When the going gets tough, there’s no magic wand to put things right. Not even if you’re a professional magician.

John Hotowka has been dazzling audiences with magic and comedy for 21 years. It was a hobby that turned into a successful career and a one-man business.

Everything was hunky-dory until 2001 when the wheels started to come off.

John, from Birkenshaw, had built up a strong reputation as a ‘business magician’ – and one of the pioneers in the field. He was performing at national and international exhibitions, conferences and corporate events, travelling widely in the UK and overseas.

Then came 9/11 and things began to` change rapidly. The Americans stopped flying and trade shows were deserted, so a key part of John’s work portfolio dried up.

He then suffered a crisis of confidence that lasted several years. It didn’t help that he is a one-man band, living and running his business alone.

“As the work fell away, I lost focus and that damaged my confidence. When your whole livelihood depends on yourself and your ability to perform, it’s a bit scary.

“That was definitely a low point and a very challenging time. I was fortunate to have some good friends who helped me through until I got my mojo back, and things are very much back on track,” said John.

The son of immigrant parents, John, 50, grew up in Holme Wood. It was while studying to become a dispensing optician at Bradford College that he started to dabble in magic.

“It was a great way to meet girls, a great ice-breaker to have a few tricks up my sleeve,” he recalled.

John was encouraged by one of his tutors, another keen amateur conjuror, to pursue his interest in magic, and eventually got regular work performing close-up tricks for diners at a Bradford pizza restaurant for £8 a night.

He qualified as a dispensing optician in 1981 and used his day job to fund his magic, investing in new tricks and continuing to perform at the restaurant on Sunday nights.

His job as an optician took him to Liverpool and back to Leeds, and he built up his magic work at private parties and in restaurants several evenings a week. At that stage, he continued to regard magic as a sideline.

But on June 18, 1989 – a date imprinted on his mind – after being made redundant for the third time, John decided to take the plunge and become a full-time professional magician.

He said: “I decided to give myself 12 months to see what happened. I didn’t have anything to lose as I was still a trained optician and could always look for another job if the magic career didn’t work out.”

From the outset he decided to focus on corporate work rather than the showbiz arena, and believes he was one of the first in the field to use his performing skills to convey branding and corporate messages for business clients.

The next 12 years saw him develop a renowned reputation performing at a wide range of events and venues – with an act tailor-made to clients’ needs.

“I seem to have the knack of simplifying a complex message and communicating it with magic, comedy and stories.”

Since 1989, he’s travelled the world from Manchester to Milan, Derby to Dubai, Hull to Hamburg and from York to New York performing at corporate events, product launches and exhibitions Clients have included giants such as Glaxo, Sharp electronics, GEC Plessey, BASF and the Paris Air Show.

He’s become a sought-after speaker on the corporate circuit, working with the likes of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Hallmark Cards and Lloyds TSB Corporate.