Well, I’ll be away from the 19 to the 27 of December for a break to Jakarta, Indonesia. I’ll take care of any backorders and updates when I get home, so do bear with me.
Meantime, I hope to meet up with some of the magicians over in Jakarta; Pambudi has already very generously invited me to lunch at his home. I’m sure we’ll have a great time. :)
Until I get home, cheers!
Tony came to Singapore this October to present the duo of JC Sum and Ning “MagicBabe” the coveted Merlin awards by the International Magicians’ Society (IMS). Tony is the founder of the IMS and the World president/CEO. He has established himself as one of the biggest names of Magic in the world.
It was indeed an honour and a privilege for Singapore to have such an illustrious and famous magician visit us; and even more so to have two new awardees of the prestigious Merlin award. Surely JC and Ning have put us on the world map with their accomplishments!
It was with great anticipation that I made my way to meet one of the icons of magic on 2 Oct. It was a Monday and I could only make it after my work: I was really exhausted, but the adrenaline in my blood kept my feet moving.
Bob Chua has had a long standing relationship with Tony over the years via email correspondence even though they had never formally met. Incidentally, Bob was also the very first (and only until recently) Merlin Award recipient in Singapore. Bob is also the current President of the IMS Chapter in Singapore. Hence, it was also Bob who caught up with Tony first when he arrived in Singapore.
I found Tony with Bob and Gordon that afternoon filming the sights of Orchard Road in Singapore. He was more than a pleasant fellow and has a highly evolved sense of humour. Tony was a fun-loving and humble guy in spite of his international success as both a film maker and a magician.
We had a great time that day – between sharing meals and the occasional beer, we shared stories about almost everything – from magic to girls (not babes). He even shared with us his theories on the shelf-lives of males versus females. It was truly a rib-wreaking experience for all of our funny bones.
Just a beer (or two; no three) for the road…
I’m really happy for JC and Ning in their success. I think it’s a huge milestone in Singapore Magic and the two of them have done a great deal to put Singapore on the world map in magic. In JC’s blog, he wrote that he helped to ‘pave the way’ for future magicians in bringing Tony to Singapore. I agree with him; though I’m sure not in the way he might have meant.
The workshop at Singapore Press Holdings was a huge success. Many thanks go out to the people who made this such an event to remember for the participants - most of them students from the various secondary schools in Singapore. There were a few parents in the crowd as well and they were equally enthralled!
Enrico Varella gave a fantastic presentation and opened the workshop with a bang! He presented a brief history of magic and shared many of his personal life anecdotes with the eager participants. His performance of the Professor's Nightmare was masterful, as was his 'Hanging Coins'.
Bob Chua adopted a more informal approach and entertained questions from the audience about his life as a professional magician. He also gave an impressive performance as he wowed the crowd with his sleight of hand skills during the break.
The student leaders (from St Joseph's Institution, Raffles Junior College and Xin Min Secondary school) chosen to run the workshop each performed a couple of effects on stage - all of them were nothing shy of Aces. It was truly humbling for me: it was almost a fleeting glimpse into the future as I watched the next generation of up and coming magicians at their best. Some of them made mistakes owing to the tremendous pressure and stress (for most, it was the first time that they had to perform under such conditions), but their quick thinking allowed them to extricate themselves out of the unexpected trouble. All carried themselves very well - with dignity and respect for the art and their audience.
Many thanks to SPH for giving us a chance to be a part of this amazing event - I hope we have in our own minor way contributed to the future of magic in this little corner of the world.
Enrico Varella and Bob Chua
Father and son team
Students enmasse
Braving the humidity and heat magicians of the Singapore Magic Circle took to the streets of The Singapore Management University to help promote an event encouraging youths to take on Social Enterprise for Charity.
The event started at 3:30pm where the first shift of magicians – comprising mostly of the youngest group – took up arms (in the form of cards and close-up tables) and hit the crowd. They were later joined by the people in the second and third shifts which saw everyone exhausted at the end of the day, winding down just shy of 7pm.
I must say that I was very impressed by the commitment level put in by everyone. They worked hard and almost everyone turned up earlier than their scheduled time, making it a really easy event to manage (particularly on my side… :P).
Though the crowd was not as dense as I had anticipated (due to some programme changes in the organisation), our guys did their best to draw a crowd and entertain the attendees. It was an easy and smooth event; our guys were superb – check out the photos: I’ve posted them on a new SMC facebook account I created to make posting material easy.
You can also view the photos here:
@ Ulu Pandan CC
In planning for this workshop, I had a few reservations about the crowd I was reaching out to. Right from the beginning, I had always wanted to keep such material in the hands of responsible and serious magicians who would not only respect the material, but also do it justice through fastidious practice and attention to detail.
Then there was the issue of those who had purchased the DVD and those who hadn't. I didn't want the guys who had not bought the DVD to pick up all the material from the discs for next to nothing - it won't be fair to those who bought it; but I also didn't want the guys who HAD bought the DVD to get nothing more than a rehash of the discs - it wouldn't have been worth their while. So in the end, I had to work out different material for this workshop. I think it went well.
It was an enriching experience for me in the design and the sharing of the material. I had barely enough time to cover everything I wanted to share - I know I rushed a little to try and do more material. That might be something I would want to consider when I conduct the workshop on the bottom deal later.
Still, I hope everyone had a good time and brought something home with them. Shawn (my brilliant young photographer) had sent me the photos of the event and I thought I'd post them here.
Thanks once again to everyone who had made this a possibility!
Loads of thanks to everyone who turned up and made this gathering one of the most successful ones in a LONG time! The turn out was good and everyone was sporting enough to mingle and have a great time together!
Kudos to the people who took the plunge and actually took their turns performing
I sincerely hope that all who turned up had a great time and perhaps ‘levelled up’ in their magic in some way or other. Enjoy the following pictures!
(My apologies to those who went earlier… I think my phone had a glitch and I missed taking photos of those guys.)
Xiang Long and Justin in the photo enjoying the show.
Once again, I want to thank all the performers for taking the plunge (I know I had to twist a few arms but hey – you guys were really sporting! It felt good right!?) and making this a truly memorable SMC gathering!Thanks also to all the MODs who made a concerted effort to facilitate the event with your presence and help!
Do drop a post or message if you have any feedback or comments on ANYTHING! :) Look forward to hearing from you and seeing you again soon!
Every deck has a 'gold' seal and a sticker that reads "Traditionally cut for the Professional".
Each deck comes with two identical jokers (which is a really great plus - I hate to have to work with the 'guarantee' joker; a blank card for customised effects (perhaps?); and an advertising card for Richard Turner.
The deck is smooth as any linoid finish deck even though it says 'air cushion' finish. The cards are cut out of standard casino stock - just the right thickness for extended and optimum use. The quality of the cards are unparalled - they feel really slick; they are crisp to the snap; and they'd make anyone who handled this deck drool. False deals are wondrously smooth and easy - you can spoil yourself silly with this one. Seconds melt right through the top; bottoms slip right off with little resistance; even centres are a breeze - there is barely any noise as the card makes its way past the offending blocks that imprison it.
