With skills that will impress anyone who gives her the chance, Jasz Vegas is fast-becoming one of the most recognised and celebrated magicians in the UK, with daring and unique takes on popular tricks and some you won't have seen before.

Soon to hit the mainstream on BBC3 series Killer Magic, she'll compete against other magicians in a battle to possible death.

We got the chance to chat to Jasz about working her way into the magic industry, filming Killer Magic and more in an exclusive interview.

Can you tell me a little bit about how you found yourself pursuing a career in this industry?

Well I've always been interested in magic and I used to put on shows for my family when I was really young.

The performing arts have always been really interesting to me and I used to do things like Theatre Club, and sort of general performances and stuff, so it's always been a part of my life really.

How did family and friends react to when you said this is what you wanted to do full-time?

My family's always been really supportive, luckily because I know some people's families aren't so supportive! But, they knew it was my passion and it was something that I was gonna do, and I had the drive to do it, so they were always really supportive.

It is a very male-dominated line of work from what we see on television and things like that, so did you find it difficult to be taken seriously at first or was it fairly welcoming?

I found the magic industry very welcoming and I go by the belief that it doesn't matter whether you're a guy or you're a girl doing magic, it just matters that you do it well, you know?

If you do the industry proud, you do the art form correctly, then people respect you because you're respecting the art of magic.

So, it's less about being a guy or a girl, more about being the best you can be as a person.

You combine magic with burlesque, how did you decide to bring these two mediums together?

Well burlesque has always been a love of mine. I've been doing burlesque for quite a few years now, so I thought 'well I might as well combine the two, because, well, why not?'

They're two forms of contemporary entertainment that aren't usually combined and it creates a very fascinating show, so I thought why not? People may not have seen this before.

It is very unique as you say, I don't think there is anybody else that does this sort of thing.

I'm not sure personally. I think I may be one of the only few people in the UK, but I'm not sure about the rest of the world, but it's very unique.

Well this Autumn you'll be starring in Killer Magic on the BBC, can you tell us a little bit about the new series?

The new series will be on BBC3 in the autumn like you said, and it's a show where five magicians - myself and four others - we all compete against each other to try and outdo each other magically really.

We're each set a theme per week. In the pilot that came out in April, the theme was food, so we all made a trick up to do with food and then we all vote on each other's tricks out of 10, and whoever gets the lowest score has to face the 'killer trick', which is a trick that's either killed or injured someone in the past.

In the pilot it was a bullet catch!

As you say you're competing against four others on the show so what was the atmosphere like when filming?

Well to be honest we're all really good friends, so it was quite funny. There are a lot of tomfoolery and shenanigans on the show, which I hope you'll all enjoy watching because we all enjoyed filming it.

Why did you decide to get involved in the show, was it quite an easy decision to make?

Well yeah, it was because the other people on the show were people that I knew or people that I'd heard of, and when a big company like Objective Productions comes to you and says 'we want you on our show', you don't say no to that! (laughs)

I liked the idea of the show, and the format was a quirky, unique idea so I thought 'Great. That sounds right up my street!'

When you are performing dangerous tricks, what sort of feelings and emotions do you go through?

It depends. Excitement, because I quite like a bit of danger, I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie.

But also, a lot of planning goes into it, because every trick that I do that is slightly dangerous, there's a lot of rehearsal and a lot of planning, and it's one of those things that I don't advise people try at home! And we don't advise it on the show.

But it's an exciting but scary experience, in a good way.

What would you say are some of your highlights of your career so far?

First one is definitely Killer Magic! (laughs) It's the most exciting thing I've done, but I've had many highlights.

For me every time I get onstage and those stage lights hit my skin, that's a highlight for me.

Does your work dominate your life?

It dominates it in the best way possible! (laughs) My work is my life - I don't do anything other than magic, or burlesque, so performance is my everything.

For those with an interest in the industry that may want to get involved themselves, what advice do you have?

I'd advise, depending on age and stuff, if you're young then there's a lot of young magicians clubs around.

If you're more my age or older, there's many magic groups in different areas. A lot of towns will have a magic club.

For example I'm based in London so I've got the Circle, and there are some London magic groups as well, but in each town there should be a group. Usually you can find it on the internet.

If you haven't got a group, some magicians will teach, so if you search for magic tuition online you should be able to find someone.

It's literally just finding other magicians who are interested in the same things you are.

What can you see yourself doing in the future, what's next for you?

Well I'm gonna build on my magic and burlesque, so I'm gonna make it bigger and better and a lot more fun! You'll have to wait and see!

Killer Magic comes to BBC3 this autumn.


by for www.femalefirst.co.uk
find me on and follow me on