“Paul Daniels is the greatest British magician of the last quarter of the 20th Century.” So said John Fisher (TV producer) at the Magic Circle Centenary in 2005.

It is very rare for a working pro to give away his full act. Many have published the explanation of their tricks but rarely the real secrets, the nitty gritty, the minute details that have come from years of performing experience and make a huge difference to the presentation.

Paul’s early professional years were the workingmen’s clubs in the north of England. If you didn’t get them in the first thirty seconds, you were dead in the water. After achieving great success in the clubs Paul went on to do a number of summer seasons, theatre shows in the West End (the first in 1981 ran for nearly 18 months), fifteen seasons of The Paul Daniels TV show on BBC1 prime time Saturday night viewing. Did I mention the touring show, the thousands of private shows and being a quiz show host? Enough! He’s more than paid his dues.

So what’s in store with BRAVURA?

Disc One: Fortunately for us and future generations the performance of Paul’s act on the first DVD is not flawless. Were it so it would be much more difficult to learn from. Here, Paul is performing for an audience whose first language is not English, so little hiccups arise and you can see how he handles these get keeps everything flowing. That alone is a masterclass. The show runs for fifty minutes.

Disc Two: Paul goes into great detail explaining all these routines and the psychology behind them and though I have seen him many times and knew ‘basically’ how the tricks were done I was swept away by the psychology and attention to detail. The explanations which run for two hours were still somewhat of a revelation.

There is so much thought and planning behind every little detail to ensure smooth running of the show and maximum entertainment value without sacrificing the magical effect.

Now that these routines have been taught and explained in great detail there is nothing to stop you or anyone else going out and doing them but if you do you will be missing the whole point of this four DVD set. It is not mentioned anywhere on the DVDs or the promotional material but there is a theme that permeates right through over and over again. I’ll come back to that point in a minute.

Disc Three covers a number of other stand-up routines that I’ve seen Paul use over the years, particularly in his full evening theatre shows. His six-card repeat is a masterclass in turning a classic card trick into a stage-filling piece of entertainment.

You’ll also discover his work on the Classic Force, including the timing and misdirection for the ‘Behind the Back Force’. In the impromptu section you will find the full presentation with gags for ‘The Vanishing Saucer’ which is worth the price of admission. Not to mention a whole range of tips and handlings for tricks you probably already know but don’t perform. Yet!

Disc Four has sections on the business of magic and again is crammed with practical, real world advice. He gives a technique used by Judy Graland to generate energy before going on stage. She must have passed it on to her daughter Liza Minelli because at the 1988 Sinatra/Davis Jr/Minelli concert in Landsdowne Road rugby ground Liza burst onto the stage as though she had been plugged in and that energy flowed right across the pitch up to the back of the stadium. Truly awesome.

Luis de Matos has done his usual excellent job with the production and packaging. He’s also the interviewer - there are four interviews with Paul and one with Paul’s wife and assistant, Debbie McGee - and has obviously done his homework from the detailed questions he asks.

These DVDs will bear many repeated viewings and each time you will learn something new. There is no padding here, no fluff, just solid, practical routines and advice from, as John Fisher said, “…the greatest British magician of the last quarter of the 20th Century.”

I mentioned earlier that there is a theme that runs through this DVD set even though it is not mentioned or specifically referred to.

BRAVURA is not about Paul Daniels or his act or the other tricks or magic in general.

It is about The Art of Presenting Yourself To An Audience.

This DVD set is about YOU and how YOU can best present YOURSELF and YOUR magic to YOUR audience.

It is an extraordinarily generous gift from a man at the top of his profession to us and to future generations and in my opinion the most valuable DVD set yet released in magic.

This DVD should be viewed by anyone who wants to really entertain and not just do magic. All Paul's great routines are here (read the add) but the best bits are when Paul is talking to the camera about venues, getting applause, making it entertaining. In these sections there is so much solid wisdom from one of the greatest magicians in the world.

Sadly many who need this will study the tricks and ignore the rest. As Paul says 'I got a letter from a 10 year old illusionist, anyone can do tricks, we must learn to entertain'