Benjamin Hart (born 19 October 1990) is an English magician. In 2007, he was awarded the "Young Magician of the Year" award by The Magic Circle. Hart has worked on British television and is an inventor and designer of magic tricks and stage illusions. In 2014, he starred in '' Killer Magic'' on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

. Hart was a finalist on '' Britain's Got Talent'' in 2019. He is a member of The Magic Circle (organisation) (Member of The Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star)

Television career

In 2014, Hart wrote and starred in '' Killer Magic'' on

which was awarded "Best Non-Competitive Reality Show" at the National Reality Television Awards. In 2016, Hart starred in ''Ben Hart's Life Hacks'' on

the first episode of which was directed by Matt Edmondson, and later ''Ben Hart's Life Hacks with The Voice'' which saw him pranking the celebrity judges of ''

The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing reality competition television series. Created by John de Mol and Roel van Velzen, it premiered on BBC One on 24 March 2012. Based on the original Dutch singing competition '' The Voice of Holland'', and ...

'', including

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer-songwriter and DJ who rose to fame as the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club. He began his solo career in 1987. Boy George grew up in Eltham a ...

, Paloma Faith and Ricky Wilson of the

Kaiser Chiefs Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who originally formed in 1996 as Runston Parva, before reforming as Parva in 2000, and releasing one studio album, ''22'', in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their cur ...

. Hart also appeared in a regular slot within ''Now You See It'' on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

hosted by

Mel Giedroyc Melanie Clare Sophie Giedroyc ( , ; born 5 June 1968) is an English actress, comedian and television presenter. With Sue Perkins, she has co-hosted series including ''Light Lunch'' for Channel 4, '' The Great British Bake Off'' for the BBC an ...

. Other television credits include ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'' for

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

, ''Lorraine'', ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weekdays at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Roman Kemp, Ronan Keating ...

'' for

where Hart teleported a human to the top of

Broadcasting House London Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. T ...

, '' Partners in Rhyme'' hosted by Len Goodman for

, and ''ASAP'', and '' Umagang Kay Ganda'' live in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. He has also presented his favourite music videos on Myx. For BBC Click and Objective Productions, Hart created the "world's first 360 magic trick" for the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

. Hart has also performed his magic live on the radio for BBC Radio One and has created advertising campaigns for

Trident A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...

, Nicorette,

Costa Coffee Costa Limited, trading as Costa Coffee, is a coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Loudwater, Buckinghamshire, England, that operates in the United Kingdom and 37 other countries. Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa (co ...

, and Sky TV. He has appeared multiple times on This Morning (TV programme). In 2019, Hart auditioned for series thirteen of ''Britain's Got Talent''. His first round aired on 11 May 2019, and he was later selected by the judges as one of the 40 acts to perform in the live semi-finals. On 30 May, he won the public vote at the fourth semi-final and competed in the final against 10 other acts on 2 June. He came in third place on the show. During the judge's feedback, David Walliams described Ben as "the living embodiment of magic". In September 2019 Hart competed in BGT: The Champions. In January 2020 Hart appeared in America's Got Talent: The Champions. Ben Hart appeared in the 2020 "Britain's Got Talent Christmas Spectacular. Hart appeared in the BBC magic show "Pure Magic". In 2024 Hart appears in series 17 of ''Britain's Got Talent'' as part of '' Magicians Assemble'', alongside Elizabeth, Colin McCleod, and Aidan McCann. Hart appeared as a guest expert talking about magic in the Victorian era and

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

in the 2023 David Harewood documentary "Dickens: Phantoms and Fiction".

Theatre

Hart has written and performed 7 solo shows, each premiering at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

. He is known for his unusual performance style that mixes unusual, original magic with storytelling and theatricality, his performance style having been described as somewhere between Hannibal Lecter and Tim Burton His shows include: *''The Outsider'' (2013) (directed by Anthony Owen, the executive producer of Derren Brown) which was nominated for the Time Out and Soho Theatre TO&ST cabaret award. *''The Vanishing Boy'' (2014) (co-written by Al Joshua), *''Belief?'' (2017) which was a total sell-out and appeared on

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

's list of top magic shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2017. *''The Nutshell'' (a highly unusual magic show inspired by the work of Frances Glessner Lee) which was critically acclaimed, running at the Edinburgh Fringe 2018 and The Adelaide Fringe Festival *"Wonder" (2020) A 65 Date UK tour *"Ben Hart: Jadoo" (2023), a show based on traditional Indian magic. In "Jadoo" Hart goes back to his roots to explore his Indian heritage. The show premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe and toured the UK, and France. The show was unique in magic for its staging as Theatre in the round *"Ben Hart: Hex" will premiere at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and will see Hart curate his favourite material from his decade of Fringe performances. Since 2015, Hart has performed as part of ''Impossible'' produced by Jamie Hendry, playing two seasons at the

Noël Coward Theatre The Noël Coward Theatre, formerly known as the Albery Theatre, is a West End theatre in St. Martin's Lane in the City of Westminster, London. It opened on 12 March 1903 as the New Theatre and was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind Wyndham's ...

in London's West End, Dubai Opera, Singapore, and Smart Araneta Coliseum in the

. He has also performed his act at The Royal Albert Hall,

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in Soho. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1910. The auditorium holds 2,286 people. Hundreds of stars have played there, many wit ...

and

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...

. Hart was awarded Best Magic Show of the Adelaide Fringe Festival 2022.

Magic consultant

As a magic consultant and illusionist, Hart has written and created magic tricks and special effects for TV, theatre and film. His credits include ''Trick Artist'' for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

starring Benjamin Earl, ''The Egg Trick'' starring

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cu ...

, ''Killer Magic'' for

, BBC1's ''Now You See It'', and '' Not Going Out''. Hart is the co-author of "The Darkest Corners", a specialist book for magicians that explores some of Hart's routines and performance theory. Hart was the magic and pickpocketing consultant for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One In the world of theatre, Ben Hart's special effects design credits include: *Mind Mangler: Member of the Tragic Circle by Mischief Theatre *Bagdad Cafe adapted and directed by Emma Rice for The Old Vic * The Mirror and the Light (play) by

Hilary Mantel Dame Hilary Mary Mantel ( ; born Thompson; 6 July 1952 – 22 September 2022) was a British writer whose work includes historical fiction, personal memoirs and short stories. Her first published novel, ''Every Day Is Mother's Day'', was releas ...

Ben Miles * Magic Goes Wrong by Mischief Theatre and Penn and Teller * ''The Exorcist'' directed by Sean Mathias, *''I and You'' directed by Edward Hall, *''A Christmas Carol'' (2017) adapted by David Edgar for the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

, *''

Fanny and Alexander ''Fanny and Alexander'' () is a 1982 Historical drama, period drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The plot focuses on two siblings and their large family in Uppsala, Sweden during the first decade of the twentieth century. Follow ...

'' by Stephen Beresford at The Old Vic, *''Dracula'' by The Touring Consortium *'' Woyzeck'' (2017) adapted by

Jack Thorne Jack Thorne FRSL (born 6 December 1978) is a British playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and producer. A massive fan of hard science fiction, he is best known for writing the stage play '' Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', the fil ...

and starring John Boyega for The Old Vic, *''WILD'' (2016) by Mike Bartlett at the

Hampstead Theatre Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. History The original ''Hampstead Theatre Clu ...

, *''Wonderland'' by Gyles Brandreth (a musical about the life of

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

) *''Out of My Head'' (2013) by Paul Merton, *''The Arthur Conan Doyle Appreciation Society'' by Steven Canny and John Nicholson for Traverse Theatre *''Darker Shores'' at The Hampstead Theatre.

Awards and accolades

* The Magic Circle's Young Magician of the Year in 2007 *The Magic Circle's Irving Schneider Award Scholarship *The Magic Circle's Marvin Rising Star 2018 awarded by Marvin Berglas * National Reality Television Awards "Best Non-Competitive Reality Format" for ''Killer Magic'' * ''Time Out'' and Soho Theatre TO&ST cabaret Award nominee 2013 *Bank SA Best Magic of The Adelaide Fringe 2022

References

External links

Interview with Ben Hart

Exorcist Interview of Illusionist Ben Hart

''BBG Presents: Ben Hart''

Killer Magic with Ben HartEBSCOhost Connection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Ben British magicians 1990 births Living people People from Winchester People educated at Peter Symonds College British television actors British theatre people Britain's Got Talent contestants