UriGeller.com

So when my German producers at ProSieben TV announced they were flying me to the Leonardo headquarters at Bad Driberg, south of Hannover, I was keen to add to my collection.

What I was not expecting was an entire building constructed from glass. And I certainly never imagined I would be throwing myself from its highest parapet.

Every year ProSieben gathers its roster of stars to shoot a spectacular ident sequence based on its slogan, “We love to entertain you”. A TV ident is its logo — think of BBC1’s circling hippos and swirling banners, which evolved from the old ‘spinning globe’ ident.

My show, which returns for a second series in Germany in the new year, topped the ratings and made a household name of its winner, the eerie mentalist Vincent Raven.

I know to my cost that Herr Raven’s act uses three real ravens that are anything but tame. One of them almost had my finger off when we were filming in Switzerland in the autumn, and I have a jagged scar where its beak sliced me to the bone.

So when I learned that my segment of the ident featured more ravens, I was not pleased. “Cutlery,” I insisted. “And watches. I’ve been working with bent forks for 40 years, and I have never so much as scratched myself. But not ravens... they’re dangerous.”

The director rushed to mollify me. “There’s no danger, I promise you won’t even have to see a bird. It’s all done with computers — our graphics wizards will turn you into a raven and you’ll flap away. Perfectly safe... all you have to do is jump off the building.”

And what a building. Vertical panes of shimmering glass, mirroring a parkland threaded with white concrete like veins, which trace paths across the grass and up the sides of the construction.

Called the Leonardo Cube, it was designed by radical architect firm 3design, and it has won every award going. I was deeply impressed by its elegance, and the interior took my breath away — a vast open space, with a parapet like a lip running all round it, just below the ceiling.

“You stand up there,” the director explained, “you jump off, you turn into a raven and fly away. Beautiful.”

A short, intense discussion followed.

It was the stunt crew, Katja and Mark, who did the jumping and plunging in the end. I stood at the brink of the parapet, firmly braced by a safety harness, and the camera cut away before I appeared to fall.

Closer to the ground, I was hoisted into the air on a cable in front of a green screen and hung with my arms outstretched like a bird. It felt more like yoga than real flying, but I know the finished shot, with a background imposed by computer, will create the illusion that I’m soaring far above the landscape.

My brother-in-law Shipi watched with a broad grin. “Is it a bird?” he called out. “Is it a plane? No, it’s Spooner-man!”

We flew back to London, by the traditional passenger jet, for a presentation which I’ve been keeping secret for months. My dear friend David Berglas, who has been among the world’s most brilliant conjurors for half a century or more, was to bestow on me an award for Services to Magic, at the 37th International Magic Convention in London.

Before the worldwide success of my show, I would never have considered accepting such a trophy, even though it was a personal tribute from David’s own organisation, the Berglas Foundation.

I have never called myself a magician, and much of my fame has been fuelled by the controversy between scientists whose lab tests have demonstrated that my powers are genuine and sceptics who refuse to accept the evidence of their own eyes.

There is no doubt, however, that my live shows have generated huge excitement about magic, mystery, illusion and the power of the human mind, from Los Angeles to Vladivistock. And for magicians young and old around the world, that has got to be a good thing.

And of course I was flattered to be honoured by David, who is a legend... he is not only an iconic magician but also an illusionist, a mentalist, a mystifyer and above all a beautiful man inside and out.

There were questions from the packed house, which included President of the Magic Circle Ali Bongo, and I mystified more than a few with my refusal to be labelled as a psychic or an illusionist.

I’m content to let people make up their own minds... and to remember the wise words of Albert Einstein: “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious, it is the source of all true art and science.

He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.”