There are gasps from the auditorium as magician Steve Gore waves his hand from a box – while wiggling his toes from a separate box.

Somehow he has been separated into two pieces, leaving the audience baffled. What’s even more astonishing is that the magic maestro responsible for chopping him in two is Steve’s five-year-old daughter Deanna!

The talented youngster started performing magic tricks when she was just two, and is regularly ‘sawn in half’ by dad Steve.

Together, the father and daughter have more than a few tricks up their sleeves. They perform as a double act called Make Believe Magic and next month they will be performing their new routine for Bradford Magic Circle’s show, Hey Presto.

Deanna learns her magic skills from Steve, who performs tricks around their home in Queensbury.

“She’s a natural, and she loves performing,” says Steve, a past president of Bradford Magic Circle and the Northern Magic Circle.

“I started off teaching her short tricks like linking rings, diablo and spinning plates. She did a routine with me at Bradford Magic Circle’s 2007 Christmas show, and you could tell from that moment that she loved performing.

“When she was three, she was invited to perform at Northern Magic Circle’s junior day. Aged four, she started with illusions and performed a mini cube zag illusion, where I separated her into three – then restored her, of course!

“Her new routine involves ‘fairy magic’ and illusions, then she gets her own back by separating me into two. I don’t want to give too much away, but let’s just say the audience will believe in fairies after they’ve seen the show!”

Deanna says her favourite illusion is separating Steve in half and giving him “girly ballet legs”.

“I love doing magic and illusions with my daddy, and I like that people don’t know how it all works,” she says.

Steve has been performing professionally for 20 years. He performs close-up magic at weddings, does magic and juggling at children’s parties, and he can also juggle, walk on stilts and ride a unicycle.

He got into magic as a child – thanks to his parents’ fish and chip shop. “The man who sold the paper wrapping did tricks for me, and I was hooked,” he says. “I started with three plastic cups hiding a pea. As a boy, I was inspired by Paul Daniels. I met him once and he signed my magic set.”

Aged 18, Steve joined Bradford Magic Circle. “There are members of all ages, both professional magicians and those doing it for hobby. We’re always learning tricks. Magicians still like being fooled; even when we know how it’s done we still admire the skill involved.”

Another member is street magician Dynamo, alias Steven Frayne of Bradford, an international star whose fans include Will Smith, Chris Martin and Jonathan Ross.

Of the Magic Circle code of honour, Steve says: “It’s a general rule that we don’t reveal secrets – it spoils it if everyone knows. People fall into two categories – those who want to know how it’s done and those who want to believe it’s magic.”

What’s the difference between a magician and an illusionist? “An illusionist carries more equipment!” laughs Steve. “Magician is the broad term, but illusionists are more about the stage performance than close-up tricks. What comes naturally to one magician takes longer to perfect with another.”

He says the broad types of magic are close-up, stage illusions, children’s magic and escapology. “I prefer close-up,” says Steve, pulling out three pieces of red rope, all different sizes, and pulling them through his hands.

Suddenly it’s one length of rope, then various knots appear and he’s sliding them off and holding up three different-sized ropes again!

Steve says the knack to sleight-of-hand tricks is to follow the reaction of the other person, leading them into thinking one thing while you’re doing something else.

Such tricks come as second nature to both Steve and little Deanna. To me, they’re simply magic.

Bradford Magic Circle’s Hey Presto show is at Bingley Arts Centre on Saturday, March 19. The line-up includes young illusionist Mandy Fletcher, children’s magician Ray Roberts, ventriloquist Steve Hewlett, comedy magic man Darren McDonald, illusionist Martyn James, puppet magic maestros Palma Nova Puppets, and the Spotlight Dancers. Tickets are available on (01274) 432000.