Tweet
Cast your mind back... way back... to a time when Paul Daniels was popular. Not only was he popular, but his magician's skills were unrivalled and we'd tune in in our masses to his TV programme (The Paul Daniels Magic Show, BBC, 1979-1994) just to catch a glimpse of a new trick. There was no hanging around in Perspex boxes for Paul, no. This was your simple trickery that had crowds guessing, how did he do that?!Well, in a stroke of marketing genius, it soon became possible for every Paul Daniels fan to find out exactly how and put an end to any speculation, when the Paul Daniels Magic Sets hit toy stores up and down the UK. The box claimed it contained '150 magic tricks', however nothing could have prepared you for the disappointment of tearing into your box on Christmas morning only to discover a measly rope, a set of plastic balls, a few thimbles, some playing cards, a wand (natch!), some plastic discs and two die. What, no Debbie McGee? It was a travesty, Luckily, there was also an instruction booklet included to help you make some sense of it all. But boy did it require practice if you had any chance of becoming the next Paul Daniels. And being kids, most of us would have happily chosen the option of having a microchip implanted into our necks to enable us to execute magical tricks in an instant. For those who stuck with the Paul Daniels Magic Sets, they were rewarded by mastering enough tricks to impress the family and all the impatient kids at school. Sometimes you could even get a stand-in Debbie McGee to assist in the show. It's a nice touch that the set's instructions even advised Paul's pupils to develop their own magician's patter, and that they did. Well, kids love to talk, don't they. There were also individual Paul Daniels Magic Tricks to collect - 30 in all. These ranged in level of difficulty, all colour-coded so not to get above your station. They came in cardboard pouch-like packaging, with Paul Daniel's smiley face slapped on the front of every one. Apparently it didn't matter that the same photo - incidentally, he wore a wig for it - was used on every pouch released, despite them spanning four years of his life. It's probably a good thing indeed that the lovely Paul and Debbie were behind the Magic Sets, rather than Mr Blaine or David Copperfield. We had by far less risk of setting fire to the living room, for one. And less chance of drowning yourself or suffering death by Perspex box, that's for sure. Kids, don't try that at home!
More...
More...
Comment