Hooked on the magic of showbiz (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Hooked on the magic of showbiz

8:23am Monday 16th August 2010 in

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e’s back. Like a rabbit out of a hat, illusionist Paul Daniels returns to Bradford next month for more of his ‘now you see it, now you don’t’ sleight of hand.

The last time he was in town, in September 2008, the bottom dropped out of the economy.

Crunched by the sudden drying up of credit, as though by magic, confidence disappeared faster than rainwater down a drain. Stock market values plummeted like the line on the temperature chart of a terminally-sick patient.

Did he weather the storm or, at 72, is he obliged to carry on touring with the Best Of British Variety Show, the third season of which opened yesterday in Blackpool, to pay the council tax on his magic shop in Wigan?

He weathered the storm because he did not invest in stocks and shares. He’s back on the road with the tour because his first time out with it in 2008, in his own words, “…was my best time in showbusiness. We laughed and laughed and laughed. We all got into the theatre an hour before we were supposed to, to sit in the green room, chewing the fat and telling gags. It was great.

“I understand why people rave about the great days of variety. The theatres might not have been up to much, but you were with people you understood and were in the same business.

“If you work in variety these days – unless it’s in musicals – you are on your own. That’s what makes this tour so wonderful, and I guess it lifts the artists.”

Then again, if he gets fed up he can always drive back to his home by the Thames in Berkshire, with its ‘his’ and ‘her’ bathrooms – the secret of a happy marriage, he told me last time round – and his younger wife, Debbie. A cynic would say he can afford to be happy. He wouldn’t say that.

“I am a happy bunny. It’s my natural temperament. I was happy when I wasn’t well-off,” he adds.

I wonder what his mother would say about that. She’ll be 94 next week. She was born Nancy Lloyd. Her future husband, Handel Newton Daniels, was a cinema projectionist. Paul said he regularly cycled from Middlesbrough to Bradford, where Nancy was in service.

He said: “She was 17 or 18 at the time, so it’s way back. She was in service to the French ambassador. What the hell a French ambassador was doing in Bradford, I don’t know.

“Me dad used to peddle his pushbike from Middlesbrough to Bradford. He used to sleep in the greenhouse. Next day, he went back again. That’s love.”

He might equally have said ‘that’s magic’.

During the six decades he’s been in showbusiness, a lot has changed. Television, once the natural medium for variety, has changed out of all recognition. Nevertheless, Paul Daniels surprised me by declaring: “Most people in showbusiness don’t work in television. At the current rates of pay, I am not surprised. If you make a one-off appearance you might get £250, £500 if you push it. Unless you are in a long-running series, you are not going to get a living wage.

“Most people are working live – after-dinner speaking, cruise ships. You get great shows on cruise ships. That’s where most showbusiness has gone to.”

One of his three sons, Martin, works as an entertainer on cruise ships.

After the credit crunch come the spending cuts. People need a good laugh, a good night out. Mr Daniels, The Krankies, The Grumbleweeds, Dana, Syd Little and Christopher Biggins, might be just the pick-me-up to go into autumn.

Mr Happy Bunny is likely to enjoy himself whatever the weather.

“I am now getting more out of my showbusiness life than I have ever done before. The reason I came into showbusiness was I did not want to be in a nine-to-five job.

“I love the fact that I do theatres, village halls – all the jobs that come with the…”

Come with the what? He didn’t finish the sentence. Instead he veered off to eulogise The Krankies, especially Janette… ”extraordinary talent… had them rolling in the aisles…” He didn’t actually say she was fandabidozi, but clearly that’s what he meant.

The third Best Of British Variety Show is on at St George’s Hall on September 23, starting at 7.30pm. For tickets, ring (01274) 432000.