The Biography Of A Professional Magician in Malta - Enter The Magical World of Magician Brian Role`
From what started as a local passionate hobby, to what is now a lifetime career as a top professional international magician. This is Brian's story.
Brian Role`, the magician from Malta, began offering shows on a professional basis in 1997. However his love of magic goes back way before 1997, so far as when he was old enough to hold a deck of cards. Sometime in the 80s, when he was around 8 years old, like any other kid magician, he mastered the art of making his parents watch his makeshift sitting room magic show. Even then, he knew that a magic show was not just a bunch of tricks put together in order to impress and boost one’s ego with praise. From a very young age he knew exactly what makes a show a magical experience. His drama class teacher, Frank O’Neil did well in teaching his pupils about the theatrical side of putting up a show. And Brian took advantage of this during his make-shift shows for the family at home. So for his sitting room shows, Brian set the atmosphere well, with a bed sheet as a background, using the Paul Daniel’s magic set, plus a few other tricks he learned from books he borrowed from the local library and storylines to compliment the magic as his trustworthy arsenal to his show.
No Magical History
Brian does not come from a family with an entertainment background, however, his love for the arts and entertainment from such an early age came from his schooling days and the fact that his father worked as a top chef in one of Malta’s most prominent hotels at the time.
He was born on Malta’s sister island Gozo in the early 70s and is the first Maltese magician to date, to have performed magic on a professional basis across the world on an international level.
He attended school at Stella Maris College. There he enjoyed art and drama classes most, making sure to participate in each and every school production, whether taking the role of an angel in the Christmas pageant or the lead role of an Egyptian High Priest in the school’s yearly end-of-term production.
The hotel his father worked in, brought in top acts from the UK and other parts of the world as part of their entertainment program. These included acts such as Pancho Villa, The Black & White Ministrels, and more. Brian’s father brought home autographed headshots of these top artists for Brian, and Brian became fascinated with show business.
But it was his Uncle, visiting from Australia, that ignited the fuse for Brian’s love for magic, when he showed Brian a card trick that truly amazed him. He taught Brian how to perform the trick, and Brian still performs it to this very day. Funnily enough, even though it is an old trick in the books, it is one that never fails to amaze anyone he shows it to. If you ever meet Brian, make sure to ask him to show you the card trick. If he has (or you have) a deck of cards handy, he will.
David Copperfield and Paul Daniels
In the 80s and 90s, two magicians, big names in the world of magic, formed Brian’s love of magic. At the time, local television stations were showing the TV specials of Paul Daniels and David Copperfield. These were of course Brian’s favourite programs to watch.
Brian picked on Paul Daniels wittiness and comedy while taking in the dramatic approach of David Copperfield’s theatrical acts. As a matter of fact, Brian’s style is adapted mainly from these two magicians.
Of course, throughout the years, many other magicians came along in Brian’s life, shaping different forms of performances that Brian offers today. Magicians such as Penn & Teller, Siegfreid and Roy, Lance Burton, and several others.
The list is too long to mention them all here, so long that it would make a list of several magicians from across the world too many to mention.
But it was not solely television that shaped Brian’s magic. There were the books and a very important life change when he was just 15 years, triggering off magic as his life passion. This change came about in London.
Life In London
In his teens, Brian was lucky to have spent almost a year in London, where he attended school at St George’s School in Maida Vaile. The school itself had a vast library, with all subjects including magic. As you can imagine, all the books Brian borrowed from that library were magic based.
But it was not just the school’s library keeping the fire burning for Brian. It was the fact that the famous Davenport’s Magic Shop, at the Charring Cross station, was just a five-minute subway journey away. Brian would spend most of his Saturday mornings at this magic den.
There he would look at the magical displays, go in, and spend time seeing the latest tricks being demoed and perhaps come out with something more affordable than what he really wanted or could afford at the time.
When not there on a Saturday morning, you could probably find Brian at the International Magic Shop, Hamley’s at the Marvin’s Magic sections or in Selfridges browsing through the magic shelf.
On sunny Saturday afternoons, Brian would usually end up at Hyde Park practicing a magic trick he just bought or learned.
Joining The I.B.M.Magician
On his return from London and until his early 20s, Brian kept active in magic, giving a few performances for family and in talent shows. Then in 1996, Brian reached out to an ad offering a 6 week magic course by the local magic club, Malta Magician’s Society Ring 202. The same club is affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Magicians.
There he met all of the local magicians, many of whom he had seen performing their show during a children’s party when he was younger. After the course, Brian was invited to join the club. He auditioned and passed going on to become a member of IBM Ring 202 Malta. He was then eligible to join the International Brotherhood of Magicians, which he did and has been a full member of both since 1997.
In 1997 Brian gave his first ever paid-for show, to a bunch of kids during a first Holy Communion party in Marsaxlokk, a quaint fishing village in Malta. Although this was not the first show show Brian ever gave, it was the first paid one as a magician member of the largest magician’s society in the world.
The Millenium Break
By 1999, Brian had been performing children’s magic shows across Malta and Gozo. He took part in some small-scale stage productions and performed a couple of spots on local television. But he knew he was destined for larger things. It was around Christmas time in 1999 that a circus, featuring a full-scale magic show with tigers and other wild animals came to Malta. This was a time when exotic animals were still allowed in circuses in Malta. The star magician of the show was Eva Julia Christiie, the world’s first female illusionist with wild animals. Brian eagerly went to watch the show, and after it introduced himself to Eva.
Brian expressed his wishes and seeing his eagerness, ambitious approach and skills, Eva offered an opportunity of a lifetime that Brian took on. A contract performing 35 shows over 3 weeks on stage for a huge event in Mexico. At the time Brian could not imagine how huge the event actually was until he arrived at the venue in Mexico in March 2000.
The show was set in the city of Villahermosa, Tabasco. The venue housed a theme park, several restaurants, a huge lake and most importantly a stadium-sized concert stage. It is on this stage that Brian was to perform. The event, an annual national event and the largest event of the year, took in thousands of people each day over 3 weeks. The stadium seated 7,000 people per show , each show packed with people. This is the largest audience Brian had ever performed to at that time. During those 3 weeks, Brian performed for around 250,000 people across 35 shows. To date, there is no other magician in Malta to have had such an experience and Brian is lucky to have been the first.
This was the turning point for Brian, leading him to continue pursuing his dream of becoming Malta’s first-ever full-time professional magician.
Lola Palmer
It was through Eva Julia Chritiie’s persuasion that Brian and Lola start working together and in January 2000, they did just that.
This was the moment in time starting what would become a strong alliance and partnership in magic and within their personal lives together throughout these years.
At the time of meeting and working with Brian, Lola Palmer already had experience as a professional dancer with the Alison White Dancers and as a magician’s assistant.
She had performed in most of the major dance shows on the island, on television, and even on a cruise ship. With the Alison White Dance Group, Lola Palmer danced in hotels, for theatre productions, and on popular weekly TV programs.
Her passion for dance and performing showed through her professionalism during each performance.
After several months of rehearsing, and preparing new acts and costumes together, they were ready to go. They debuted with their first public performance together in August 2000, giving a spectacular show at the Royal Operahouse in Malta, for Illjieli Medditerrani during Renato’s and Claudette Pace’s live concert.
Their first performance together was all it took to take them across the world as a strong magic duo act ever since.
An International Magician Ready To Amaze The World
Since then Brian has performed across the world, wowing audiences from South America to Asia. He has brought his art of magic and illusion to Amsterdam, Mexico, Germany, Spain, India, China, Norway, Belgium, London, Italy, Greece, Dubai, Qatar, Ireland and of course Malta. Most of the time accompanied by Lola Palmer.
Brian provided his show for several hotels, night clubs and casinos worldwide. He has also performed for corporate and VIP events as was the event at the Ritz Carlton in Doha, or the ICICI event in Mumbai and the Westar Watch launch in Dubai.
Brian’s experience on cruise ships vary from a headlining show to close up magic. His acts were shown in variety shows and dinners shows. And he was part of magic festivals, as was the festival at Happy Valley in Beijing China.
At the point of writing, no other magician in Malta has performed so extensively across the world as a full time professional international magician. Brian openly admits he is lucky to have been the first Maltese magician ever to do so!
The Magic Circle
In 2007 Brian was accepted to join the most prestigious magic club in the world, The Magic Circle in London.
He’s been a member since, sharing his love for magic with other top magicians who are also members of the circle.
Through The Magic Circle, he has not only gained recognition as a quality magician among his clients but also friendships with many magicians across the world.
To date, Brian has visited the Magic Circle headquarters in London a few times during his membership. There he enriched his knowledge through the Circle’s vast historic library, available for members only and by browsing through its historic magic museum. The museum is enriched with centerpieces on display, once belonging to magicians such as Robert Houdin, Harry Houdini, Ali Bongo, Tommy Cooper, Paul Daniels, Penn & Teller, and many many more legends of magic. Each piece comes with its own story and there is always something to learn on each visit.
This has made Brian a much more knowledgeable and respected magician among his peers.
The Chamber of Mysteries
In 2011, Brian Role` and Lola Palmer set up The Chamber of Mysteries dinner show in Malta. The show is still running to date (Mar 2023). It is the only full-scale weekly magic show, set in its own theatre, in Malta and has earned many positive reviews and awards across the years. Brian Role` and Lola Palmer were also awarded a Merlin Award, the most prestigious award in magic, in 2017 for their show.
This is the first time any magician in Malta received such an award and the first time any magician has had such a long run of weekly shows on the island. It is also the longest-ever running weekly dinner show of any kind in Malta. Truly a great achievement for Brian and Lola and a milestone in the history of magic in Malta.
In the meantime between 2011 and today (2023), Brian, although committed to the dinner show, still finds time to travel and share his magic to give performances wherever possible across the world.
Then Came The Corona, And the S.A.M.!
Like everyone else on earth, Brian’s job was affected by the 2019 Corona Virus. Luckily, just before the global Covid-19 lockdowns in March 2020, Brian’s last travels were in Valencia, London, North Wales, and Ireland all during 2019, and Madrid in January 2020. This was enough for Brian to enjoy a couple of years without travelling.
During the lockdowns, Brian, like other magicians, could not give a physical performance. However, this did not stop him from giving virtual performances online, which led him to being summoned by the President of the International Assembly of the Society of American Magicians (S.A.M.), Dr Anthony Darkstone, to become a member of the same society. A calling that Brian proudly accepted.
From there, Brian went on to give several virtual live performances for the International Assembly of the S.A.M. Online Gala Shows, alongside world-renowned names such as Kevin James, Abigail Mc Bride, Bill Palmer, and others.
During lockdown, Brian and Lola also provided a one-off online Chamber of Mysteries Halloween Special, a virtual show attended by over eighty people including famous magicians, such as Lance Burton.
After several interrupted openings, due to the pandemic during 2020 and 2021, in 2022, The Chamber of Mysteries started to welcome back patrons once again on a consistent basis. Brian’s travels commenced in May 2022 with a short performance at The Magic Circle in London. He has more travels scheduled ahead, all of which are ready to be written in the next chapter of his artistic life.
2023 And The A.M.I.
In June 2023, Brian was officially appointed a Board Member of the ‘Association de Magiciens Internationaux ( A.M.I ) ‘ a newly inagurated magic club, that has members from across the world.
The A.M.I. brings together those who have a genuine passion for Magic in an Organization that fosters good international relations, camaraderie and friendship through magic.
The Board, who bring a wealth of talent to the A.M.I., is made up of a mix of aged experienced performers from across the world. The organisation’s prime purpose is to do all that is possible to make AMI a friendly organization that seeks to advance the Art.
Brian Role` appeared in an online Gala Show entitled, ‘UNE CELEBRATION DE L’AMITIÉ MAGIQUE’ that included an International cast with magically-renowned names such as Arthur Tivoli, Kenton Knepper, and many more. During the show, Brian gave his wonderful performance from within a Palace. You can watch it online here: https://amimagic.club/blog/celebration-de-e-magique-gala-show/
The Magician In Malta
Brian happens to be the only magician in Malta be performing magic as a full time professional. Throughout the years, he took his magic onto television screens, with appearances in many Maltese shows. Performing set pieces in front of cameras, as well as ad-hoc street magic, Brian Role` has become a household name in Malta.
Brian’s love of travelling and providing professional magic shows worldwide, does not hinder him from providing them in his birth land. Brian performs a large number of shows in Malta and Gozo. These range from theatre performances to high-quality corporate events throughout Malta and Gozo.
Apart from that he serves his local magic club well. After serving as secretary for various years of the Malta Magician’s Society IBM Ring 2002, he went on to serve as its president between 2004 and 2005. Between 2009 and today Brian stepped down from the committee as he could not dedicate enough time to the club due to his performance commitments. However, he has never abandoned the club and attends whenever possible.
With his dinner show and private functions such as corporate events, wedding bookings, and shows in hotels and theatres, Brian is kept busy on the Maltese islands and is the leading magician to go to when people need a truly engaging performance for their guests.
Excellence In Magic - Master Of The Art
A major element driving Brian in his professional magic career is the wonderment he creates in audiences.
Those expressions of sheer astonishment, as borrowed items vanish from the audience’s hands and reappear in some impossible location during close-up magic.
The hushing sound is the sense of awe an audience experiences when they see something impossible happen in front of their eyes during stage magic.
That pure joy, laughter and excitement children experience during a kid’s magic parlour show.
These are what push Brian to scale even greater heights as a master magician.
Brian seeks perfection in his performance of magic through imagination, research, innovation, creation, and practice. They are the attributes Brian constantly develops to provide excellence and to master of the art of magic.
It brings joy to Brian to be able to share these with his audience through his magic.