Spooky season is well and truly upon us, so what better time to brush up on your knowledge of witchcraft and wizardry?
Magic has a long, storied history in the UK, with beliefs and practices changing vastly over time. From the early persecution of women suspected of witchcraft, to modern magic myths like Harry Potter, there's so much to be explored.
Here, BBC Bitesize speaks to magician Harry Moulding, who won the 2025 edition of Britain's Got Talent, about his journey in the world of magic. We also explore the history of magic at home and abroad, and whether the practice is actually 'real'.
And, as an exciting extra, Harry walks us through how you can learn a magic trick of your very own, to wow your family and friends this Halloween.
How to do a magic trick with BGT winner Harry Moulding
Magician Harry Moulding gives step-by-step instructions for learning your first magic trick.
Kimberley: Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a magician? To be part of the wizarding world? Well, I've come here to Blackpool to meet Britain's Got Talent winner and magician Harry Moulding to find out. All right, Harry, I am an absolute magic novice. I don't know any tricks. So, I'm gonna look to you to teach me my very first magic trick.
Harry: Well, the reason why this is a perfect place to start is that this is one of the first tricks that I ever learned. So, for anyone, for anyone that's watching at home, if you have got no experience with magic, this might just be the place to start. So, all we need to do, and shall I actually perform it for you first just so you get an idea for it. All we do is, go at home, go into the cutlery drawer, go into your kitchen, and I want you to take out either a fork or a spoon. Watch closely. If you actually really focus on the fork, then maybe just about here. Slowly you can start to make that fork…
Kimberley: What!?
Harry: Float! Right about there.
Kimberley: Mind blown.
Harry: Okay. So now shall we get into the reveal? Now, some of you, if you don't know how this might work, then it all depends on a sleight of hand. Let me explain. Once you take the fork like this, what you really going to use is your forefinger. So, we can actually do this as we go along. Hold out your left hand like this. Are you left-handed or right-handed?
Kimberley: Right.
Harry: Right-handed. Place the fork like this in your left hand.
Kimberley: Okay.
Harry: Now remember, this is something that everyone can hopefully do as we go along. Feel free to pause this VT. Go and grab a fork and actually follow this along. All you do is take your right hand, like this. Now, what really happens if I show you from this side, all you're doing is you're using your index finger to hold the fork up. Now, I'll be honest, when you perform this for people live, people really do not realise it. It's more of an optical illusion because they think all of your fingers are on your wrist like that. When, in reality, if you watch closely, there's only three fingers there.
Kimberley: Yes.
Harry: So now if you hold your fingers as far away as possible, just to make it even more deceiving, there we go. And you can just hold it like this. Now, the main tips to remember with this trick is obviously make sure when you perform this, you're performing it from this side. If you start performing it like this, you might figure it out.
Kimberley: Game over.
Harry: However, if you give yourselves a bit of a wiggle like this, if you give a bit of motion, you only want to do this for a few seconds. You don't want to hold it for too long, because if they look at it for too long, they might notice the missing finger.
Kimberley: Yeah.
Harry: However, for a few seconds like this, slowly take your fingers away, give a bit of motion and that fork looks like it is floating. And then we go and wiggle those fingers up and down these seconds and then back. And that is just a normal fork. Well done.
The history of witchcraft and magic in the UK
Harry's journey with magic began 16 years ago, but the history of magic itself stretches long, long before that.
In England, the first Witchcraft Act was passed in 1542 by Henry VIII. This made witchcraft a criminal offence that was punishable by death. At the time, beliefs in witchcraft were commonly held, owing in large part to religious changes creating uncertainty during the Tudor reign.
The act was repealed five years later, before making a return in 1563, with a new Witchcraft and Conjuration Act passed in 1604, during the reign of James I.
Accusations of witchcraft – usually levelled against poor, elderly women – reached a peak in the late 16th Century, with some 500 people believed to have been executed for witchcraft in England. In Scotland, numbers were even higher, with an estimated 2,500 people executed for the 'crime' of witchcraft between 1563 and 1736.
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In 2022, however, then-Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon issued a formal apology to the 4000 Scots accused of violating the Witchcraft Act, reflecting the change in belief in the centuries since.
Nowadays, belief in actual witches and wizards is few and far between, though magical characters are still major mainstays of popular culture. Wizards like Harry Potter and Doctor Strange have both dominated the box office, whilst the witchy wonders of Practical Magic's Owens sisters and Wicked's Elphaba have provided entertainment across generations.
Is magic real?
Well, to be honest, that really depends on what kind of magic you're referring to.
The type of magic you see in movies or read about in books, with spells and incantations and frogs boiling in cauldrons, bears no real relationship to reality, but being a magician is a legitimate entertainment career.
Most of what we would call 'magic' is actually an illusion, a cleverly played trick that convinces our brain of events that aren't actually transpiring – such as a rabbit appearing out of thin air.
Mastering these tricks takes time, and a lot of practice, but if you're keen to further your pursuits in the mystical arts, you've come to the right place! Below, BGT winner Harry Moulding discusses his initial forays into the world of magic, and how you can follow his footsteps into a career as a professional magician.
Watch Harry Moulding speak about his journey in magic
Harry Moulding talks about his career as a magician, work experience and shows off an astonishing trick.
Harry: When I was in school. It went from being in Year Seven, people didn't really think I was very good, generally. Year Eight, I was getting a little bit better. Only by Year Nine were people really starting to get behind it. By Year 11, everyone was like, oh my God, you know, this is amazing.
Kimberley: Harry, let's take it back to where it all began for you. How did you get into magic?
Harry: So, I started with a magic set. Essentially, a magician came into my primary school when I was in Year Six. I was 10 years old, and he absolutely blew my mind. So, my mum got me a magic set for Christmas that same year. I learned every trick in the set in about a day, and then got a magic book on sleight of hand, and it just went from there. It quickly just went from being a hobby and a passion to just an obsession. You know? I was hooked straight away from it. So, I was 10 when I first started.
Kimberley: We have to talk about Britain's Got Talent. You won last year. I mean, what, what's it like taking part in a TV show that is known the world over?
Harry: I've always watched the show and one day dreamt of being able to go on that show myself and being on that platform and to actually go on, the fact they were coming back to Blackpool forthe first time in eight or nine years. If I was ever going to do it, now would be the time. You know, if I'm, if I'm ever gonna perform in one of the most iconic theatres, the Winter Gardens, I've grown up watching shows there as far as I can remember, to one day be able to be on the other side of that stage and to actually be on that side of the audience. It felt like a dream come true. So, to do my audition here meant everything.
Kimberley: Yeah, definitely. And just having the kind of ability to put yourself out there, isn't it? Because a lot of this comes because you were willing to be brave and put yourself out there even as far back as when you were in Year 10? Because I know that you ended up, you know, creating a work experience situation, that fed into what you're doing now.
Harry: And that played such a massive part in my life, and I didn't even realise it back then. So, we were in Year 10, and we were introduced to the fact that we were all going to be taking our work experience, as you do, and we were given this list of options and a lot of the, you know, the typical high street sort of shops and the high street brands where a lot of my friends would go in. So as a magician, I could not find anywhere. There were no public or big magicians doing shows in the UK. Everyone was almost on a freelance basis where they're just working for themselves and performing at events, so there was nowhere for me to go. There were no magic shows in the theatres at the time, so I found a place in Spain that was a Magic and Illusion Theatre. And again, I had to just give it a shot. You know, I had to just almost place it in the universe's hands and see what might come back from it. So, I wrote a letter to the owner, and I explained that I'm a 14-year-old magician, I'd love to pursue a career in magic. There's nowhere for me to go in the UK. Can I come and do my work experience in Spain at your theatre with the cast? And then he let me come and do a week's work experience. And then when I was 17, I went full time and lived in Spain for six years performing at this incredible magic theatre. And again, that all started because of that work experience letter, that if that hadn't been written, that never would have happened.
Kimberley: Thank you for having us here in Blackpool. It is iconic. You are one of Blackpool's finest, obviously, Harry Moulding - magician. Now I've got a problem because I have arrived in Blackpool without any cash on me today and I want to go in the arcade. What am I gonna do, Harry?
Harry: Don't worry. Watch this.
Harry makes two £10 notes appear.
Harry: And hopefully that is the moment we get two of these. Let's go.
Kimberley: Wow.
Harry's journey in magic is almost as awe inspiring as his greatest tricks, charting a course from his home in Blackpool to the sunny climes of Spain, all in pursuit of his passion.
To read more about Harry and his career, check out this profile on him by BBC Bitesize.
This article was published in October 2026
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