Paul Daniels Interview in Mystery Magazine

In the latest issue of Mystery Magazine, there is an interesting interview with Paul Daniels (and I'm not saying that because I was the interviewer). The magazine, as ever, has plenty of news from the UK magic scene, including reports on recent conventions.
The magazine, if you're not already a subscriber, is available as a download or in printed format from
http://www.themysterymagazine.com/

Essential Magic Conference 7th, 8th & 9th of July 2011

The Essential Magic Conference is less than two weeks away. I thought that last year's conference was more than worth the fee - especially as the DVD set (free to that year's subscribers) for the 2010 conference now sells at a higher price than the subscription fee.

Last year's conference was thought provoking and full of good debates, strong magical performances and lectures. There's an exciting line up of speakers for 2011 including Rene Lavand, Paul Daniels, David Berglas, David Copperfield, Max Maven and others. There were some extra freebies last year and this year's freebie is volume one of Opus Magazine. The publishers/editors of Opus, JJ and Chris Power, are attending the conference and presenting a talk on the magazine.

The subscription fee for the three day online conference is on par with some one day magic conventions here in the UK and far less than the cost of any three day magic convention here or anywhere else. No travel fees, no hotel fees - just switch on your computer, log in to the site and watch the conference live.

For more information and details on all the speakers visit:

http://essentialmagicconference.com/

Sand Art

Way back when, at a time when the BBC still had the good taste to include magic shows as part of their output, Paul Daniels would include unusual acts as part of his show; one of those acts was sand art.

Fortunately these days, the internet provides access to examples of sand art.  Ilana Yahav is a world renowned sand artist appearing on television from Europe to the Far East. Of course due to British television companies' perverse stand, in complete contradiction to the rest of the world, to avoid broadcasting any act that might come under the label of variety we're unlikely to see her on British television. (Years ago, the then person in charge of the BBC who said that 'variety is dead' further demonstrated the 'accuracy' of his knowledge of public opinion by also saying that Doctor Who was unpopular and cancelled the show, apparently with the view that it would never be aired on our screens again. Hmm.)

Anyway, below is a video of Ilana's work entitled One Man's Dream. Ilana Yahav's website can be found at http://www.sandfantasy.com/

In Search of the Paul Daniels of the Ancient World

That is the title of my article which appears in the latest issue of Classical Association News. Before anyone makes any jokes about the subject being on the early career of Paul Daniels, I should make clear that it is about magicians in the ancient Greek and Roman world.

The latest issue of Classical Association News is significant because it is the last one to be edited by Dr. Jenny March. She has been its editor for the last twenty years and has now chosen to retire from that role. Dr. March has been a kind and wise editor (kind enough to allow even my work to occasionally be published in the pages of Classical Association News), who has the talent of shaping the content of Classical Association News to fit neatly into each issue and yet modestly never letting her presence to be felt on any page except in the brief editorial. Even in what is her final issue as editor, she modestly kept tributes by contributors to a minimum (any less and there would have been none) and the emphasis of her farewell editorial was more about others than herself. I wish Dr. March a happy retirement.

The new editor is to be Dr. Tony Keen. He is a Blogger and and can be found at tonykeen.blogspot.com

The Paul Daniels Magic Show

My review of Paul Daniels' magic show appeared this week in Abracadabra, issue 3295. Now that I know which photographs of mine have been used, I can show you some of the others here.

Contrary to what newspapers have said in the past year or so about the generation of people who go to see Paul Daniels, the audience did not consist of elderly people. In fact, most of the audience were young people. Read the published review for full details.

After the show, all the cast appeared in the foyer for autographs and photo opportunities. As expected, there was a crowd which blocked my view most of the time but even after that slowly thinned out there was this gargantuan man stood in front of me who would not move. He looked about seven foot tall and three foot wide. Eventually, he moved and I was able to take some pictures.


Back row: vocalist James Ray and dancer Jessica. In front: Paul Daniels and a young lad having his photo taken with the mighty Paul.


Another fan having his picture taken with Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee.


A Wizbit fan, Paul Daniels (who was mucking about and making the little girl smile) and Debbie McGee.


The Magic Couple spent a lot of time signing autograph books, published books, photographs, the theatre programs and show flyers. One woman, the St. John's Ambulance volunteer for the evening, asked Paul Daniels to sign a whole bunch of show flyers. He asked, "Is this for Ebay?" and she replied "Yes." He shrugged his shoulders and signed them all.

These are just four of the photos I took that night, two more appear in Abracadabra and others have been held back for future publication.

Also in Abracadabra this week is the announcement that the Davenport family have decided to relinquish control of the magazine, Stephen Martin will now be the publisher.

Sketch of Paul Daniels