Neil Henry is one of the most viewed social media magicians in the world. His mind-blowing magic tricks, crazy stunts and hilarious comedy and prank videos often get more than 100 million views and have got him universal recognition and found himself working alongside some of the biggest artists and brands in the world. Mixing magic and comedy in original and engaging viral videos is not just a living for Neil, it’s a full-time passion.
He had been a professional magician for over 20 years and got the coveted 4 yeses from the judges on Britain’s Got Talent, then his viral videos blew up! It started with his marriage proposal where he regurgitated alphabetti spaghetti live on stage and then it went insane… He did a snake prank that got hundreds of millions of views in under a week, becoming one of the most viewed videos that year. Previously Neil was an actor for 15 years and played, amongst others, Benedict Cumberbatch’s brother and Hugh Laurie’s son in the ITV comedy drama ‘Fortysomething’.
He has travelled all over the world performing magic in downtown Jamaica, for children cancer patients in a London Children’s hospital, in orphanages in Africa and on the beaches in Bali… And then…. covid hit and, like most of us was stuck at home, so couldn’t continue his travels. However, he didn’t want to stop entertaining with his videos and he began making them with his wife Charlie at home. They went on to become one of the most popular Facebook channels on the platform!
Stu Piper was the co-founder of InterTalent UK (formerly Cole Kitchenn), managing agent to high end celebrities for over 15 years. “Agent to the Stars” The Stage / “The Starmaker” Whatsonstage! He produced & exec produced Timothy Spall in ‘Mrs Lowry & Son’ (Netflix), Joan Collins in ‘The Time of their Lives’ (Amazon Prime), Nicholas Hoult in ‘New Boy’ and Pixie Lott in ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ (West End theatre). He placed Alexandra Burke in ‘The Bodyguard’, Katherine Jenkins in ‘Carousel’, Amy Nuttall in Downton Abbey and Victoria Yeates into Call the Midwife. His numerous other clients included soap star Rita Simons and Dame Arlene Phillips.
His own acting career begun in childhood, and as a teenager he played Dandy Dan opposite Sheridan Smith in ‘Bugsy Malone’ at the Queens Theatre. He later played Juliet Stevenson’s son in the BAFTA & Emmy Award Winning ‘The Politicians Wife’. He also played the son of John Thaw in ITV’s Plastic Man, of Penelope Wilton in MGM’s Tom’s Midnight Garden and of Jennifer Saunders with two lines in Absolutely Fabulous as Serge – his greatest claim to fame!
While Stuart’s professional success grew, his personal health rapidly declined. He ballooned to XXL+ over 120kg, and experienced wild mood irregularities from extreme stress to deep depression via hyper mania. After several incorrect diagnosis he undertook radical gastric sleeve surgery, with his weight dropping to 70kg and clothes size from XXL to S in six months. Sadly, while the weight loss looked good, his old coping mechanism for stress and his acute mood disorder saw him starting to drink heavily. He eventually was connected to a rapid cycling bipolar disorder and was medicated successfully for the first time in his life. He gave up all alcohol, moved to a plant-based diet, and spent the third lockdown on the island of Jersey (the only open travel corridor available to England at the time) and began the Couch to 5K app – running daily on the beach. He now lives largely symptom-free from rapid cycling bi-polar disorder with fine wellbeing and good equilibrium.
After lockdown Neil, alongside his friend and former agent Stu, decided to make the podcast ‘Transforming’ together that they describe as “Super Soul meets a twist of QI: speed dating for the spirit, if you will”. Their first guest is international sensation The Iceman WIM HOF, the current star of BBC’s ‘Freeze The Fear’ and Sunday Times best-selling author. Wim has smashed world records and pushed perception of what is possible for the human body and mind to achieve: he set the Guinness World Record for the farthest swim under ice, climbed Mount Everest in nothing but his pants, ran the fastest half marathon barefoot on ice and snow and set the world record for the longest time in direct full body contact with the ice 16 times: for 1 hour 53 mins 2 secs. He also ran an Ultra Marathon through the Sahara Desert without drinking any water.
His WIM HOF METHOD has three pillars: cold exposure, special breathing technique and the power of mind control. He promises his method can help alleviate stress, anxiety, depression, improve cognitive and athletic performance, lose weight and even boost the immune system to help fight disease… how can something so simple do so much? In TRANSFORMING Neil and Stu ask Wim about his method AND his inspirational life story, after his wife sadly took her own life in 1995 having suffered with a schizophrenic mood disorder and Wim was left to raise four children on his own, without any money. He overcame that adversity and spreads his hope and optimism around the world.
‘TRANSFORMING’ will peel back the curtain on the most extraordinary transformations on Planet Earth, and they are soon to announce the rest of Season One’s guests, which include a Hollywood Oscar Winner and a multi-gold medalist Olympic Champion.
