Andrew Bennet Lets His Fingers Do The Talking

On a recent visit to Pam Pam, The Tab met magician Andrew Bennet, 21, who balances his Maths degree with a passion for trickery. The Tab organised to reconvene with Andrew and find out more.

“The true magician starts young,” he said as he casually threw his trench coat over the back of the sofa.

“Most people get bored of the plastic magic sets they were given as a child but I sort of… carried on.” He has worked tirelessly to perfect his sleight of hand and performance, and even gave The Tab a demo of fooling punters in the ASS library.

Andrew has regularly performed at one of The Tab’s favourite haunts – Illusions Magic Bar – but now hopes to be moving onto bigger and better things (he’s just bagged a residency at Pam Pam don’t you know).

Last year he co-founded Magic Soc – a society for all those with an interest in the mystical arts with workshops and talks from those ‘in the trade’. Although still a young society, Andrew has high aspirations for it and hopes to get more students involved.

Indeed, Andrew recently met Derren Brown, an ex-Bristol student who, while somewhat punchable, now manages to charge £10,000+ a pop to baffle people at private shows.

The Grand Master, Derren, was reportedly enthusiastic about an appearance in Bristol but wasn’t sure his schedule would allow it. Andrew has other potential speakers and performers in the pipeline so watch this space!

However, The Tab soon learnt that the life of a student magician was not all Illusions and meetings with Derren Brown.

He spoke of the difficulties synonymous with an inebriated audience and fondly reminisced about the time when in response to the question, “Pick a number between 1 and 10”, one punter replied “forty three” while another asked “can you saw my girlfriend in half?”

Of course, he takes this all in his stride and laughed “Only in Pam Pam!”

The Tab wanted to know whether there were any other benefits that came with the skills of being a magician, suggesting that perhaps his dexterity aided him in ‘other’ areas of life.

Andrew, a gentleman to his core, declined to answer – though his fingernails seemed sensibly short. But he did mention that he had a long-term girlfriend. The Tab understands what has kept that relationship alive…

Pure magic.

Eat your heart out Derren.

Catch Andrew at Pam Pam every Thursday night and if you have an interest in magic, why not get in touch with the Magic Soc (www.bristolmagic.wordpress.com) – just one step away from the Magic Circ!