Did Paul and Debbie present a day, along with Richard Bacon, in that weird week between Johnny and Denise leaving and the revamp, when the show was hosted from the upstairs landing?
Did Paul and Debbie present a day, along with Richard Bacon, in that weird week between Johnny and Denise leaving and the revamp, when the show was hosted from the upstairs landing?
Yes. They also did a week of Route To Midnight in the run up to Christmas 1998.
Did Paul and Debbie present a day, along with Richard Bacon, in that weird week between Johnny and Denise leaving and the revamp, when the show was hosted from the upstairs landing?
He just fell out of fashion. Times changed. Magic was less about being entertained, and more about figuring out how he did it. David Copperfield's Hollywood style was more glamourous than PD's end-of-the-pier stuff, and shows like Jonathan Creek actively took the piss out of stage magicians. Then you had shows like "Breaking The Magician's Code" which sought to remove the veil completely. Nowadays magic has to shock to be noteworthy - hence the David Blaine / Dynamo era. Even Penn & Teller's otherwise admirable show was all about working out how the trick was done, rather than being entertainment for entertainment's sake. Also as Stephen M***hern has proved, doing pure entertaining magic alone isn't enough to sustain a TV career any more.
Yes, his sort of magic just became old fashioned, as did a lot of his peers at that time as 'alternative' comedy and cabaret became increasingly mainstream. Acts like Penn & Teller, The Amazing Jonathan and Gerry Sadowitz took magic out of the very cosy theatrical/circus surroundings that Paul Daniels' shows were set.
Also you now have the classic guilt complex that because he's died, everyone seems to love him again and is asking the question where has he been these past 10-15 years? He's been selling out shows up and down the country. Didn't need TV in the end.
That's not really fair, he did have a bit of a renaissance in the last 10-15 years or so, his back catalogue and his talent seemed to be appreciated more by the generation that went off him for the new style magicians in the 90's. Like many entertainers of his generation his work was re-evalued by the next generation. It's like the way that in the 80's the generation of 'alternative' comedians would never have admitted to liking or being influenced people like Bob Monkhouse and Les Dawson... but now they are held in great esteem by both that an subsequent generations. It worked the other way too, he was very critical of Penn & Teller when they first arrived on British TV, go forward 20 years and he's appearing on their show
He seemed to me over the last few years to be a much more popular figure, he was very active on Twitter too
These things are cyclical - I think the trend is now probably beginning to move away from the street magic shows which have dominated TV magic shows over the last decade or so although it still needs a real breakout star to put illusionists centre stage.
This [I will leave the country if Labour win thing] was a creation of a north east journalist who ‘edited’ the answer to his own question: ‘If Labour get in would you leave the country?’ to which I replied, “IF Labour get in and they go back to what they did last time they were in power, which put interest rates at well over 20% and income tax at 93%, which they really did, then I would have to CONSIDER leaving the country.”
RS
Rob_Schneider
Good on him. I'd leave if Jeremy Corbyn ever got elected.
This [I will leave the country if Labour win thing] was a creation of a north east journalist who ‘edited’ the answer to his own question: ‘If Labour get in would you leave the country?’ to which I replied, “IF Labour get in and they go back to what they did last time they were in power, which put interest rates at well over 20% and income tax at 93%, which they really did, then I would have to CONSIDER leaving the country.”
That's interesting.... though of course it's what people thought he said rather than what he did say that affects a reputation
These things are cyclical - I think the trend is now probably beginning to move away from the street magic shows which have dominated TV magic shows over the last decade or so although it still needs a real breakout star to put illusionists centre stage.
I think the trend at the moment is not doing magic at all. Genres are cyclical too, they come and go and fall out of favour with channels. A new way of doing it comes along - street magic is a good example - and then everyone does it, then everyone gets tired of it and it disappears for another decade.
Comedy is similar - sketch shows are out, panel shows and stand up are in. Give it another few years and they'll probably be back
