Rob Ne'Kros, Expect The Unforgettable

Photo by Eva-Maria Nagy Photography

This week, Nottingham Confidential was treated to its very own private magic show by Nottingham close-up illusionist extraordinaire Rob Ne'Kros as we spent an afternoon dodging magically flying colouring pencils and being wowed by angelic card tricks at Nottingham Contemporary whilst trying to figure out just exactly how he does it...

Born in Eastwood and now living in Hockley for the last four years, Rob first became interested in magic at the tender age of three when he was given a Paul Daniel's magic set for Christmas and he later professionally carved out his Nottingham magician's patch by approaching punters in local bars and clubs and performing his illusions and hypnotism skills. "I had to learn to take the knock-backs and it was hard, but the only way was to get out there and do it. It was like an apprenticeship of life. But I have a great community now and living where I am now in Hockley in the centre of town is great, because whenever I have an idea I can go and try it straightaway.

"I get my ideas from all sorts of things and I like to jot them down in my notebook, sometimes writing in code. I'm currently working on an idea of how to make Rorschah ink-blot tests come to life," says Rob, idly drawing a doodle of a twenty pound note with a (very appropriate) magic marker which he then actually used to pay for all our drinks, receiving real change, all by the power of his cheeky mind-bending tricks (hmm, we'd love to be able to do THAT one) and then proceeding to lead us on a bit of a magical mystery tour to a charity shop in Hockley where he 'stopped time' freezing customers in mid-shop.

"The reason magicians become magicians is because they want to prove something. But now I genuinely enjoy it. If someone was to hire a magician, I would highly recommend they look at what they've been doing, there are different kinds, I like to make sure it's not about me, it's about them."

Currently devising a new show involving close-up magic on stage which will take place somewhere in Nottingham later this year, what we don't see at first sight we actually witness the whole time, so make sure you keep your eyes on this one.

You can find out more about Rob Ne'Kros on his website http://www.robnekros.co.uk/