Dr. Nik Taylor is a multifaceted academic and performer, currently serving as the Director of Teaching and Learning for The School of Arts and Humanities at the University of Huddersfield. He co-edits The Journal of Performance Magic and coordinates the Magic Research Group.

Before academia, Nik’s career spanned across the UK, Germany, and France, where he worked as a performer, writer, and director on projects like Discurs’96 and The Festival of Contemporary European Plays. His creative ventures include designing for Performance City, producing a low-budget feature, and even performing as a dancing penguin.

Nik’s research focuses on Bizarre Magick, Sideshow, Séance, and Divination. He recently completed a project titled ‘Performing Real Magic(K): The Conjurer and Audience in Bizarre Magick’ and is writing a monograph on the cultural history of performance magic. He co-curates Mr Punch’s Cabinet of Curiosities, a dark museum of haunted artefacts, and is working on a short film about Victorian Parlour Séance.

A member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and The British Society of Mystery Entertainers, Nik is also an Academic, Paranormalist, Bizarrist, Fortune Teller, Hypnotist, Mindreader, Gamer, and Random YouTuber. His work blends performance magic with immersive, interactive, and creative technical theatre.