Simon Drake

Simon Drake
Born	Simon Alexander March 1, 1957 Surrey, England
Website	http://www.houseofmagic.co.uk

Simon Drake (born Simon Alexander 1 March 1957) is an English magician based in London. He is best known for the television series The Secret Cabaret made for Britain's Channel 4.

Biography

Born in Surrey, Drake is the son of a GP and both sides of his family were connected to the medical profession for some generations.

He first came to wider attention in Kate Bush's UK live tour in 1979 for which he co-devised visuals and played seven characters. He has a wide and diverse performing history, from Terayama’s Tenjo Sajiki theatre in Japan to the Royal Variety Show at the London Palladium before Queen Elizabeth II. He advised Nicolas Roeg for the film Castaway, with the tricky task of coaching Oliver Reed in sleight of hand, and was magic advisor to Harvey Keitel on Fairy Tale, A True Story. In two series of the award-nominated The Secret Cabaret for Channel Four, he won an international cult following for his original and shocking presentation of illusions and manipulation routines. He worked alongside magician Pat Page. He has performed and consulted with many stars including: Elton John, Phil Collins, Madness, David Gilmour, Meat Loaf, Steve Miller’s Abracadabra, Darryl Hall, Bill Wyman, George Harrison, Julian Lennon, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel and Pamela Stephenson. In August 1993 he was seen on American TV in the special Raising Hell, in which he co-starred with heavy metal band Iron Maiden in their final show with Bruce Dickinson on vocals in those years (the singer rejoined the band some years later). The same month Drake performed with Carl Davis and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

Drake has met David Copperfield on several occasions, with Copperfield once saying Simon is "the English version of me, but from hell!".

House of Magic

In 1996 he opened his own 5,000-square-foot (460 m2) venue, Simon Drake’s House of Magic, in a converted Victorian building at an unpublicised location in London. This performing space specialises in corporate entertainment functions with twice monthly public performance nights. Shows feature Drake's trademark effects as well as light-hearted amputations and decapitations of senior executives and celebrity guests.

References

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