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Those of you who did not come along to St George's Hall on Friday 18th May to watch Paul Daniels in his "Audience With" Show, missed a real treat. Here was a man who spent 20 years at the top of the magic tree, having a peak Saturday evening magic show for most of those years, answering questions and telling of his experiences throughout those years, as well as performing his magic.
The first half mainly comprised of Paul answering questions either written down beforehand, or thrown at him as the show went on. There ranged from "which was your favourite act that you had on your TV show" to "which was the worst act you had on your TV show"!
All the questions were fully tackled by Paul, who managed to turn questions around so that he could get the anecdotes he wanted to include in the show in. As well as stories, he managed to include three tricks during the first half., There was a giant Find the Ace coupled with the Three Card Trick. He also got up 2 youngsters who asked him if he ever got children on the stage to help him. Once up, he performed a straight version of Cards Across, which went down very well with both the children and the adults in the audience. His final trick in the first half involved a cardboard box which he showed empty before stepping into it. He lifted a cover up and showed his feet below the cover. He then floated quite a distance into the air. Very baffling.
The second half was mainly a part of his normal stage act. There was the Three Bears Trick or professor's Nightmare as I know it. He got 2 assistants onto the stage (Paul Sunderland managed to get up after taking the rope from the person in front who did not want to go up). He helped with having a card chosen and marked, and then finding the card inside a sealed wallet. Paul was then discarded very neatly, and replaced by a non-magician for what still is to me, the first effect I ever remember seeing Paul perform, when I saw him at the Batley Variety Club in the
The final routine involved the borrowed £20 note which Paul had borrowed from one of the volunteers earlier. He had torn off a corner and lost the remainder of the note. He went through his Walnut, Egg and Lemon routine, where the walnut is pushed into the egg and the egg into the lemon. The lemon is then pealed to reveal the egg. When the egg is broken, the walnut is revealed. The volunteer breaks the walnut himself, to reveal the £20 note with the corner missing inside. This was the spectator's original £20 note.
Paul left the stage to a welt-deserved warm round of applause.
The only disappointment of the whole night was the small size of the crowd. Only the stalls were open, and these were probably only about 1/3rd full. There were only 10 people from the Bradford Magic Circle there. Where were the rest of you? Even if you do not like Paul Daniels, you have to admit that he was a performer who stayed at the top of his profession for far longer than most entertainers do, and watching such a person perform can only be beneficial for those who want to perform magic themselves. At one point Paul asked all the magicians in the audience to stand up. When I glanced round, there were not just the 10 of us standing up, there were several other people as well. Unfortunately, we were too slow to spot who they all were, to catch them to become members of the BMC, but they certainly weren't recognised members of other societies in the area. If you get the chance to go and see this show, do so. It is well worth it.
