The New Demon Telegraph

Issue number 4 - May, 2025

Blue Peter is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast by the BBC since October 1958. In 1987, at the tender age of 15, I was invited to appear on the programme to perform some of my manipulation act and to be interviewed. It was a fabulous experience to go to BBC TV Centre in London and well worth the trip down from Edinburgh, where I was at school at the time.

All went well with my spot, which was a big relief as live TV is always nerve-racking to say the least. I only remember one question from the interview, which was "What advice would you give a youngster who wants to take up magic as a hobby?"  The answer was an easy one for me: "Go to Davenport’s Magic Shop and buy a box of tricks."  

Now, as most of you will know it is a big "no no" to highlight a particular company on the BBC. The producer, the formidable Biddy Baxter MBE, was not best pleased with me and came straight to my dressing room afterwards to give me a severe talking to. As my loyalty was clearly to the family business, rather than BBC doctrine, I think I was more in awe of Biddy Baxter than intimidated and to my mind it just added to the thrill of the day!  

There are, of course, several routes for the budding young magician to engage with magic as a hobby. However, I think for many magicians over the years the gift of the ubiquitous box of tricks was that defining moment that started their interest. The magic set is a gateway to the magical world, giving the recipient the opportunity to discover what it might be like to be a magician. The more opportunities a young person has, the broader the options they have in front of them.

My mother, Betty, has given numerous interviews for various publications, radio and TV. In these interviews, the fact that she is a woman in a male dominated world is sometimes referred to with the question: "Why aren’t there more female magicians?"  My mother's answer is always the same: "Parents give boxes of tricks to boys."    

My latest additions are, amongst other things, a range of boxes of tricks, some of which date back to the 19th century. Inevitably, quite a few of the more modern sets have the names of various TV magicians on them: David Nixon, Harry Blackstone Jnr., Paul Daniels and Dynamo to name a few.  I can't imagine how many magicians around today were inspired by these magical greats. 

Roy Davenport