Ashton has been professionally entertaining audiences for over twenty years and loves sharing his joy and wonder for magic and storytelling with audicences.

 

Mixing his time between performing and building magic props for himself and other performers, he works to transport audiences into a world where strange things can, and do, happen.

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Ashton has always enjoyed perfoming, starting out with drama whilst at school, where an early perfomance at the age of 17 was seen by legendary British character actor George Cole who said 'your performance was excellent and shows real promise'. From there a science degree and masters in computing lead to 25 years of corporate life, whilst developing his performance thorugh juggling, puppetry and clowing. From there he began to study stage magic and through the help of some amazing mentors and the magic community he put away the corporate world and became a full time magician, storyteller and magic trick creator.

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He spacialises in family friendly magic shows, cabaret performances and full theatrical shows featuring bizarre magic and recreations of fraudulent seances typical of the Victorian period. He has taken shows to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and performed at all sorts of venues and events including stately homes, art galleries, libraries, on the street and in people's homes. He prides himself on being able to work with clients to find the perfect magical entertainment to make your events even more magical.

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As well as the performance, Ashton creates magic tricks and theatrical props and loves to bring ideas to life. From sealing the ghost of a long dead pirate in a haunted bottle to creating a 'brain in a canister' capable of perfoming a full mindreading show, he works in all types of media combining woodworking, ephemera, electronics, microprocessors, 3d printing, mechanics and sculpture to solve problems and create wonder.

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Through this work he has created 'Mr Punch's Cabinet of Curiosities' which is available for your events, festivals, galleries and conventions, and takes inspiration from the travelling fairs and sideshows of yesteryear and gives it a modern twist, to ask what is real?

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Selected Shows, Exhibitions and Research Projects

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Hester Reeve: YMEDACA (2014) collaboration with the artist with the Magick Lounge - Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Mr Punch's Cabinet of Curiosities (2015) with Nik Taylor and Rev Tristan - Debut, HorrorCon, Rotherham 

Magic and Creativity: Ashton Carter and Jade Fearnley (2018) interactive workshop - Site Gallery, Sheffield

First Aid for Wizards (2018) with Luke Robson - Debut, Edinburgh Festival Fringe ( PBH Free Fringe )

Mysteriosa (2019) - Debut, Edinburgh Festival Fringe (PBH Free Fringe)

Seance: A View Through The Veil (2021) with Nik Taylor in collaboration with David Crowley (Steel Films) - Film project, part of the 'Media of Mediumship' research project, a collaboration between the University of Stirling, Science Museum Group, and Senate House Library. Watch the film by clicking here

What Noise do Ghosts Make? (2021) with Nik Taylor - debut, National Science and Media Museum, Bradford

The Return of the Davenports – a one-act play and panel discussion (2022) magic advisor, prop maker & panel member,  written by Merrick Burrow, Directed by Nik Taylor, Culture of Places project, University of Hudderfield

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Selected Publications and Talks

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Monsters, Lies and Family Ties (2014) in T. Landman (ed.) The magiculum. Roskilde: EyeCorner Press.

The Cup from Cana (2017) in R. Curzon (ed.) Dark Matters. The Arcane Thaumaturgy of Dr. Jacob Tordoff Sheffield: Lulu Press.

The Magicians' Guide to the Baffling Blocks (2018) available here

Spiritualists and Magicians: Outrage, Appropriation and the Birth of a Performance Genre (2019) with Nik Taylor, performance and talk, Science and Spiritualism, 1750-1930 Conference, Leeds Trinity University.

Creating Safe Spaces for Strange Happenings (2020) in T. Landman (ed.) The magiculum II. UK: Lulu Press. 

Never Been Busier (2021), Journal of Performance Magic 6(1) 

Becoming Santa: Your Guide to Being an Amazing Father Christmas (2024) available here

The Third Option (2025) in Tobias Hudson (ed.) Roger Curzon's Orphic Fables, MagicWords.

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Ashton is based in the United Kingdom and a regular performer at private parties, storytelling events and theatre shows Ashton is a member of The Magic Circle and Equity and very much looks forward to sending a shiver down your spine.

 

To arrange your personal consultation,
call 07549 167 622 or email info@ashtoncartermagic.com