HE has performed for the likes of David Beckham, Dizzee Rascal and The Saturdays and is now poised to take primetime TV by storm.
Damien O’Brien started doing magic tricks when he was just 13 - five years later he turned professional.
The 26-year-old, of Horn Park, Lee, who has just released his first DVD, explained: “A really good friend of mine lived opposite who was doing magic as well. It wasn't silly stuff - it was proper tricks.
“That was it. I was hooked really. Once you learned one you just wanted to learn another.”
His earliest trick involved getting someone to sign a card then throwing the pack up in the air, so the signed card stuck to the ceiling.
He said: “It drove my mother insane. When she came home there'd be cars stuck to everything - the walls, the ceiling.”
In the sixth form at Thomas Tallis he would even teach other students tricks for cheating at poker. Not that he can use them - he’s since been banned from casinos in London after accidentally performing a card trick for one of their proprietors.
Since those early days he’s jetted around the world and been invited to events like The Brits and Mobos where he has wowed big name stars with his skills - many of which have been captured on camera and appear on the YouTube website. 
Mr O’Brien’s favourite moment was when he got one over on American rapper Nelly, turning the change in his hand into a pot of jam.
The magician, who claims to be able to hypnotise someone in eight seconds, said: “He was just floored. Now when he’s over, we usually manage to hook up.”
Mr O’Brien is now in talks to do something similar to David Blaine’s early work, where the American performed magic feats for people on the street.
Not that he is interested in suspending himself inside a cage in central London.
He explained: “I like to do things where it's very visual and it's right in front of you and you can see it’s not done with a prop. People enjoy that more I find because it becomes more personal for them.” 
Now he is scheduled to appear on Fool Us, a magic show hosted by Jonathan Ross with top US magicians Penn and Teller being shown mystifying tricks.
The programme, which began on Saturday (June 18) evening, is filmed in the same studios as X Factor.
Mr O’Brien, due to appear on the July 2 show, cannot reveal what trick he will do but promises something special.
He said: “People will be asking, how is that physically possible?”
For more information, and to see videos of his tricks, visit damienobrien.com
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