More than one maths teacher has probably wished she could magically make a reluctant student understand geometry -one local teacher, Jennifer McCall really could.

By day, Miss McCall, 24, is a physics and maths teacher at Mount St. Agnes Academy and by night she is the mysterious magician Lady J.

She will be one of the performers in the upcoming Bermuda Magic Productions Magic Fest 2008.

She recently told The Royal Gazette that physics and maths have everything to do with magic and illusion. She uses both sciences quite a lot when working out her tricks.

"Physics and maths are connected with magic," said Miss McCall. "Physics deals a lot with gravity and acceleration. We do have a particular magic trick where we float a sphere. It is basically defying the laws of gravity by floating, and if I wanted to I could calculate the velocity of it."

She even uses mathematical calculations even when working out card tricks.

"If I have a particular height that I want to project for the cards to fly out into the air," she said, "I can work it out without physically going to the stage if I know the dimensions of the stage and how far away my audience is. That is basically what physics is, projecting on motion, acceleration, velocity and things like that."

She tries to keep magic and teaching separate.

"My students do beg me all the time to do tricks for them," she said. "They say, 'come on, just a card trick...'" But she firmly refuses, although she has used magic in the classroom while teaching in the United States.

"Sometimes it is really hard to inspire kids," she said. "When I was teaching in the United States when teaching Pythagorean theorem, I opened up with a card trick. I use those cards to help show the different sides of a right triangle. But the students I have here in Bermuda are pretty motivated already."

However, she has promised her students that she will perform at Mount St. Agnes' upcoming Medieval Festival.

In university, Miss McCall studied physics and mathematics. "I have always had a passion for maths," she said. "In the beginning, physics was my minor." My adviser said that in order to graduate in four years, I should switch physics to be my major and maths to be my minor."

In the end though, Miss McCall did a dual degree and has a bachelor of science and mathematics. "I love physics," she said. "I like teaching it a little better because I can apply physics every day. I can take my students on a car ride and teach them velocity, position and acceleration. With maths you have to tell them 'it is because it is'. I could show them the proof, but they would be even more bored. But maths is still my original passion."

She has recently been helping with the Alpha Maths Attack held at Dellwood Middle School. It is hosted by the Alpha Phi Alpha Sorority Chapter.

"That is basically helping students to boost their confidence in maths and teach them some mental maths," she said. "They come together one day a week in the evenings after school.

"They have no pen or paper, and we teach them tricks like, if I tell you how to multiply 99 x 13 how to do it really quickly, or 11 x 12. "We teach them little tricks like that. They love it and they want to go home and show everyone. I try and incorporate that into my classroom."

Of course, she doesn't really want to make any of her students disappear. In fact, she wants to make them shine, particularly the girls. She said one of her aims is to instil confidence in her female students and show them that girls can do science and maths. "In regular maths classes, girls tend to do better than boys at maths. In accelerated maths classes the boys tend to do slightly better, but that is changing. I have at least three girls in three different class who are accelerating above the boys.

"I think things are changing because society is really trying to change the perception that girls can't do maths or science. Girls are trying to get over that fear and realise they can do it and do it even better''

Miss McCall was born in Newport Beach, California, but moved to Bermuda as a child when her mother married a Bermudian. She had an early introduction to magic as her godparents are famous Las Vegas magicians Victor & Diamond. They have performed in Bermuda Magic Productions shows twice. "The earliest magic show I remember going to was probably at age five," she said. "Victor & Diamond came and did a show for all of the kids at my preschool."

Miss McCall's mother was also an assistant to Diamond when she was expecting a baby.

"They called my mother QBZ for 'fake Diamond'," Miss McCall said. "I watched from the sidelines and I was intrigued, but I really didn't get into magic until I moved to Bermuda."

When her mother became stage co-ordinator for O'Brien Roberts, who runs Bermuda Magic, she asked Miss McCall if she wanted to be an assistant.

"I said, 'No, 'I want to be a magician!'" said Miss McCall.

She said there is a magic community in Bermuda, and they are trying to strengthen their numbers with an annual summer camp held at the Bermuda Youth Library. "The kids are more interested than adults, but we do have adult workshops in the evening," she said. "We teach them little tricks, and give them a certificate of completion at the end of the summer."

Later, if they wish, they also have the opportunity to perform in the magic show. The Specialised Youth Arts Charity is a component of Bermuda Magic Productions.

"We are trying to display different talents, not just magic, but also juggling," said Miss McCall. "We want to incorporate one of our other kids who is a unicyclist. We try to help all the kids showcase their talents. Keya Perinchief ¿ teaches dance. Her kids are from all different dance schools, so we let them perform."

Miss McCall's own area of expertise is stage magic.

"I like doing unique things that you haven't seen before," she said. "I don't do anything like linking rings. I try to do card tricks, fans and parasols."

To keep up with the world of magic, Miss McCall regularly attends magic conferences. She recently performed at The Society of American Magicians conference in Las Vegas alongside Victor & Diamond. "Sometimes living in Bermuda, it is difficult to keep up with new ideas," she said. "When I lived in San Antonio, Texas, we had a magic store that was right down the street from my house. I would go there every other weekend to see what was new." That magic store, JCR Magic, continues to be her favourite magic store. She also orders a lot online from the Hank Lee Magic Factory. People interested in the Bermuda Magic Productions summer camp should contact O'Brien Roberts at 537-1991 or email him at Bermudamagic@hotmail.com or go to the website www.bermudamagic.com.

Magic Fest '08 will be held at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the New Berkeley Institute on March 8 and 9. Other performers will include American magicians Carl Andrews and Ray Cabral, and local magicians Mr. Slick, Ashton, Astoria and more. For $25 tickets to the show go to www.boxoffice.bm or go to Shannon's Boutique or telephone 537-1991.