A chain hills magician was ''blown away'' by the life time achievement award given to him in recognition of his dedication to the craft and his work for charity.
Saddle Hill Community Board member Jonathan Usher said he was given the award at the 32nd New Zealand Magicians Convention in Wellington at Labour Weekend.
The award recognised his long term service and charitable contribution of entertainment through Rotary International.
''They wanted to recognise I made a bit of a contribution to the community through magic.''
The two-yearly convention included three days of magic performances, lectures and workshops.
It attracted about 150 magicians, some from Australia, Canada, South Korea and the United States.
Mr Usher said the moment he became spellbound by magic was when he witnessed a ''disappearing handkerchief trick'' in 1999.
''I didn't know how it was done and it really annoyed me and I wanted to know ... it fooled me badly.''
He began building a ''bag of tricks'' by buying one every time he visited a magic shop in Christchurch.
In 2003, a colleague approached him to entertain at a children's birthday party.
''It went really well and grew to the point were now I'm doing 150 to 200 shows a year.''
