15 minutes of fame

About

"In the future, everyone will have 15 minutes of Privacy"

- Any Bore-Hole

Despite writing several books, years of advoacy, and presenting on various topics, I still haven't quite amassed 15 minutes in front of the general public. Fans of magic? Sure! Computer geeks? Absolutely! But not the person in the street. (Let's face it - I would not have heard of me!)

Therefore, this is an ego-stroking page to highlight some things I've done that have a little more reach than my day-to-day.

On TV

In front of the camera:

Pentacle TV - Performer - Mind control


Pentacle TV - Performer - Spoon bending

PLUS: As a magician I've also published professional effects, and written for magazines such as Abra and Linking Ring.

Behind the camera:

Only Connect - Question Writer

PLUS: As a writer I've written a series of pop culture quiz books, mostly about film and TV. There's also a documentary I wrote, which appears on IMDB, which is still (after all these years) languishing in development hell! But, it does mean I have two separate IMDB entries.

In the audience:

Over the years I've been in the TV audience for shows like Coupling, The Last Leg, Mock the Week, and The One Show. Sometimes it's obvious I'm there, sometimes not. Although full marks for anyone who spotted the appearance of my head on the BBC News!

On Radio

For composition and songwriting:

The BBC have a radio show for unsigned bands and one of mine, "Bank Night", made the cut on May 7th 2022 with the song "Like Yesterday."

Unfortunately, no record deal came of it.

For being funny:

NewsJack


DMs are open

Both are open door comedy shows, and my one-liners have been selected numerous times, under the various hosts.

On Stage

For developer advocacy:

Immediately before the 2020 lockdown, I presented the keynote at FOSDEM, the largest Free and Open Source conference in Europe. There were around 1,500 in the room, and another 500 watching online.


During the 2020 lockdown, I presented the keynote at TAD Summit, the largest programmable telecoms summit in the world.

For entertainment:

Here I'm performing for the worlds most famous magicians at the Magic Circle in London, receiving a standing ovation in the process!


By combining modern magic and high technology, I create an act which allowed me to perform a show to a sell-out 220 seat theatre from outside the theatre. Presented for the Cambridge Festival called "The Magic of Cambridge."


In 2019, I co-created a magic show for the Cambridge Festival called "The Magic of Discovery." It featured around six other magicians performing routines around science. My busy role as both science educator and magician meant my own act had to be a "simple mindreading one."

On the podium

At school:

Electronics Prize

I have wasted so much time trying to win competitions that I rarely bother. That said, I'm always happy to win something, and back in 1991 I won the best in school award for Electronics. This was in part for my exam results, but also the above project, one of the most complex ever attempted at the school.

On the street

In Cambridge:

I have my art in an exhibition in Cambridge - a portrait or Sir Clive Sinclair!
It's on a park bench, where people sit facing away from it :)
It's rather apt that it was there on the 41st anniversary of the launch of the #Sinclair #ZXSpectrum - the computer whose colour stripes can be seen in the portrait.