Wolverhampton magician celebrates 25 years of entertaining the West Midlands

Ronnie Bilboe, who goes by the stage name of 'Will-E-Droppit', started out his career juggling knives and fire on the streets of Birmingham.

The 57-year-old has since gone on to showcase his talent for a star-studded audience at a BRIT Awards after-party in 2018 and the Edinburgh Fringe festival.

Ronnie – who used to rehearse for six to eight hours a day to learn how to juggle – also had his own segment in 2021 on a Cbeebies programme, where he was tasked with breaking the record for the number of balloon models made in one minute.

The Tettenhall-based entertainer said: "I became a professional magician on March 8, 1998 and I haven't looked back since – it's a job I absolutely love.

"The biggest highlight was the BRIT Awards after-party as they brought all of the stars over to us and I was asked to juggle for them – they even brought Jack Whitehall in and I showed him how to juggle.

"When I first started, I never thought that I'd be doing it 25 years later, I was a factory labourer and was made unemployed but I had to feed the family so I stumbled into being a magician.

"I love all of the aspects of kids entertainment – it was a hobby that become a career and I hope to do this until I retire.

"I meet people now who I performed for 15 or 20 years ago when they were children themselves and now they have me at their parties – it gives me such a buzz that people come back and book me year after year."

Ronnie started learning his craft more than 30 years ago, being introduced to the trade by his friend and fellow entertainer, Saxon.

He now performs at various venues including schools, children's parties, corporate events and weddings.

And the showman prefers to stick to tried and tested magic tricks, packing all of his props into one suitcase for each performance.

He added: "When I first started I used to use a box that would open up and form its own table, but it was quite heavy to carry around.

"But at one show I was doing in Watford, the magician on before me took so long when he went on the stage and went off, that the agents were going crazy.

"So I concentrated more on juggling and quick and easy things – from that moment on, I condensed things.

"Now, I just put a suitcase on the table and start straight away and try to use colourful props that kids can see and identify with."

The entertainer said that performing is "in his blood" as his family originally came to the Midlands from Kent as fairground performers and said he had "grown up" hearing stories of his distant relatives travelling around carnivals.