Magic Days | Paul Daniels Magic World

All my fault… I have been away performing and have not kept the bookings up to date. I am going to get on with that NOW! THESE DAYS ARE A UNIQUE ONE DAY MAGIC MINI-CONVENTION AND A GREAT OPPORTUNITY -If you have any doubts read the comments below.

The Magic Days have been so highly praised by those who have been, indeed, some of them have booked in to do it again and, I guess, ask different questions

I limit the number of attendees to give the events a more personal opportunity to discuss what YOU want to know.

Please note, that a few people for whatever reason have dropped out at the last minute, I have had to change the payment system. If you book for a Magic Day you will be asked to pay in advance. Should you then cancel then I am afraid your payment will be forfeit, although you can nominate someone else to come in your place and possibly sell your ‘ticket’ to them.

I am happy to say most of the days SELL OUT (‘cos the spaces are very limited)

MAY 11th, 18th, 25th are all new dates just added BUT the 18th and the 25th sold out instantly!!!

JUNE 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th are all new dates just added. The 22nd will definitely be a Beginner’s Day. Sorry folks… June 1st is block booked… no spaces – LATEST NEWS ABOUT A ‘MID’ WEEK DAY. I AM DOING A TUESDAY ON THE 25TH OF JUNE. 5 PLACES HAVE ALREADY GONE ON THIS DATE!

More information? This concept came about because Paul recently did the great EMC internet convention that went out to 70 countries and he received far more questions than he could possibly answer.

In his emails and on Twitter and Facebook he is constantly being asked if he will mentor some magician or if he takes pupils. The answer, so far, has been ‘no’ but now he is hoping to spend more time at home and decided to try out the idea of small groups of those keen to learn spending a day at his home near Reading/Henley.

So far the ‘questioners’ have covered a very wide range, wanting to know about the business side, the Classic and other forces, handling of Chop Cups, double lifts, misdirection, and on and on and on… but there has been lots of laughter and what magic is supposed to be….. FUN.

As a teacher he is well qualified to answer questions and pass on knowledge gained over 63 years of reading, watching, studying, performing, acting, directing, designing all kinds of magic, all kinds of props, all kinds of show effects. Let’s face it. He had a regular viewing audience of 15 million EVERY WEEK and the repeats got 12 million! His Christmas shows were the first to knock the famous Morecambe and Wise shows off the top spot. When his show won the Golden Rose of Montreaux American stars Sammy Davis Jnr and Bette Midler’s shows came second and third.

The Paul Daniels Magic Show ran for an astonishing 14
months in a top London West End theatre.

A surprising number of big names in magic have sought his advice, and in any other business what is now on offer would cost hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds.

With 16 years of top TV shows under his belt, even the so-called ‘new breed’ of magicians respect the shows that he is doing and has done. Dynamo recently called Paul Daniels ‘The Godfather of Magic” and ”A Genius of Magic”.

So his idea is this: 10 participants will book to come to Paul and Debbie’s home (details will be sent when you book). The day will be from 10 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. and there will be an hour for lunch. Although during the day coffee and cakes/biscuits will be laid on, for lunch you will have to go to one of the pubs or the coffee shop in the village. You could even bring your own, if you wish.

You control quite a bit of the day yourselves in that you should bring your questions, or even your act if you don’t mind taking criticism.

No video cameras will be allowed; photographs are OK. You should have a notepad for jotting down the bits that interest you.

Bookings for these days will cost you £130. Everyone has said it’s too cheap!!! You must be 16 years old or over.

You must book online by sending an email to magicdays@pauldaniels.co.uk

I have had so many comments but the fullest ‘review’ came from an article written for a magic magazine by someone who travelled a long way to attend:

Paul Daniels Magic Days

It began with an intriguing tweet on Paul Daniels’ timeline. He is a prolific tweeter & blogger, and this particular message linked to an advert on his website:

The asking price for this day was £120, a maximum of 10 people, to spend 7 hours asking the most successful British magician in history anything you liked… I don’t think I’d ever sent an email so quickly. The reply came back quickly too, from the man himself, with his address and a jokey quip about how he trusted me to pay. It was all I could do not to wake Anita up beside me to tell her the news.

It’s worth me digressing at this point to explain: For me magic began with Paul Daniels. I was too young for David Nixon, Wayne Dobson was some years off his peak. Following the retirement of Ronnie Barker and the death of Eric Morecambe Paul was not just the biggest name in magic, but the BBC’s biggest star bar none. In the mid 1980s they built the whole Christmas schedule around his show, he and Debbie featuring in all the trailers and having the cover of the Radio Times. It was also around this time I first saw him perform live. His performance of the Asrah fooled me so badly it was like a punch to the stomach, and when he signed his autograph at the stage door he made me feel like I was the most important person in the world. These things stick with you when you’re twelve. I doubt I would have become a magician without his influence.

Picking up some flowers for Debbie on the way I headed to Henley, around lots of tight bends and past very large gates and pulled up alongside the other 8 or so cars. I was greeted by Debbie’s father and he showed me through the kitchen to a large conservatory with beautiful views of the Thames (which is often his actual garden during flood season), and the man himself, sat on his hearth with a card table in front of him: it looked quite uncomfortable.

The rest of us sat on three large settees in a ‘u’ shape. And he began.

So, what do you get from the day? It was a free-flowing one man show, lots of jokes, anecdotes both familiar and new, tips on fame, wealth management, performing on different size stages, a fabulous running gag I won’t spoil for you here, and LOADS of magic. He started with first principles, the vanishing hanky, and explained his reasoning behind every gesture. Questions came from us all (possibly a few too many from me, he did comment…) and he was candid and forth write in his answers. The group on this day was fairly evenly split between pro’s and part timers and all agreed they learned lots. If you go to one of these days (and you should) be prepared to speak up, ask questions, chase points up – if I had one criticism it would be that as the format was so free form occasionally he would let a new thought intrude before he had fully explained his previous one; it was often an avalanche of ideas.

Debbie arrived at around lunchtime, they are very sweet together: rather ‘Jack and Vera’. He commented that people used to gossip about the age gap, but now “She’s caught me up!” Oh, and the downstairs loo is decorated with load of original cartoons, from The Telegraph, The Express, The Times, all featuring him as an all purpose metaphor for magic.

I got more distracted as the clock ticked towards five: I had, as suggested, brought a new piece I’d been working on, but no-one else was offering to perform. I didn’t want to waste the opportunity. I bit the bullet and raised my hand…

I don’t think I’ve ever been more nervous, which he duly noted (“I don’t know why” he said. Erm, just my childhood hero watching me mangle a routine!) He gave me some very useful notes, at least two I’d never had mentioned before and said nice things about my smile. Then it was time to leave, and out of every bag and briefcase came cherished books and magic sets to be cheerfully signed, before this 74 year old man, who had worked solidly for eight hours, had to set off to advise his local theatre on their latest production. His work rate is phenomenal.

All in all, a brilliant day, very highly recommended. He’s doing some more in February you know…

AND THE NUMBER ONE COMMENT, FROM QUITE A LOT OF THOSE WHO HAVE ATTENDED:

“THIS IS REALLY UNDERPRICED AND INCREDIBLE VALUE FOR MONEY”

TO BOOK FOR ONE OF THESE PHENOMENAL DAYS LET PAUL KNOW BY WRITING TO magicdays@pauldaniels.co.uk