Andy Nyman reveals he could have had Derren Brown's job

Andy Nyman was once approached about performing magic on TV, a job offer with Channel 4 that eventually went to Derren Brown.

The actor and illusionist reflected on his work in magic with Yahoo UK for Origin Story, looking back at how being recognised as one of the top professionals of the craft led to him being offered the chance to front a show, and why he felt the need to turn it down.

Nyman, who also specialises in mentalism magic, collaborates regularly with Brown but their professional relationship began in an unexpected way, as he explains: "That first started 1989, 1999, I got a phone call out the blue from a guy called Andrew O'Connor who had a company called Objective — at that time nobody was doing mind reading magic, apart from like three of us, it was not in fashion.

"So I was quite well known in the magic world for the stuff I was doing, and I got this phone call out the blue saying, 'we want to offer you a one hour special on Channel 4 doing mind reading magic'.

"To which I said, 'thank you, but no thank you. I'm an actor, that's what I love. I'm not interested in getting famous as a magician, but whoever you find I'll work with them and I'll write for them.'"

The actor went on: "They came back about six months later and said, 'We found this guy, Derren Brown, have you ever seen him?' And I had, I'd seen him at a magic convention. He was incredible. And they said, 'well, we want you to work together' and that's how it happened."

Nyman has worked alongside Brown ever since, helping the illusionist create, write and direct many of his Channel 4 programmes, such as Trick of the Mind, as well as several of his stage shows. Brown's famous magical stunts like Russian Roulette and Messiah were also collaborative efforts between him and Nyman.

"That is 24 years ago, something mad like that," Nyman reflects. "So we worked together, I wrote and directed with Derren [for] the first 10 years of the telly, up until the lottery prediction Derren and I wrote everything up until then.

"And then I've written and directed all of the stage shows apart from one, which was about a few years ago. I was busy and couldn't do it."

Brown went on to become hugely famous as a magician, as Nyman predicted he might have done had he taken the job. His debut in 2000 show Mind Control catapulted him into the public sphere and his TV and stage shows have won countless awards from the BAFTAs to the Oliviers.

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Watch: Andy Nyman shares his Origin Story with Yahoo UK