‘The bullet catch is incredible’: Britain’s Got Talent magicians to bring their hit show to Leeds

A husband-and-wife magic act who once rejected the idea of performing together are bringing their hit show to Leeds this October.

Alan and Kat Hudson will appear at The Old Woollen on Thursday, October 15, with Married at First Sleight, a mix of magic, mind-reading, comedy and the kind of marital banter that comes from spending almost every waking hour together.

The pair both appeared separately on Britain’s Got Talent before eventually becoming a double act.

Kat said: “When we got together, Alan was a magician and I just picked it up at home by living together. I saw that he was getting to travel to glamorous locations like Hollywood and I thought, well, if he can do it…”

But when Ant & Dec suggested they might one day work together, the couple were initially having none of it.

Kat explained: “At that point we didn’t do a double act. I remember Ant & Dec asking us if we would do one and we both said no.

“Dec said that was probably a good idea because ‘one of you always ends up doing a lot of the heavy lifting’.”

Eventually, though, Alan decided there could be something in the idea.

He added: “I thought together we could do something different, something audiences hadn’t seen before, and make our magic more amazing with two people instead of one.”

Kat has a slightly different recollection.

“You told me it’s because you thought we could charge more if I was in the act,” she said.

That back-and-forth now forms a major part of the show, with the couple admitting that real life frequently finds its way onto the stage.

Asked about the best thing about working with her husband, Kat said: “We travel together, work together, we get to spend 24 hours a day together.”

Alan, asked for the worst thing, gave exactly the same answer. Rehearsals can apparently be equally harmonious.

Kat said: “Alan is a brilliant magician but he hasn’t got a good attention span. His mind wanders off, so that does make it difficult.”

Alan replied: “I stopped listening after you said I was brilliant.”

Although parts of the show are scripted, Alan says the pair regularly go off-piste.

“We obviously have some funny lines that we’ve written, but we go off script all the time,” he explained.

“Kat especially can’t help bringing our personal lives into it. She knows she’s got my full attention if she mentions something in the show.”

The production includes audience participation, comedy sketches and some of the couple’s favourite illusions.

Alan said: “For me, there are so many highlights. The bullet catch is incredible, the finale is amazing and you don’t see it coming. And we have this incredible bit with a dictionary that is mind-blowing.”

Kat added: “Anything that I get to do.”

Between them, the pair have appeared on Britain’s Got Talent, Penn & Teller: Fool Us and ITV’s The Next Great Magician, while Kat has also performed in the West End production Wonderville.

Alan said the Leeds audience could expect much more than a conventional magic show.

“This is all of our best stuff in one show,” he said. “It’s got comedy, sketches. It’s a magic show that is great even if you don’t normally like magic shows.”

Kat added: “You will laugh, be amazed and have the most wonderful time, and hopefully leave feeling like you’re part of the Hudson family.”

Hudson & Hudson: Married at First Sleight is at The Old Woollen, Leeds, on October 15. Tickets can be purchased through Old Woollen’s official website.