'Manipulative magic is certainly not easy' - Shropshire magician reveals his secrets

Now the magician, known as Geoff Ray, has shared his experiences and expert knowledge as well as the secrets behind his favourite tricks in a new book.

The Magical Life of Geoff Ray and Pat is dedicated to his late wife, who was known to family and friends as Molly.

Writing the book has been a labour of love for the 93-year-old, whose fascination with magic began at a very early age.

“I was three years, 11 months and one week old when I saw a magician at an event at the Gay Meadow in Shrewsbury,” says Geoff who knows the exact date because his sister won the baby competition.

"The magician was Dan Leano, from Wrexham and he did three tricks. One was aerial fishing – he produced a goldfish over the crowd – and another was vanishing a dove,” he explains. In 1954, Geoff, who was then in his early 20s, was the victim of a hit and run accident near RAF Shawbury – where he worked as a radar technician.

"I was in the hospital for a long time,” he recalls. “My wife bought me a magic book to read and I started doing tricks for the nurses. It all started from there."

Geoff began performing, with Molly by his side, in working men’s clubs around the West Midlands as well as further afield.

In 1963, Geoff and Molly came first out of 6,000 acts in a national talent competition at Butlin’s.

Geoff’s other passion was judo. He taught himself from a book and worked his way up to fifth dan black belt.

In 1964, he was in the final selection for judo at the Tokyo Olympic Games, but broke his ribs in the final in London where he was awarded silver medal so missed out on going to the Olympics.

But his career as a magician began to take off and in 1970 Geoff and Molly won all the awards at the annual British Magic Convention. 

Over the years, they performed at Europe’s largest theatres, including the London Palladium, and on the world’s most luxurious cruise liners, including eight world cruises on P&O.

"Their act was clever magic to music and because it was a silent act, that meant they could perform all over the world,” explains son Paul, who has followed in his father’s footsteps, and now specialises in comedy magic.

One of their most-well known tricks, which involved vanishing a dove cage, even left The Magic Circle scratching their heads.

"We did it the way we wanted to and we enjoyed it all,” says Geoff. “It wasn’t really work, it was all holidays.”

The couple became good friends with the late magician, Paul Daniels, and his wife Debbie McGee.

"I knew Paul when he was Ted Daniels, and we would make illusions for him. He would come up to Shrewsbury from London – but he wouldn’t tell us when he was coming, he would just turn up. 

"I remember we were making a table for him for ‘vanishing a girl’. I had been up 24 hours working on it and he wanted to know when it was going to be ready.

"He called to say he was coming to see me. I thought I had some time because he had to travel up from London.

“I went to B&Q to look for ideas, having had no sleep, and there at the end of an aisle was Paul Daniels.

"He was one of the first people to have a mobile phone and when he called he was already in Shrewsbury,” recalls Geoff.

Geoff was president of the British Magical Society in 1992, and son Paul took the mantle in 2015, meaning they are the only father and son duo to have the honour. The pair also ran Shrewsbury furniture business, Rushworths, together for 32 years.

In 2021, Geoff published an autobiography called From Shrewsbury to Hollywood.

All proceeds from that book were donated to Alzheimer's Research UK in memory of his wife Molly who passed away four years ago from Alzheimer’s.

The foreword was written by Debbie McGee and paid tribute to their friendship. 

"With my late husband, Paul Daniels, we met so many magicians, but only made real friends with a few... Geoff Ray and his late wife Pat (Molly), were two of those people,” she writes.

Geoff raised £5,000 for Alzheimer's Research UK and his family have continued to raise money for the charity through the Shropshire Fundraising Group.

On March 22nd, Paul is performing at a Music, Magic & Mayhem charity show at Bayston Hill Memorial Hall.

The event will raise money for Alzheimer's Research UK (Shropshire Fundraising Group) and the Harry Johnson Trust. 

Geoff says he hopes people will enjoy reading The Magical Life of Geoff Ray and Pat and be able to learn from his tips and tricks. 

"Publishing magic secrets in the past has always been frowned upon, but now in the 21st century just about anyone with access to the internet can just Google ‘magic’ and find out how ‘tricks’ are done.

"But manipulative magic is certainly not easy but it’s what I specialised in. It’s a skill that cannot be bought or Googled but it can be explained, which is what I have tried to do in this book, and anyone who is really interested in putting in the time and practice will benefit from the magic section,” he writes in the introduction.

The Magical Life of Geoff Ray and Pat is available now at www.amazon.co.uk/Magical-Life-Geoff-Ray-Pat/dp/B0DJ7L2YL4.