A touch of summer magic for Oxfordshire libraries

This summer, a fairy godmother from Witney waved their magic wand and conjured up sparkling fairy dust so that Cinderella could go to the ball, or rather – kindly offered a generous donation so we could take our Science of Magic show on tour to six libraries in West Oxfordshire.

Our head magician – ‘Magic-Ian’- jumped on his flying carpet (the trusty Science Oxford van) and took to the road to entertain over 250 children and their families at twelve free library shows at Witney, Bampton, Carterton, Charlbury, North Leigh and Oxford city.

To woos and wows, we witnessed a magnet levitate down a metal tube, we saw water disappear before our very eyes, and watched a baby’s nappy swell to enormous proportions!

However, this was a magic show with a difference! Usually, the secrets of magicians, conjurors and illusionists are kept safe – but our Magic-Ian challenged the children (and adults!) to work out how the tricks were done and then explained the amazing science behind them.

Ian – who always wanted to be a magician if he wasn’t a scientist, said, “It was fun giving away a few secrets and showing that we shouldn’t trust magicians – especially ones with voluminous sleeves! It was great to get out and about across the county in some glorious weather and talk to so many enthusiastic children. I even learned a couple of new conjuring tricks myself from some up-and-coming young magicians!”