went down well and I have had lots of people coming up to me,” he said.
“About a year ago we did our first performance together at Blackwood Little Theatre, we did five minutes together and it went down really well.”
The pair travelled to London for the weekend and spent their time before the audition rehearsing as much as they could in the hotel.
“We were both really anxious and nervous,” Mr Piper said.
“We got to the London Palladium and there was a lot of hustle and bustle with the other people auditioning.
“We were the second act on stage, the day was amazing.
“What is unique about our act is that we’re father and son. That’s what we look to really emphasise and we try and make that shine through.
“The fact that we will be on TV together and will be able to have that moment to keep forever is really cool, and if we do get through to the next round all the better.”
Discussing their interaction with Simon as part of their act, Dylan added: “It was really cool meeting him. He’s really cool and really happy.”
Mr Piper added that a big family get together had been planned, but the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to everyone staying at home and social distancing, has put a stop to those plans.
“I’m sure we will be doing a Zoom group instead,” he said.
■ See what the judges think of their act by tuning into Britain’s Got Talent on ITV1 at 8pm