Cillian O'Connor Source: AOL UK
“Wow, you are unbelievably talented,” raved Simon Cowell. “Seriously. That absolutely, absolutely freaked me out”
Eugene Masterson (Video Team)
A Meath schoolboy last night got four ‘yeses’ on Britain’s Got Talen,t with Simon Cowell branding him “amazing”.
Cillian O’Connor (13), from Mornington, wowed the judges with his amazing magic tricks, bravely overcoming Autism and Dyspraxia to get a standing ovation from the audience and panel.
Among tricks which flummoxed Simon was Cillian correctly telling him he had thought of the Seven of Diamonds playing card, and also the correct figure of 2500 jellybeans he perched in a jar front of him on his desk.
“Wow, you are unbelievably talented,” raved Simon. “Seriously. That absolutely, absolutely freaked me out, when I saw that (the 2500 figure).
“There is something really, really incredible about you and I do believe in magic and you are such an amazing performer, brilliant, brilliant.”
A weepy Amanda Holden agreed.
“You have made me and Alesha (Dixon) a mess, you were amazing,” she gushed. “I mean absolutely phenomenal, great showmanship. I’m really glad that magic has changed your life and given you so much confidence. But above all of that you are a little superstar so well done.”
Alesha added: “I loved everything about it but especially love you, your passion, your personality and it’s clear to everyone just how much this means to you which makes this extra special.”
New judge Bruno Tonioli was also holding back the tears.
“I was totally, totally captivated by what you were doing,” he exclaimed. “For somebody so young it’s an incredible quality. You have a fantastic future in front of you.”
When Cillian got four ‘yeses’ his proud mum Elaine rushed onstage to hug him and told him he was “amazing”.
“When I grow up I want to be a magician,” Cillian said before his routine. “What I like about magic is just try to make people smile.
“If I can make them believe in magic and then perform at the Royal Variety Show, I would legitimately cry. Before I had the magic my social skills were very bad. I would just be in the corner. I didn’t want to be within 50 feet of anyone.
“My legs would be shaking, my arms would be trembling.”
He told the audience and judges at the London Palladium that his disability was something he is not challenged by.
“I have learned that having autism is not a disability, it’s ability,” he stressed. “When I was younger I was unable to interact with people.
“I felt a bit empty, incomplete. I felt invisible. After discovering magic my life changed. It was like a light switch coming on inside my head.
“I found a way to interact with people through my magic.”
Cillian became Ireland’s youngest magician when he joined the Society of Irish Magicians.
The student who once struggled to interact socially is now performing shows to crowds of people according to dad Richie.
“After seeing Issy on TV he kept asking us when can I meet her, we tried to explain that Issy lived in a different country and that she would be very busy, but we would check to see if she was performing somewhere and bring him to see her. Because of his autism once he gets something in his head he doesn’t let it go,” he previously told the Meath Chronicle.
“My wife Elaine sent a chance message on Facebook to her page and with disbelief Issy’s grandfather made contact and we arranged for Cillian and his sister Casey to meet Issy in person.
This meeting with Issy and her grandfather was in Cillian’s words “the best day of my life” leading him on to meet mega magic stars including Dynamo and DMC. Magic now plays a huge part in the development of Cillian’s social, motor and interaction skills according to the proud dad.
“Issy’s grandfather Russ Stevens would have been a famous magician in his day and is now Issy’s mentor. They live in Blackpool so we went over there for the weekend and met up and Cillian and Issy instantly became friends.
“They invited us down to a local magic show that was being performed in one of the theatres and while there we learned about the Blackpool Magic Convention, the biggest magic convention in the world.
It was here that Cillian got the chance to meet his hero, international magic sensation Dynamo.
“We were literally sitting in a restaurant having a cup of tea ready to pick our bags up and go back to the airport when a friend of Elaine texted her and said Dynamo was downstairs, there was a huge crowd around him but we got Cillian up to the front. He was so nice and very generous with his time.”
The Donacarney schoolboy is the youngest member ever of the Society of Irish Magicians. Membership usually requires a formal audition but Cillian’s talent was spotted and he was instantly fast-tracked.
“He was meant to do an audition but the first night we turned up Cillian was doing a few magic tricks for people there, he was only eight at the time and one or two of the magicians were grabbing other magicians saying have a look at what this kid is doing. They were in shock and offered Cillian a place straight away.”
Source: The Sunday World
