Ellis developed a show, The Magic Box, based on the set, comparing what the tricks are like when you start off, and what they’re like after 50 years honing stagecraft and misdirection skills.
Why did Ellis stick with magic – something many children try and few persevere with? He laughs: “Because I have no other tangible skills!”
But there was a more personal reason, Ellis thinks.
“As I discovered later, I have autism,” he reflects. “So, I guess in my brain it was, ‘Aah! People are paying attention to me now, and I don’t have to understand their complicated social interactions, all the shades of grey and body language and stuff. I can just create this world that I’m in charge of. People come into my world. I amaze them. And then I go away!’ … I got to retreat into my little hermit cave or whatever.”