Paul Daniels writes:
Oh dear, it has started again. Sky TV have just been on the phone and want me to go in front of a camera and talk about David Blaine living underwater in a bubble or something.
I cannot for the life of me see what I can offer on this situation so I said 'no'. As far as I am concerned, sitting on a pole, sitting in a glass box by Tower Bridge or sitting underwater has NOTHING to do with magic at all. They are, supposedly, endurance stunts of some kind and they are very successful at generating publicity and good luck to him BUT please don't confuse them with the art of magic. If anything, they hark back to the days of fairground sideshow stunts and shows.
I honestly wish him well, but until he does magic tricks again, which I have not seen him do for a few years now, I cannot pass any comments.
(As well as being a stage, TV and close-up magician, Paul Daniels is a collector of illusions and an authority on the history of the field.)
