Paul's simply magic - and that's official!
Most of us were given a magic set as a Christmas or birthday present sometime during our childhood years and remember waving that magic wand and chanting the words 'Abracadabra'. But how many of us actually understood how to achieve real magic with that little set?

One who has mastered the art, starting with his first magic set as a six year old is Paul Edwards, a computer lecturer at Coleg Menai. But you won't find a magic wand or a bunny rabbit in a hat anywhere near Paul's magic tricks!

As those of you who saw him recently on the Welsh television programme Heno will know Paul, who hails from Bala but is now based at Tynygongl on Anglesey, specialises in Close-up Magic (Sleight of Hand) using mainly cards, coins and small boxes. He is a member of the North Wales Magic Circle and the International Brotherhood of Magicians and a few weeks ago he won the North Wales Clos-Up Magician of the Year award in the North Wales Magic Circle's annual competition in Rhyl. This is the second time for him to win this title.

After graduating in Computer Studies at Glamorgan University and before joining the teaching staff at Coleg Menai he worked as a professional magician mainly in hotels and conferences across Britain.

"Magic is something very skillful and I am learning new tricks all the time. There is never a time when I don't have a pack of cards close at hand and I practice my tricks during any spare time that I have."

Married to Nia and a dad to two year old Catrin Glyn, Paul has already started practising his magic tricks on his daughter.

"It is extremely important to practice and develop new tricks because once you are out of practice, it is very difficult to back into it again. I have to practice my tricks on someone to see what works and what doesn't work."

But the big question that everyone has to ask is - what are his magic secrets? "I am revealing nothing," he said jokingly.