TWO for the price of one sounds like a good deal to anyone, so why not grab a glimpse of comedian and magician Pete Firman when he comes to East Lancashire next week?

Known for combining the two talents, he is a man in demand, and has starred in BBC1's prime-time Saturday night show The Magicians.

His UK tour, Hoodwinker, is more than half way through and Blackburn is one of the next stops for Pete, who then plans to head back to Scotland in August for his seventh year at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

“I am fairly ambiguous when it comes to words and I quite like interesting ones; so I thought Hoodwinker would say it all as a name for this show, because it’s all about deception and fooling the audience,” said Pete who’s television career is just as successful as his live shows.

He has starred in Dirty Tricks and Derren Brown’s 3D Magic Spectacular and has also made several guest appearances on programmes such as The One Show, BBC Breakfast and This Morning. And those wanting to get into the industry can read Pete’s first book ‘Tricks To Freak Out Your Friends’ which is a beginners’ magic book for the 21st century. It has also been released in the USA.

Tricks include ‘how to crack your nose’, ‘how to take a bite out of a glass’ and ‘how to stick a barbecue skewer through your tongue’. It also includes simple card tricks and information on how to swallow knives.

“Writing the book was fun, there’s the basic card tricks and other stuff but then there’s tricks that can really spook out your friends and are a bit different.  Let’s just say that nobody likes to go and see a magician who pulls a rabbit out of a hat any more,” said Pete who is also an accomplished television presenter and hosts the ‘The Body Shocking Show’ for E4.

With stand-up comedy and magic being more popular than ever, Pete has been described as one of the funniest performers on the new magic scene.

He said: “You’re guaranteed a laugh with Hoodwinker – nobody really goes into a comedy club to see a magic show so it’s always something different as well.

“So far, the audience are loving it – but as for what it consists of well, I am not giving too much away. It takes a while to set-up on stage. I have a lot of mates that are stand-up comics and if they go to do a show they can just walk in an hour before.

“But because I combine the two I have to come a long way from London or wherever, with my van and a big box of paraphernalia.”

The show has an age restriction that has been set to 14, as the language is ‘quite fruity’ according to the Middlesbrough-born performer.

He said: “It’s good to be part magician and part comedian because you can get away with it being a more interesting magic show. So far everything is going fantastic.

“I have been really lucky and am looking forward to getting back to Edinburgh with a brand new show.”

  • Hoodwinker, King George’s Hall, Saturday, April 13. For tickets call the Box Office: 0844 847 1664.