Monkeying around (From Western Telegraph)

Monkeying around

Ever since a man came into his parents' shop when he was seven years old and pulled off his own thumb, Jonathan Goodwin knew he wanted to be a magician.

Once Jonathan, now 23 and a rising star after the success of Channel 5's Monkey Magic, realised it was a trick, he dedicated himself to finding out how it was done.

The tricks have come a long way since then and Jonathan has now cemented himself in the minds of millions as the man who regurgitated a live mouse on prime-time TV.

This, along with many other outrageous stunts, has helped him make the step from resident magician at Folly Farm to hot TV property.

Returning to Pembrokeshire to visit his parents, Jonathan took the opportunity to try out his act on the unwitting population of Haverfordwest. After one punter picked out a random card and signed her name on it, there were slack jaws all round when Jonathan made that very card leap out of the pack and somersault through the air.

Ever the generous soul, he gave the crowd a chance to find the card themselves, shuffling the deck in front of them. After some time, it became clear the card could not be found because it had somehow appeared face up on his forehead.

Seemingly teleporting coins from around the pavement simply by placing his hands over them drew still more gasps of astonishment. The typical reaction among the crowd was stunned silence followed by 'I just can't see how he does it'. Nathan Lowe, aged 12, from Merlins Bridge, said: "It's amazing; but I liked it better when he pulled the mouse out of his mouth."

It seems Jonathan's reputation for tricks which are not only technically impressive but outlandish as well, is going to stay with him for some time. Originally intended as a late-night show, Monkey Magic has, on occasion, sailed close to the wind in the outrageousness of its stunts. Jonathan said: "The episode where we floated a house brick over a sleeping baby made me a bit nervous, but Channel 5's lawyers said it was fine."

However, lines must be drawn somewhere and a trick where all four Monkey Magic magicians played a kind of Russian roulette by slamming their hands down on five paper cups - one of which hid a sharp spike - was deemed too risky for the show.

Unperturbed, the gang chose that very trick to perform live on Channel 4's breakfast programme, Rise. Jonathan said: "We played a trick on the presenters and I ran off set with what looked like a spike going right through my hand. There were ten seconds of total silence as the presenters tried to think of what to say. It was brilliant."

Despite having to tone down the show, Jonathan is thrilled to have such a high-profile slot. He said: "We are the first prime time magic show in Britain since Paul Daniels."

The level of his success has surprised Jonathan, for whom magic was the perfect way of keeping himself busy growing up in Robeston Wathen. With his two sisters already out of the house, he practised his act with great determination before taking to the stage for a kids show at Folly Farm, aged 15. During a theatre studies course in Middlesex, he earned money performing magic in Hamleys and Harrods which helped him fine-tune his act and develop some contacts in the magic world. After the course, he returned to Folly Farm where he ran their magic theatre for an extremely successful summer and a groundbreaking winter run.

Jonathan ran the winter show while writing and filming for Monkey Magic. Dividing his time between London and Pembrokeshire took its toll. "I know the M4 like the back of my hand." he said.

Having finished at Folly Farm, he is now free to concentrate on the next project - a six-part series for Channel 5 looking at the best magic tricks ever performed, complete with interviews and parodies of the famous stunts.

With a second series of Monkey Magic likely, it seems Jonathan will be able to thrill, entertain and even disgust, audiences for some time to come.

He said: "For me, magic is about not knowing what will happen next. It's about breaking the rules and doing what you can't do."