TREVOR HEATON, EDP Whats On Editor Norwich Playhouse

TREVOR HEATON, EDP Whats On Editor

It was when Geoffrey Durham bounded on to the stage, all floral tie and bonhomie, and instantly turned a silk handkerchief into a large and very solid wooden cane that my daughter gave me the first nudge in the ribs.

“How did he do THAT?” she gasped. There was an awful lot of nudging during that show and, no, I still don't know how he did that.

Or any of the other tricks, for that matter. For Geoffrey Durham is a magician of the old school and a total master of his craft.

The theatre is a perfect venue for this sort of show, and Durham took every advantage of that by bounding up and down the aisles picking out volunteers or performing close-up magic before their eyes.

Durham's effortless skill was combined with a fine line in patter as he made things appear, disappear and pop out of boxes. Close-up magic is out of favour on television these days, which is a shame, because Geoffrey Durham really is a national treasure who deserves rather better than his current gig on Countdown.