John Bulleid | Illusion Designer | Magician

John is an illusion designer, actor and magician with work behind multiple award-winning productions. He holds the title of Associate of the Inner Magic Circle with Silver Star, and trained as an actor at The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.

Illusion Design

John most recently designed illusions for Inside No.9 Stage/Fright (Wyndham’s Theatre and UK Tour).
Current projects include The Nutcracker (English National Ballet) and A Christmas Carol (Sheffield Crucible and Alexandra Palace).

John is the UK Illusions Associate on Harry Potter & The Cursed Child (Palace Theatre).

West End credits include A Tupperware of Ashes (National Theatre); Further Than The Furthest Thing (Young Vic); The Tempest, Robin Hood (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Death of a Salesman (Piccadilly Theatre); Macbeth, Rough Magic, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Inn At Lydda (Shakespeare’s Globe); The Worst Witch (Vaudeville Theatre – winner of Best Family Show, 2020 Olivier Awards); Oi Frog! (Lyric Theatre).

Further illusion design credits include: Beauty & The Beast (Lion Entertainment/Royal National Theatre Copenhagen); Rough Magic (The Globe); Dracula (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Magician’s Elephant (RSC); Ride (Curve Leicester/Southwark Playhouse Elephant); Piaf (The Gate, Dublin); Wishmas, Dirty Dancing (Secret Cinema); Bronco Billy, Ride (Charing Cross Theatre); Into the Woods, Sherlock Holmes: The Final Curtain (Theatre Royal Bath); A Christmas Carol starring Mark Gatiss (Nottingham Playhouse & Alexandra Palace); The Worst Witch (Northampton/UK Tour); #WeAreArrested (RSC/Arcola Theatre); Our Lady of Kibeho (Northampton/Stratford East); The Lost Spells, Beauty And The Beast (Watford Palace); Doctor Who: Time Fracture (Immersive London); The Canterville Ghost (Unicorn Theatre); Witches of Eastwick(Cirkus, Stockholm); Wickies, When Darkness Falls (Park Theatre); The Invisible Man, Partners in Crime (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch); The Star (Liverpool Everyman); The Gypsy Thread (National Theatre Studio).

Associate Illusions credits include: Prince of Egypt (Dominion Theatre); The Ocean at the End of the Lane (National Theatre/UK Tour/Noël Coward Theatre); White Christmas (Curve, Leicester); A Very Very Dark Matter (Bridge Theatre).

TV and Film credits include: You and Universe (Short film); Loo (Short film).

Magician

John’s relaxed style, gift of the gab and ability to hold an audience of any size combine to deliver a flexible act tailored to any occasion. He creates modern magic, always focusing on leaving his audience amazed and entertained. He has held residencies in hotels, restaurants and cocktail bars, as well as performing at weddings, dinner parties and corporate events across the UK and abroad.

John combines his knowledge of theatre and stagecraft with magical techniques to help productions create moments of pure wonder. He supports presentations, making them pack more of a magical punch, and develops bespoke magic effects to express key messages or ideas. He is also available for workshops, using magic to re-energise groups and keep them focused.

Recent corporate clients include BP, LadBible, Channel 4, Facebook, KPMG, Coca Cola and DHL.