Paul Zenon
| Paul Zenon | |||
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Paul Zenon in 2012
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| Born |
Paul Collins 29 June 1964 Skipton, Yorkshire, United Kingdom |
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| Residence |
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| Nationality | British | ||
| Occupation | magician, skeptic, comedian, writer, actor | ||
| Website | http://www.paulzenon.com/ | ||
Paul Zenon (born Paul Collins on 29 June 1964) is an English stage and TV magician, comedian, presenter, corporate entertainer, commentator, writer and actor. He has appeared in numerous television shows and is an outspoken skeptic with strong views on claims of psychic abilities and the paranormal. He is the author of three published books on magic, proposition bets and practical jokes, respectively, and an expert on the history of Magic and magicians, Variety and unusual entertainments. His specialist subjects include illusionist, escape artiste and Spiritualist debunker Harry Houdini, faux Chinese magician Chung Ling Soo, and Jasper Maskelyne, the 'War Magician'. Paul is a Member of the Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star status and was the recipient of their Carlton Award for Comedy 2015.
Throughout his teenage years, Paul spent the school summer holidays working in the Blackpool magic and joke shop 'The House of Secrets' which was run by Bill Thompson, who became his lifelong friend and mentor. When he died in March 2012, he was honoured by Paul and his other protégés with a one-off variety show 'Bill's Magical Mystery Tour' held at the Pavilion Theatre at Blackpool's Winter Gardens in August 2013.
After early performances at seaside hotels, with several dates supporting rock band Hawkwind on tour and being the lead singer in Blackpool band Crackousrockanroll, at the age of 19 Paul travelled Europe as a street performer, performing magic and fire-eating and supplementing his income with fortune-telling. On his return to the UK, he began performing in summer seasons and comedy clubs and went on to host tours for the British, UN and US Forces in locations including Germany, Gibraltar, Benbecula, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Belize, Argentina, the Falkland and Ascension Islands and on board the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible.
Paul has performed and presented at corporate events worldwide since the early eighties and more recently has been a regular performer at international Arts and Fringe Festivals including Edinburgh, Brighton, London, Dublin, Cork, Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland, both as guest performer and with his own solo shows, 'Turning Tricks', 'Off the Street, On the Road', 'Cabinet of Curiosities', 'Lounge Wizard' and 'Linking Rings'. He has also produced and presented shows in his own bespoke venue, 'The Marquee de Sideshow' at the Edinburgh, Adelaide and Brisbane Festivals. Since its inception in 2003, he has been a long-term regular in the Olivier award-winning New Variety show 'La Clique' and its spin-off production 'La Soiree'.
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