Now You See Me Live - Interview: Matthew Pomeroy

“ From the Producers of The Illusionists, and inspired by Lionsgate’s worldwide blockbuster film franchise, comes the London premiere of Now You See Me Live.

The acclaimed stage illusion spectacular has captivated audiences across the globe, bringing magic to life with an explosive mix of high-tech illusions, solo stunts and jaw-dropping spectacles.”

Simon J, Webb: Hi Matthew, how's it going?

Matthew Pomeroy: Very well. Yeah. What a lovely day to be in a beautiful theatre.

SJW: Indeed. We are here having a chat at the London Coliseum the day before the opening night of Now You See Me Live. It's been quite a busy press event where we’ve all just been treated to a taster of this incredible new show, but I couldn’t help but wonder what’s the more stressful for the performers... the last minute preparations for the show or having to face a day of press? (laughs).

MP: Well, you know, because it's such a new show there's a lot of moving elements, so this is not difficult... it's quite therapeutic really, especially to watch the other acts doing such brilliant things. The trouble, I think, is knitting and stitching everything together which, once it's done... and it will be done by tonight, is going to be goosebump breathtaking... but, at the moment we are all just so enamoured by watching each other.

SJW: I was going to say, with seven of you performing in the show, you are all as much an audience for each other as you are performers.

MP: Yeah... and you really feel that! When one of the performers' music starts the rest of us all run to the wings to watch. At the moment we're still doing that thing of, “Oh, this person's here and their act is about to start!”. And when I'm doing the opening of the show, I look in the wings and there's forty people watching, which will obviously change as the show progresses, but right now we're still all running out into the audience to watch... and so we're just having the best time.

SJW: I'm sure you are! How aware were you of each other prior to the show coming together?

MP: So, I was very blessed to do the show at the Sydney Opera House and a few other places, so ‘The Horseman’, Enzo Weyne, Gabriella Lester, Andrew Basso and I knew each other, and then Rafferty Coope... well, I think he's a star. We talk about the next generation of magic and The Horseman... and to me, Raff’s that guy. He was amazing on Britain’s Got Talent. I have a show in Vegas with Natasha, The Conjourers, and I was backstage in Vegas watching Rafferty, thinking, “This guy is incredible!”… Fraser Penman as well... I think he's a real wizard... like, I don't know how he does what he does, and I'm not just saying that. He does hypnosis, but he just clicks his fingers and people fall asleep. I've seen skeptical magicians being blown away... and I talk to them after, and they're like, “Yeah, yeah, that just happened... but I don't know what happened!”... and then Eden Choi...

SJW: We have just been treated to a glimpse of what Eden’s capable of. That was incredible!

MP: Isn't it just unbelievable! So I was aware of all of these people, and the Now You See Me casting team have just done this exceptional job. I'm as excited to watch Eden every night, and to see Raff open the show... and I'll be there in the interval watching Fraser... so yeah, it's just great.

SJW: And did you have similar hot new talent on stage when the show was performed in Sydney, or was it just the four of you for that leg of the tour?

MP: No... the expanded cast has just happened for these shows.

SJW: So what is the different energy that their presence brings to this version of the show.

MP: Well, Rafferty has very kindly said in all the interviews he's given today that I was someone he looked up to... and that's so nice. It makes me feel so proud that he stands in the wings and watches me... and not just me, all the others as well, but I think we have a connection because we are both from England and he knew of me, etc., but they all just bring a lovely energy. They bring this fresh dynamic and they're excited... and they want to know how to improve... maybe even with some things off-stage that they've not experienced before. It's great. We've made three new friends and met three exceptional new performers.

SJW: Amazing, and so what was your own origin story as a performer?

MP: It was theatre really.

SJW: OK.

MP: I love magic. I've always loved magic. I went to Butlins holiday camp as a kid, my mum couldn't afford anywhere else so we'd always go to Butlins, and there was a magic show there called ‘Zodiac’, and I remember watching it not knowing how anything worked. My dad was also in the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, so I saw The Mikado when I was like four or five years old and I can still remember how that made me feel. I also remember that when all of my friends would go out on their bikes or play football, my mum and I would quite literally write out scripts from VHS tapes. We'd put on 'Cats', play the tape, pause it, write the line down, etc. and I learned everything. I lived in Northamptonshire, that’s where my family are, but we'd come into London and I'd get cheap theatre tickets, house seats, and just immerse myself in this world, and to me magic is a bridge that creates a connection. So I love magic, but theatre is where it's at for me. Just to get an audience to feel something, to switch off from their phones, to not get distracted and to be locked in to what’s going on around them. We should all just experience wonder as a community, and magic does that effortlessly.

SJW: That's interesting because I was talking to some of the other cast members and commenting that the magic and the illusions seemed to be only half of the gig as an illusionist. The other half is to create a story and a narrative around the trick, tp engage the audience and to be a showman, which I guess, if you're coming from a theatre background, you already had that part of the jigsaw in place.

MP: Yeah. I mean I love magic, and I think I do it OK?…

SJW: (laughs)

MP: ...like, it goes well. The audience always cheers which is good, (laughs), and I don't want to overstate my role in the show, but I do think what I can bring to this show, which is slightly different, is a theatrical edge. I feel like as a performer who did Les Mis every night... we did the arena tour with Alfie Bo and Michael Ball, I just picked their brains about playing Jean Valjean and Edna Turnblad, who Michael played in Hairspray, and it’s that special world where the lights go down, the doors get locked and you've got two hours to cry, gasp, scream, laugh. That's hopefully what I can help bring to this show... and yes... the tricks are strong and I hopefully do some good magic... and all of that is great, but as I look around me in this show I see everybody doing amazing magic, but we all have such different, unique personalities and things to bring to this show, so there isn't a box that isn't ticked, and the audience will leave with such a full, well-rounded, immersive experience that theatre lovers will love, magic lovers will love, film lovers will love.

SJW: Tick, tick, tick.

MP: Plus, it's the Summer holidays, so why not come and see the biggest magic show in the world!

SJW: And for all of the performers, I'm guessing one of the biggest 'ticks' must be to perform this show here at the London Coliseum... not forgetting that this comes hot on the heels of it having been performed at the Sydney Opera House in Australia. I mean, how much of a dream come true is that for you as a performer?

MP: Yeah. So the Sydney Opera House was great, but the London Coliseum is just... (gasps!). I didn't look at the stage until the performance on purpose. So, I open the show... Raff does the pre-show and I open the show which is part of what you saw today, and I am in blackout. A light comes on me and I look up and I see the audience for the first time... and I wanted that to be the first moment I ever saw the Colosseum from on stage, so I made everybody shield and guard me. (laughs). I walked out into the blackout with my head down, I opened my eyes... and I couldn't speak. We had to restart the whole section. I had tears, like literal tears! It's the greatest ‘view out’ from any stage I've ever been on. We've done the O2 Arena and some really cool venues… the Sydney Opera House that you already mentioned... but wow! Looking at the roof and seeing the faces, and to know it's happening in the West End... This is such an iconic theatre. Its history is impeccable. The show’s that have come before us... there's just nowhere else like it. I am truly blessed. I performed at the Palladium a few times, and other theatres in town... but this feels different. There's an energy and an aura here that's really, really special.

SJW: Give our readers a small taste of what they can expect to see when they come to the show?

MP: They’re going to get two-and-a-bit hours of nonstop wonder and childlike imagination. Even the interval is a hypnosis show, so from the second you sit down to when you leave it's going to be effect after effect, and they build and they grow, and there's callbacks and tie backs… but If you don't like mind-reading there’s escapology. If you don't like that, there's close-up magic... and by the way, if you like all of the above you're in for the biggest treat! It’s just really a special show and, to be completely truthful, quite often I've done shows where I've done press and media days, and I've been like, “Yeah, the show’s great”... and it is great, but this is the one I truly want everyone to see. I feel like this is the show that, in a decade’s time, kids like me back in the day will be talking about, saying, “Yeah, I'm in this show now because I saw Now You See Me at the London Coliseum”. I believe this show is going to be a bridge for so many new performers and new generations of magic lovers. People often say to me, “How do I get my kids in the theatre? How do I introduce this new generation?”. Well... this is it. Bring the cousins and the brothers and get the whole family to come along. There are cheaper tickets available for every performance, so just come and see this show for yourself, because I think that you'll fall in love with theatre and magic all at the same time. Plus... Trafalgar Square is over the road… there’s Big Ben, Buckingham Palace... we're in the centre of London. It's the best day out.

SJW: I’m sold! (laughs)

MP: It’s absolutely great!

SJW: One would definitely hope there will be children in the audience for who it will totally resonate with, and maybe we'll see future magicians and illusionists come from these audiences. But, that being said, not every child will be able to get here. How important do you think talent shows like Britains Got Talent are for bringing an awareness to this specific genre of entertainment?

MP: Yeah... I've got mixed thoughts. I love the talent shows, but I believe... and this might be controversial… I don't know, but as we’ve gone down this particular rabbit hole I think that those talent shows produce incredible talent, obviously... Rafferty being one of them. But I also believe that people shouldn't be on a sofa on a Saturday night... they should be in a theatre, and I think that all the theatre's in the country, at least a lot of them, do five pound tickets or ten pound tickets. There's this preconceived notion that you've got to be a millionaire to go to the theatre, and I just don't think that's true. I've been to many shows since being here for rehearsals, and I've just wandered in and got a cheap seat, and I understand that people can't necessarily afford a ticket, but you've also got things like YouTube where you can find the National Theatre Online which is eight pounds a month, and you've got a thousand shows at your fingertips. However, I get that as a community, as a world maybe, diluted short form entertainment is the new norm and that leads to swiping on TikTok etc., but to just sit in a theatre and to be removed from your phone... and to not have social media on for a while, but to have it all happen around you instead... the soundscape alone that you'll get in a house like the London Coliseum is totally different from watching it on TV. I know it's great that you can sit and watch a programme like Britains Got Talent and think, “That four minutes was amazing... now I'm going to the park”, or whatever, but what about introducing a new generation to The Phantom Of The Opera, Les Miserables or Hadestown? Let's continue to encourage this theatrical tradition...

SJW: Amen to that!

MP: ... and I think our show is a good place to start!

Now You See Me Live is on at the London Coliseum 31st July - 6th September 2026. Tickets available here

interview & photography: Simon J. Webb for Jack The Lad magazine.