12 days of Christmas Magic - Day One

Day 1 - Harry Potter gets decapitated!

In 2010 I was PR Officer to The Magic Circle when the team at TV quiz show Qi contacted me for help in putting together their Christmas edition - on the subject of magic.  We started by identifying the oldest magic trick of all, which involved the decapitation and re-capitation of a live bird.  “You couldn’t get someone to come on the show and do that could you?”, they asked.  “Of course” I replied, “Scott Penrose is you man; he’s the best magician with birds, the best with illusions and he’s also our Vice-President”.  Once Scott was on board they enquired as to whether he could help with some finale pieces; in particular they wanted something spectacular for special guest Daniel Radcliffe. “I’ve got just the thing” said Scott, “we’ll put him in my guillotine”.

 

I was clearing out the attic and I found an old violin and an oil painting. 
So I took them to an expert and he said to me: “What you’ve got here is a Stradivarius and a Rembrandt.  Unfortunately, Stradivarius was a terrible painter and Rembrandt made rotten violins.”