From Wales to Atlanta – Stop Two of My 2026 USA Magic Tour

Pensacola had been the beginning. Atlanta was where it started to feel like a tour.

After an unforgettable few days in Florida, an amazing first American lecture, BBQ, alligators, a rodeo and the incredible hospitality of Bruce and Patti, it was time to pack everything back into the car and head north.

Next destination:

Atlanta, Georgia.

This would be the second lecture of my 2026 USA Magic Tour — another city, another group of magicians and another opportunity for a magician from South Wales to discover whether his magic, humour and ideas could continue to connect with audiences thousands of miles from home.

There was just one problem.

After Pensacola had gone so well, I now had something to live up to!

The Road to Atlanta

One of the things I loved most about touring America was the travelling itself.

Back home in Wales, driving a few hours can feel like you've crossed half the country. In America, you quickly discover that a few hours on the road is considered practically around the corner.

But that was exactly how I wanted to experience the USA.

Rather than flying from city to city, I was driving across the country, watching the landscape change and getting a genuine sense of the enormous distances between the places on my tour.

Leaving Florida and heading towards Georgia also gave me time to think about what had happened in Pensacola.

Before that first lecture, there had inevitably been doubts.

Would American magicians enjoy my style?

Would the humour work?

Would material developed in Wales and performed throughout the UK translate to an American audience?

Pensacola had answered those questions.

Now Atlanta would tell me whether I'd simply got lucky!

Welcome to Atlanta

Arriving in another major American city was another one of those slightly surreal moments that happened repeatedly throughout the tour.

A few days earlier I'd been back home in South Wales.

Now I was in Atlanta, Georgia, preparing to give my second American magic lecture.

This was exactly what I'd imagined when the USA tour was first discussed — travelling from state to state, meeting different groups of magicians and sharing the magic I'd spent years creating and performing.

But there's a huge difference between imagining something and actually living it.

Every time I arrived somewhere new and realised people were coming specifically to see my lecture, I felt incredibly fortunate.

And slightly terrified.

Lecture Number Two

The second lecture presented a very different challenge to the first.

Pensacola had been the unknown.

Atlanta brought expectation.

I'd experienced that wonderful feeling of finishing the first lecture knowing it had worked. The audience had laughed in the right places, the magic had received fantastic reactions and I'd come away buzzing.

Now I wanted to do it again.

As soon as the Atlanta lecture got underway, however, those nerves disappeared.

The audience were brilliant.

What I particularly enjoyed was that it never felt like I was simply standing at the front of a room demonstrating tricks.

There was interaction.

There were questions.

There was laughter.

There were moments of complete silence immediately before a reveal — followed by exactly the sort of reaction every magician hopes for.

And there were plenty of those wonderful looks that simply say:

“Hang on... what just happened?”

That's the reaction I love.

Sharing More Than Magic Tricks

I've always wanted my lectures to be about more than explaining secrets.

There are countless places where magicians can learn how a trick works.

What interests me far more is why something works for an audience.

Why does one reveal receive a polite reaction while another creates an explosion?

Why can changing a few words completely alter how impossible an effect feels?

Why does comedy strengthen some moments but destroy others?

And how do you take something that technically qualifies as a magic trick and turn it into a piece of entertainment that somebody might actually remember the following morning?

Those are the conversations I enjoy.

Throughout my Atlanta lecture, I was able to share not only original magic but the thinking, presentation and experience behind it.

Some of the material had been developed over years of professional performance. Other pieces had evolved through collaboration with some incredibly creative people.

And then, of course, there was Sticker Kicker.

Seeing an effect I'd created back in Wales — one that went on to become Penguin Magic's Trick of the Year — receiving reactions from magicians in America was incredibly satisfying.

But perhaps even more enjoyable was being able to explain the journey behind ideas like these.

Finished magic often looks inevitable.

You see the final version and assume that's how it was always supposed to work.

It rarely is.

Behind most good effects are bad ideas, failed versions, changed methods, rewritten scripts, mistakes in front of real audiences and those occasional moments when something unexpectedly clicks.

I wanted the people attending my USA lectures to see some of that process.

Because sometimes understanding why an idea changed is more useful than simply learning the finished trick.

Would British Humour Survive Atlanta?

There was another important scientific experiment taking place during my USA tour.

Could my sense of humour survive America?

Thankfully, Atlanta provided further evidence that it could.

I have never wanted my performances or lectures to feel overly serious. Magic is supposed to be entertaining, and if people can laugh while they're being fooled, even better.

There were some fantastic moments of interaction throughout the lecture, and the Atlanta audience were more than willing to come along for the ride.

That gave me even more confidence.

I wasn't having to become a different performer for America.

I could still be me.

A Welsh accent, occasionally questionable sense of humour and a collection of strange ideas had somehow made it across the Atlantic intact.

Something Was Beginning to Change

Atlanta was important for another reason.

After Pensacola, I could say:

“I've lectured in America.”

After Atlanta, I could genuinely start saying:

“I'm touring America.”

That felt different.

This was no longer one isolated appearance.

There was another city behind me and a long list still ahead.

The scale of what I'd decided to undertake was beginning to sink in.

Over the coming weeks I would travel thousands of miles across the United States, lecturing and performing in city after city.

There would eventually be some extraordinary experiences and opportunities — including performing at The Hand & The Eye in Chicago and an invitation to perform at the legendary House of Cards in Nashville.

At this point, though, I didn't know exactly how the adventure would unfold.

I was simply concentrating on getting to the next city and making each lecture as good as I possibly could.

And perhaps that's what made it so exciting.

A Magician From Wales, Somewhere in Georgia

There were several moments during the USA tour when I found myself thinking about how unlikely all of this would once have seemed.

I'm a magician from Caerphilly in South Wales.

My career in magic has taken me to some incredible places, from performing professionally at events throughout Wales and the UK to lecturing at the world's largest magic convention in Blackpool.

Now it had taken me across the Atlantic.

Standing in Atlanta talking about magic I'd created back home in Wales was another milestone that I'll always remember.

Awards and achievements are wonderful.

But experiences are different.

Nobody can take away the memory of standing in a room thousands of miles from home and watching people react to something that once existed only as a ridiculous idea inside your head.

That's pretty special.

Thank You, Atlanta

A huge thank you to everyone who attended my Atlanta lecture and made stop number two such a success.

Thank you for the welcome.

Thank you for the questions.

Thank you for the laughter.

And thank you for making a magician from Wales feel very much at home in Georgia.

Pensacola had given me the perfect beginning to my first USA magic tour.

Atlanta proved that the adventure was only just getting started.

Two lectures down.

A lot of America still ahead.

And it was time to get back on the road.

Next stop: Huntsville, Alabama.

Jamie Williams – International Award-Winning Magician in Wales

Jamie Williams AIMC is an international award-winning magician from South Wales, professional entertainer, magic creator and Associate of The Inner Magic Circle.

Based in Caerphilly, South Wales, Jamie performs close-up magic, mind reading and unforgettable interactive entertainment at corporate events, weddings, private parties and special events throughout Cardiff, South Wales, the UK and internationally.

His career has included lecturing at the Blackpool Magic Convention, an extensive USA magic lecture and performance tour, performing at prestigious American magic venues and creating internationally released magic including the award-winning Sticker Kicker.

Whether you're searching for a magician in Wales, Cardiff magician, South Wales magician, corporate magician or international event magician, Jamie brings the same original magic, humour and audience interaction that has entertained audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.

For bookings, corporate events, weddings, private performances and international enquiries, contact Jamie through this website.