MAGIC MEN: Paul Bates (right), aka Zappo the Magician, with his magician father Ken Bates.PHOTO/FILE A-190510WCTGMAGIC01
MAGIC MEN: Paul Bates (right), aka Zappo the Magician, with his magician father Ken Bates.PHOTO/FILE A-190510WCTGMAGIC01
A former Wanganui man has been named the best children's entertainer in New Zealand.
Paul Bates, known as Zappo the Magician, took out the supreme children's entertainer award by the Variety Artists' Club of New Zealand on Sunday night.
The award is decided by industry peers.
Zappo the Magician wasborn and raised in Wanganui and is based in Greytown. He has been entertaining children full-time for nearly 20 years.
In 2010 he was awarded best children's entertainer at the New Zealand International Magicians' Convention, and in 2012 he won best stage act at the same convention.
Zappo the Magician comes from a family of magicians. His father, Ken Bates, who is still based in Wanganui, is a New Zealand Grand Master of Magic; and his grandfather was also a magician.
Zappo performs regularly throughout the Wellington region. He's no stranger to Wanganui audiences either - each year he includes Wanganui in a tour of the lower North Island. He has also performed at schools in Vanuatu.
