It's a kinda magic
Geoffrey Durham is the magician of many talents - from early fame as the Great Soprendo to roles in TV and film and as a popular guest on panel shows. But now he's back doing what he loves best, performing tricks in front of a live audience - and tomorrow night he's at Lancaster's Dukes Theatre with his new show, a venue which holds happy memories for the jovial star. RICHARD MACHIN reports.
IF it hadn't been for the star-spotting talent of former Dukes artistic director John Blackmore, the world may never have been blessed with the inimitable talents of the Great Soprendo.
It was in Lancaster that the magical alter-ego of Geoffrey Durham received his first big break, being booked by Blackmore in 1977 to headline at the Dukes following a successful holiday season show at the Central Pier in Morecambe.
The Great Soprendo went on to become a staple of stage and screen for the next 15 years, appearing on everything from the hugely popular Russell Harty Show to cult kids' programme Crackerjack.
"I have a lot to thank Lancaster for,'' explains Durham. "That was my first professional engagement - and I've been doing shows ever since.''
Now, as part of his 25th anniversary tour, Durham is returning to the venue this weekend, and promises that, 'for old-time's sake', there will be a bit of the Great Soprendo thrown in to revive a few memories.
"It's good fun to still do that Great Soprendo stuff, but it does feel very dated now, it was very much of its time and after 15 years I decided to call it a day and do the magic as myself,'' says Durham.
His Magical One Man Show is pretty much an audience with Geoffrey Durham, including plenty of talk about the early days of his career, how he first took up magic and explaining a few tricks of the trade.
"I won't be giving away too many secrets and it won't be a tell-it-all show, like that silly TV programme we all saw a few months ago, but it will be showing the audiences the ways in which magicians can manipulate our minds. I really couldn't be honest about my life as a conjuror if I didn't.
"When I started out I was a busker on the streets of Liverpool. I called myself Scappy Lambert and I had a big beard and quite a lot of hair, which even I find hard to imagine now! I used to swallow razor blades and eat fire but it was all just a trick, so I guess that from there it was a small step to learning real sleight of hand.
"During this new show I will even have my first magic set on stage with me as a prop and use it to perform some tricks.''
Moving to live in a flat in Morecambe - and later Silverdale, where he and his wife, comedienne Victoria Wood, had two homes between 1977 and 1991 - helped change his life forever.
After the big break at the Dukes, Durham was getting regular work with his new act and five years after performing his first trick in public he was starring with Victoria Wood in their own West End show.
TV producers noticed the couple and Durham went on to appear regularly on the small screen, while Wood made the start in television comedy, which was to make her a huge star. ''I have huge affection for the area around Lancaster and Morecambe, we have many happy memories of our time there,'' said Durham.
Strangely, however, tomorrow evening's show will the first that Durham has performed in Lancaster since that big break with the Great Soprendo and a pantomime at the Dukes later the same year.
"It's incredible to think this will be my first appearance in Lancaster for 25 years, but I'm really looking forward to it.''
These days Durham is perhaps more familiar for his regular slots on TV and radio panel shows, particularly on the teatime Channel 4 word game, Countdown, where his combination of charm and wit has made him one of the programme's most popular celebrity guests in the dictionary corner, as well as on Through The Keyhole, Call My Bluff and Radio 4's Guess What and Puzzle Panel.
In addition he has also had his fair share of success as a stage and film actor, appearing in everything from Dracula to the award-winning feature film Wish You Were Here, and frequently works as an 'illusion adviser' for stage and television, most recently devising effects in the West End for Oliver!, Jesus Christ Superstar, the Reeves and Mortimer/Fast Show double bill and The League of Gentlemen.
But he says his first real love has always been his magic shows, and this year's 25th anniversary tour will be followed by a further tour next year.
"I love life on the road, we will be doing something like 110 theatres by the end of next year, it's the real thing being in front of a live audience.
"I am always developing the act and continually devising new material, this latest tour has bits of all sorts in, from a bit of Great Soprendo for old-time's sake to completely new things.
''Even during the interval I will be coming out into the audience and performing some tricks, it really is non-stop and I think it's a real tour de force.''
As for his favourite trick, Durham's natural enthusiasm bubbles over - something the audience at the Dukes this weekend will soon become accustomed to:
"My favourite trick is usually the last one I did - though I do have a soft spot for a real little miracle where I borrow three wedding rings and link them together... then there's suspending four pints of water in mid-air - I like that one.
''Then there's the bending a mirror....well, I guess you'll just have to see the show and decide which one you like best.''
Geoffrey Durham appears at the Dukes tomorrow, Saturday, at 8pm. Tickets are available from the box office on 598500.
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Tuesday 07 February 2012
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