Graham: Mr Durham,

For those reading this who have not had the pleasure (and it is) of seeing your work, how would you describe yourself?

For me, you are very much in the style of the great (and sadly late) David Nixon. Just as at home doing close-up, parlour or stage work. Which genre do you prefer and why?

kind regards,

Graham Nichols.

Geoffrey Durham: Hi Graham

I'm not sure how to describe myself, so I'll take the second question first.

Yes, I'm equally at home in close-up, parlour or stage because I really don't recognise that there's a difference. True, stage magic can be bigger than close-up, but it doesn't have to be - I am currently doing the Gypsy Thread in 800 seat theatres - and I often do the Bending Glass in close-up. So I honestly can't say that any particular genre of magic is my favourite. But out of the three, stage work has to be my preferred option in terms of working conditions.

And so now I have to describe myself... Well, I'm very flattered that you want to compare me to David Nixon, because I thought he was terrific. And I'm certainly as bald as he was! Otherwise, I would say that I try to be friendly and warm and funny, but that I don't suffer fools gladly. And I try to use the magic to express those characteristics as well and as entertainingly as I can.

Geoffrey

Sean: In relation to magic of course! On one hand, the Internet is great resource tool where people from all over the world can buy books and tricks and have them delivered in a few days.

On the other hand, people from all over the world can buy books and tricks and have them delivered in a few days. A lot of older magicians see this as a bad thing and think magic is too accessible. In times gone by, you had to be really dedicated and search very hard for sparse material, but now any Tom, Dick or Harry can get their hands on a book or find out the secrets of a trick just by spending a few second searching on the net.

Do the pros outweigh the cons? Is the Internet good or bad?

Geoffrey Durham: Hi Sean

Yes, I do think the pros outweigh the cons, because the Internet is quite simply the most brilliant, life-changing invention for generations.

Having said that...

You're right. It is going to be harder to keep the secrets. People can get hold of what used to be classified information. You can buy books/DVDs instantly and find out this and that.

But we shouldn't get in a panic about it. It's wrong to confuse information (which is what the internet provides) with understanding or insight or knowledge. Information and understanding are not the same thing.

So while some people will know some secrets, they won't have the understanding to be able to apply them.

That's why the Internet can be more of a problem to us, the working magicians, than to the casual observers. Because the Internet reduces magic to a series of products. And magic just isn't like that. Magic is not tricks, or secrets or even sleights - which is what you come to believe if you spend too long on the Internet - it is about having real conversations with real audiences and learning from them. And you'll never be able to do that on the Internet if you're on it for 100 years.

Geoffrey

Huw Collingbourne: Obsessed as some of us may be with the magical arts, there is obviously more to life (I think?) than magic. I wonder if you have any opinions on the kinds of interests, skills or other (non-magical) qualities, which contribute to the making of a good magician.

Let's put this another way: apart from magic itself, what are the factors in your own life, which have helped you to become such a great magical performer?

best wishes
Huw

Geoffrey Durham: Hi Huw

Good question. I'm not sure I'm going to find it very easy to answer.

I started as an actor, and in some ways that helped me to understand how to "be" on a stage and in front of people. It helped me to understand how to behave when I was the focus of attention. On the other hand, it had its disadvantages: actors have a tendency to want to hide their true personality, and I suffered from that at the beginning. But overall, I think my four years as an actor helped me with the twenty-six years that I've been a magician.

Another thing that helped was my first job when I left university. I was a stagehand at a well-known variety/vaudeville theatre. I watched people go on and die with the material that they had done really well with the night before, and that was very instructive! They used to film a very popular TV show from the theatre on Sunday nights, and I used to work on that and learned something about TV and how it works.

When I became a professional magician, I quickly came to realise that I needed to go out to work. By that, I mean that I don't bring the job home. I have an office, and I work there from 9 - 5, and I then I go home, and I don't let the home life and the work life mix too much. (In fact my kids have hardly ever seen me work!) My office is a big, gorgeous space these days, but in my early career it was a tiny bed-sit, and at one time later on it was a garage. It didn't matter. I just needed it to be separate.

I go to the theatre a lot, and it is just part of my life to watch performers. I love cinema, and I find I can always learn from that. I wish I could say that I watch TV. That used to be the case, but British TV depresses me rather these days!

I'm an active Quaker, and I do quite a lot of speaking in public, which has nothing to do with my life in showbiz. That's quite useful, because I have to present myself in ways that emphasise the "real me", if you see what I mean. There's no room for b******t there, and it helps.

But having said all that, I think the only way to be a magician is to get out there and do it. Prepare well, of course, but don't make your first show the most important day of your life. You'll only learn from your mistakes, so you might as well get out there and start making them!

Graham: I can relate to that. I have a friend whose office is a shed at the bottom of his garden. Each morning he puts on his suit and tie and goes down the garden to his office until 5:30pm. The change of clothes gives him the mental division between work and home life.

Geoffrey Durham: Just as a little postscript, my 11 year-old son read my answer to this question, and said "But you never told them about the crosswords". Well, he's right. I do crosswords all the time, and I think it probably helps to tune my lateral brain. I also set puzzles for radio and TV shows as a minor second career, and I rather suspect that helps too.

Geoffrey

Timnicebutdim: Geoffrey - Is your 11-year-old son interested in magic in anyway? or if not, what are his interests?

Geoffrey Durham: Henry, my son, shows no interest in magic at all. He is one of the funniest people I have ever met, and may (perish the thought!) become a comedian, I suspect. But he is also a very talented trumpeter, so there's hope for him yet.

Geoffrey

Timnicebutdim: Hello Geoffrey

first, well done for all of your success in the theatres and on TV, it is good to see a lot of hard work paying off.

My question; do you feel in any way nervous before you go onstage, or have you got used to the feel of being in a large theatre? I'm wondering because compared to a TV studio with millions of viewers watching, an 800-seated theatre must seem a pretty small way of getting your magic across to spectators.

Geoffrey Durham: Hi TimNBD

For about the first twenty years of my career, I used to suffer from destructive nerves. I would pace up and down for a good half hour before I went on, go over lines, worry, shake, and occasionally throw up.

Then about ten years ago, I started to learn how to handle it. It's really a question of knowing who you are, having a still centre, and being able to work from that rather than worrying about what people think of you. ("The only person who can make me feel inferior is myself" - Eleanor Roosevelt.)

I still get nervous, but that's quite a good thing. If you don't get nervous, it indicates that you don't care about your audience.

It may seem odd, but I get less nervous before a TV show than I do preparing to entertain 800 people. That's because when you do a television show, you are just talking to one person. The camera becomes that one person, and that is always how you should gauge the performance. If you think of it as 10 million people, you not only go mad, but you risk pitching your performance completely wrongly.

Geoffrey

Elwood: Geoffrey,

Out of all the effects I have studied and learned, the Chop Cup is probably my favourite. It is fast, funny and baffling, it can be presented as a serious piece, or a comedy effect. It works close-up and on stage.

My routine has been performed so many times, that it quite possibly is the one effect that crystallises what I am all about as a Magician - the gags, improvisation bits and final loads (weird, funny and impossible).

Is there an effect that sums you up as a Magician (either as yourself or as The Great Soprendo), or one you wish you'd invented?

I'd say that the Torn and Restored Newspaper would be the effect that IS The Great Soprendo...not sure which one is Geoffrey Durham though?

Geoffrey Durham: Hi Elwood

Yes, you're right, the Torn and Restored Newspaper was the one for me when I was the Great Soprendo. And it was the only one that I "took with me" when I made the change into the act I do now. I found that the rhythms I used as the Great Soprendo simply wouldn't work when I started the new act, so all my previous material had to go. The Newspaper Trick had been my closer, and it became my opener in my new show, and that way I was able to do it with a new rhythm.

It's actually only the rhythm of the trick that makes a difference, I would say: you liking the Chop Cup is actually you finding that the rhythm of the trick helps you to be baffling in a way that only you can be. I love the Chop Cup, but I'd never, ever do it, because I know that it wouldn't be right for my personality.

There are many more tricks that do it for me now than there were when I was The Great Soprendo. The T & R Newspaper is still one. But then there is my routine for the Himber Ring, which I like because I've managed to make the link a theatrical moment which really works, and which happens in the spectator's hands. And I would say that my routines for both the Sterling and Malini Egg Bags are up there too. And just lately the Gypsy Thread (stage version) has begun to be my real favourite.

So take your choice!

Geoffrey