Chris Cox is tipped for the top, but the one-time ‘geek’ tells KATHERINE MacALISTER about his love of magic.

After interviewing Chris Cox I must admit to developing a small crush. The magician/mind-reader/comedian is so laid back he’s almost horizontal and self-deprecating to an uncomfortable degree.

Why he doesn’t believe in himself is beyond me. Because with the likes of Ricky Gervais shouting from the rooftops about him and regular TV slots, Chris is going places.

There aren’t many kids at school, though, who dream of being a magician, and even fewer who actually fulfil their dream. “I always wanted to perform, I was so precious,” he laughs. “Magic was a good way of shutting people up. I was a bit geeky at school and had few friends and lots of acquaintances. But I always had magic, and there was just nothing else I wanted to do.”

And then he smiles: “although one of the reasons I delve into magic, psychology and bull**** is because I’m rubbish at dating girls.”

Chris doesn’t have much time anyway because every spare second is spent plotting his next magic trick. “I spend my time thinking about tricks that no one else has done and working out how to do them. That way when someone comes to see my show they will see things they’ve never seen before. Because magic is like a good joke – it’s never as funny as the first time you hear it. And pull out a pack of cards and people say ‘I’ve seen that one’. So I do a lot of reading and get my inspiration from the cinema and theatre, but its basically science that’s really magic.”

It seems that magic is still hard to come by, and it has taken the 27 year-old 18 months to put his Fatal Distraction show together. “It was proper hard work,” Chris smiles. But I’m seeing the rewards now and I’m enjoying it, even if being on stage is exhausting, because there’s always a lot going on in my mind.“ The only fly in the ointment is convincing people to give him a go. “The problem with magic is that if you’ve seen a bad magician then people go off it,” Chris says, although if anyone can change their minds he can. “That’s the best thing about magic,” Chris continues, “you both know it’s a trick and that I can’t read minds, but it’s the process that’s so exciting. It’s all about working out how to make people believe I can and I just love pulling the rug from under their feet because I know they’ll like it. But if the audience doesn’t buy it you’re wasting their time.”

And with a US TV show coming out soon, Chris’ future looks bright. So would he move to the US? “I’d rather stay in the UK and do one here,” the Bristol lad says. “But either way, I’m never happier than when on stage. There aren’t many jobs where you get hundreds of people cheering and clapping you. It’s quite addictive really.

“And I still can’t believe my luck – that this is what I’m doing and that people like it. I just want to keep going. And then he laughs again: “Actually that’s rubbish. What I really want is to take over the whole world.” The thing is, he’s already halfway there.

* Chris Cox’s Fatal Distraction UK tour comes to Didcot Cornerstone tomorrow night. Box office: 01252 330040