A LARGS magician has told how learning the tricks of the trade helped him meet top name like Paul Daniels and perform for royalty.

David Ennis has wowed Largs crowds with his magic over the years, but he has also performed for one of the nation’s most popular magicians.

As a member of The Magic Circle, he's performed card tricks for the very best, as well as impressing the likes of Prince Edward.

His involvement in the magic community, has also led him to meet celebrities such as Ken Dodd and Jeremy Beadle.

David said: “When I was younger I would watch my brother playing with cards and he was always very good with them.

“He would do tricks with them and soon I was too, but I never actually realised this was magic.

“Although I was doing things like that from a young age it wasn’t until I was around 30 that I joined a group in Paisley.

“When I was starting it was David Nixon that was big, then we had David Copperfield, then David Blaine and now you have David Ennis.”

Since then David has been asked to be the President of the Scottish Association of Magical Societies, as well as being invited in to join the Magic Circle in London.

David has dabbled in all types of magic, from close up street acts to larger scale illusions, such as sawing people in half.

He has fond memories of meeting one of the UK's most famous magicians.

He told the News: “I met Paul Daniels with the wonderful Debbie Mcghee at one of the magic conventions in Blackpool, which is the biggest in the world.

“He was a very interesting man - I showed him one of my card tricks and he seemed pretty impressed."

David worked at the Japanese electric company OKI, eventually becoming the managing director, and says that magic even had its place in his job.

He said: “We used to have to present our results every quarter in Japan.

“The first time I went I couldn’t speak any Japanese and went up to do the presentation and froze a bit.

"Someone whispered from the wing ‘just do some magic’ and that’s what I did.

“It went down brilliantly.

“I did all of my presentations like that, I wouldn’t have dreamed of doing a presentation without magic."

Having worked with the company for many years David was awarded an OBE for his service to the electronic industry, which led him to his meeting with Prince Edward.

He said: “After I was awarded the OBE I was invited to Buckingham Palace to go to the Prince's Trust meeting.

“There was a dinner which Prince Edward was hosting and I had a few tricks in my pocket, so I did an off-the-cuff trick.

“The Prince seen me doing this and he asked me to show everyone some tricks."

Having lived and performed in Largs for many years David says is keen to get a local club up and running for young people interested in magic in the town.

He added: “Largs has a wealth of talent in the magic community.

"There’s people that have been doing it on cruise ships and such and then there are some of the younger boys which are so promising and very talented.

“It’s great to see youngsters getting in to it, there’s a great thirst for magic and I think it would be great to do more for them.

"I always loved it when I did shows with my son Gary, by the time he was 10 we had done 100 shows together.

“Magic has more diversity than ever now, you see magicians using iPads and things like that, but there is an element of old magic that will always have its place.

“Some of the simplest tricks are still magical, even things you’ll get in a child’s magic set.

“I would love to be able to offer a club to the younger people, to keep them interested and learning.”

David will perform alongside friend Les Ward during Yuletide night, performing close up street magic to wow the audiences.

Anyone interested in helping him to set up a local magic group can get in touch on 07760173392.