PARISH PROFILE

Wellesbourne has a wizard and his name is Mel Harvey.

A member of the Magic Circle he is one of only a few to be awarded its highest honour; namely membership of the Inner Magic Circle with ‘Gold Star’ for excellent performance.

Mel’s love of magic began at the age of twelve when he won a box of magic tricks in a newspaper competition. But it was a while before he could turn his love of magic into a long and successful career. He worked as a legal executive in his native Birmingham for ten years before he became Butlin’s resident entertainer for a season at Ayr in 1969. Following an appearance on TV’s ‘Opportunity Knocks’ Mel headed off to South Africa for a season at ‘The Crazy Horse Saloon’ in Durban. He then appeared on ‘The Sooty Show’ on TV and Mel still has a Sooty given to him by the puppet’s creator, Harry Corbett following a successful theatre tour. Mel later appeared on ‘Rainbow’, ‘3-2-1’, and with Lionel Blair

on ‘Saturday Royal’. He also appeared on a number of occasions with Ken Dodd on his ‘Laughter Shows’.

Mel then toured the circuit with his own character Presto the Magic Rabbit which led to further tours with The Care Bears, The Trolls, The Smurfs, The Wombles, Rupert the Bear and Old MacDonald’s Farm. Mel’s comedy cabaret act then hit the high seas and he has worked on all the major cruise lines including P&O, Saga, Holland-America and Silverseas. On a slightly less successfully note Mel admits to have being voted off in only the second round of ‘Weakest Link’!

However, Mel’s work was to bring its greatest reward when he met Nicky, whom he would later marry, while performing in cabaret on a cruise ship in the United Arab Emirates. When he’s not entertaining, Mel himself enjoys being entertained with visits to the theatre and the cinema.

For music he likes Country and Western and Rock and Roll, and Fawlty Towers, Rising Damp and Benny Hill make him laugh.

So too does Tommy Cooper who is Mel’s Hero. Mel’s main hobbies are model trains and fly fishing. He was introduced to the latter by Ken Perks who has been the designer for Mel’s publicity for all his touring shows and has become a lifelong friend.

Mel is always keen to use his talents to help good causes. He is a fundraiser and volunteer for the Shakespeare Hospice and the Macmillan Cancer Trust. After a recent show in Kineton organised by Wellesbourne Lions, Mel presented £900 to Shakespeare Hospice. Any local charity who would like to stage a comedy magic show is welcome to ring Mel on 01789 470331.

Mel has lived in Wellesbourne for the past six years. He likes the village. It is close to the M40 which is useful when he’s touring. He can walk to all the amenities and, as he says, the people are friendly.

NLB