A Belfast magician and children's performer says she is overjoyed to have been honoured with an international award as she hopes to continue bringing magic into the lives of others.
Nicola Cunningham who also goes by Nikola Arkane and FizzWizzPop has been working as a magician and children's performer for the past 15 years after falling in love with magic while on a work experience placement, and since then has aimed to bring magical moments into the lives of everyone she meets.
Originally from Tiger's Bay, Nicola never imagined that she would find herself performing at some of the world's most famous magic clubs and had originally planned on entering into the world of theatre.
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Speaking to Belfast Live, she described how she got her start in the world of magic saying: "I had been studying a degree in drama when I went on work experience with a theatre company where the director was a magician. He invited me to take part in one of his illusions where he put me inside of a box and my love for magic grew from there.
"Then, when I finished my degree I found myself struggling to get acting work so I decided to become a professional magician instead.
"My first show was a tough experience, I felt that it went rubbish, but I kept doing it again and again, pracitising every single day, and eventually I found my footing and I love sharing and creating magical moments with people, something that I will keep doing for as long as I can.
"My favourite style of magic is taking the classics of magic and putting a twist on them, so that it feels modern and also a bit theatrical - like me!"
During the beginning of her career, Nicola had focused on her children's character FizzWizzPop, who introduces youngsters into the world of magic with her "bonkers" show. However after finding success in some prestigious awards, such as winning the 2019 British Close Up Championships, she has expanded her shows and is now performing for adult audiences under the name Nikola Arkane.
She also made it to the semi-finals of Sweden's version of Britain's Got Talent - Talang - and was invited at the end of last year to perform magic for two full weeks as part of The Magic Circle's Christmas Shows in London. The Magic club that King Charles is a member off.
Nicola continued: "FizzWizzPop is my children’s character and she is absolutely bonkers, she creates the world of magic for the kids to enter into and it is a very theatrical, colourful and magical show for children, but above all it is really about them having fun and learning about the world around them.
"I love performing for children and I will always perform for children, that is just who I am, but since 2019 when I won the British Close Up championships in magic, I have realised that I have a talent for close up and stage magic and I would really like to focus on that and see where that takes me in the future.
"Recently I was on Sweden's Talang - which is their version of Britain’s Got Talent, and I got to the semi-finals thanks to a cups and balls piece. Cups and balls are actually one of the oldest tricks in the world and there are images of them drawn on ancient hieroglyphics in Egypt, that is how old it is - but I have made it modern with loads of confetti appearing at the end and it is quite beautiful and magical.
"I travel quite a lot with my magic and do shows everywhere from America to Europe and I am so happy that is beginning to happen because that is why I got into magic in the first place, to travel and show people my magic."
This year, Nicola has been named the International Rising Star in Magic at the Allan Slaight Awards in Canada, which has seen world famous magicians Penn and Teller and Derren Brown as some of the past winners.
The award was a huge moment for Nicola in her career and has given her a further boost of encouragement to bring magic into the lives of others.
She said: "I am delighted to say that I have been awarded this year’s International Rising Star by the Allan Slaight Foundation. It is a family that is based in Canada but they like to share his estate with things that Alan was interested in when he was alive, so there is music, television, community projects and also magic as he was a budding magician.
"It really is a honour as magicians like Penn and Teller and Derran Brown have received awards from the Foundation and I feel really privileged that someone has nominated me for this.
"I am very thankful to everyone who has helped me get this far in my career. Working with Cahoots NI and Paul McEneaney I simply wouldn’t be the magician that I am today, and my kids character FizzWizz Pop wouldn’t have happened without that introduction to magic.
"I am also very grateful to Tom Stone, who I have been working with over the past few years in Sweden and he has been fantastic at developing my studies in misdirection.
"My big goal is to compete in the World Championships of Magic in the next couple of years and this award is just another boost as I work towards that and I am very thankful for the recognition of my career so far."
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