On 17 March 2017, Paul Daniels died after a battle with terminal cancer. This interview with Daniels and his wife Debbie McGee was first published in October 2014.
Paul Daniels and the Lovely Debbie McGee are showing me a magic trick involving a pack of playing cards that, entre nous, I think will be a bit boring-snoring. I was hoping for a little legerdemain with the three white rabbits dozing in penthouse cages against the sitting-room wall. Or perhaps spooky hocus-pocus with the medical skeleton, lounging incongruously on one of the sumptuous cream sofas.
But within moments I am laughing with delight at the cleverness and the verve and the showmanship; these guys are good. Better than good. It’s just we’ve forgotten. We’ve forgotten because they’re not cool. They are cheesy and spangly. They are frilly-shirted and bow-tied up with a very different era of cosy Saturday night light entertainment, which began in 1979 and ceased abruptly in 1994 when The Paul Daniels Magic Show was axed by the BBC.
“Years ago, I played a month in Vegas,” says Paul, thoughtfully. “They offered me a 10-year contract. I turned it down. I was asked to sign up for a year on Broadway. I turned that down, too. I’m a family guy, my =read more =http://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/actors/paul-daniels-and-debbie-mcgee-interview-we-dont-mind-when-people/
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