Nevertheless, this does not stop PIERRE BRAHMA from persevering and he enrols in the University of Montpellier at the age of eighteen. At twenty-one, he receives his law degree without having attended a single class! His hearing impairment is by then so severe that he is unable to benefit from any orally given instruction.

It is at this time that the young student discovers the art of illusion through books found in second-hand bookshops. He becomes proficient in the art for which he develops a true passion and in which he finds relief from his impairment. The social ease he thus develops helps him overcome the sense of isolation, which is so often the lot of the hearing impaired.

However, when he arrives in Paris, he soon realises that his hearing impairment is a real obstacle. He is barred from passing the entrance exam to E.N.A. (the National School of Administration), which claims "your handicap could worsen…". All public service careers and positions of responsibility are now closed to him. Despite his university degrees, he has to settle for low-level employment as an insurance clerk.

To escape what he considers as a life of mediocrity, he tries his hand at writing, his other passion in addition to magic, without success (one unpublished novel). He then creates a novel illusionist act: instead of playing cards, rabbits or the traditional turtledoves, he juggles necklaces, jewels, crowns and gold coins under the guise of the smiling and debonair character Arsene Lupin. He is now a wandering entertainer. Success comes quickly, even more so with the introduction of transistors that have revolutionised hearing aids and that now allow him to correct his impairment efficiently and discretely.

In 1964, he is crowned WORLD CHAMPION OF MAGIC in Barcelona and embarks on an international career, which takes him all over the world: JAPAN, the U.S., AFRICA, AUSTRALIA, the MIDDLE EAST, ETC.

In 1973, he suffers a very severe infection in his one partially good ear and what he has feared since childhood comes to pass: he becomes completely and irreversibly deaf.

In spite of what everyone expects, he does not abandon his magician's career. He studies lip reading, hires a secretary to assist him in communicating with others and designs a clever spotlighting system, which allows him to follow the musical accompaniment to his act visually. And success surpasses even his greatest expectations: despite his total lack of hearing, he wins the World Championships of Magic in Vienna, Austria, for the second time.

From then on, he pursues a career that, to date, has taken him to the best venues and the most prestigious of television shows in 37 countries. In France, MICHEL DRUCKER introduces him on his renowned television show among the likes of Elton John and the football star Pele. Japanese television (TV ASAHI) awards him its GOLD MEDAL and Chilean television its GOLDEN KEYS.

Since then, PIERRE BRAHMA has expanded his range. JULLIARD Editions have published his 400-page book, "LA MALLE DES INDES" (The Indian Trunk), which is both the story of his battle against deafness and a picturesque and juicy insight on the close-knit world of "after-dark" entertainment. Whether for his magician colleagues or for his more profane public, he gives several lectures a year in four languages: French, English, Spanish and Italian.