Kevin Quantum Returns at Dunfermline’s Carnegie Hall

As a 17-year-old acting in a youth theatre version of Some Like it Hot, Kevin McMahon could never have imagined he would return to the same stage as a famous international magician.

Now known worldwide as Kevin Quantum, the master illusionist is presenting a special Christmas show at Dunfermline’s Carnegie Hall on 20 and 21 December.

He said: “It’s a real homecoming. I was raised in Rosyth and went to school in Dunfermline and it was there I got my love of theatre and performance.

“My family always took me to the Carnegie Hall for the pantos and Christmas shows. Then I joined the Carnegie Youth Theatre and vividly remember playing the band leader in Some Like It Hot.

“So, to be returning with my own Christmas Special, will be an absolute joy for me.”

Despite playing in a stage version of the movie made famous by Marilyn Munroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, Kevin’s future looked as if it would be in science, as he went to the University of Edinburgh to take a PhD in physics. 

But a twist of fate saw him appearing on the TV show Faking It, where the famous Penn and Teller had a couple of weeks to turn him into such a good magician that he could pass as a professional.

It worked. In fact, it worked so well it changed his life and career.

Since then he has starred in many TV shows in the UK (including Britain’s Got Talent), the USA and other countries. 

He has won multiple awards at home and abroad – and has proved a particularly big hit in Australia. His Edinburgh shows are an eagerly anticipated annual hit at the Fringe.

Kevin is also a keen ambassador for magic as an art form and entertainment, founding the Edinburgh International Magic Festival (MagicFest). This year’s event, which starts this week and runs to 30 December, will be the 15th edition.

Festival shows range from the intimate to the spectacular, feature some of the best magicians around, suit all ages at tastes, and take place at venues across the city.

The Carnegie Hall shows are the first time MagicFest has spread outside the capital.

They feature Kevin with new and astonishing magic plus breathtaking stage illusions in a riotously fun and enchanting family show. Expect a mix of amazement, laughter, audience participation and derring-do.

Alongside Kevin, bringing the smoke and mirrors, are The Art of Illusion; internationally renowned magic duo Chris De Rosa and Michelle Ferguson. They promise drama, vanishes, levitations – big tricks and big wows with the glamour and glitz of a West End magic show.

Completing the line up is South Korean sleight of hand master Yollin Lee and The Magic Circle Young Magician of the Year (and Rubik's Cube wizard) Adam Black.  

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