1966 found a five-year-old Martin Cox spinning in the wings off-stage...why? He was preparing for his first professional appearance as a drunken sailor. A strange beginning for a non-drinker. The young man’s “song & dance” career ended when he was ten, finishing with his tap dance schooling because his teacher insisted he move on to ballet. Cockney Cox says, “this didn’t feel right for a guy who was ‘born in an ‘ouse’ within earshot of Bow Bells.”

Martin went on to finish school with qualifications in drama and art. Membership and training in assorted improvisational comedy drama workshops and theatre ensued whilst he found his niche in performing. The variety of non-entertainment jobs, like doorman at various London nightclubs (his martial arts training helped here!), retail personnel management, and market trader - specialising in antiques, where he, “gave it the old Lovejoy” all contributed to his finely honed abilities to handle people, and most importantly, to perform.

“Finding magic was an accident”, says Cox who walked into Stacy’s Magic Palace in Gants Hill, and said “yes” when asked by owner Roy Lee if he was a magician. “Roy sent me into the back room where all the magic gear was, it was an Aladdin’s Cave - a pure treasure trove!” Lee sold the amateur magician a video tape which taught him his first trick in magic called, “The Pass”. He took it home, and is now considered a master of one of magic’s most difficult effects by his peers. Well on his way in the world of magic, Martin’s first performing persona, “The Cockney Card Shark” has entertained all over Hertfordshire, London pubs, restaurants, and venues like the Dorchester, and Grosvenor House.

Card tricks are not enough for Martin Cox. He has performed incredible escapes and stunts such as; Breathing Fire Bigger Than A Double Bus; 160 foot Bungee Jump in a Straight Jacket; and being Pulled Apart by two Fire Engines, all a part of his “This Is Not A Trick” revue. His successful “Bullet Catch” (in his mouth!), at the Ware County Hotel, generated a good deal of press coverage.

Now known as “The Hard Man Of Magic”, Cox doesn’t like to think of himself as a close-up magician, but rather a close-up entertainer. His act isn’t just about card tricks, or sawing a lady in half. The approach is interactive, and considering his past exploits and accomplishments, there is not an audience he cannot control and thoroughly entertain.