By BRIAN BEACOM

JAMIE Raven’s personal revelation is almost as surprising the card trick he pulled off which stunned Simon Cowell.

The young magician, who stormed Britain’s Got Talent two years ago, reveals he owes part of his success to Scots magic maverick and comedian Jerry Sadowitz.

But how did Jerry, a madcap cult figure renowned for making his own rules in life, come to influence the young Jamie Daniel Raven?

It transpires Jerry turned up twice in Jamie’s life, acting only as a force for good.

“When I was twelve I’d go to up to a magic shop in London once a month and buy a trick,” Jamie recalls.

“And one time, Jerry was in there, just sort of hanging around really.

“I was about to buy a matchbox trick but Jerry stopped me. He said ‘You don’t want that. You want this.’ And he pulled out a book from under the counter, The Royal Road To Card Magic.”

It was the card trick bible. Sadowitz had taken the ‘teach a man how to fish...’ principle and applied it to magic.

“I asked Jerry how much the book was and he said ‘Twenty quid’. I said ‘I’ve only got ten’ and he replied ‘That’ll do.’”

Up until that point, Jamie had been a keen trickster, prompted by the party magicians he’d enjoyed as a child, and he’d learnt to perform tricks for friends at school.

But Jerry Sadowitz’s book recommendation took Jamie onto a whole new level. And the connection with the corkscrew-haired Scot didn’t stop there.

“Once I had a trick that broke and my mum, who is from Paisley, was going up to London for the day so I asked her to return it for me.

“So she took the tube to Clerkenwell – this is the days before Google, mobile phones – and got lost.

“But she got the number of the shop and called from a payphone. Incredibly, Jerry answered, heard her Scottish accent and said ‘Wait there.’ And he came got her and took her to the shop.

“It was really lovely of him.”

Aged 18, Jamie continued to study magic but hadn’t decided on a career, going on to study Economics at Bath University.

But just before his 21st birthday he was asked to work for an events company.

“I got offered fifty pounds to wander around a party doing tricks. I thought ‘This is fantastic money.’ This led to another gig – and another. At first I was doing close-up tricks but then moved up onto a stage.”

Over the years he studied magic and developed his comedy skills. (Two hundred events later he’s still with the same company.)

But he reveals he didn’t jump at the chance to go on Britain’s Got Talent.

“I’d been asked a number of times to go on the show, but I’d always declined. While I knew it could raise your profile immensely I just wasn’t ready for it.

“And I do a lot of close up material. I’m not David Copperfield. I’ve got to be able to talk though my trick. And I didn’t think this would work for the show’s producers.”

BUT then attitudes to magic acts changed. David Blane and Derren Brown arrived on the scene and blew preconceptions away.

“What also happened was a magician won the American equivalent, so it now seemed the thing to do.”

Jamie had performed for 11 years before agreeing to take part. And his instinct to hold back paid off.

“I knew I wouldn’t be bad. The worst that could happen was they thought I was boring or didn’t like my jokes.”

On February 15 at the Dominion Theatre, Jamie walked on stage and performed old style pound note tricks. But he had been clever enough to arrive with pound notes with flattering pictures of the judges drawn on.

“I figured if they had something in their hands they would be less likely to buzz me,” he says, grinning.

“And I thought if it had their picture on it they might like it and keep it. And this could influence their thinking.”

David Walliams, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden, and then Simon Cowell himself stood up and applauded the young man who would come second in the show (behind a dog act).

“Later in the bar the enormity of it all hit me. I realised my life would change but I knew that at one point as I stood before the judges on a narrow ledge I almost slipped. I could have blown it. And I thought ‘Whatever happens in life I will never experience that range of emotions.’”

Simon Cowell came out with the line that changed Jamie’s future; “Some people believe in ghosts. I now believe in magic.”

Now, Jamie Raven is one of the country’s top magicians, and starring in his own theatre show.

He’s also a social media sensation.

“I was in museum a little while ago – I love 16th century artwork, perhaps it’s the hidden stories in the paintings – and a kid pulled my jacket and asked me to take a photo.

“I thought he wanted me to snap him and his dad but no, he wanted a picture of me and him.

“He then told me he was from Brazil. So I asked how he knew who I was and he said ‘YouTube. I’ve seen your video.’

“It’s hard to get exact numbers but I know one of my videos has had more than 300 million hits.”

He adds, grinning; “That’s amazing, but as an economics graduate it would be great if I got paid for each hit.”

Jamie Raven’s talent for magic is matched only by his likeability.

There’s a real humility about the young man from Hammersmith who now lives in leafy Berkshire with his wife and two little black cats.

“I still can’t grasp what’s happened. “I can’t believe I’m here. I can’t believe you’re here interviewing me.

“I was an events magician, thrust upon audiences. Now, I get to play theatres where people have chosen to come and see me.”

There’s no suggestion fame will affect his outlook.

“I remember meeting Penn and Teller years ago after a show when they came out to sign autographs and asked them why they bothered? They said ‘Because we’re grateful.’

“Now I do the same. I know I’m only here because people voted for me.”

Jamie, now 31, loves to learn new magic skills.

“He’s studied David Nixon and Paul Daniels videos, he’s continually researching new tricks and working out how to fool people for two hours each evening and “have a laugh with the audience.”

“I love the idea of making people believe, even if what they see isn’t the truth.”

But what he would also love is to meet Jerry Sadowitz.

“I’ve never met him since that day in the shop but I’d love to meet him and tell him how much he inspired me.”

He thinks for a second and laughs; “But then Jerry being Jerry he would probably tell me to go off somewhere.” (To that place called Eff.)

lJamie Raven Live, Theatre Royal, Glasgow, February 7.