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Paul Daniels Bravura
4 DVD set
Total running time 10 hours 7 minutes
Produced by
Essential Magic Collection
Reviewed by Quentin Reynolds
Available from your favourite
MagicWeek dealer
“Paul
Daniels is the greatest British magician of the last quarter of the 20th
Century.” So said John Fisher (TV producer) at the Magic Circle Centenary in
2005.
Many years earlier, at a British Ring convention, as I was heading back to my
hotel there was a large group of magicians in the foyer and Ali Bongo was
walking up and down in a tizzy saying, “It’s too much, he’s giving away too
much.” Wondering what he was talking about, I joined the group, the centre
of which was Paul Daniels talking about magic and answering any questions put to
him in great detail and with very frank views. No wonder Ali was upset.
If Ali were still with us he would probably spontaneously combust at what is on
this DVD set.
It is very rare for a working pro to give away his full act. Many have published
the explanation of their tricks but rarely the real secrets, the nitty gritty,
the minute details that have come from years of performing experience and make a
huge difference to the presentation.
Paul’s early professional years were the workingmen’s clubs in the north of
England. If you didn’t get them in the first thirty seconds, you were dead in
the water. After achieving great success in the clubs Paul went on to do a
number of summer seasons, theatre shows in the West End (the first in 1981 ran
for nearly 18 months), fifteen seasons of The Paul Daniels TV show on BBC1 prime
time Saturday night viewing. Did I mention the touring show, the thousands of
private shows and being a quiz show host? Enough! He’s more than paid his dues.
So what’s in store with BRAVURA?
Disc One: Fortunately for us and future generations the performance of
Paul’s act on the first DVD is not flawless. Were it so it would be much more
difficult to learn from. Here, Paul is performing for an audience whose first
language is not English, so little hiccups arise and you can see how he handles
these get keeps the everything flowing. That alone is a masterclass. The show
runs for fifty minutes.
Disc Two: Paul goes into great detail explaining all these routines and
the psychology behind them and though I have seen him many times and knew
‘basically’ how the tricks were done I was swept away by the psychology and
attention to detail. I did not know that an extra ball was used in the Chop Cup
routine and you will know what I mean when you watch the explanation. I did not
realise the Electric Chairs was being set up at least fifteen minutes before it
was presented. The explanations which run for two hours were still somewhat of a
revelation.
Technically there is nothing more difficult than a very basic bottom palm or a
false transfer. Yet there is so much thought and planning behind every little
detail to ensure smooth running of the show and maximum entertainment value
without sacrificing the magical effect.
While Paul refers to the Electric Chairs as his signature trick, it’s only fair
to point out that all the routines in his act could be signature tricks as the
presentations are so closely associated with him.
Now that these routines have been taught and explained in great detail there is
nothing to stop you or anyone else going out and doing them but if you do you
will be missing the whole point of this four DVD set. It is not mentioned
anywhere on the DVDs or the promotional material but there is a theme that
permeates right through over and over again. I’ll come back to that point in a
minute.
Disc Three covers a number of other stand-up routines that I’ve seen Paul
use over the years, particularly in his full evening theatre shows. His six-card
repeat is a masterclass in turning a classic card trick into a stage-filling
piece of entertainment. Sadly, his brilliant handling of the ’Block Thru Head’
is not included.
You’ll also discover his work on the Classic Force, including the timing and
misdirection for the ‘Behind the Back Force’. In the impromptu section you will
find the full presentation with gags for ‘The Vanishing Saucer’ which is worth
the price of admission. Not to mention a whole range of tips and handlings for
tricks you probably already know but don’t perform. Yet!
Disc Four has sections on the business of magic and again is crammed with
practical, real world advice. He gives a technique used by Judy Graland to
generate energy before going on stage. She must have passed it on to her
daughter Liza Minelli because at the 1988 Sinatra/Davis Jr/Minelli concert in
Landsdowne Road rugby ground Liza burst onto the stage as though she had been
plugged in and that energy flowed right across the pitch up to the back of the
stadium. Truly awesome.
Paul has covered a fair portion of this advice in his Masterclasses, of which I
have attended a few. Yet there is still quite a bit I hadn’t heard before and
again, this DVD alone is worth far more than the cost of the set.
Each DVD contains an interview with Paul, all filled with stories and sound
advice. The lovely Debbie McGee (Paul’s wife and assistant) is interviewed on
Disc One. Debbie is a trained dancer and her perspective is refreshing,
especially on people who put tricks in their show without proper physical
rehearsal. It shows.
Luis de Matos has done his usual excellent job with the production and
packaging. He’s also the interviewer and has obviously done his homework (with
the help, I suspect, of David Britland) with the detailed questions he asks both
Paul and Debbie.
The boxed set comes with a code which after you contact the EMC, they give you a
link to download some software and get access to some further material. I tried
this with a previous boxed set from EMC and haven’t been able to get any of them
to play. I found the process complicated, frustrating and unnecessary. There
must be easier ways.
These DVDs will bear many repeated viewings and each time you will learn
something new. There is no padding here, no fluff, just solid, practical
routines and advice from, as John Fisher said, “…the greatest British magician
of the last quarter of the 20th Century.”
I mentioned earlier that there is a theme that runs through this DVD set even
though it is not mentioned or specifically referred to.
BRAVURA is not about Paul Daniels or his act or the other tricks or magic in
general.
It is about The Art of Presenting Yourself To An Audience.
This DVD set is about YOU and how YOU can best present YOURSELF and YOUR magic
to YOUR audience.
It is an extraordinarily generous gift from a man at the top of his profession
to us and to future generations and in my opinion the most valuable DVD set yet
released in magic.
© Quentin Reynolds, June 2014