TV Magicians: The Problem With Them

I don’t have any issues with TV Magicians or TV Mentalists for that matter. In fact, ATOM star artiste Alvin Terence has been in front of the camera a couple of times and we don’t see anything wrong entertaining people through the glass screen. HOWEVER, the big problem arises when TV magicians do the most impossible things with magic… plus with a little help of camera tricks. What that does is 1) DEVALUE THE ART OF MAGIC, 2) make the good ol’ sleight of hand seem so boring, 3) pushes the limit of existing magic secrets.

Now that may seem pretty grey; but just imagine if you saw a magician turn a dough into a 7 feet long bread.

Crazy? Yes.

Is it possible? No.

Did it push the limit of magic? Yes. In fact, the magician, Yif, who used camera tricks to achieve the magic through video edit have inspired a magician to make that a reality.

Recently there is a new TV magician in the house, Troy. Many are wondering if this new magician will break into an already cluttered area of entertainment. As Joseph Thomas mentions, Troy is “undoubtedly a genuinely nice guy, and offers a far more personal side than many magicians, but the balance between grand, mind-bending performances and simple tricks is a little bit imbalanced and could prove to be the obstacle that keeps Troy for bursting into Dynamo-level popularity.”

In conclusion, a TV magician may achieve most of his tricks with clever video edits but it is not cool for a magician to put down the abilities of the TV magicians during a show. Jealousy will not solve anything. Instead, focus on giving your audience a good show with with your personality — like what Troy is doing.

 

 

SINGAPORE MAGICIAN / MENTALIST
SINGAPORE MAGIC SCHOOL

Teller Wins Copied Magic Trick Lawsuit

If there is any magic trick that Teller (the silent half of magician duo, Penn & Teller) is famous for, it would be “Shadows”.

The trick entitled Shadows, is “essentially consists of a spotlight trained on a bud vase containing a rose. The light falls in a such a manner that the shadow of the real rose is projected onto a white screen positioned some distance behind it. Teller then enters the otherwise still scene with a large knife and proceeds to use the knife to dramatically sever the leaves and petals of the rose’s shadow on the screen slowly, one-by-one, whereupon the corresponding leaves of the real rose sitting in the vase fall to the ground, breaking from the stem at exactly the point where Teller cut the shadow projected on the screen behind it.” Have a look at the video performance below.

Integrity-less magicians have been copying acts from top magicians around the world and have gotten away with it. However the successful lawsuit against a copycat Belgian magicians Gerard Dogge have given a new light to the topic.

“What is protectable under copyright law is pantomimes, the art of conveying emotions, actions and feelings by gestures. The theatrical medium where magicians work has some of the flavor of pantomimes, and Teller has used it to his advantage.”

Read full article here.

SINGAPORE MAGICIAN / MENTALIST
SINGAPORE MAGIC SCHOOL

Dogs confused by a magic trick!

I got a big laugh out recently by this video of a person performing a magic trick to several breed of dogs. In the video you will see the most amazing reaction from dogs after witnessing a biscuit vanish by sleight of hand magic. A must watch! SINGAPORE MAGICIAN / MENTALIST SINGAPORE MAGIC SCHOOL

Psychic Uri Geller Assist with MH370 Investigations

It was reported that celebrity psychic, host and judge on NBC’s Phenomenon, Uri Geller, was requested by Malaysian officials to assist on the MH370 Investigations.

According to Uri Geller, he has been using “remote viewing” to discover the whereabouts of the Boeing 777 plane. Remote viewing (RV) is the practice of seeking decipher images of people, locations, places and objects in a mental capacity, without any foreknowledge of the subject.

Just before that, a high profile bomoh Ibrahim Mat Zin was in the news for performing a ritual at the Malaysia airport. ‘Bomoh’,the Malay word for Shaman, has its roots to Sanskrit mantera (mantras) owing to the ancient Hindu-Buddhist influence.

While others have their mysterious claims, ATOM have a list of the possible supernatural outcome that any airplane may have.

Nevertheless, #PrayForMH370.

SINGAPORE MAGICIAN / MENTALIST
SINGAPORE MAGIC SCHOOL

How to Hire a Great Entertainer (Magician, etc)

When someone pays good money for a magician or for any form of entertainment, they expect a certain level of professionalism, quality and fun. Whether the event is a wedding, trade-show or corporate event; the main objective is to make it memorable. Unfortunately, there are amateur/newbie entertainers out there who call themselves professional magicians right after purchasing a trick at a novelty shop. Newbie “entertainers” often put on a bad show, waste your money and embarrass the organizers. Here’s a tip to separate the bad magicians from the great one:

[Click here to download the PDF]

The first thing is to decide what type of magic based on the scale of your event type. Is it more than 30 pax? Is there technical systems to support the show? Magicians generally have 3 types of magic performance scale:

• 1) Close-Up Magic (or Street Magic or Roving Magic) which perfect for virtually all events with intervals, cocktail reception, etc.
• 2) Area Magic (or Parlor Magic, Mini-Stage Magic) which is perfect for a small/medium size group.
• 3) Stage Magic which is common for large events.

Next, have the entertain(s) done similar events? For high-scale events, there is zero-tolerances to hiccups; pictures and videos can deceive your decision process. Always request for a previous client contact number just to be sure. Most clients are happy to put in a good word for an entertainment they enjoyed very much. Such clients excludes, private home parties and birthday events.

Lastly, not all entertainers dressed up to the nines for all events. They may have a ragged look like Criss Angel. Nevertheless, a professional magician will have always something for the occasion.

Professional Magician and Author from America, Wayne Kawamoto, suggest to insist on a professional magician whichever state you live in. “Professional magicians provide fun, magical shows, and it can take years for a performer to hone his or her show to the point that it’s a great one. Any professional these days should have a website that offers information about them and their shows.”

Very often, the price is an indication of quality. Newbie magicians have NO overhead as they have NO office, NO staff, NO… you get what I mean no standard to get high volumes of shows. As Darren Ho mentioned, artistes get paid for the countless amount of practice hours put into practicing hard and squeezing [customized] rehearsal at short time from point of engagements to ensure quality is delivered.

Bottom-line is choosing the right entertainers can help build your event. Speak to your favorite booker/agent/organizer or directly to ATOM’s friendly staff and they will guide you everything you need to know to ensure your event goes smoothly and to fit in the right entertainment.

SINGAPORE MAGICIAN / MENTALIST
SINGAPORE MAGIC SCHOOL

Magician’s Secrets REVEALED

One of the most commonly requested tricks to perform is to 1) conjure up money and 2) to make thing disappear.

In the video below the magician will perform both of the tricks at the same time — disappearing money! Plus, the secrets of the trick will be REVEALED too!

Enjoy.

SINGAPORE MAGICIAN / MENTALIST
SINGAPORE MAGIC SCHOOL

Magic Mike Gets A Magical Twist

Magic Mike is a 2012 American comedy-drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and Matthew McConaughey. The plot revolves around Adam (Alex Pettyfer), a 19-year-old who enters the world of male stripping, guided by Mike Lane (Channing Tatum), who has been in the business for six years.

The Telegraph reports on a British children’s entertainment, Magic Mike, and how his client’s perspective have changed after the released of Hollywood blockbuster about male strippers.

Full article here.

SINGAPORE MAGICIAN / MENTALIST
SINGAPORE MAGIC SCHOOL

《賭城風雲》From Vegas to Macau — Playing Cards & Hand Doubles

From Vegas to Macau (Chinese: 賭城風雲), also known as The Man From Macau (Chinese: 澳門風雲), is a Hong Kong-Chinese crime comedy film directed by Wong Jing and starring Chow Yun-fat, Nicholas Tse, Chapman To and Jing Tian The film is the fourth installment of the God of Gamblers film series where Chow reprises his role as the titular protagonist once again since 1994’s God of Gamblers Returns. The film was released during 2014 Chinese New Year. – Source Wikipedia.

“God of Gamblers” movie fans will love this movie. Don’t worry if you have not watched the “God of Gamblers” because it is not a squeal to it. Only the last 10 seconds of the movie will make sense if you did.

Some interesting facts from the movie:

• The brand of playing cards featured in the movie are made by USPCC (United States Playing Card Company) and commonly used by magicians around the world because of its quality. Decks commonly used in movies: http://instagram.com/p/lJ5bQmn4GB/
• During the standoff dual between “Ken” 石一坚 (played by Chow Yun-Fatt) and Mr. Ko (played by Gao Hu); hand doubles were used during the visual displays of complicated card shuffling. Such complicated card shuffling are known as Card Flourish.
• Card Flourish can help a magician improve their dexterity and sleight of hand. Sample of a sleight of hand move: http://instagram.com/p/lWXEo7H4D4/

SINGAPORE MAGICIAN / MENTALIST
SINGAPORE MAGIC SCHOOL

MH370 – 7 Mysterious Possible Explanations (#PrayForMH370 )

There have been many speculations to the mysterious disappearance of MH370.

Here are 7 possible explanations to what may have happened.

1) David Copperfield made it disappear.

Master illusionist, 21 Emmy Awards winner and 11 Guinness World Records holder may have vanished a moving plane as a publicity promotion.

2) It entered the Bermuda Triangle or The Devil’s Sea.

Yes we all know the Bermuda Triangle is far from the Gulf of Thailand sea but with this time and age together with the effects of Global Warming, the Bermuda Triangle may have shifted its coordinates to a new home in Asia.

3) Someone was hungry and ate it.

High in iron and other nutrition.

4) Prediction from the movie Non-Stop.

The movie Non-Stop (Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore) was released in Malaysia on 27th February 2014. The release could have been a sign that something strange could happen. Well I mean if French seer Nostradamus could have predicted 9/11 attack, I don’t see why can’t a scriptwriter do the same. Here is a numerology approach to it:

DATE	CALCULATION	NUMEROLOGY
Movie Released Date:27 – Feb (2) – 2014	2+7+2+2+0+1+4 = 9	9
Disappearance Date:8 – Mar (3) – 2014	8+3+2+0+1+4  = 9	9
Capt Zaharie Ahmad Shah	http://www.paulsadowski.com/Numbers.asp	9
Fariq Abdul Hamid	http://www.paulsadowski.com/Numbers.asp	9

Honestly, it is freakish to see the EXACT outcome after a numerology calculation. According to some numerology experts a repeat of the same number can be a sign of a bad omen (too much of a good thing is a bad thing and there must be a balance).

5) UFO may have captured the plane.

If you think about it logically, Boeing 777 is huge commercial plane with a typical seating capacity for 314 to 451 passengers. Should it crash, debris would have been spotted even if it was at sea.

Could a UFO have abducted the entire plane for experiment purposes?

6) Ocean Whirlpool swallowed it

Here is another phenomenon, the Ocean Whirlpool. If MH370 did crash into the sea. It is possible that the Ocean Whirlpool may have swallowed it.

7) LOST — an alternative world

There are many unexplained happenings in this world. This is definitely one of them.

Could there be an alternative world we do not know? A portal that only certain people will know?

I am a little skeptical but it is getting stranger by the minute.

8) The ‘disintegration in mid-air’ theory

The plane may have disintegrated in mid-air. How likely but unlikely for us to make sense how everything is disintegrated.

http://my.news.yahoo.com/video/investigators-malaysian-airliner-may-disintegrated-024151039.html

#PrayForMH370

Mysterious disappearance of MH370 assumptions aside…. the mystery is yet to be solved and we hope that God will keep them safe. May God help the relevant authorities and bless them with the wisdom and strength to press on in search of the truth.

SINGAPORE MAGICIAN / MENTALIST
SINGAPORE MAGIC SCHOOL

Cheating/Beating The Casino With Magic Sleights

According to TODAY, “a 30-year-old man has been arrested for the possession and use of items which are believed to have facilitated his cheating at the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) casino.”

What was astounding are the items listed in group 1 and 2 from the picture. It appears that several magic products along with self constructed equipments were used to aid the alleged casino cheater with his heist.

For the full story, visit: http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/man-arrested-allegedly-cheating-mbs-casino

Looks like it is true when they say the house always wins. 🙂

SINGAPORE MAGICIAN / MENTALIST
SINGAPORE MAGIC SCHOOL