VANISH MAGIC BACK ISSUES Vanish Magic Magazine 52 | Page 8

NEWS PAUL DANIELS ILLUSIONS SAVED Chris Cross the Magician, a Lifelong Paul Daniels Fan embarked on a 740 mile round- trip to Wales from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne earlier this week, to salvage some of Paul Daniels’s most famous TV tricks… Chris Cross the Magician, 29, from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, heard on the grapevine that some magic tricks, that had once belonged to Master Magician, Paul Daniels, were being stored in a farmer’s barn in Wales, slowly slipping into a state of dis-re- pair. After making appropriate arrangements, Cross travelled down to see what was there earlier this week and came home with a van full of what can be only described as Magical History… Chris has performed Worldwide for thousands of audiences for over 15 years. He’s performed from New York City to New Zealand, Bahrain to Dubai, London to Paris and lots of places in-between. He has notably Performed for The British Monarchy on Numerous occasions & The Prince of Bahrain at The Bahrain International Circuit Formula One too. Chris Cross the Magician said: ‘‘I didn’t quite know what I’d find when I got there, but I was hoping for the best. When we finally arrived at the barn, I was certainly not disappointed. I rolled the dice and it paid off. The journey was well worth making, when I discovered some histori- cally important magical apparatus that did, in fact, once belong to the Legendary Mr. Paul Daniels. He performed the tricks both on his TV show and a few of them in his touring show, too. Perhaps my favourite trick found was the ‘Girl through Glass’ illu- sion, that he performed on The Paul Daniels Magic Show, where he pushed Penelope Keith through a solid sheet of glass. I got that one, plus a bunch of others. We didn’t finish loading up the van til around 2am, so we stayed over in a local B&B for the night, before bringing home our treasure to the North-East, which is where Paul Daniels was actually born and raised! I’m so pleased I found these tricks – and just in time I’d say! They were covered with dust and dirt and spiders webs! Thank- fully the barn was dry and there was dust sheets over most of the props. However there’s flakey paintwork and some deterioration – though with a bit of TLC and some work on them, they’ll be back on stage again soon and hopefully on display for the public to see, too! I’ve got them back to the North-East, now the real work starts on bringing them back to life. I’m only pleased they didn’t sit there rotting away for another 20 years.’’ Paul’s Widow, Former Assistant & Strictly Star, Debbie McGee has sent her blessing to Chris Cross, with full permission to perform Paul’s illusions. 8 VANISH Magazine www.VanishMagazine.com