Obsession - A Life with Magic

• Niki Boyle
• 7 August 2012

This article is from 2012.

Winning performance Ian Kendall, whose obsession with magic stems from Asperger’s Syndrome

Ian Kendall sits front and centre as the audience files in, greeting everyone in turn and encouraging people to fill up the front rows. He throws in a few neat tricks while people are still entering; it’s this casual attitude to performing a set is what makes his show so engaging. As well as letting us know he’s been performing on the Fringe for over 20 years, he also tells us he has Asperger’s Syndrome, a symptom of which is his tireless (eight hours’ practise a day) obsession with magic. The odd trick is mishandled, but Kendall’s roguish charm means you’re won over anyway – especially when he slips in a real eye-opener while you’re still stroking your chin over his apparent fumble.