My Magic Award…and I like it , a lot

 I was surprised and privileged to be contacted recently by the President of The Modern Mystic League to tell me that I was this year’s winner of their prestigious ( perhaps prestidigitatious ) Les Brooks Memorial Award for outstanding contributions to their magazine The Memel during 2025.

The Modern Mystic League is one of the UK’s oldest Magic Societies. Formed in Blackburn in 1914 they have welcomed people interested in magic, from seasoned performers to enthusiastic amateurs and are still a strong presence on the magic scene in 2026.

The late great Paul Daniels was honorary Vice President until his death in 2016 , a role which has been continued by his wife Debbie McGee ever since.

The Memel is a rich and entertaining monthly magazine full of magic related articles and plenty of laughs in the form of cartoons and other gags selected by current editor Brian Lead.

Brian, an eminent performer and authority on magic history, is much in demand at magic conventions.

He is a member of both the MML and Northern Magic Circle.

He has read a number of my contributions to NMC’s own publication Northern Lights over the years, and asked a while back if I would mind him re-running some of the articles in Memel.

The rest is history, as someone once said. The nice thing is that magic fans across the Pennines seemed to like my efforts, and this year voted for me to receive their annual award. 

I’m especially honoured as I’m the first winner who is not actually a member of their society.

Golden Jubilee Revue ( Wath Comprehensive School 23/5/1974)

 

A

 

But First…

 

Celebrity Television

Many years ago, a business acquaintance from Canada was spending a few days in the UK. Over dinner we were chatting about television and he told me that he had been glad to have the chance to catch up with a series he had heard about , but never seen. He was talking about “ Minder” , which needs no explanation to British audiences. The glorious , dodgy adventures of Arthur Daley, played by George Cole , and his world weary sidekick , Terry McCann , played by Dennis Waterman.

Terry and Arfur (sic) were/are legendary…but my friend told me that after watching an episode on his hotel TV , he didn’t “ get it”…

When I asked him what he meant , he said “ It’s just an old guy and a young guy hanging out…what’s funny about that ?”

I tried to persuade him otherwise , but he was immovable.

I’m afraid to say that this is how I have come to feel about almost any series with the word Celebrity in its title. It began with a growing reluctance , when comedians felt the urge to show us that they were actually real people who had other interests.

Whilst it is hard to criticise such performers for devoting some of their time to charitable works, I don’t really want to see them touring the country in camper vans , or touring other countries in steam trains, gliders or hopping backwards….

I’m not against travel shows , or the kind of reportage which highlights the quirkiness of the everyday world which surrounds us. I’d just rather see these presented by people of the ilk of Alan Whicker or Judith Chalmers who had a kind of legitimate claim to be interested in the subject matter.

If I’m supposed to think that the likes of Johnny Vegas or Alison Hammond reacting “ hilariously” to whatever they’ve been inserted into this week will make me feel they are ordinary people “having a go”on my behalf, producers really need to think again.

Good as they may be in their own areas of expertise, they are not ordinary people. Celebrities are a privileged class who no doubt work hard for their daily bread…but don’t expect me to feel any kind of empathy.Why TV companies should believe anyone would is a mystery to me. I simply don’t get it.

 

That Crackling Vibe

 

 

What It’s All About…Maybe

A cartoon slideshow … follow link below

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vSwcUZeGORR1okyhMZqpjJZzcUc_kR0CtuE8ODMRIA3TcDnvgcFpethh0gtt3v9dbODbJWOpbOXZ7i8/pub?start=true&loop=false&delayms=10000

Good Things