28/06/14: You have to be pretty good to get a standing ovation from Simon Cowell, and this year sandwiched between the dogs, dancers and drag acts, a tattooed, skinhead magician from Winnipeg did just that.
Pride night at G-A-Y usually features an artist of the calibre of Gaga or Kylie, but this year BGT finalist Darcy Oake literally set the stage alight with his mind blowing illusions. After changing a feather in to a dove, a dove into two doves, and four doves into a girl, he escaped from an apparently locked steel and glass case in the blink of an eye.
His finale saw him suspended by his ankles 20 feet in the air between the jaws of a giant bear trap while the rope holding it open was set on fire. He then had just 49 seconds to escape from a strait jacket and release himself from the jaws of the trap before they closed with a bone-crunching crash.
Thankfully for Jeremy and G-A-Y he didn’t die on stage, but instead delivered a brilliantly enthralling performance and backstage turned out to be most charming and tactile. It’s no secret that we here at QX Towers love a man with magic hands, so hopefully Darcy will be back to wow us again very soon.
Heaven, under the Arches, Villiers Street, Charing Cross, WC2N 6NG
Words and photos by Chris Jepson
