Man of Magic

Former medic for the Special Boat Service, Steel Johnson from Plymouth, has swapped the Royal Marines for magic.  

- Fran Mcelhone

STEEL makes the card I just picked disappear, then reappear, then makes it change from blue to red. Then he proceeds to fan out his deck, and turns them all red. Then he turns them back to blue again. A slick illusionist, an adept trickster, a sleight of hand virtuoso, and, if you were unconvinced before, Steel will have you believing in magic.

But Steel, real name James, wasn’t always a magician. For the last 10 years he’s been a Royal Marines Commando, spending the last year-and-a-half of his service as a medic with the country’s elite amphibious fighting force, the Special Boat Service (SBS).

Prior to his decade in the Corps, he was an infantryman in the Army for several years, which included a tour of duty in Iraq aged 20. Sandwiched between the Army and Marines was a year travelling the world.

 It was his deployment to Afghanistan in 2008-2009 with 45 Commando which saw him witnessing friends endure horrific injuries in the most unimaginable of circumstances and demonstrating incredible fortitude and selflessness. His experiences in the desert, coupled with the sadness of losing his father to cancer, led to a period of deep reflection and a decision to follow his heart and become a magician.

The 32-year-old Lance Corporal has been practising magic for around six years now, performing at weddings, charity dinners and Corps’ functions.

“Iraq was why I left the Army,” Steel admits. “But you soon forget how bad a situation is and while I was travelling I had a constant itch to join the Marines.”