I EXPLAIN WHAT I DO AND PEOPLE SAY: ‘PROVE IT!’

Katherine Mills, 35, lives in notting hill, West london.

I descrIbe myself as a magician but also as a ‘mentalist’ — someone who performs magic with a psychological twist.

It started at 14 when my brother bought me a david blaine street Magic video. I’d slow down the performance and watch it over and over trying to figure out how he did each trick.

I studied psychology at Loughborough University, and when I graduated I started working in events — that was when I decided I wanted to be a magician. A few friends thought I was crazy, but I’ve done it full-time for 13 years now. I love seeing what magic does to people. You create a moment in time where they feel intense emotions of excitement and wonder.

Their positivity is infectious and rubs off on me. There aren’t many jobs where you leave in a better mood than when you arrived!

At first, when people discovered what I did, a common reaction was, ‘Prove it!’ so I’d use whatever was around. I’d make their cigarette vanish or take a banknote and change it into something else. Or play with their mind and tell them what they were thinking about.

I spend hours and hours honing my craft. One of my favourite tricks is taking someone’s watch and making it turn up in a sealed envelope.

Going into magic has been amazing. It really isn’t like going to work.