MAGICIAN Michael J Fitch will soon be monkeying around with a new partner in crime – created by the same man who designed Knight Rider’s talking car.

The magic man, of Great Tey, will be joined on stage by a £6,000 anamatronic monkey called Charlie.

The robotic device was created by Ron Palmer of California-based company Axtell Expressions, who also created KITT, the car in the 1980s television series Knight Rider.

The mechanical primate will form part of a new stage show which Mr Fitch is putting together.

He said: “It’s a very modern piece of equipment and I’m planning to create a show that is a bit like a live Disney film.

“It’s going to be a bit of a double-act between me and Charlie – he will be helping with the magic and getting up to mischief as well.”

Mr Fitch said: “He’s the latest in anamatronic technology and I’m really looking forward to using him.

“I’m already practising to get used to the controls and I’ve been creating some new routines he would be part of.

“I can’t wait to see how the children who come to the show react to him – when my daughters Savannah and Scarlett saw him their faces lit up.

“I have some routines I’ve been wanting to do for a while and I’ve been spending most of the day getting used to moving around the controls.

“It has lots of different settings so I can move his head, his shoulders, his arms and move him around the stage.”

Mr Fitch added he will be careful Charlie doesn’t start taking over in the partnership.

He said: “The plan is to have a full show with me and the monkey as a double act – but at least I won’t have to feed him or pay him.”