Paul Daniels

Paul Daniels Paul's interest in magic began at the age of 11 when, during a holiday, he read a book called How To Entertain At Parties. He has stated that: "From that moment, I can safely say that all I ever wanted to do in life was to become a professional magician". He began performing magic as a hobby, occasionally entertaining at parties and youth clubs and later doing shows for fellow servicemen during his national service. After returning to civilian life he continued to develop his magic by performing in clubs in the evenings while working at his grocery business during the day. At one point he worked with his first wife Jackie under the name of 'The Eldanis', an anagram of Daniels. It was while working the clubs that he developed what would become his long running catchphrase, "You'll like this...not a lot, but you'll like it". He has stated that he first came up with the line at a club in Bradford as a way to deal with a heckler.

A major turning point in Paul's career came in 1969 when he was offered a summer season at Newquay. He decided to sell his grocery business and try magic as a full time business. He made his television debut on the long-running talent show Opportunity Knocks in 1970, and came second. Television producer Johnnie Hamp saw Daniels in that show and later gave him a regular spot on The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club for Granada Television.

He later went on to presented his own television series, The Paul Daniels Magic Show, on the BBC from 1979 until 1994.

Paul starred in his own stage show, It's Magic, at the Prince of Wales Theatre from 10th December 1980 until 6th February 1982. At that time, the show was one of the longest-running magic shows ever staged in London.

On the magic circuit, Daniels' appeal diminished as the 1980s drew to a close, and in the 1990s, ratings slumped. A 1995 magic show for the BBC entitled Secrets, set in a variety club, failed to catch on and was not renewed.

Despite the end of his television show, Paul still tours doing live magic and recently presented a show about magician 'Max Malini'.