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At just 15, Cillian O'Connor has turned a childhood dream into reality. His dexterity allowed Cillian to break the Guinness World Records title for the most magic tricks performed in one minute (under 16).
Cillian’s record-breaking performance included 28 magic tricks in just one minute, including making a wand appear out of (seemingly) nowhere and making pencils disappear.
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0:00
Hello everyone, my name is Killian O'Connor and I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself
0:05
I have autism and it's something which can often have a negative impact on people's lives
0:10
I don't see it that way though, as it's enabling me to learn some pretty impressive skills
0:14
As a matter of fact, I see it as a kind of superpower. I have an incredible memory, which means I'm able to remember a lot of stuff, for instance, the flags of the world, maths and magic
0:30
The most difficult moments for me were finding the order of the tricks and also seeing what tricks I could do and which I couldn't do because of my dyspraxia
0:52
The more difficult tricks I had to master were the colour changing hearse, the colour changing silk and the appearing bill and envelope
0:59
I got into performing tricks when my uncle Desi showed me this magic trick
1:06
And in 2017 when I saw Izzy Simpson perform on Brain's Got Talent and make it to second place in the final
1:13
She was a huge inspiration to me and I watched Sarah performing magic when I was around seven or eight, which means I've been doing it almost half my life now
1:22
At seven o'clock in the morning he would stand beside my bed, mum, do you want to see a trick
1:27
So his early attempts of magic was okay until he found which tricks he was able to work with, obviously with his dyspraxia
1:37
He struggled, cardistry was quite difficult because of his fine motor skills, but he used the Rubik's Cubes and the cards and little did we know that by performing with the cards and the Rubik's Cube, it actually became therapy for Cillian's dyspraxia
1:54
From very early on he was persistent and he kept practising and practising and practising
2:00
We as parents, we were the best people for him to perform to because we were honest and he could make mistakes and we could tell him
2:08
So yeah, it's been an incredible journey. An awful lot of hard work has gone into getting Cillian to where he is
2:15
A little bit more hard work than normal people would have. He never gave up, he got his dream
2:23
With the autism, when I was younger, before I had the magic, I was very bad with my social skills
2:31
So I would just be sat in a corner reading a book and I didn't want to talk to anyone
2:36
But then after finding the magic, it meant I was able to go out and perform and I didn't have to worry about what to say because I let the magic do the talking for me
2:45
Because people with autism, we're not less than others, we're just different to others
2:50
So the magic was a lifeline for me. My experiences on TV, mainly on BGT and AGT, were very lovely and very fun
3:01
Of course with AGT, Simon being my mentor, I was able to hang out with him a lot and he gave me lots of good advice
3:08
I've always wanted to do a TED Talk since I started my magic career
3:12
The main reason why I wanted to do a TED Talk was being able to share my story and inspire other people like me
3:20
Of course, it's a huge platform to get on for TEDx and I've just always wanted to do it
3:27
It was never ever about the magic for us, it was about Killian getting his dream
3:34
He wanted to be on Britain's Got Talent, we brought him along and anything that happened after that happened
3:41
But from very early, Killian wanted to share his story about his autism
3:46
He's always been very vocal about it and we were glad that he decided that he wanted to tell people about his autism
3:55
Because it meant Killian could be himself, he didn't have to hide or pretend to be somebody else
4:04
As long as he's having fun and enjoying what he's doing, then that's great
4:11
But if the fun goes, then the magic goes. To be in the Guinness World Records book, it's just such an honour
4:21
Being able to break the record and also out of 53,000 Guinness World Record titles in the database
4:28
only 4,000 of them make it into the book and I'm one of them. How crazy is that? That's like 1 in 13%
4:35
I will just feel astonished when I open up the Guinness World Records book and see my face in it for the first time
4:41
I'll probably never let go of it, I'll probably sleep with it beside me
4:46
How am I going to feel when I open up that book and see my son, Killian O'Connor
4:52
Oh, I think I'm going to cry. I actually am going to cry
4:57
I'm just so proud of him, his determination, all the hard work that he put into achieving his dream and his passion
5:06
He worked so hard to get it. He's part of history now
5:10
I'm so proud and I just can't wait to hold that book in my hand. I don't think I'm going to let it go either
5:16
To anyone watching this video who is struggling with autism themselves, there's one thing I have to say to you
5:22
Don't give up on your dreams, only you can create your story and go the distance
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