
London Calling talks to Bill Davenport from the world's oldest magic shop.
With the release of action-packed, magic movie âNow You See Me 2â on Blu-Ray and DVD this month, we thought we would make a little magic of our own by visiting the worldâs oldest continuously owned magic shop, right here in the heart of London. Located in a dusty, underground corner of Charing Cross, Davenports has been supplying Londoners with magical miscellanea and tremendous tricks since 1898. We sat down with Bill Davenport, the great-grandson of original owner Lewis Davenport, to find out more the secret of Davenportsâ success - itâs a kind of magic.
London Calling: Tell us a little bit about your family and how Davenports magic shop began.
Bill Davenport: The business was started way back in 1898 by my great-grandfather Lewis Davenport. He was a performer for the music halls and he used to do a magic act. When he was only 16, he started a business from his house in the Mile End Road in East London. And then in the early part of the 20th Century, he opened up his first shop in the West End and weâve been in the area ever since. Weâve moved around quite a lot - weâve been here since 1984 but before that we used to be opposite the British Museum in Great Russell Street.
LC: And what makes the current shop different from the previous ones?
BD: This is the first time weâve had an actual studio with the shop, so thereâs a little more to us now. We do classes here and we have the magic clubs that meet here as well.
LC: Did you always want to take over the family business?
BD: Itâs gone down in my family and Iâve been in the shop all my life, so I havenât known much else. When I was a kid I used to come here on holidays and help out. It was never really forced on me but I just enjoyed doing it. After uni, I spent 10 years in IT and didnât particularly like that. So I quit IT and came back here full time. And itâs great fun. Itâs very different, but to me itâs just normal. Itâs quite a niche profession, but thereâs always something going on and magicâs always changing, so I really enjoy it.
LC: Davenports is the worldâs oldest continuously owned magic shop and has even won a Guinness World Record for this achievement. Whatâs the secret to the shopâs success and longevity?
BD: I donât think thereâs any real secret; I think we all just muck in! Quite a few businesses have been lost to things being sold online now, and we obviously have an online presence, but I think thereâs no substitute for an actual shop where people can come in and meet people. Often with magic, you need to tailor the trick to the person, so we try to suggest different ways of learning and if someone has a problem with a certain move then we try to help them. So I think itâs all about being proactive and being interested in people.
LC: How have you seen magic evolve over the years?
BD: I think magic goes through fashions. For example, in the 70s and 80s we had Paul Daniels who had a certain style, and then that moved on to other people like Darren Brown and Dynamo, so magic has always been evolving. We have customers who have been coming to the shop for literally 60 or 70 years and I think the core of magic hasnât really changed very much. I quite like the whole creativity side of magic. Often a magician will pick up an old idea and think ok, how can I change this around re-jig it for todayâs audience. I think each person who does magic has his or her own slightly different outlook on it.
LC: With current films like Now You See Me, Now You See Me 2 and The Prestige, have you seen magic increase in popularity? Has business increased because of it?
BD: I think these films spark peopleâs imaginations. We donât see a massive deluge of people coming into the shop after a film like this has been released, but I think thereâs more of a general awareness afterwards. We find thereâs a slight increase in business and people phoning us up who are curious about magic, so they come along to us and we try to put them on the right road.
LC: Do you have a favourite trick?
BD: A long time ago I used to do a lot of competitions around the UK and around Europe, and I used to do a thing called cups and balls which is probably the worldâs oldest trick. But I quite like the idea of reinventing things, so I thought of different ways of doing it, using colour changes for example. I also like card tricks but I think all magicians do card tricks.
LC: Where do you see Davenports in another 100 years?
BD: Well Iâd like to still have a shop; I think thatâs always been our core business and I think magic will always be an interactive art form. Iâve also been working on various courses on offer here, for children and adults, for beginners and intermediate people as well. Iâm also developing a creativity course because I think magicians are very creative individuals and they have their own way of looking at things. So what Iâm trying to do is put together a series of courses to help people who do not necessarily want to do magic but want to maybe expand their creativity. Weâll be using magic as a tool to explain how to boost your creativity and to see things in a slightly different way.
LC: What do you think the future of magic looks like?
BD: Magicians seem to always have a similar personality - theyâre quite inquisitive people and they like to look at things in a slightly abstract way. I think that core bit of being a magician will stay the same. What we put around it will change though. I think Iâd like to see a future where everyone is doing a bit of magic. Fifty years ago, magicians would try to keep things secret and not teach anybody else their tricks. I think itâs not a problem if everyone does a few tricks. You can still be fooled - Iâm still fooled sometimes, which I love! I think magicâs going in lots of different directions and to a certain extent, it boils down to whether youâre an optimist or a pessimist.
LC: Any advice for budding magicians?
BD: Donât give up! Keep going, donât try anything too complicated at first, try to do things that are right for you and just simply be yourself and enjoy it. Learn and read books and talk to other people and get out and do it!
Davenports is located at 7 Charing Cross Underground Arcade, The Strand, London, WC2N 4HZ, A4, London WC2N 4HZ. Itâs open Monday - Friday 9:30am-5:30 and Saturdays 9:30-4:30. Visit them online.
Now You See Me 2 will be available to download now and on Blu-ray, DVD, Double Pack DVD and DVD Bonus Disc Edition from 7 November 2016.