In addition to my academic work, I also perform as a magician.  I specialize in close-up-style sleight of hand, and I've been entertaining professionally for more than 20 years. I am a member of the Magic Circle, and I'm the first magician in the organization's history to be admitted on the basis of a peer-reviewed scientific publication. 

Throughout my studies in the US and UK, I performed for a variety of occasions- like Ashmolean Museum's 'Heaven & Hell' LiveFriday event, where I performed a close-up set designed invoke William Blake's writings on the nature of perception and reality. I've performed for numerous events around Oxford and London, including The Oxford Law Society Ball at the Old Naval College in London, and Centennial Celebration Balls at Oriel, St. Catz, and Magdalen Colleges in Oxford. 

In the summer of 2016, I presented my street show: "Not-Actually-a-Doctor Tompkins's Genuine (Fake) Miracles" at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Since then, I have become an actual doctor (of Experimental Psychology).