IF you are of my generation you probably remember Geoffrey Durham as the Spanish magician The Great Soprendo on children's TV show Crackerjack.

And it was in this guise that he last appeared in Cheltenham, at the Town Hall in the 1980s.

But it is the man himself who will be appearing at the town's Everyman Theatre on Friday, May 10, where he will perform some of his favourite tricks as well as offer a behind-the-scenes look at the magician's art.

Performing at the Everyman also has a special meaning to the 52-year-old entertainer, as he explained.

"It is probably the last of the great theatres that I haven't played which was designed by Frank Matcham, who designed some wonderful theatres."

Geoffrey's show, subtitled "one man's intrepid journey up his own sleeve," has already sold out venues around the country and has even left one man in a state of shock.

He said: "There's a new trick in the show where I use three wedding rings which I've borrowed from the audience and hold them in a wine glass and got him to stare at them.

"There was a fizz and smoke and I poured them out into his hand all linked together and he went all wobbly. He had to be held up. I thought he was going to faint."

Geoffrey, who is married to comedienne and actress Victoria Wood, discovered he had the magic touch at a very early age, but started his working life as an actor.

"I've been a passionate magician since the age of five but it wasn't until I was in a show when I was a bit older and somebody had to do a magic trick, and it was only then that that I discovered I had the green fingers for it."

In the show he uses the very same magic set he first had when he was a child. He loves doing live shows and is busy working on a totally new show for next year.

He said: "I love doing the show because it is a culmination of my life and my life's work and I am tremendously lucky that I can sell tickets and get people to come along and watch. It is a real privilege and I never forget that."

Besides being kept busy with his one-man show, he now appears regularly in Dictionary Corner on Channel 4's Countdown, a programme he has been a fan of for years.

"I asked to be on it. I used to watch it at 4.30pm every day in my office. I would stop work and get on my exercise bike and watch it. I love word games and word puzzles but I can't do the sums though.

"It took me ages to get on it; I worked with Carol Vorderman on a TV show and told her I loved the show and wanted to be on it, but after that I heard nothing. Then I appeared on Pebble Mill at One where Richard Whiteley was one of the guests and I asked him if I could be on it, and then much later I got the call.

"I was doing some shows the other day and out of the five shows we did, me and Susie Dent (Countdown lexicographer), came up with four nine-letter words."

Countdown fans would surely acknowledge that as an astonishing achievement and that's exactly what he aims to do in the show - astonish.

He said: "If your jaw hasn't dropped a few times by the end of the evening, then I've done something wrong."

Tickets for the show range from £7.50 to £13 and are available from the Box Office on 01242 572573.