Mr Flibble Talks To... I Toast Therefore I Am
John Lenahan put in two appearances during Red Dwarf's first season. But don't worry if you don't recognise him - he was the voice of original, and most musical, talking toaster. Mr Flibble talks to the magician who also heats bread...

5 January, 2001

When did you first become interested in magic?

It's the only thing I learned in university! Between high school and university I took a year out and I learned to juggle, I got a job in an amusement park as a juggler, but I was crap at it. I got fired and I had to be a seven foot bunny rabbit! But I was so bitter about being fired as a juggler that I was seven foot bunny rabbit with an attitude problem. They fired me for that. Actually, I did a show about it - I called it 'Seven Foot Bunny Rabbit With An Attitude Problem'.

How did you go from the rabbit to magic?

Before I got fired as a juggler I went to a magic shop, to try and beef up my juggling act. It kind of mushroomed from there. Didn't save my job, but I just kept going. And though college I got a job in an amusement park as kind of a magician. And then when I got out I became a bartender.

Bartender's a really good job in America. I used to do a new trick for my customers every week, and then eventually my repertoire got so big [that] I gave up, and I was a magician for a hotel for a while.

Then I saw a guy on the street, and I put a street show together and I started travelling Europe, came over here and won Time Out's Street Magician of the Year, 1985, and from there started working the comedy circuit. The rest is history.

John Lenahan

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Right hand provided by Andrew Ellard