Returning to magic Paul's story part II
Whilst playing Oberon and Theseus in A Midsummer Nights Dream, Paul was shown a magic trick performed by the actor playing Puck for use in the show: a vanishing silk effect. It stirred something in Paul, a reminder of his previous life as a young magician or of the odd trick he still performed at Christmas.
While performing his annual Christmas trick around the festive table, his ex girlfriend's sister suggested that magic was the perfect career for him to take up professionally. Certainly a lot better than his in-between acting job of parking cars for wealthy people in the pouring rain.
What happened next seems torn from the pages of Harry Potter. Searching out a magic shop, Paul discovered Davenport's, a hidden gem in a shabby shopping parade under Charing Cross; his very own Diagon Alley. Setting off the tinkering bell of this dark emporium of secrets, Paul simply asked the young demonstrator behind the counter how he could become a conjurer, what were the books needed to become a true professional working magician?
Before exiting the shop with only a two page pamphlet, an innocuous card trick, another shopper told him not to turn his nose up at something that seemed so unsubstantial, as he, on first learning the trick, had been hired to perform at a party. Paul knew he could do that, only better.
Continued...