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Northern Lights

Early life:

Darren was born on 16th March 1983. He spent most of his early life living in Grays, Essex, attending Thameside and The Grays School before moving on to Thurrock Technical College to earn an A-level in Art and Design plus a National Diploma in Graphic Design.

He had various interests as a child, but the thing that really stuck was magic which he moved straight into after leaving college (apparently being a Ghostbuster or a Ninja Turtle wasn't a viable career option)

Start in magic:

Darren became interested in magic at a very young age. His fist magical experience was seeing the legend Paul Daniels on TV when he was four. He soon became obsessed with studying the art of magic and learnt his first tricks from 'Ali Bongo's Book Of Magic', a gift given to him from his Nan, which he also still has to this day.

It was not long after this that he received his first magic set for his birthday and he soon began putting on shows for his friends at school. He kept learning all the new tricks he could, and tried to watch as much magic as possible. His favourite magicians were, and still are the bad boys of magic. Penn & Teller.

After leaving college Darren got a job working for a magic shop in the Lakeside Shopping Centre, selling beginners tricks to the public. This was an important part in his career as it gave him plenty of experience performing for strangers on a constant basis (he was a pretty good sales man as well)

After a couple of years he decided to take his magic to the next level performing at various events and advertising his services in the Yellow Page (remember that?), bringing in plenty of private bookings including weddings and birthday parties.

He then went on to become the resident in house magician at Castaways Entertainment Restaurant, the largest entertainment restaurant in the UK, for five years, another important step in his career development giving him plenty of experience that other magicians can only hope for. He would probably still be performing there had the land not be bought for redevelopment, forcing this wonderful restaurants closure.

Since then he has worked for thousands of clients throughout the UK including Royal Mail, AIG, Shangri-la, The Shard, Aspers Casino, Genting Club, The Royals, Haven, Park Dean, Grosvenor Casino and even The London Palladium just to name a small selection! He has even performed for members of two of his favourite bands, Guns n' Roses and The Misfits and several cast from his favourite film franchise - Ghostbusters.

in 2010 he started acting training, attending classes at City Academy along with prestigious schools LAMDA and RADA. Since then he has appeared many times on stage and screen. Take a look at the acting section of this website for more information on that. He also has an interest in Martial Arts, practising Tang Sou Dao

Moving back to magic, Darren has also worked as magic consultant and producer. He has consulted for books, stage shows, businesses and even television. He also produced The Magicians Showcase, the top regular magic night in London!

During his amazing career Darren has performed at thousands of birthdays, weddings, anniversaries plus corporate and promotional events throughout the world. His next big show could be yours..........

Corporate stage magician london
kent london essex wedding magician
close-up magician essex london kent

© 2025 by Darren McQuade.

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