The master magician is back - and he’s in Leamington tomorrow

So promises the most successful television magician of the 20th century, Paul Daniels, of his evening of entertainment at the Spa Centre in Leamington tomorrow (Saturday).

“I guarantee a good night out,” said the 73-year-old when the Courier caught up with him ahead of the show.

Most of us who were around during the 1980s and 1990s will remember tuning in to the addictive weekly viewings of The Paul Daniels Magic Show on BBC One. But the magic has never really stopped and, as long as he continues to enjoy performing, Paul’s combination of comedy and illusion will be entertaining for some time yet.

He said: “I like doing big venues, little venues, cruise ships and clubs. I don’t want to do one type of show all the time. I love the variety.”

Having been fascinated by magic since he picked up a book called How to Entertain at Parties at the age of 11, the Middlesbrough-born Paul was first spotted by a television producer in 1970. Nine years later and he had established his own prime time slot on the BBC and his famous show enjoyed success for 15 years.

He has also hosted other television series, including Odd One Out, Every Second Counts and Wipeout and the children’s show Wizbit and took part in Strictly Come Dancing with Ola Jordan last year.

So what can people expect from the 21st century Paul? A blast from the past? New and updated material? Well, a bit of a mixture, it seems.

He said: “We have a skeleton of the show we are going to do, although even then we have stand-bys in the wings. It’s jazz magic. You go with the flow and it’s always changing.

“Audiences are made up of short, tall, fat, thin, bald and hairy people and the job of the entertainer is to give them a good night out. They don’t change - it’s the theatre that does.”

Paul cites one of the reviewers of his run at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, who said it was “amazing” how up-to-date the show was.

He said: “My performances have always been topical. If there is something good in the news, it is always in the show.

“I get a wildly different age group. As well as all the people who remember the TV show, I get kids who have seen me on YouTube.”

He describes his workshop of magic, which he says has a raised area with a camera that allows him to film everything he practises so it becomes “angle proof”.

He said: “I think a lot. I have the ability, fortunately, to see myself as others do. It’s a full-time job.”

But what does this master magician think about the illusionists who are around today?

“There are a lot of magicians about and a lot of them blame me - they say it’s because of my magic sets that they ended up the way they are. But I won’t take any responsibility.

“Like everything, there’s some good ones and some bad ones. But I don’t like this trend for magicians using camera tricks and editing to make the magic work. I don’t think it’s skilful or necessary.”

He added: “At my seminars I tell people, you need to develop your own style, be successful with that and be happy with what you are doing. Then the audiences will be too.”

Paul Daniels, along with his wife Debbie McGee and son Martin Daniels, is performing at the Spa Centre tomorrow at 7.30pm. For tickets, call 334418.