talkmagic.co.uk

For those of you that know me your probably thinking this posting is a little Biased as I have had the pleasure of calling Paul and Debbie my friends, business collegues, teacher and true confidant's

but after the past weeks continued coverage of Paul and Debbie Holidaying in Barbados i just thought id share a few thoughts after speaking with Paul earlier today.

In the UK, and possibly in the rest of the world of magic, we tend to think of Paul Daniels as a pretty good magician, but at the end of the day, we magicians tend to revere other magicians more. What we forget is that Paul somehow transcends the title of ‘magician’ and is much more than that in the world of entertainment.
Take this last week as an example. He and Debbie are on holiday and yet they have been objects of major interest in just about every national newspaper.
Is there anyone else whose assistant has been so featured consistently? Just to show the level they have reached a major Sunday national newspaper has just flown a journalist, a photographer, a stylist, a make-up artist, a hairdresser and cases of clothing from the UK to Barbados to do a photo shoot of Debbie for Sunday’s papers. Amazing. Perhaps we should give Paul and Debbie D a little more credit and respect for what they have done and are doing for magic.

Well done Paul and Debbie I love you both see you when you get back

Les.....mr fixit - prop maker - web guru and anything else that gets thrown at me.....

Hi Les.
Nice post.


They are lovely people who i to like to think of as friends...

They may think of me as " stalker" But hey ho, you cant have everything

And, ive one thing over you.. no national news paper has ever accused you of secretly being Paul!

now that was.... No, not magic, just very funny

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... mentpage=2

erm...shouldnt you have emailed Mr & Mrs Daniels the above?

its very nice and all that...but...apart from us washing their feet via this forum..do you intend for us to discuss what we think of them - or was this just a overwhelming act of love?

Agreed, but the reasons other performers are often more 'revered' is myriad. For example Paul hasn't released anything to the community for quite some time (thinking about it I don't know of any books/dvds/lectures etc that he's done at all) and as such his profile to magicians is lower than to the public. Although he's worked very hard and achieved a huge amount, including being my first inspiration to start in magic if that counts, to many magicians he's just a good performer of other people's material rather than an innovator and thinker which is what us geeky types really admire at the end of the day.

This isn't to detract from him at all, it may even be massively untrue and he probably prefers to keep his ideas to himself rather than dish them out willy nilly but it's still the prevailing attitude amongst magicians, particularly those who don't remember his TV show. To the public too he's still a bit of a cheesy figure who's recognised as a good magician but not respected in the same way as the likes of good ol' Derren. He's gone the right way and concentrated on the performance to lay people rather than the 'community', and on the way made himself a ton of money.

ah! i see i've missed the point....excellent!

well, i do have very fond memories of watching his shows, and rather rudely changing the lyrics to "his hat's full of bat-s**t and bulls**t" as a kid , having just learnt those two words...

shame they wont release the shows though

i have to be honest, i didnt like the way he came across in the theroux programme...

He does appear a bit of an old curmudgeon doesn't he. But he is the inspiration for some wonderful comedic lines, anyone remember "What fisrt attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?" on the Debbie McGee interview on Mrs Merton?

Paul is fully booked for the first part of 2009 and is a most friendly and generous person. He long ago gave up dealing with the press because they traditionally just printed anything rather than checking, verifying and printing the truth. The Daily Mail recently copied text and photos from his blog, despite there being a copyright notice on there, and reprinted them without any permission or offer of payment. I think we can excuse a little curmudgeonliness at times! Paul and Debbie were 'an item' long before he made any serious money and long after his first wife had left him - something the press never seem to get in the right order for some reason. More to the point, Paul isn't just a great magish, he's an entertainer. The first time I saw him in cabaret he had the room in fits of laughter right from the start and didn't actually do any magic for at least ten minutes - how many others can do that so successfully? Not a lot!

I've never met Paul personally, but I have been lucky enough to hear anecdotes from friends of mine who worked at BBC Television Centre - and on the set of the Paul Daniels Magic Show.

Without exception, their impressions were that the guy is exactly the same Paul Daniels off-stage as on - a thoroughly genuine person.

Of course, that doesn't matter a jot. All we, as the public, have any right to is the public face of any celebrity. The side of them that they're willing to present. I've always been narked when individuals choose to dismiss a performer's work on the basis of a personality clash - or when journalists do so on the basis of personal politics or just because they can get a semi-scandalous or titilating headline from it.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox now...

I have never seen Paul Daniels perform, just missed a show a few years ago by 1 day, but I always thought he is (as being first and foremost a performer for the general public), an inspiration for many, many, many magicians that have seen his performances and caught the magic bug.

I don't feel that Mr. Daniels has to have published so and many books or DVDs to be considered an asset to the magic world - rather a great distributor of magic and fun, thus enlarging the community in that way.

I bought a DVD series some time ago with a respected magician mentalist and his performance was good, but his teaching and explanation was rubbish. He could not explain thoroughly. Does that make him a great asset to magicians, just because he published a series of DVDs? No!

I can imagine that Paul Daniels has done more for the British magic society than a lot of the other - and even higher valued - magicians, with his performances over the decades, but that's just my opinion from far away...

If we counted up how many members here have mentioned their interest in magic started on receipt of a Paul Daniels Magic Set it would be an astonishing total!

I had not seen this before, but adds a lot to the thread:
Paul Daniels Master Class 12. March 2009

Mandrake wrote:If we counted up how many members here have mentioned their interest in magic started on receipt of a Paul Daniels Magic Set it would be an astonishing total!

You can add me to that list, he was an inspiration and a catalyst. Saw him in passing when he came into a shop I was working at, years ago, how he held back and kept smiling at all the people who nudged him and and said "did that hurt? Not a lot!! Ha ha" as if it was the first time he'd heard it..... Saintly. He smiled through it all, a gent. It's a shame that a lot of people base opinions on things read and not things experienced (not having a pop at anyone here before anyone starts...). He may well be a miserable bu**er in private, that's his right and prerogative, as it happens I don't think he is from my all too brief meeting, but there's no denying their abilities as entertainers, show folk, magicians and other talents.

Right, that's my rant over....... If they want to come on over and speak up for themselves, please invite them over, unless they're here already, in that case..... http://talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic28853.php

G

Most folks don't know, or have forgotten, that Paul grew up in South Bank, Middlesbrough which was a very rough and tough area and he's often joked about trying to earn enough money to buy the place - and blow it up! That background bred a self determination and singular outlook which can be mistaken for grumpiness at times. If anyone needs confirmation that he's one of the greats, just watch his Chop Cup routine - sheer entertaining brilliance!

You can add me o the list of people who got into Magic through Paul and Debbie on TV. It was a Magical heaven full of personalities lke Ricky Jay and Jeff McBride, hans Moretti. Richard Turner etc........- the Show had all the great names of Magic.

I dare say that if the show was still on today the Bunnies on here would be drooling over the Magic and the Acts that they booked on that show.

It was THE best Magic show on TV possibly ever will be......

Remember just think who used to appear as guests.....

Thanks Paul (and Ali and John Fisher)

John McDonald wrote:You can add me o the list of people who got into Magic through Paul and Debbie on TV. It was a Magical heaven full of personalities lke Ricky Jay and Jeff McBride, hans Moretti. Richard Turner etc........- the Show had all the great names of Magic.

I dare say that if the show was still on today the Bunnies on here would be drooling over the Magic and the Acts that they booked on that show.

It was THE best Magic show on TV possibly ever will be......

Remember just think who used to appear as guests.....

Thanks Paul (and Ali and John Fisher)

and Gill, and Barry.