Born in east London, “under the Bow bells”, Lawrence qualifies for the demonym of being a Cockney, although most of his adult life was spent in north London, when he wasn’t abroad. His parents are still both very much alive, proud of their second son, who in turn looks to them with admiration.  Lawrence’s father was a consummate businessman who was awarded an MBE at Buckingham Palace by Prince Charles, now King Charles, for services to the newspaper industry, while his mother worked as a secretary, all the while being the nicest, happiest and most positive role model to her sons.

One poignant and powerful memory from his childhood involved Lawrence on a shopping trip with his mother to Selfridges in London at the age of just 5.  It was on this day that Lawrence decided that his career lay in becoming a professional magician after being “hooked” by a card trick that astounded the youngster and instilled him with a sense of wonder.

At that moment, Lawrence’s ambitions crystalised and he would hear of nothing else in his career future, much to the consternation of his parents who were initially dubious of his ability to make a living working as a magician. 

Yet, despite his parents’ concerns, it quickly became apparent that Lawrence had found his métier, as from the age of only 12 or 13, Lawrence was earning money performing magic at children’s parties. His first big break was on the Russell Harty TV show, where he performed live magic to an estimated 15 million viewers at only 15 years of age. 

Lawrence recalls being fitted for a bespoke suit to wear for the cameras, and being asked by the tailor “Which way does sir dress?”, an oblique question which the young man didn’t understand at all. The experience on the Russell Harty Show set the ball rolling, with Lawrence subsequently invited to become one of the youngest members of a prestigious club, the Magic Circle, and then later the Inner Magic Circle, where he rubbed shoulders, and indeed received advice and even mentoring from some of the most accomplished magicians on the planet.

Lawrence’s magic career was full of highlights including many notable television performances on shows such as the Saturday Royal TV show and New Faces, invitations to perform at the London Palladium, which is the pinnacle for any variety performer, and international shows at the Magic Castle in Hollywood and the Bellagio in Las Vegas. 

Generally, Lawrence had a solo act, but for a short time worked as part of a double act called the Zodiac Brothers, which even caught the eye of renowned magicians Siegfried and Roy, best known in the 1980s and 90s for their use of a white tiger in their performances. Lawrence credits himself lucky to have started his magic career at the tail end of the variety TV era as it afforded him the opportunity to learn his craft from great variety and vaudeville legends. They made a distinct impact on the young man, whose career kept blossoming, allowing him to perform, live and do television shows in such disparate parts of the world as America, Japan and Russia. Lawrence acknowledges his mother as his number 1 fan and groupie, as she always wanted to attend as many of his shows as possible.

Lawrence’s status as a professional magician opened all sorts of doors for him, especially stage doors and cabin doors. Still single, he worked as an entertainer on cruise ships for many years, with no lack of eager female attention. Highlights of this period included cruising on the QE2, the world’s premier cruise ship of the time and performing onboard for HRH Prince Philip and Prince Edward. Lawrence performed a private show, alongside Janet and Latoya Jackson, only finding out minutes before the event that he was entertaining the Sultan of Brunei and guests, such were the strict security provisions. Across his career, Lawrence encountered a plethora of celebrities.

In retrospect, Lawrence sees his cruise ship era as the golden age of his life. And naturally Lawrence accepted the invitation from publisher Dorling & Kindersley to create a magic book for children, published as “My First Magic Book”, which can be read in multitudes of languages. Lawrence’s sideline as an author also extends to a series of business books and CDs focusing on communication, marketing and mind power.

Up until this point in his life, Lawrence had been content to enjoy the spotlight and the applause alone, but meeting with a stage hypnotist on one cruise proved to be the impetus for a change of direction. Lawrence had always been fascinated by the complexity of the human mind and especially captivated by hypnosis.  Taught skills in hypnosis by his colleague, Lawrence arranged to practice with a crew show, which was so well-received that crew members avoided his eye afterwards, much to Lawrence’s amusement.

Further weekly hypnotic shows for cruise patrons followed, allowing Lawrence to further hone his skills. Returning to dry land, Lawrence seized the opportunity to open his own hypnotic show in the west end of London in 1993, one of only two hypnotists licensed to perform in London at that time.  Garnering much media attention, Lawrence appeared as a hypnotist on the Big Breakfast on Channel 4, invaluable publicity and a springboard to a national tour, exploring the power of the mind and an individual’s capacity to harness it.

By the time he was in his 30s, Lawrence was open to yet another change of direction, so instead of entertaining people with hypnosis, he decided to use it to help people. Lawrence began studies in clinical hypnosis, thought field therapy (TFT) and neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), stopping stage hypnosis for good. Instead, Lawrence was occupied with his prime time TV show on ITV called “Back to the Present” which examined the different uses of hypnosis, and concurrently opened a hypnotherapy practice addressing issues such as stopping smoking and weight management.  It was at this time that Lawrence’s specialty in using hypnosis to overcome phobias developed.

It was at the age of 41 that Lawrence experienced what he refers to as his “big break”. In 2006, Channel 4 approached Lawrence with a pitch for a TV concept where Lawrence would help a whole planeload of aerophobics overcome their fears and symptoms, followed by cameras every step of the way. It was as if Lawrence’s skill set had been built, step-by-step, for this precise moment. The prime time TV show, Fear of Flying, was the result.

Further TV work followed, and Lawrence made an easy transition to working in the corporate world as a motivational speaker, showing company employees how to improve both their communication skills and their mindsets. Lawrence worked around the world with blue-chip companies such as Microsoft, AMP, HSBC, PWC, Vodafone, Virgin, British Telecom and AstraZeneca. Lawrence particularly enjoyed this part of his career as he easily engaged his audience because of his stage experience, but could also educate them.  This gave him a well-defined unique selling position in the speaker world, and was undoubtedly very lucrative. But the benefits of this job extended well beyond the financial for Lawrence because it was at a conference that he met Kannika, the love of his life and his wife now of 16 years. At the time Kannika worked for the True corporation in Thailand.

Lawrence flexed his own wings in the business domain, opening and developing a very successful healthcare and wellness company, Optimum Health Centres, which he eventually sold in 2011.  It was not the end of his business career, however, as Lawrence was contacted by Mark Wein, brother of one of the participants on Fear of Flying, who also wanted the benefit of Lawrence’s expertise, in both the personal and business arenas.  Together the partners developed a new concept, a “Fear of Flying” course, which they pitched to one of Europe’s largest airlines, easyJet, who readily came onboard. (Please excuse the pun!) The course began in 2012 and to date has helped over 13,000 individuals fly comfortably. Good Morning, Britain, on ITV, the main breakfast show in the UK, live-broadcast the entire course and subsequent flight on the show, over two days, a massive PR coup for the course and its partner, easyJet. The course has featured on news services and TV documentary programs worldwide numerous times. Unfortunately, the business essentially ground to a halt with the arrival of the Covid pandemic, so the partners strategised during the lockdowns and pivoted the business to focus on general anxiety, panic attacks and depression, delivered on a virtual stage as an online course.  It is a mark of Lawrence’s personal resilience that even the pandemic failed to beat him.

Well, that’s Lawrence’s career exploits and achievements covered, but you could be forgiven for still wondering about Lawrence Leyton, local Hua Hin resident and exactly what type of man he is.  While far from an introvert, Lawrence is remarkably natural and humble, considering the rather lofty social circles he inhabits, outside of Thailand, at least.  While Lawrence has a tight circle of loyal friends, some even from school days, few in our town would have heard even a fraction of the above, as Lawrence is averse to bragging. He lists his most important achievement as his marriage, and is a dedicated partner to his wife, and co-parent to their furbaby, Mimi, with whom he enjoys a regular game of frisbee, despite her diminutive size.

No longer working, Lawrence is able to focus his seemingly boundless energy on his personal relationships and on-going well-being, noting that his current main role is in boosting Kannika’s self-confidence with her burgeoning fashion design career, where she displays high levels of skill and flair with pattern development and handbag construction.  As a sideline, the pair have been enjoying taking on interior design projects within their home, allowing Lawrence to continue indulging his creative urges.  When eventually he is unable to find any additional improvements to make to his own home, it is not outside the realms of possibility that Lawrence could seek challenges elsewhere, readily admitting he is better at working than relaxing, having made the whole world his stage. 

In his down-time, Lawrence luxuriates in the company of his dog, Mimi and enjoys a good sweet & sour chicken, Hong Kong style, naturally! Unable to find a restaurant in town who makes the dish to his London tastebuds, Lawrence is glad that Kannika made it a priority to master the recipe, never one to disappoint him by letting him down. The pair continue to prioritise each other, Lawrence grateful for their unexpected union and the strong family bond they have with their god-daughter and niece Ella, who will forever refer to Lawrence as Uncle Magic as long as he continues to pull candy out of her ear for her. As they say, once a magician…….