Long before I ever performed a professional show, I was a kid completely obsessed with magic — the kind who carried a deck of cards everywhere and practised tricks until my fingers hurt. That passion led me to join the Young Magicians Club, the youth branch of the Magic Circle. For a young magician, it felt like stepping into a secret world.
But nothing prepared me for what happened in the early 2000s.
Paul Daniels, the magician who first inspired me when I was five years old, was performing at the Lyric Theatre in Carmarthen. I couldn’t believe it. This was the man whose TV shows had sparked my fascination with magic, and now he was performing practically on my doorstep.
He appeared without Debbie McGee that night, which already made the show feel different, more intimate. Act One was a full Q&A session, and I remember sitting there, heart pounding, waiting for my chance to speak. I asked him what he thought about the Masked Magician, who was all over TV at the time revealing secrets. Paul answered with the perfect mix of humour and honesty, classic Paul Daniels, and I hung on every word.
Then came Act Two.
This was the moment I’d been waiting for: he performed The Electric Chairs, my absolute favourite routine of his. Seeing it live was surreal. I’d watched it on TV countless times, but nothing compared to being in the room, feeling the energy, watching the audience react. It was one of those moments where everything clicks — where you realise, “Yes, this is what I want to do.”
After the show, Paul came out to the foyer. Clutching my Young Magicians Club certificate, he smiled, signed it, and spoke to me like I mattered — like a young magician with a future. He gave me some advice and even did a basic coin vanish and reappearance for me. I walked out of the theatre that night feeling ten feet tall. My hero had performed to just me (and my parents).
That certificate is still one of my most treasured possessions. Not because of the autograph, but because of what it represents: the moment a childhood hero reached out across the gap between TV and real life and made magic feel possible.
It’s a night I’ll never forget — and a huge part of why I’m still performing magic today.
