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Now That’s Magic! – Paul Daniels Interview

Now That’s Magic! – Paul Daniels Interview

By Andy Howells for South Wales Argus

Veronica Lee talks to Paul Daniels

Paul Daniels is just as much a live-wire in real life as he is on stage – he’s not one of those entertainers who switch off their personality the minute they leave the theatre – and when we meet at the Savoy Hotel in London to discuss his new show he is straight into the jokes, most of them at his own expense.

“Comic, magician, international sex symbol…” the diminutive funnyman says by way of introduction, as “the lovely Debbie McGee” – as we all surely call his wife and onstage-partner – looks on. I ask if he is ever “off”. “No,” Debbie says with a smile. “Paul is exactly the same at home as he is on stage. I don’t know anyone else so resolutely positive about life.”

The couple, who married in 1988, are about to tour/touring a new show, Back Despite Popular Demand! – which, they tell me, contains some old favourites as well as new tricks. “People complain when we don’t do tricks they expect to see every time they come to see us, so we’ve included two oldies, my signature illusions as it were, but everything else is different,” says Paul. “And the great thing about a live show is that it’s never the same twice because the audience is different each night.”

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America’s Got Talent Winner Mat Franco: I’m No Longer Embarrassed to Say I’m a Magician

America’s Got Talent Winner Mat Franco: I’m No Longer Embarrassed to Say I’m a Magician

By Jeff Nelson for PEOPLE

Just call it magic. 

Mat Franco made America’s Got Talent history Wednesday night as the first magician to win the NBC variety competition. 

“I couldn’t help but just be shocked and honored,” the Johnston, Rhode Island, native tells PEOPLE. “It’s great to be an inspiration to people. … The underlying message is following your passion. Whatever it is you like to do, do it: Dreams can come true." 

Making it big in the biz has been a dream of Franco’s since he was 4, when he started to teach himself card tricks. The season 9 winner used to record the pros on TV and watch them back in slow-motion, often with his grandma, Eleanor, who was one of his biggest cheerleaders during his AGT journey. 

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TechnologyTell Interview: ‘Wizard Wars’ co-creator Rick Lax makes SyFy ratings magic..

TechnologyTell Interview: ‘Wizard Wars’ co-creator Rick Lax makes SyFy ratings magic..

By Brian Allen for Technology Tell

SyFy’s new hit competition Wizard Wars is like Chopped for magicians. Participants are given items to create an illusion with, then have their work judged by a panel including magic icons Penn and Teller.

Like many great ideas, the concept for SyFy competition Wizard Wars had humble beginnings. Vegas-based magician Rick Lax was having some fun with friends at a restaurant.

“After shows, a group of five or six magicians would go get some cheeseburgers and bring an item we wanted to do a trick with,” Lax said. “We’d just pass it around the table. Sometimes a really good trick would come out of it, sometimes we’d get nothing. But it was always really fun to do and really fun to watch.”

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Magicians Penn & Teller on Houdini, Graceland and their first Memphis show in 17 years..

Magicians Penn & Teller on Houdini, Graceland and their first Memphis show in 17 years..

 By Jody Callahan for the Commercial Appeal – Memphis

On Sept. 1, 1923, the legendary Harry Houdini thrilled Memphis with his acts of derring-do in a show at the Orpheum Theatre.

Ever the master showman, Houdini invited Memphians to bring their own hammers and nails to lock him inside a box. They did, and of course, the box didn’t hold him for long.

Earlier that day, to drum up ticket sales, Houdini dangled in a straitjacket from the roof of the former Commercial Appeal building, as 2,000 Memphians gathered in Court Square held their collective breath. Not to worry, as Houdini pulled one arm, then the other, out of the straitjacket and was soon lowered to the ground, unharmed and basking in the applause.

On Friday night, noted magicians Penn and Teller will play the hallowed ground where their idol once performed as they return to Memphis for the first time in 17 years. Even though the original Orpheum burned down a month after Houdini’s show, the new building, erected in 1928, sits on the same site…

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Magic News doesn’t generally publish stories about upcoming performances.. but.. this article contained a lot of interesting and historical information, so, I’m making an exception… Editor