Paul Said "Yes".


Today was completely overshadowed by booking Glyn’s and my childhood hero Paul Daniels for November’s Hitchin Mostly Comedy.

So was yesterday, to a certain extent. It was from then that we knew he might say yes (Paul). I was on tenterhooks until noon today, waiting for the confirmation email. When it came through, I didn’t know what to do with myself (other than text Glyn so we could share our excitement). It was genuinely thrilling – and a solid reminder of how much Mostly Comedy has grown since it started in 2008.

Paul Daniels was one of the main reasons I decided to become a performer. That’s no exaggeration. Before I set my sights on being an actor, comedian or musician, I wanted to be a magician. I was obsessed with conjuring as a child, snapping up every book or trick I could find. While my junior school friends were busy wrestling with their Rubik’s Cubes, swapping Garbage Pail Kids cards or attempting to create some semblance of a discernible image on an Etch A Sketch (I’m creating an Eighties backdrop), I’d be at my mum’s bedroom mirror, trying to master the linking rings. I was egged on by watching 'The Paul Daniels Magic Show' on television religiously each week, with a little 'Every Second Counts' thrown in now and then to cleanse the palate.

Like most children of the time (including Glyn) I started out with a Paul Daniels Magic Set. This was swiftly followed by the Wizbit Magic Book. I eventually progressed to more professional props from Davenport’s or by flicking through the pages of Goodliffe’s Abracadabra Magazine, but it was Daniels’ box of tricks that kicked things off and made magic accessible. His TV show essentially introduced me to live entertainment. It was also through learning his tricks that I discovered I liked to act, so he’s got a lot to answer for.

If you told Childhood David he would one day book his hero to perform on the same bill as him, it would have blown his mind. He’d also wonder why I was suddenly being referred to in third-person, because he's pedantic like that.

I once made Paul Daniels laugh during the filming of an episode of Wipeout, though I doubt he'd remember. I hope he'll give me and Glyn a private showing of the cup and balls trick (which is not a euphemism). 

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