Michael Webb, the seventh son of seven Canberra-born brothers, heard this long after he had become a professional magician, and he's since wondered whether he should work it into his brand somehow.

Not that he needs to. The 32-year-old magic whizz is already making a name for himself on the - mainly Sydney - party circuit as an affable, charismatic entertainer, the type who never belittles or ridicules anyone around him.

If anything, he says, his secret is make himself the slightly hapless one, often "trying out new tricks" on partygoers, with the slightest whiff of good-natured anxiety that this one "might not work".

But then it always works - the card swaps hands, the coin comes out of the ear, the ball moves from one person's hand to another - and everyone laughs with delight.

Magic is like that. A bit like fireworks, or hot air balloons - unless you're an expert, or even if you are, it never quite loses its wonder.

Webb - who goes by the moniker Magic Mike (Not a Stripper) - never harboured dreams of becoming a magician when he was young (despite the legend foretold).

In fact, he says, he got into magic relatively late, while on a gap year in England after finishing school at Canberra's Marist College.

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The father of a friend saw him mucking around with card tricks, and offered to show him a few more.

He soon became acquainted with a whole community of magic enthusiasts, of which he was by far the youngest.

After returning to Canberra and completing a degree at ANU in actuarial studies, he worked in Sydney as a trader, "earning crazy money" before deciding to quit and focus on magic full time.

Between Sydney and Canberra, he has been practising like crazy ever since, quickly learning that having fun and being charming is just as important - if not more - as dexterity and sleight of hand.

In the meantime, he hangs out with two-time Gold Logie winner Hamish Blake and Andy Lee, the affable comic duo regularly, as well as Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins, whose bank password he successfully - magically - guessed.

But Webb says while his repertoire keeps improving, and even while people never stop being amazed by basic card tricks - a favourite is having two close friends hold cards face down, and finding the cards have swapped "if they're truly besties" - it's the social dynamics he loves to watch.

He especially loves seeing people who are magic sceptics one minute - arms folded, refusing to play along - and suddenly amazed the next.

"I just know the exact moment of it - I can build it up and I love to bluff a mistake as well," he says.

"I also have this other funny approach that when I do the magic, I come from the idea of like, I don't even know how it works! Like I'm experiencing the magic with them for the first time."

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