Billy Menezes has taken his one-of-one wizardry across the country to spotlight the power of magic in his debut film.
Having shocked the likes of Kate Moss, Skepta, and Dua Lipa with party tricks in London in recent years, 21-year-old street magician Billy Menezes wanted to switch things up.
For ‘Playground Magic’, his debut film he created with close friend Louis Dobson, Billy wanted to get out of the comfort zone of his hometown and produce a short film that would “shed light on Britain” and “highlight different parts of the UK”.
In the 30-minute, the duo heads to some of the country’s forgotten corners, performing tricks for locals in Jaywick, Blackpool, and Great Yarmouth. Billy uses magic as an ice-breaker to explore British society; while characters across the country differ in personality, they’re united in their love for magic.
Alongside the tricks he plays on everyday people across Britain, Billy also linked up with a slew of the UK’s most important voices and minds for the film. Paddy the Baddy, Chy Cartier, Gabriel Moses, and Jeremy Corbyn are the latest names to get mesmerised by Billy’s brilliance, highlighting magic’s ability to transcend class, creed, and level of celebrity.
Head to playgroundmagic.co.uk to watch ‘Playground Magic’ in full, and read on for our full conversation with Billy.
The Basement: When did you first decide you wanted to make a film?
Billy Menezes: When I released ‘Out N About’ a couple of years ago, there was some buzz: I had a few meetings, but they lasted about a year and went nowhere. I always had this idea to make something, but was feeling a bit lost with what to do. Me and Louis wanted to do something that felt a bit more proper than what I’d done previously, so we started planning this film.
Does the style and visual language of ‘Playground Magic’ differ from anything we’ve seen previously?
I think so, it’s more about the people we meet and understanding them. We wanted to showcase different parts of the UK that aren’t really shown or may have been shown in a negative light. In the film, we use magic as an ice-breaker to meet people and learn more about them.
What has the journey been like in putting the film together compared to your previous work?
It’s been fun, we’ve had more to do, and had to go about it in different ways. We’ve had a great team around us. Fred Gowers and Alex Wheeler were so great to work with they really helped bring the project to life!
How has the process been working with Louis Dobson on the film?
Sick! Me and Louis are best friends probably with each other nearly every day he’s just got really good references so when it came to him directing the film I didn’t have to do too much other than the magic. He just had a vision for it and made it happen!
You got Simon Wheatley to shoot the cover for the film – which is a big moment in itself. How did that link up come about?
I’ve known Simon for a while and when I was working on the project, I showed him my references. He thought they resonated with his style of image-making, so I thought it was only right to ask him to shoot the cover – and I’m very grateful he did. He’s a legend!
You’ve performed a lot of tricks in London over the last few years. Why was it so important for you to travel across the country and take them elsewhere for your first film?
I wanted to get out of my comfort zone; going to new places forced me to do that. It also meant that we didn’t have a safety net in London. If we were stuck we’d just have to keep moving and that’s what we did – I’m so used to being in the city, so I wanted to do magic somewhere new and have it documented.
The film provides a deeper look at modern Britain – why was it important for you to convey that in the film?
I wanted to shed light on Britain, in a real, raw way. I wanted to show what’s really happening up and down the country and highlight different parts of the UK. Somewhere like Jaywick is given such bad representation – before going, Louis and I didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into.
But when we got there the community was really inviting – and we ended up getting some of our best stuff there. Since filming, Louis has been back to Jaywick to see the people we met. If we’d have just listened to what we saw online or from the news about Jaywick, maybe we wouldn’t have gone. So I guess it’s a deeper look at these places and showing these areas in a new light to a fresh audience.
How did you go about bringing your trick with Jeremy Corbyn to life?
I’ve always wanted to do a trick for a politician, but my ideas were always to paint them in a bad light. But when I stepped away from that I realised that it’s nicer for everyone to work with someone cool and do something really nice for them, so I knew that it had to be Jeremy Corbyn.
Did you set out what you wanted to achieve from the film?
People seem to really enjoy it! So I’m happy I had a great time at the screening and it was really amazing to see everyone’s immediate reaction to the film.
What was your favourite part of creating ‘Playground Magic’?
Looking back now, I think it was going to the cities with no plan and just meeting people. Showing them magic drilled it home to me why I do what I do, as well as the enjoyment I get out of it. I’ve had a lot of lovely messages from people who have really enjoyed watching it. I think it feels fresh and new and hopefully is the start of something bigger.
Are you going to be working on more films in the future? And if so, what can we expect next?
A magician never reveals his secrets!
