Want to see a woman ‘cut in half‘ by a laser beam? How about a 3D hologram help perform magic tricks?

Jamie Allan has harnessed the power of technology to create a magic show where he doesn‘t just guess your card, but he plucks it from the screen of an iPad.

The countless pieces of computer kit he uses leaves backstage looking like “an Apple store“, but he says the illusions in iMagician: The Evolution of Magic are about “beauty not technology“.

“It‘s a classic magic show just updated to make it more accessible for people.

“There‘s lots of great magic on TV at the moment, Dynamo and Derren Brown and live magic shows have taken a bit of a tumble in recent years.“ He is keen to rectify that and says he performs plenty of tricks never seen before.

“I knew as soon as the iPad came out I was going to use it. It was like a bolt of lightening.“

Born in Solihull, he fell in love with the art of illusion. At five years old he was given a magic set by his showbusiness parents. Aged eight he did his first show and by 16 he had gone professional and moved down to London.

“People at school said I couldn‘t do it and needed a proper skill.

“But I never thought of doing anything else.

“I like the theatre of it. A lot of people think it‘s about the secrets, but I never have. It‘s about recreating that sense of wonder you feel as a kid.“

The 37-year-old has spent the last decade travelling the world performing and has designed special effects for Sting and Tim Minchin, Leona Lewis, Billy Ocean and Jools Holland.

The resident of Hartley Wintney in Surrey is now back in the UK, and in talks to do a residency in the West End, but first he will be bringing his 7ft truck and crew of ten to the Alban Arena with the aim of showing people that magic can be a true art form.

“It can be beautiful, like opera or painting, you can create a moment of true art.“

The first half of his show is devoted to classic illusions of the past given a 21st Century twist and the second half is technology-heavy and includes a trick where Jamie predicts a live Twitter feed. The grand finale involves a life-size holographic ‘virtual assistant‘, who he will interact with and has taken him two years to get ready for the stage.

“It‘s really exciting, but I can‘t give too much away as I don‘t want to spoil it for people. But it is like doing movie special effects live on stage.

“The same technology was used to bring 2Pac back to life for an arena tour, but we are the first people to use it like this.

“It does make me more nervous as we are so reliant on technology.

“And we have WiFi and bluetooth and all these things put together in one place, so the possibility of something going wrong is quite high.“

Alban Arena, Civic Centre, St Albans, Friday, March 14, 7.30pm. Details: 01727 844488, www.alban-arena.co.uk