You wouldn't believe the weird stuff I've come across today.Irish magician and illusionist Shane Gillen has been keeping some very interesting company in the US recently. He's hung out with actors Denzel Washington and Kelsey Grammer at their respective New York homes – and performed for the likes of Samuel L Jackson, Lady Gaga and 50 Cent.
Now the Sligo man is going to live with Eminem and his brother Nathan Mathers for a week in Detroit.
We caught up with him to talk about his career so far, learning magic and how he got to know one of the world's best-known rappers.
How and when did you decide to become a magician/illusionist?
As a child I enjoyed magic tricks, but no more than any other child did. I didn't get a Paul Daniels magic set that made me always want to be a magician or anything like that. I remember watching David Blaine on TV and thinking there had to be something special about him that he could do things like he was doing. It was intriguing.
In my first year of college I became the victim of a brutal assault in Temple Bar, whether it was mistaken identity on the culprits' part or they were just high who knows... I had to defer my college course in order to recover. I decided then to leave Dublin for a few months so I got myself an American working visa and booked a trip to San Francisco for a few months.
The day before I left, my brother and father and I were wandering around Dublin and happened to stumble upon the World Street Performers' Championships in Merrion Square. That is where I first saw the magic of a man named Charlie Caper; a Swedish magician who has since gone on to win Sweden's Got Talent.
Caper blew me away, I was astonished at what he could do and what was unfolding right in front of my eyes. With his performance still racing through my mind, I headed to San Francisco.
Having had no job lined up, on my first day there I noticed a sign in the window of 'Houdini's Magic shop' that said they were looking for summer staff. In I went pretending I had bucket-loads of experience. I got the job, but didn't get to keep it for long because my lack of skill and knowledge became evident within the first week.
However, I'd gotten the bug for it, and 'googled' magic shops in the area. I came across a place called Misdirections magic store on Ocean Avenue. The guy who runs it is a Chinese-American guy named Joe Pon. Pon is a master magician, and though he doesn't hire anyone to work with him in the store, he does mentor people each year if they really want it. This was his offer.
Though he wouldn't give me a job, he told me if he mentored me I'd be working as a magician professionally. I accepted his offer.
I got myself a job in a flower shop in the Financial District one day a week delivering flowers, and spent every other day in Misdirections with Joe Pon learning all the basic sleights and skills.
I have studied the art meticulously since, and the rest is history...
So how did the training session with Eminem's brother come about?
Over the years I have managed to perform for many famous faces, such as Denzel Washington, Kelsey Grammer and Samuel L.Jackson.
Nathan (Eminem's brother) got wind of this one summer while I was in New York, he saw some of my YouTube videos and we became friends.
We have stayed in touch over the last couple of years, and just a couple of weeks ago he invited me out to his place in Detroit to teach him some stuff as well as generally freak him out with it.
Naturally, I accepted the invite.
How long are you planning to spend with the Mathers - what are you expecting it to be like?
I know Nathan's a cool guy so I know it's going to be good. I look forward to having a laugh with them and going around the bars and clubs performing.
I love performing in America because the reactions can be so crazy over there to tricks. An Irish audience will tend to be more cynical (which I welcome, by the way).
I think I'm going to be there for a week or so, Nathan's picking me up at the airport.
What's the first thing you'll teach him and how many tricks can you teach someone over a week?
I'll give him a deck of cards and teach him basic handlings and sleights. He won't have them mastered within the space of one week but once he understands them he'll eventually be able to do them.
With regard to how many I can teach over a week - I would say you can teach many principles - the principles apply to different tricks so it would depend on how quick someone could understand a certain principle.
For someone learning the art of magic - what's the most important thing you need to do to take it all in?
Learn how to misdirect, and do it perfect.
It is the most important thing in magic is learn how to misdirect someone. You have to be natural, it's a performance, be prepared for an insane amount of practicing and rehearsing, but most importantly be confident and be confident in knowing you can misdirect someone.
It's probably the most important facet of magic - misdirection, yet the hardest to teach.
You've performed for some very well known faces - how hard was it to crack that close-knit celebrity circle? (and does being Irish help?)
I didn't set out to try to crack it, it just sort of happened. Magic is an amazing thing and it has brought me on an incredible journey in the last four years alone.
Magic has seen me go from the likes of Denzel Washington buying myself and my girlfriend dinner in New York in 2010, to performing at a leprosy outcast village in the deprived slum depths of Madagascar.
It is a universal language that not only speaks to people of different cultures and countries, but also for me seems to have torn down material and invented barriers such as 'fame' or 'class'.
Of course, it's not just the skill, it's the luck of the Irish - being in the right place at the right time, knowing what to say and building an incredibly quick rapport with someone.
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