Comedy Magician, Mind reader & Irish Illusionist Billy McComb ...

Billy McComb, a King of Comedy Magic.

I remember the first time I saw Billy McComb. It was maybe 1996, He was performing for the Society of Irish magicians (yes, there is such a thing) in Saint Anthony’s Theatre which was on the Quays in Dublin.

It was a packed house.

The curtain went back and out shuffled a gentleman in his late 70’s with a teased moustache and dapper bowtie. He looked at the audience and after a few seconds said-

 “I know what you’re thinking… Who is this old fart?”

 It elicited a good giggle from the audience because that was exactly what they were thinking!

He then looked up again and said - “Well, I’m going to make it fast because it’s rice pudding night at​ the home”

It got a huge laugh from the crowd and that’s how it went for 40 minutes.  

Laugh after laugh interspersed with audible gasps of amazement as Billy performed beautiful, visually stunning magic.

A little history about this King of Comedy Magic

Billy McComb was born in Belfast in 1922 and was the son of a physician who was knighted for his contribution to X-ray research. Billy’s family expected him to follow suit and indeed, he qualified as a Doctor from Queen’s University, Belfast in 1949.

But as soon as he qualified, having fulfilled his promise to his Mother, he swapped his scrubs for the bright lights of London’s West End becoming a professional magician.

Over his career, Billy had more than 300 appearances in movies and on TV shows alongside such greats as Bob Hope. He even entertained Queen Elizabeth II at the Royal Variety Performance.

He also performed on cruise ships all over the world and became a prominent figure at The Magic Castle and was billed as "The World's Largest Leprechaun."

 In 1964 he was invited to join the Entertainment charitable fraternity, the Grand Order of Water Rats.

What makes Billy so different to other Magicians…

I was 22 years old. I had seen many many Magicians perform but nothing like Billy. That night watching him charm, amaze and thoroughly entertain that audience had a profound effect on me.

You see every miracle on stage requires process – sleights to be performed and deceits to be carried out, all invisibly.

Most Magicians (still) fill these moments of process with nothing more than a passing comment or just outright awkwardness.

Billy however, revelled in them, seeing them as comedy gold mines where he could inject his personality and fill them with humour.

He came from a completely different perspective to every other Magician I had ever seen. There was never a dead moment… Just another laugh.

It was a lesson I never forgot.

The biggest laugh of the night came from me…

A funny story to finish this off.

On the day of the performance, I had been asked by the Society of Irish Magicians to drop Billy to his hotel in the early afternoon and collect him later to bring him to the theatre.

When I dropped him off to the hotel, as he got out of my car he turned and looking at me over the rim of his glasses said -

“My boy, tell me where one might find ladies of negotiable affections in this fine city?”

It took me a couple of seconds to realise what he was referring to.

When I finally did, I almost fell out of the car with surprise.

I blurted out "Maybe Leeson Street or Fitzwilliam Square", where at the time there was a problem with prostitution.

He smiled and thanked me as he closed the car door.

 I drove off in a state of amused disbelief.

I mentioned it to Quentin Reynolds, the President of the Society at the time. He couldn’t believe it either. We both laughed almost in admiration at a man of his age requesting such a thing before a theatre performance.

It wasn’t until the next night during his show that he referenced the aforementioned red light district as a joke in the show!!

Nobody laughed louder than me when I realised he wasn’t looking for a brothel earlier that day but needed to know the area to personalise the joke for the audience in front of him.

What a pro. Thank you Billy for all the laughs and moments of amazement!

Billy McComb passed away in April 2006.