Interview with Lawrence and Priscilla Khong

RDM: How did the concept of Vision come about?

Lawrence: For almost ten years, I have been working on a magic theater show where you use magic to tell a story – very much like a musical uses songs to weave everything together. It is very challenging to merge the two genres together as when the magic is strong, the story suffers, and having an overpowering storyline may distract the audience from the beauty and meaning behind the magic.

However, having done this for almost ten years, I’ve had the pleasure of knowing some of the most creative minds in the industry, both in Singapore and overseas. It was Samantha Scott-Blackhall, VISION’s Creative Director, who came up with a truly unique story and concept of transporting the father and daughter duo into various fantasy worlds made up of their past memories. This gave us the platform and artistic direction to pull all the stops in producing impactful and fantastical illusions while telling a powerful story of family ties, love and emotional healing. I fell in love with the concept right away.

Priscilla: We also brainstormed with Don Wayne, the magic consultant of David Copperfield for 17 years, to put together some illusions that are brand new and others that will fit the unique storyline. Our key objective is to keep the whole show contemporary, really hip and visually spectacular. There will not be the typical music for theatre. I want it to be a cross between a pop concert, magic show and a grand theatre play.

RDM: What makes Vision different from other magic theater shows out there? (Las Vegas Illusion Shows etc.)

Lawrence: Both Priscilla and I are always looking to raise our level of magic and push the boundaries with each production that we do. So with VISION, our audience can expect a spectacular groundbreaking show that is truly one of a kind. We are the only ones in Asia who use enormous, elaborate and often deadly props that defy all logic and reason. The Nam Escape which we will debut at VISION is a good example of our unique brand of magic where we want to deliver innovative and cutting edge world-class performances to the audiences and magic fraternity. We’ll even be incorporating amazing 3D projection mapping which has never been used in a magic theater production.

In a nutshell, there is not another show like VISION anywhere else in the world. This is a combination of a full magic show and a full theater show with a storyline. There is simply no similar production in the world today.

RDM: What are the main challenges faced while preparing for a show of this scale?

Lawrence: First, magic must be presented not just in an entertaining way, but in a convincing way. Just making someone appear or disappear on the stage does not cut it. A magician must also have the stage presence to not let your props – especially big ones, overshadow you. Another challenge linked to this is seamlessly blending both theatrical and magic elements such as music, lighting, movement and story-telling to create an experience of wonder for the audience. This is a challenge. You have to find a good balance between magic and story-telling so that both the quality and impact of the magic are not compromised.

Priscilla: Playing the part of both magician and actor is also a personal challenge for both my dad and I. This means that we must be able to execute the magical effects without thinking so that we can focus on the role of an actor to deliver and drive the story in a realistic way.

The scale of the illusions is the biggest we have ever done even though we have been doing illusions for the last 10 years. Some of these illusions are so big that we cannot even practice them until we move into the Esplanade theatre.

RDM: Tell us what makes Vision the must-catch magic theatre show of 2011?

Lawrence: VISION is the only show of its kind in the world where the audience will not just watch magic but be drawn into and experience fantastical worlds of magical experiences. VISION has brought together some of the best and brightest creative talent in the industry. We have a wonderful script written by our Creative Director, Samantha Scott-Blackhall and the music written by Kenn C, the music director for Stephanie Sun and F.I.R., is really exciting and edgy. Not forgetting Don Wayne, my magic consultant and director who has been with David Copperfield for 17 years, and the list goes on. There are also many brand new illusions that we will debut at VISION such as the deadly Nam Escape – a new dangerous and difficult stunt involving giant sharpened iron spikes mounted on two mammoth 10 feet (3m) “wheels”.

RDM: The duo (Lawrence and Priscilla) have been known for other big scale productions like magic box, is this the biggest production… yet?

Lawrence: Every major performance that we do has its own unique character and statement, and we always aim to outdo ourselves with every performance. For MAGICBOX, we focused more on the unfolding of the story and in the acting. In VISION, we choose to transport the audience into a surreal world of past of memories and create the tension through sight and sound. It is this sensory experience that gives VISION its unique flavor which sets it apart from our past productions. In terms of the scale, magnitude and complexity of both the illusions and productions, this is Gateway Entertainment and MOLP’s biggest production to date.

The reason we chose to transport the audience into a surreal world is that it allows us to fully exploit the power of the art of enchantment of magic using sight and sound without diminishing the strength of the touching story line. This enables us to have the best of both worlds (i.e. the world of magic and the world of theatre).

Priscilla: In terms of the scale and elaborateness of the production, VISION is the biggest magic show not just in Singapore but in the world! Besides showcasing world-class illusions, the state of the art magic props are built by the best illusion builders in the world. As with all large-scale theatre productions, there will be production costs involved, adding to the existing costs of producing a normal magic show, it all adds up to the really high production value required to create a truly memorable and spectacular piece of theatre.

RDM: How would you like your audience to feel leaving the show?

Lawrence: Thoroughly entertained, thoroughly satisfied with an unforgettable experience of magical wonder.

Priscilla: Inspired and touched by a riveting, confounding and undeniably unforgettable story of love between a father and his daughter. I also want them to walk out saying, ‘Wow! What a show!!’

Lawrence and Priscilla’s determination to deliver a world-class show is palpable through their world class illusions, experienced consultants and producers, and their relentless strive for perfect in their rehearsals. For more information, visit www.vision.sg

Get inside scoops on their ‘Live’ in Penang lecture which will be taking place in Jan 2011! Also find out more about their upcoming 8th mega illusion, The Aerial Exit.

The video is set in two parts!

Part One:

Part 2:

For your convenience, we have converted it to .pdf format so that you guys can download it and read it offline! Enjoy!

Transcript of the Interview with Nique Tan

Nique Tan - Leading Closeup Magician

Transcript of the Interview with Nique Tan

RDM: What have you been up to recently?

Nique: Recently I’ve just have been the same…working, performing…so at least that keeps me busy! Magic keeps me busy, even on my off days I’m doing magic.

RDM: What is the niche area that you have established yourself as a magician?

Nique: When I started performing professionally I told myself I will only do close-up. Then, because of the scale…I mean, there are a lot of players in the market and different players have different sizes. Based on the size I was operating in, it was necessary to do other kinds of shows besides close-up magic. So that’s where I started branching out to stage performances and I’m doing a bit of mentalism now which usually only plays at bigger corporate events.

RDM: What is your identity when you perform?

Nique: I position myself as an entertainer. One of my strong points as an entertainer is my flexibility because, while I can be the serious person performing close-up magic or stage magic or whatever, I do a lot of children parties. Every weekend I am doing birthday parties as well. The kids’ shows market was something that took me quite some time to pick up because it’s a whole new ball game altogether. There are different skills that are involved. Many people see kids’ magicians as the not so magician kind of magician but there’s a science to kids magic and I’m quite proud of my kids’ shows.

RDM: Do you have anyone who inspires you in your magic career?

Nique: Along the way there were many, many people. Err…my thoughts on magic were influenced a lot by people like Gary Kurtz…

Nique: I was also looking at people like Larry Jennings, John Bannon, David Williamson… In the recent times, not the oldies kinda of category, would be people like Greg Wilson, Guy Hollingworth, Derren Brown definitely. Max Maven, Tommy Wonder and many many people! They’ve all inspired me in one way or another, either their thoughts or their methods.

RDM: How did you get to chat up with Gary Kurtz?

Nique: It was through emails. I spoke to him via emails at one point of time, a couple years back. I remember it was during the SARS period because in Canada there was the SARS thing as well. That gave me a rough timeline as to when I was speaking to him. At that point of time he was doing mentalism but I don’t think he had his stage show up yet. But now, it’s quite hard to contact him.

RDM: Long regarded as one of the leading sleight of hand experts in Singapore, do you feel there’s a particular sleight of hand that is underrated by the magic community?

Nique: Yeah. In card magic, the Erdnase change is what I feel many people don’t do as much because it’s extremely practical as a colour change. There are many other fancy colour changes out there but the Erdnase change when done well will look really good. Also because of the different finesses and the small bits of technique that make it different. That’s how you can make it look a lot better because many people do it as how I was described during the session (Interview was done after Nique Tan’s lecture at Magic Circle) A combination of a lot things can make the trick look better.

RDM: Some people learn it from the DVD, some from videos or even books. How do you work on the Erdnase colour change this way? Did you have any guidance?

Nique: I didn’t have any guidance for this move. Many magicians have told me that the way I do this move looks different from others. Up till now I don’t know why and how it became like that but I learnt this move from the book “Expert at the card table”. Then I started working on the move and it became like that. I do think its part of the process that I take when I approach magic. When I practice, I think a lot. I think about “Okay…this doesn’t look good. How can I improve it? My hands are not as big as that guy’s, so how can I change it?” So I think a lot about making little little changes be it in stage magic or close up magic. The changes I make are very very small. I’m a better performer than creator and my inputs to magic are very minor but what I choose to do I try to do it well.

RDM: I remember you said you had your first gig at some pub. How was it like getting your first paying gig? How did you convince yourself that you’re worth that certain value?

Nique: Mm okay. I was paid very little. It was like a token sum. But as a young kid, if you were to get money doing tricks, at that point of time it felt good! I was telling myself that this could work out but well, I obviously have to charge a lot higher. Haha! It felt good, basically, and that feeling just kept me going.

RDM: There’s a difference between audiences who pay to watch you perform and those whom you are engaged to entertain. How do you handle hecklers and difficult situations?

Nique: This is a common question as this is very real. We do magic and everybody tries to screw you up. It’s always a certain kind of person, doesn’t matter where or how it happens, they can all be categorized into one particular kind. I don’t know when situations like these will arise, so I just do what I need to do and if I encounter certain characters.. In the past, I had no say as the audience were made up of people older than I was and as a young man I had no authority or control over the group. But as when you get older, you’ll try to fight back rebelliously by throwing more tricks at them, thinking that ‘Okay, you know how this is done? Let me show you this, lagi best’. That was another phase.

Now, I just don’t bother, if the guy is heckling me all the time, I just finish the trick as fast as I can, to give it a logical ending, take my leave and move on to the next group as he doesn’t deserve to see more. I really enjoy performing magic to groups of people who really enjoy themselves and we all have a good time. Life is short; I don’t want to waste my time fighting with people who don’t appreciate magic. So that’s the progression to how I handle it these days.

RDM: You mentioned in your book that now you start by first introducing yourself, asking how the evening is going. So is that amount time included in the time you give yourself to spend with that group?

Nique: Hmm, I don’t categorise it as such but I do know that for each group I normally do about 3 effects. Because of the way I structure the routines, they are modular and it means that I can stop at any time and it will still make sense. At events, it’s good to have routines like that because when you’re performing and somebody comes in to serve drinks, the effect stops halfway and it’s hard to pick up again. Or if you’re halfway through and someone comes behind you and goes, “Hey! Long time no see!”
With modular routines, you can stop at any time and it’ll help with handling these situations as you can stop, take your leave and go. As long as I get through 3 effects, I am more or less covered with that group. It varies from group to group, for some groups I may rush through it due to time constraints or the nature of the group, where it is awkward and no matter what you do they are just going to be uninterested. If I parted the Red Sea, they would just be like, “Okay lor.”
On the other hand, if there are people who really enjoy themselves, I would spend more time with them. It benefits everybody. I spend more time with them, they laugh and clap more, I feel happier as a performer, my client feels happy, and everybody feels happy.

RDM: You say that you have 2 sets of routines of 3 effects and you perform them interchangeably. So what happens if now, I have 2 sets of routines and after every 2 sets, I’ll have to go somewhere to reset my tricks because I can’t do it in front of them. I find that stops the tempo so how do you cope with that?

Nique: Tempo as you mentioned is very important. Starting your performance at the event, the tempo is hard to build; the first group is always difficult. Even today, I still find it hard. There are some days I just don’t feel like it, you know? You’re tired after 3 or 4 kid shows and in the evening you have to do close-up, it needs determination. That is why you should not spend too much time on the ‘bad’ group because it kills your motivation and disrupts your momentum. Once you have a good group, keep them. It’s a strange thing but your good groups will keep coming.
Okay, back to the question. I work the reset into the trick itself, so at the end of the sequence I know that certain things will always be in certain places. Let’s say for extreme burn, my extreme burn is kept inside my jacket’s pocket. So what happens is, after the effect happens I’ll keep the money. I do do do do do, and I’ll know everything will reset itself because of the design. All I have to do to reset is put my hand inside to reset it, it’s just the matter of knowing which flap to push. You just got to know the orientation you put it in. All these come with practice! To actually do it and know that if I orientate the fold this way, then later my hand goes in and I’ll have to do that, flip it over and it’s reset. So it’s a matter of structuring things. But extreme burn is something that I would reset while going to the next group.

RDM: How about resetting your decks?

Nique: Sometimes, as a professional performer, it’s worth it to change the effect or the method slightly just so that the effect resets itself. For the Red-Blue double-backers, they’re always here to have them out is just a matter of taking them out and putting them into the deck, it’s quite easily accomplished in between effects.
You don’t have to be instantly ready-to-go the moment you’re finished with a group…while introducing yourself, your hands can be doing this *fumbles around*. Nowadays, I just tell them I’m the magician and I’m not shy about it. Just be proud that you’re the magician, because it may sound tacky saying “Hi, I’m the magician and I’m going to show you some tricks.” But if you act confident about it then a certain ‘air’ will be projected..this ‘air’ of Good Stuff and people will reciprocate with “Okay, let’s watch!” instead of being shy. Now that you mention it, I do reset some things in front of the audience, making all sorts of funny actions which may not be the best but it works for me. Haha.

RDM: So sorry to take up so much of your time!

Nique: No, it’s fine!

RDM: LAST QUESTION  Tell us something that no one knows about you. Maybe something that not even your wife knows…

Nique: MY WIFE?! Hahaha! Hmm let me think…

RDM: Or share with us about a funny incident or most interesting incident while performing?

Nique: Most interesting incident while performing? Nothing very interesting, just a lot of funny or weird stuff. Okay, I used to have this guy… Oh but this is not magic-related, it’s music as I was doing music quite a bit at one time. There was this old man who would come and support me and my band mates. He would come up to us and would take individual photos of us… every week, whenever we were performing. And the next week, he would come up to you personally and give you a developed copy of the previous week’s photo. He would get you to sign it and you would think that you would give it to him, right? But no, he gives it to you! I found that guy very very cute. Ah, there has to be something more interesting la! Man… I can’t think of anything that might be news-worthy or shocking. Oh, character-wise, I need to do something over and over again, I am the kind that would lock the door 10 times just to make sure it’s closed.

RDM: That’s like OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)!!

Nique: Yeah yeah yeah!! A little bit! I’m a little bit like that. I’m extremely obsessive. Once I do something, I need to learn everything about it but once I learn everything about it, I will stop and look for something else to do. I’m very into handicraft and at one time I was very into making wallets. So I learnt how to sew and in the process learnt how to make gas wallets and stuff. I had a wallet which worked as a fire wallet, a peek wallet and a card wallet. It was a strange strange looking design…

Nique: But once I learnt how to make it, I stopped. Then I looked for something else to do. I’m thinking about learning how to make sushi next! Outside of magic, I try to learn a lot of other things and I’m very obsessive. Once I want to learn something, I would spend hours and hours and a lot of money just to buy raw materials just to make something and after I made it and know how it’s done, I throw it away and then I look for something else. That’s how I spend my time.

RDM: Thank you very much!

For your convenience, we have converted it to .pdf format so that you guys can download it and read it offline! Enjoy!

RDM – Transcript of Interview with Brad Manuel

Transcript of the Interview with Brad Manuel

Cheers!

Vogue: Okay Brad! Can you give us a self-introduction, like your age, your full name?

Brad: Okay, Brad Manuel from Australia and yeah… that’s it!

Vogue: How old are you? Can I know your age?

Brad: I’m 39.

Vogue: Married with 3 kids?

Brad: Married with 3 kids.

Vogue: How did you end up being a magician?

Brad: Well… I started playing cards and stuff with some friends when I was about 16 years old and was never really into magic or anything like that but I just found that I could cheat with some card tricks. So, my friends and I used to play a lot of cards and we just had a bit of margarita and partying and do a few card tricks for each other and that’s sort of it. And I was soon enough doing you know, at parties and people saying “Brad, can you do a few tricks?” and yeah, it sort of evolved from there. I started doing some work for some restaurants, doing a bit of magic and did a lot of comedy club stuff when I was a bit younger.

Vogue: I would describe your style of magic as comedy-based right?

Brad: Yup.

Vogue: How did you decide on the identity of the style of your magic?

Brad: Well, for me it just has to be your personality. So, probably one of the biggest struggles for magicians is the fact to find what your style is, your own style. For me, it was never really an issue because I am not very technically proficient with a lot of stuff and I always like a joke, everything’s just fairly well very social for me. And yeah, having a bit of a comedy club background, doing stand-up (comedy), it was probably an easy decision for me because I couldn’t stand there and do a serious magician’s act because it’s just not me. So, I think if you’re comfortable with your own personality then you go with what your strengths are, and for me it’s definitely not sleight of hand. You know, I couldn’t compete with guys who are fantastic with cards, I only knew 3 card tricks! So, you just need to find a strength that works for you and for me, it was just humour!

Vogue: So can I say that your aim of performing magic is to entertain?

Brad: IT IS! And my job is to make people laugh. That’s my job.
Vogue: What do you find most enjoyable about this job? Do you even consider this a job?

Brad: Well yeah, it IS a job but the best part is that I get to go to work and make people laugh. And magic-wise, it’s good to be able to amaze people and have some fun with them but the best part is I get to go to work and every time I leave from a show, everyone’s happy! I actually get to make them happy and get paid for it! That sounds corny but that really is it. It is a fun job! And that’s the important thing that I think all the magicians need to remember. We should be having fun; it’s not just about the magic. It’s about your audience and actually giving them the entertainment whether you are amazing them or just making them laugh or doing a combination of the both, to HAVE FUN!

Vogue: You said you started out performing at parties, so how did you decide that it was going to be your full-time job?

Brad: *Chuckles* Well, I was actually working in the transport business, running a depot so I was actually working about 60 hours a week when I decided to go full-time. It wasn’t really a decision I made, I was kinda forced into it. I was working 3 nights a week doing magic for a couple of restaurants where I lived and at least 1 night a week at the comedy club. And I was earning more money working 4 nights a week than I was working 60 hours a week and I was getting paid quite well doing the job that I was doing. But there was a change in the company and I was given an ultimatum that I would either move town, relocate and take a different job OR I was going to be out of a job so I didn’t want to take the new job so I said “you know, I’m not gonna do that” and said “look, I’m making more money doing this magic and you know, I’ll do that!”

Vogue: Were you married at that time?

Brad: I wasn’t married at that time, didn’t have kids. I was single…or actually I wasn’t single, I had a girlfriend who is my wife now. But she was working and I was making good money doing what I was doing.

Vogue: At that time you only had a girlfriend so there wasn’t much financial responsibility right?

Brad: No, but I owned a house and was paying off the house so I needed to make sure that I had money to pay for that. But I suppose for me, the big thing was that it was a bit of a change in life. I was given an ultimatum from the company I was working with and I didn’t want to take their options so I quit in September and I had Christmas parties (to perform at), I was working 3 nights a week at these restaurants and was doing the comedy club. So I had heaps of income and when it came to January, there were no more Christmas parties and things slowed down in the tourist industry where I was living and I was like oh okay… and by the time February came I didn’t have any shows at all. So I had a month basically where I had no money, no income and I was thinking “what a crap idea this was to become a full-time entertainer!” So I just changed my tactic, I started working more in the comedy stuff, tried to start writing a show which was more suitable for corporate functions like after-dinner functions. And really just WORKED AT IT, you know. I went and did some security work because I needed to earn some more money. Probably about 12 months, I was doing all these, a transition where I was doing a little bit of part-time stuff, before I went back to full-time entertaining.

Vogue: What was your marketing strategy like, with Australia having so many full-time magicians?

Brad: Well no no, not really, I didn’t really have a marketing strategy! This probably sounds unusual to most people but my strategy was to get as much work as possible so I had food on the table and I didn’t lose my house. So…my marketing at that point in time was that I knew quite a lot of people. I used to play a lot of sports, I used to play football so the people in that community that I was hanging around I suppose. One of them ran a hotel, ran a pub, so I ended up doing some work 2 nights a week for him. And I knew people who were involved in the restaurant industry so I was working for them as well. And then I started concentrating on doing this business. But..what happens if this business doesn’t keep going then I’ve got to look at finding other opportunities, other places where I can perform and get paid for it. And so, comedy clubs are great..not very good money though and so I thought, well there’s money in performing at people’s functions and so that’s what I started doing. I started to find some material that was suitable for business functions and just develop it from there and so, it was more of a necessity. I needed to earn money otherwise I would have been broke, have no money and that wouldn’t be good at all. So I needed to find places to work and materials that would work.

Vogue: How did you decide on the materials that you were going to use?

Brad: Well, I just used to do stuff that I liked.

Vogue: The magic which you’re performing, did you learn it all yourself or did you learn from someone?

Brad: No, no… Actually, I was 19 I went to Bernard’s Magic Shop in Melbourne and I bought 2 books and I just read the books.

Vogue: What books are they!

Brad: I honestly can’t even remember them! But I think one of them might have been a Tarbell book, you know the Tarbell Course in Magic, and one of them was that book. So I just read the books, what I thought at that time were pretty cool card tricks and looking back they might be pretty ordinary but you know, I developed a few things that I liked and thought were funny and for the trick-wise, what I would try to do because I never used to see any other magicians, didn’t know other magicians, the only time I found out about Bernard’s Magic Shop was when I walked past it when I was in Melbourne. So that was the reason why I went in there and bought a couple of books. I just tried to come up with ideas to do stuff that were funny and that I thought were cool things to be able to do. I came up with a way to do a bill switch without even knowing (at that time) what a bill switch was. So anyone who has ever seen my lectures would see that when I do a bill switch it’s a totally different form from what they’ve seen before and the reason is because that’s just how I did it when I worked out how to fit a bill into a Thumb Tip and I didn’t even realise that there was a trick that was already out to do that. So yeah, sort of getting ideas and stuff that I liked and thought would be good and worked out ways to do them!

Vogue: Have you thought of it, being a magician, that the audience heckles you?

Brad: Yeah, slightly…

Vogue: So what do you do with them?

Brad: Well you try not to have a dead audience. Your job as being an entertainer is actually to engage the audience, to get them involved in your show. This is the difference I have with a lot of magicians, I don’t want the audience just watching the show. I want them involved in the show. If they’re connected to what I am doing, it’s gonna be a better show for them and I’m gonna do a better show because I feel that connection with the audience but they need to be wanting to know what’s going to happen next, what I’m going to do next. So you’re gotta get them involved. If they’re a dead audience, ahh I call them dead fish, well you got to get them back to life. You got to get them hooked and involved in the show and there are couple of ways to do that is that you got to get them within the first couple of minutes realistically. I need them to like me, it’s a terrible thing to say, but I actually need them to like me. So, as soon as I come on stage, they realise it’s just a bit of fun, harmless and that they’re gonna have a good time. That’s the most important thing for me. Makes my job for the rest of the show so much easier.

Vogue: So you try to establish a sort of vibe?

Brad: Yeah, you need to have that kind of vibe. If they are a dead audience, it’s hard to say you have a dead audience as your job as an entertainer is to make them NOT a dead audience. But if you do sometimes get an audience that’s just not with it, you just gotta get’em. That’s it, that’s the bottomline, you just HAVE TO get them. If you don’t get them then they’re gonna walk away and not enjoy it so, you have to have to, THAT’S YOUR JOB! You gotta MAKE them get involved the show, you gotta get them from being a dead audience to be laughing with you or being amazed by what you’re doing. And your presentation and your persona is what’s gonna do that.

Vogue: What’s the toughest part of your job?

Brad: Toughest part…sometimes it’s the travel for me. Travelling on my own.

Vogue: Being away from home?

Brad: Yeah…I’m normally only away a couple of days at most for work but this time I’m away for 3 weeks because I’ve got the tour as well.

Vogue: On your tour will it just be lectures or are there shows as well?

Brad: Yeah shows, I normally don’t do too many lectures at all. So on the tour mostly, or actually all of it is shows.

Vogue: When are you going to give a lecture in Singapore? 

Brad: Well actually I lectured in Singapore a few years ago! So quite a few years ago yeah. *Laughs* I don’t know, I suppose when I get around to organizing it. I talked to Ken about it and a couple of guys have asked me about it because there’s always new people coming into magic. I had a different couple of styles of lecture that I do. Actually, I think I’ve done 2 here. I did my normal funny tricks lecture and a dice-stacking thing for everyone. Yeah, lectures aren’t really high on my priority list I suppose…it’s the performance that’s what keeps me busy so, busy enough anyway.

Vogue: Are your kids getting influenced in any way by you?

Brad: Well, both boys can do some dice-stacking! If they want to do it, great! If not, yeah, it doesn’t make any difference to me. My middle child, Travis, he’s just a funny kid. So, he’s probably..if any of them he’s probably the one with a future in entertainment I suppose. SO…if he wants to do it…Blake, my oldest, has helped me with a couple of things over the years in shows so he has got involved. He actually have come in and done some head-juggling, you know, couple of different things for family audiences so yeah you know, really it’s fun if you involve kids in what you do. It’s great but yeah, if they wanna do it great, if not, whatever they want to do is good as long as it makes me and my wife retire early, they can pay for us and I’ll be happy with it! *Laughs*

Vogue: Okay, last question. Tell me something no one knows about you.

Brad: I’ll give you a magic related thing. I once managed to stuff up the vanishing bandana? The one you put the banana in the cloth? I managed not to do that, in a show, LIVE. Which I thought was funny!
Brad: It had a little button which was where the hole was, and the button had fallen off so I just didn’t perform it and just squashed it up and put it in there and…

Vogue: What happened?

Brad: And then when I opened up the hanky the banana went everywhere in the front row! *Laughs* which is great for me because as a comedian it’s just part of the show anyway and I thought it was hilarious! Yeah so that’s something that no one would know about me, I stuffed that up. It’s almost impossible to be able to stuff that up. BUT I DID. I did it quite well and mine didn’t really look bad, it looked it was supposed to happen *laughs*

Vogue: Awesome! Thanks for sharing with us.

Brad: That’s it? Cool!

Together with 2 other media journalists, Thor had the chance to interview the one and only Cyril – via a 15 minutes teleconference where Cyril spilled the beans on his past, his upcoming collaboration with AXN and his art. He even offered some advice to fellow magicians, and even divulges a little secret!

For your convenience, we have converted it to .pdf format so that you guys can download it and read it offline! Enjoy!

Cyril Interview Transcript PDF

Transcript of the Interview with Cyril

Thor: So what makes you different from all the other street magicians such as Criss Angel, David Blaine etc?

Cyril: Well… First of all, I do not compete with them. David Blaine’s magic style has evolved more into an endurance artist, while I entertain people based on building relationships with them. I personally haven’t seen their shows yet so I got no comments. I was taught that if you got nothing to good to say about others, then don’t say anything at all.

Sonya: I know you start learning magic from young, when did you first know what magic was something you wanted to do for life?

Cyril: I knew I wanted to have magic in my life the moment when I saw magic when I was 7 years old. I saw magic in Las Vegas and from there on, I couldn’t think of anything else except magic. I never thought that I would become a professional magician. For the passion of the art, I continued to do magic 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Basically, every single moment was magic for me. I ended up doing magic for friends, and then friends said I have to show it to other friends and that led to “omg you got to do it at my friend’s party” Doing at my friend’s party led to “omg can I hire you to come for this other event?” and that led to making so many networks over the past 10 years and eventually I stopped and reflected back at my life, I was already a professional magician. So in other words, I did not try to become a professional magician, the profession chose me.

Joey: What are the major challenges you encountered when you learn and practice magical tricks and how did you overcome them?

Cyril: I am faced with challenges every time I perform magic. Every performance is different; this is not a scripted show even when I’m performing live. Anything can happen and many things do happen. I cannot really prevent troubles from happening, for example, when we were filming for the new special, Cyril: Simply Magic, I cannot expect the humidity and the heat to be an issue. Things that I was able to do normally in my room under a controlled climate, once I went out my playing cards warmed in 5 minutes and I wasn’t able to hold anything, I was sweating and dripping. Many things went wrong. That was just one example. So what happens when there is a mess up? For me, the ultimate illusion is to make it look easy. Even if there is a mistake, you guys will never see the mistake!

Thor: Cyril, so what was your turning point in your magic journey? Was it when Ito hired you as a magician in his hotel?

Cyril: That was not really my turning point. My magic journey, I have encountered many supporters and I’m grateful for each and every person that has been in my life, who has supported me and who has believed in me. Magic is such a special and unique business. I am a dreamer and it is very hard to go up to someone and say I have a dream and my dream is that I want to do this. We do live in a world where… I think the best analogy would be like your parents. My parents wanted me to be a doctor, become a lawyer, just like every other parent would want for their child. When I say I want to become a magician, the first thing that they said was that you cannot become successful as a magician, as a performer, you are just a dreamer. So that is the analogy I am trying to give you but I think you were talking about the businessman Mr. Ito who believed in me and has supported me in a very hard time of my life. Yes I would say that it was one of my turning points in my life. It was because of people like Mr. Ito who supported me till the very end that I was able to shine.

Sonya: How is your relationship with the magic community now?

Cyril: I have a fantastic relationship with the magic community. Just a little history so that everyone knows what we are talking about. When I started magic and I came out in Japan I was not accepted by many magicians. They felt that I was a threat and they did not support me to the point of my career where I wanted to get everyone involved but everyone turned their backs against me, which was only human nature. So I decided to leave the magic community and put myself in a situation where there were no magicians around me. That ended up being probably one of the best decisions I have ever made because now I had no magic influences in my life. That was what forced me to come out with my own world, my own style, and my own ideas. Then many many many years later, when I started to doing TV shows and went back to America and do magic. Then the magic community changed their way of looking at me and they even awarded me the 2007 Magician of the Year.

Joey: So now that you are a professional magician, do you have any tips for new learners of magic tricks?

Cyril: Yes, I always say the same thing. Always practice, follow your instincts, don’t let others tell you that you cannot do something, believe in yourself and always do magic for the passion and not because it is a job.

Thor: Apart from showing Cyril: Simply Magic, AXN also shows a series of other magic related shows such as Criss Angel’s Mindfreak and Breaking the Magician’s Code. With regards to Breaking the Magician’s Code, what is your opinion on this show, given its controversy?

Cyril: First of all, I have not watched the recent season, so I do not know what they are showing. I think it is very unfortunate that people would resort to wanting to break the magic and that people wants to solve the puzzle or look upon magic as being a riddle. It is very unfortunate because I would like my viewers of my show not to watch my show with the intention that they have to break my magic but I want my viewers to watch my magic to be entertained, to be taken to another world, another realm. To forget about their troubles for a day, it is not about me trying to fool others, magic is just my art, it is my instrument and what I create is my story. That is what a magic show is about. It is about people and relationships. When you watch me, I hope that you can watch it with an open mind.

Sonya: Do you any signature tricks or any favorite tricks?

Cyril: This question is like if you had 5 children and I asked you which one of your children do you love the most. I love everything I do, I can’t give you a particular trick, but I can tell you that I love performing live than I enjoy performing on television. As much as I enjoy creating TV specials, when we film for TV, the scene ends anywhere between 2-5 minutes. So there is no audience rapport, it is like cut and go, and when we put them together, a TV special is created. But when we perform live, my shows are anywhere between one and two hours long. It is an emotional journey; it is a magical journey that I take my audience with. There is a beginning, middle and end. It is more fun. Hence, to answer your questions, I love performing on stage, that was where I started when I was young and I still enjoy it up to this day.

Joey: Many professional magicians only perform on the stage, so why do you choose to perform on the streets and is this what you call magic revolution?

Cyril: I came from America and in America we have many little theaters, many comedy stores, many venues that magicians and other artists to showcase their performances. When I came to Japan, the entertainment industry did not offer artists to express their performance and art like they had in America. So growing up as a theatre performer, I often was asked to do magic at many parties and many areas and they were not stages. There were no dressing room, no curtains and so being the stage performer I was, I wanted to make things bigger and grander. At first I hated myself because I was thinking why I was doing this, why am I here, but I realized that is what made me stronger. To be able to take the things I did on stage to normal, everyday places which are now the type of stuff I am filming on the streets.

Thor: So Cyril, tell us something about yourself that will surprise all of us!

Cyril: Haha. Hmm… That is a hard question. I have never been asked that. You know I am full of surprises but that is the one surprise that I probably going to have a hard time answering. I think I have to say that I’m a very down to earth human being just like everyone else and I have a dog. I’m resorting to my dog now (giggles) Ok, many of you have seen my eyebrow piercing and my ear piercing but I actually have one more body piercing but it is going to remain a mystery where it belongs.

(Weird and interesting laughter sounds from everyone!)

Cyril: Thank you everybody. This entire experience of filming in Asia, my very first special outside of Japan has been an awesome experience, travelling from Malaysia, Singapore to Taiwan. It has been really refreshing to come to countries where I have not been recognized yet to go out on the streets to spread my happiness and spread the magic. It has been amazing.

All: Thank you!

AXN is giving away exclusive preview invitations to Cyril: Simply Magic and other gaming icash cards / magic items!
Click here to find out more!
Remember to catch Cyril : Simply Magic – Starting November 19, Every Thursday, 9pm (SG/PH) 10pm(HK) only on AXN!

For your convenience, we have converted it to .pdf format so that you guys can download it and read it offline! Enjoy!

Sean Taylor Interview Transcript PDF

Transcript of the Interview with Sean Taylor

Picture taken from www.reddotmagic.com

Thor: Ok, so what got you into being a professional magician?

Sean: Well… Being a professional magician huh? Well… I got a magic set when I was 6 and learnt to do magic tricks when I was a kid from another magician. Not a professional magician though but a part-time professional and he eventually passed on everything to me and taught me how to do magic. By the time I was a teenager, I was doing kid’s parties and it was an easy way to make money. I carried on doing that and I paid my way through university, yea! By doing magic.

Thor: It just started by doing magic for friends?

Sean: Yea. People would see me do magic tricks and ask if I could come along and do something for them or for their party or for their kids. I lived in a small town and word got around really quickly. So people knew who I was and my dad was quite well-known business man and people would ask him if I would come and that is how I got started. By the time I was 17 and driving a car, I was doing magic, you know, professionally on the weekends. When I was 19, I bought a brand new car and when I was 21, I bought a house.

Thor and Vogue: Wow!! That’s like awesome!

Sean: You know, by having a normal job in the day time and doing magic on evenings and in the weekends and every chance I got.

Vogue: So what is the best way to start?

Sean: It’s different now because what I’m talking about was 25 years ago when really kid’s party was the only thing you could do but now you can do close up and some people only do close up. 25 years ago you would have never heard of that but now people just do that for a living.

Thor: How do you market yourself as a magician?

Sean: If you get in the books of agents, that is a good way of doing it. Agents are always looking for something different for their functions. Very often they don’t know about magic and they just assume that magicians are guys with tuxedos and doves and things, hence you need to go and see them and explain what it’s like. The best thing about strolling magic is that it doesn’t interrupt the rest of the evening for example.

Sean: I do still do close up magic. Not much but occasionally, maybe once or twice a month. I do it for a couple of hours and I just walk around and do stuff from my pocket. I have rubberbands, cards, coin, and sponge balls. Easy, quick, close up magic. Some people just do that you know. They don’t do anything else.

Thor: Did you do restaurant magic last time?

Sean: I used to, but I haven’t worked in a restaurant for many years now because I don’t need to but the good thing is that if you can persuade a restaurant to hire you then people will come in and see you and that’s how you gain your reputation.

Sean: Some guys I know in Sydney now they work in bars. I never really been a fan of working in bars, but there are now more and more of them and I think you can pick up work from there but that’s not really me. I’m beyond that now.

Thor: When performing, do you have an arsenal of tricks that you rely on or you keep doing something new?

Sean: Yea, I think what you need are 2 sets of tricks that you can do really well. The first set of tricks you do all the time and the other set is for reserve.

Thor: Back to you, so how did you manage to make the switch from being a magician to a mentalist when everyone already knew you as a magician?

Sean: It is hard. When you are working with the same clients, you have to convince them that what you got is something different. I took some time to work on them and explain to them that I was practicing this particular skill and I was able to do it better than before in a long time. But you’re right that it’s tricky because my clients are already expecting me to be turning up and performing a card trick and you turn up and do something that is not quite that. It’s a big mental leap for them.

Vogue: So why the change from magician to mentalism?

Sean: A few reasons. One of them is that a lot of people are doing magic and nobody doing mentalism so it is a new market. Two, it gives you something fresh to talk about when you talk to your clients. Three, I just love the performance of a mentalism routine. I just like the fact that I can walk out with a briefcase and do one hour and pick up by briefcase and walk off.

Sean: For example, last night, literally I worked. I had a show at 930 in Sidney. At 945, I picked up my briefcase, got into my car, drove home and got ready to come here. I don’t have to load a van, take down all my gears, pack all of my stuff, everything is just in my briefcase, so I can go anywhere, anytime and at a moment’s notice. It’s all about me and my interaction with the audience, not props, and I love that sort of command I have and I enjoy that. Plus, it’s the last thing that people think that it’s real.

Vogue: What are your attitudes when you do out and perform?

Sean: Ok, first and foremost, you are an entertainer. No questions about that! Entertainment is your primary goal. They have to come away having a good time, whatever measure there is for that, they HAVE to have a good time. Doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be funny all the time, well I like to have a string of gags but you can be fun without being funny. If they enjoy your company and think “What a great guy he was!” , that is enough.

Vogue: So how do you balance when you want to be funny but the thing you are doing is mentalism? (which may often require a serious atmosphere)

Sean: That was my biggest challenge and I got to say that was the single most greatest thing I spend my time on, trying to think of how to make it more fun. I think we’re (mentalism community) slightly help by the fact that Derren Brown has become so big and he is quite funny. People see him and he’s got a good sense of humor and the audience realizes that mentalism can be quite light and humorous. I spent a lot of time trying to be serious and I just can’t. It’s just not me. It’s not my style. So it’s a constant battle for me to figure out where the funny bits need to be and how to make it funnier without ruining the seriousness of the routine.

Vogue: What are the benefits you gained from learning magic? Or from being a mentalist?

Sean: Well… The principle benefit for me is that I basically do my hobby for a living. That is a great position to be in. If you find a job you like, you will never work another day in your life. That’s the thing. I can come and go and pretty much do as I please. I can turn the work up, turn it down, and decide to go on a trip if I wanted to.

Thor: So what are the tricks that you are performing these days?

Sean: I’m constantly experimenting and evolving. I’m playing with new stuff all the time. I got a main piece of material that I use all the time, but I’m always looking at ways of tweaking it and changing it and making it more interesting. Because I have been doing mentalism exclusively for 5 years now, I have started to get clients who are booking me back so now I need new stuff, new materials so that I can change and evolve and have another complete set of materials.

Thor: So what do you like about doing mentalism?

Sean: The beauty of mentalism is that no two shows are the same. If I got 5 people standing there and I ask them to draw something on a piece of cardboard, I’ve got no idea on what they are going to draw and so I’m going to go on a different direction according to what they draw. If they are picking words from a book, I don’t know what words they are going to pick, I don’t know how they are going to answer questions. I got to be pretty much on my game and go whatever direction it takes me to. So you will never know what’s going to happen.

Thor and Vogue: Thanks a lot for sharing your experience!

After “Waah! Magic!”, we hijacked Singapore’s very own funny man of magic. We were trying our best not to laugh as we talk to this man. Mind you he is serious when he talks, but strangely he is still funny. The kids love him, the parents love him. The family loves him. Find out what drives this young vibrant entertainer!

We have converted it to .pdf format so that you guys can download it and read it offline for your convenience! Enjoy!

Kiki Tay Interview Transcript PDF

Transcript of the Interview with Kiki Tay

Vogue: How long have you been performing?

Kiki: For a very long time…since I was 14. Professionally, since 2000 so I guess that’s 8 years.

Vogue: What are your notable magic achievements?

Kiki: I’m directing a segment in the Asian Youth Games opening ceremony which has yet to happen. It takes place next month in June. I’ll be adding bits of magic elements to it. It is a mass display comprising of 250 people and this thing will be showcased all over the world so I guess it can be called notable. And maybe this show? (Referring to Waah! Magic! )

Vogue: How would you describe your style of magic?

Kiki: I started off as a magician , but I’m venturing more into other genres like comedy, I would say I entertain and magic is one of my tools now. My style of magic tends towards comedy. I started out doing illusions and trying to project a very cool image but slowly I realized that I enjoy making people laugh more than making people worship me. Hahaha…

Thor: How did you accommodate to room for errors in your performances?

Kiki: I think the key is being natural, being yourself. If you drop an object , how would you pick it up? You just pick it up. I think in my case the audience should be quite forgiving; if I drop an object, my character allows me to just carry on rather than if I acted like David Copperfield, a screw up is a big screw up. For a comedy act, a screw up is ok! =)

Vogue: Is there any person who influenced your magic?

Kiki: David Copperfield. Really! 1995; “Dreams and nightmare”. I sat down in the audience where his snow act happened. Yes! The whole indoor stadium was filled with snow. Alright it was foam… The snow’s density was just nice; it stays in mid air and it doesn’t move, then it moves. Waah (no pun intended) so amazing, I was really the last person to leave the theater. Back then I wasn’t a magician and really didn’t know anything about magic yet. I really stayed there and was touched emotionally. In a way you see all the things I do, I strive to touch people emotionally as well.

Thor: So how did you start performing professionally?

Kiki: I started performing for my school. Teachers’ day performance, National day performance, everything, I’ll volunteer to do. Now that I look back, they were good opportunities. It’s a ground where I can test out my materials. I do a lot of charity shows also. Any chance I got to perform, I just performed because I’m not out for the money. In fact until today I’m also not out for the money. Because this is my passion. If I earn money, the thing I’ll spend on is my passion…which is this! In fact, I’m very happy with my life now. =D

Vogue: If there’s any advice you can give to magicians, what would it be?

Kiki: Always remember to do anything out of passion. The key word is passion. If you focus on money, you can only get so far. You have to focus on what you love to do. You don’t have to know how you are going to get it, you only have to know what you want, and life will find a way. Yes, law of attraction. The Secret. I have no doubt about The Secret. Everything I have here, it has once been a dream. What you focus on, is what you get.

Kiki: People relationships are also very important especially in the entertainment business and you cannot be too arrogant. We are here to entertain people and to make people happy. Entertain people and not to show off. Because many are showing off with their magic…

Kiki: You must always focus on the concept, the performance rather than the trick itself. Whatever you need to know it’s on the internet. So now it’s not about the secret, but rather the presentation.

Thor: Is there anything you learnt from school that you applied to your magic now?

Kiki: When I was in ITE, I took electronics. I’m very into electronics. You see the LED backdrop and D’lites in my show? I made them myself.

Thor: Tell us something that nobody knows about you…something that will freak us out.

Kiki: Errr har….arrr….gah..sigh. OH! I have a lot of soft toys! I like soft toys hahahaha. I got them on my bed.

Thor & Vogue: Thank you very much for your time!

Kiki: Thank you.

]]> http://reddotmagic.com/interview-with-kiki-tay/feed/ 0 http://reddotmagic.com/interview-with-john-teo/ http://reddotmagic.com/interview-with-john-teo/#comments Sun, 17 May 2009 04:49:21 +0000 Timothy http://reddotmagic.com/?p=1239 While we were fishing information out of Mr John Teo, President of Singapore’s IBM, for his featured artist page, we took the chance to ask him questions pertaining to IBM, Personal Experiences, FISM 2009, and Inventing Magic. He was also the hot favourite person to interview from our survey conducted a few weeks back! Special thanks to him for taking the time to answer our questions.

We have converted it to .pdf format so that you guys can download it and read it offline for your convenience! Enjoy!

John Teo Interview Transcript PDF

Transcript of the Interview with John Teo

Thor: What are your notable magic achievements and awards?

John: I’m not a full time performer but certainly I am fascinated by magic because of the creativity involved in the thinking process. As you can see magic is not real and yet the performer makes it look as though its real and when you show someone a magic trick, they can freak out especially the ladies. So that shows that there’s something very creative about the method of magic and that is what interests me; the artistic form of magic.
When I talk about the artistic form of magic, I’m not talking about the technicality part of magic, such as sleight of hand and so on. To me its more about the performing part; the artistic part and the delivery involved. I talk about that maybe because I’m a trainer and training involves delivery. What you know and how you transfer the thinking to the audience. But in many ways I see many similarities between this and magic, in a sense that you are transmitting a magic effect across to the audience. You can transmit in a way that it is a puzzle or a miracle, and the audiences will perceive your magic differently. So I think its all in the method of presentation, the method of doing it is actually concealed. So to me the method is not that important but rather the presentation.
What is more interesting would be who can come up with a presentational idea in the first place. So it’s the creativity part that always interests me, so if you ask me for achievements, I’m always interested in the creativity part so even when I was in my secondary school, I actually subscribed to a magic magazine. Sometimes I read a trick I find that it can be presented differently so I decided to write to the publisher and submit my idea. I was surprised the publisher took my idea and published it.
I took part in a competition quite some time ago, a magic dealer by the name of Sterling Magic. They are supposed to be the best manufacturers of gimmicked coin magic. They opened up a competition to the world where anyone can submit their presentation idea to a gimmick they produced. I got 4th position and the entry I submitted was later published in a book entitled “Card Coin Wizardry” Actually it was a compilation of the winning entries submitted in the competition. You can see that most of the contributors were from Europe but I’m the only one from Asia. Nowadays ill always take part in any magic competition which involves coming up with new presentation ideas.

Vogue: How did you get your appointment as the president of IBM?

John: Long time ago, our president for the Singapore branch of IBM, was named The Great Wong. He cannot speak English very well. He specializes in stage magic and he was very good at making props. He was from China and in fact the whole world came to know him through his linking rings routine.
When he passed on, nobody wanted to take over. So they asked me to take over. No one wanted to take over because if you are the president, everybody looks upon you for guidance, what are we supposed to do, how to bring the club to greater heights. Its just like managing a company except you don’t get paid like you guys who came up with this website out of passion. You will need funds you have to keep the program alive.

Thor: Who’s your favorite magician?

John: First of all my favorite type of magic tends towards entertainment, not so much on sleight of hand. So my favorite magician would fall into that category. But I am also interested in mentalism. If you are talking about my favorite magician, I’ve been admiring this magician for long time but he’s not very famous only recently he put out a Dvd and I’ve written a review for his Dvd at Magic Boutique. I like him very much because he’s very ingenious. The methods to perform his magic are based on ingenuity rather than complicated sleight of hand. My other favorite magician is Max Maven, but other than that I like almost every other professional magician because every one of them has their own specialty.

Vogue: Would you say that magic has evolved through this time?

John: Yes. You see to me in the past when people watched magic, they would always imagine someone dressed very nice in a coat and performing magic on stage. Then the era changed when Doug Henning performed stage magic but in colorful jeans and because of him magicians started to shed away their traditional attire. So from what I know, the scene of magic changed with Doug Henning. It was unfortunate he went to meditation and retired from the scene. He was one of my favorite magicians.
David Copperfield was part of the mainstream but to me he didn’t change the history of magic. Who changed it? I think its David Blaine. My personal opinion. Why? Because all the time people always thought of magicians on stage perform grand illusions. But the trend of performing street magic was popularized by David Blaine.

John: David Copperfield used to come to Singapore quite often in the past…

Vogue: He almost came last year right? Almost?

John: Yes. And in one of the trips, one of the reporters from one of the newspaper called me up and say “can I offer you something interesting?” I said, “Yes” “I’ll buy you the first class seat, right in the front in the show and you will seat beside me and then you will have to provide me with a running commentary of what David Copperfield is performing.

John: So I said no problem. But he said you also must tell me how he does the trick. I said “No way”. He asked me why and I replied “Because we have a kind of oath, not oath la, but if I show you this you will understand.”

Shows us his IBM membership card…

John: There is a kind of pledge when we join the IBM and hence I told the reporter that “look I cannot reveal any of the secrets to you” The reporter went silent. Hence I knew the first class seats were gone. But anyways she wanted to write an article on David Copperfield and she asked me what do you think is the most impressive feat that David Copperfield have done?

John: So I told her “from whose point of view? “From the audience or from the magician’s point of view?” She said from a magician’s point of view. So I told her “actually, every TV special of David Copperfield there will be one major illusion, like he makes the statue of liberty disappear or he walks through the great wall, BUT that does not excite me as a magician. I’m more interested in the stage magic he does in front of a live audience. That is the one where audiences usually see magic perform and there is where you can see the difference between a David Copperfield performance against an ordinary stage magic performance. You can see how professional he is, but not many local magicians or international magicians have got the financial strength to do grand illusions because you need a lot of money to do that, to build the props and to accomplish such a feat. So in that sense, David Copperfield has little competition in that area. However, in the stage magic performances, he is actually competing against all the other magicians and that is where you can see how professionalism is being done as far as magic is being concerned. Big illusions may impress the audience but not for me as a magician. I think you know where I am coming from now.

Thor: So you hold monthly meetings in IBM and you get to see a lot of magicians. So would you like to name an up and coming magician?

John: Is JC Sum considered?

Thor: Well… He’s already a professional magician. Up already. Haha.

John: What about Jeremy Pei?

Vogue: Up already… But he is quite young, 24 only.

John: Do you guys know Nique? The secretary of IBM? Have you seen his magic?

Vogue: Nope…

John: You should start seeing his magic. He started as a close-up magician. He is very very good in sleight of hand. But because he turned full time into magic he knows that he must do children’s magic and all those and hence he went into general magic but he is very very good in sleight of hand and mentalism. He has been around for some time and he is in his early 20s.

Vogue: So anyways is IBM sending anyone for FISM this year?

John: We are not sending people as such but..

Vogue: Jeremy Pei?

John: Yes Jeremy Pei is competing, I don’t know if you should put it there. Yes, I have to approve of him because now FISM says that they don’t want to accept any Tom, Dick, or Harry magician because some of the magicians’ standard is very terrible so now all those who want to perform in FISM must go through the president of IBM of that country. So Jeremy approached me and of course I supported and endorsed him. But he will be competing in the…

Thor: Close-up category?

John: Yeah. Definitely. Cause the Stage category is way too hard.

Thor: (nods heads) anyways, so tell us something that will freak us all out!

John: I don’t have anything lar..

Vogue: Just anything that will surprise us, like you are BATMAN! Hahaha.

John: I like to create things, That’s all I can say.

Thor: So how are your ideas born?

John: Usually, my ideas are born through another idea. Somebody thought of something which sparked something in me “Hey it can be done in another way!” and it becomes totally different. So maybe I’m not that impressive to be able to think of something out of nothing but if i can get an idea from something, it may give birth to some other ideas. The ideas may be quite original in the sense that you would never have thought that I got it from another idea, like it would not be linked! So maybe that’s my specialty.

Vogue: OK last question, so what do you think about the magic scene in Singapore now?

John: I’m not the best person to ask this question as I’m not into magic full-time but I shall give you my 2-cents worth. I think it’s getting better now! Other than JC, you have Lawrence Khong and his daughter. With the help of these few people, magic is being promoted in Singapore, especially J C, because he is very…

Thor: Made magic really mainstream…

John: Yea, that’s the word, and I really salute them because they help put Singapore, which is so small, into the world map of Magic. Magic shows like the one on “Zhong Yi Da Ge Da” also help promote interest in magic. Also people like you! Come out with a blog and something…

Thor: Hopefully it will grow! Ok. Thanks for your time!

John: No problem.

We have converted it to .pdf format so that you guys can download it and read it offline for your convenience! Enjoy!

Anslem Roy Interview Transcript PDF

Transcript of the Interview with Anslem Roy

Thor: So why did you create Magic Annex?

Roy: Basically I set up Magic Annex because when I got back from China in 2004, I found the “David Blaine” phenomenon was very feverish in Malaysia but a lot of people in Malaysia were doing tricks and were not performing. So what I did was that I looked around and I realized that they were looking for direction but not getting it from the other clubs or shops.

(Roy is also the President of Malaysia’s IMS)

Thor: So why couldn’t the International Magicians Society (Malaysia) help with that?

Roy: IMS is not into doing personal teaching. We (Magic Annex) are not into teaching you tricks, we are into teaching you to be better performers and entertainers. That is why we have a very strict vetting system whereby we only take in members who are passionate about magic. So to be a member of Magic Annex, number one you need to get into the forums and ask publically for an interview, so we do not want people who are shy to be members. Number two then you go through the interview process, where your name is given to all the members in the club and they will all agree or disagree on whether we want to accept you. If you are accepted, you will be in as a probationary member for two months, and there would be a shadow person to watch you and then we watch your behavior, what you do and what you do not do.

Roy: After that period, you are advised to as whether you are a member, or you are not a member, or we will extend your probationary period. The reason we do this is because we want to be certain that only the good people stay in magic. We don’t want people to abuse the system or join just for fun. We do not charge anything, it is free, I put my name, my thirty-three years of experience behind it and basically I am there to give. I think that it is a good legacy to leave behind. That is why even in the shops we do we are not interested in making money. We do not charge for shipping or handling unless you are buying via postage which you would then pay the postage yourself. So my passion is to have good magic in the country and I want magic to be something that people say “Hey it is an art form!” Right now, it is not there yet. There is not enough people who can bring magic to that level yet.

Vogue: So what you see that is lacking in the magic community?

Roy: The biggest problem is discipline.

Thor: What about the support that Magicians lack? Like people do not believe that magicians can make it.

Roy: Why? That’s my question. Why not?

Vogue: Asian culture also plays a big part…

Roy: I have done it. I have seen people do it. Magic doesn’t start when you say “Hey let me show you a trick” Magic starts when you walk towards a crowd to perform. Are you dressed well? Do you speak well? Are you groomed well? Are you respectable enough? Do I as a member of the audience want to talk to you as a person? If you approach the person in a t-shirt, that is not magic. I have heard clients actually say when our boys (Magic Annex Members) go out and perform they go “Wow this guys dress like pros arh!” and it’s just the dressing! They haven’t even seen the magic yet! That is half the battle won.

Roy: Then you start to speak well. You don’t start a trick by saying “Hey can I show you some magic arh?” because if you ask me that question I would say no. But if you say for example “Hey I found this really cool coin and it’s really flexible” and you start it in a very surprising manner people will just warm up to you and then you open the doors and that is your first breaking point.

Roy: Then it should be planned. You should know how many laughs you are going to get, where your peak energy point is and where it is going to drop. You do three tricks and say “Hey I got these other people to attend to but I’ll be back! Enjoy” As you leave, the feeling of the crowd should be “Aiyah finish already arh?” You know? If the crowd gets this feeling that they have been tricked by you, then you are not performing well. That is the problem that is prevalent in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, even in Hong Kong. I come to you, I’m smarter than you, I challenge you and they do not say it but that is the body language. When you approach with that mindset…

Thor: The audience becomes defensive…

Roy: Yea, I get aggressive. I go “Show me your hand” “I want to shuffle the cards” “Let me see your pocket”. I do some close-up magic too and I never had the audience heckle me because the magic is always incidental. I’m there as a friend, I’m there as the host and when I leave, they all go “damn good trick that bugger did man!” and that is what you need to get. It’s not about doing tricks, it’s about entertaining people. We just happen to entertain them by doing tricks.

Thor: Ok, so which magician greatly influenced your magic?

Roy: For stage illusions it is David Copperfield, for design it is Franz Harary, Jim Steinmeyer, John Mendoza, Billy Smith , Ayala

Roy: So I take different things from different people. Like Copperfield, he doesn’t build props himself.

Vogue: Yea he outsources them…

Roy: But he is a great performer! So each performer has his/her own strengths.

Vogue: Every magician that have done well have always someone to thank for their big break, so is there anyone you would like to thank?

Roy: No. I clawed my way up to the top. I started off doing birthday parties. Then I started doing manipulation for five years and then I switch to stage magic and then stand-up magic and I’m glad that when I was practicing magic then, I didn’t have dvds. I think that dvds are good and they give you an idea but if you had a book, it forces you to develop your own style. That is why when I open up a magic trick, I never read the instructions. I pull it out, start playing with it and then go back to read the instructions.

Vogue: If there’s any advice that you can give to any magician aspiring to go full-time as a professional, what would you give?

Roy: Number 1, you have to be disciplined. It took me 3 months, 3 hours a day just to get a coin pass mastered. That’s because it wasn’t just this, it was angles, understanding where people stood, working out how it was not a straight pass, it was a curve, all of that stuff…so when you start dissecting things. For example, I just finished teaching in a play how to operate a fickle fire. It’s 9 steps to do it. Number 1 you create the impression that your hand is empty. Number 2 you steal, while people think that it is part of the dance routine. Number 3, you flick. Its got to be a good clean flick, and you got to make sure people don’t see the gimmick. Number five, the flame has to disappear. Everything has to be broken up and analysed and then presented.

Number 2 is to remember that you are only as good as your last show. No matter how good you’ve been before, it does not matter, you are only as good as your last show. And if your last show suck, you suck and trust me after 33 years of experience, you never get a perfect show. So the thing is, ok you’re supposed to be perfect, you made four mistakes Forget about the rest of the show, just concentrate on making the next one good and rectify the four mistakes. You get on stage and you’re doing a show because of whatever, what happens outside does not matter. Your job is to entertain the audience. Whether you get paid or you don’t get bad, it does not matter. The minute the show opens, your responsibility is the audience.

I always remember this; that whenever you are performing for a group of people, you carry an immense responsibility and this goes to any entertainer. If you perform to say 500 people and they are giving you 20 minutes of their time, that is time that they will never get back. They are giving you 20 minutes of their life, time that they could have spent with their girlfriends, mothers and better things to do. But they decided to give you their 20 minutes, so you take 20 minutes and multiply by 500 people. That’s how much responsibility you have on your shoulders. When you walk on stage with that burden in your heart and you are still able to do a good show, and at the end people go “ Damn that was good!”. That’s your reward. And until you develop a mindset at that point. You’re no where close where you should be.

So these are basic principles, I mean we all put up our plans one leg at a time. So until you get those things in your psyche. Magic does not mean anything.

Thor: So our last question of the day, so you said that books helped you a lot?

Roy: When I grew up, we didn’t have dvds so books was it. Then came VHS tapes, then now its dvds. To me it’s a learning experience. To me if I don’t learn something new everyday, then to me it’s a day lost. Its me, I just want to learn something everyday. So to me it’s a learning process everyday. And if you want to be a stage magician, it doesn’t stop just at magic. Costuming, stage, light, sound…..

Thor: Body language?

Roy: No no that’s just you but what about your style of clothing, what about the colour. When you’re performing close up, are you performing in good light, where should the best light be. All of that staging, is something that performers generally don’t do. So getting back to your question of whether books helped me…….

Thor: So what books do you recommend?

Roy: I started with Patrick Page’s “Big Book of Magic”. That opened up a huge world for me. Henry Hay’s “Amateur Magician’s Handbook”. Its brilliant, its out of print. If you get hold of that book, man it’s a wealth of information. “The Buckley Trilogy”, that’s another one. “ Magic and Showmanship for Magicians” by Henning Nelms. Dariel Fitzkee’s “Showmanship for Magicians”. They are old but when you look at it you might go eee…but the principles are just gold. If you can get those principles, great!

Then you should just watch every show that you can get your hands on video. Because there is no such thing as a show that you cannot learn from. There’s good stuff, stuff that you should do or try to learn from. There’s also stuff that you shouldn’t do. When you see a show that sucks, you go “Ok I shouldn’t this I shouldn’t do this”. People go…”Eeyur, bad show” but what did you learn?

So every show is a learning experience. I watch singers. And I watch them because I learn lighting, I learn the way they behave with lighting, I learn the way how they handle microphones, I learn how they interact with audiences. Like I just watched Elton John in Madison square garden, and he was performing in the middle of the stage. And do you know that that man got up after every song, he consciously looked up at a quarter of the audiences and went “EH!” and then he will get down to play and he will do this for every song. Which means he realizes that his audiences are all around him. As a performer, he realizes that it is his responsibility as a performer to acknowledge his audiences because without the audiences, the performer is nothing. So I was watching and I went “Damn”. He is brilliant!

Another one is Eric Clapton, apparently, he had a really bad show in Singapore. So while he was in Malaysia, he went through the entire concert, 1hr and 45 minutes, just going through the motions. But when he sang “Wonderful tonight”. The whole stadium was in candle lights, and the audiences were singing and then he stopped singing and then he realizes that “ Damn this is a damn good crowd!” That’s when the concert started and then he went on for 9 minutes encore, but he went on for 20 minutes and Nathan East was like “Whats up with you dude?”.

So as a performer, you realize that the psyche is very important. You know once you have set that the audiences are enjoying themselves. So if you see me do shows and when the audiences are not responding, you will see me struggle. I will increase the volume of my voice, I will change my pitch, I will definitely try. By the time I do my fourth trick, and if they are drunk I will just end my show as soon as possible and get off stage. By the time I hit my third trick, if I don’t get audience respect for it, you will see me struggle. People do not know this but for those who know me, know that I struggle. I have various tricks, I will slow down my speech, if there’s a noisy table, I will direct my voice in that direction. I try to make eye contact with one or two people without ignoring the rest. So people ask me “Am I performing magic?” The answer is no. I am just being an entertainer. Big difference. I mean 33 years of experience, that’s what I want to pass on to these guys (referring to The Magic Annexe members). I want them to understand what this is all about.

Thor and Vogue: Thank you very much

Roy: Not at all. I hope it helps!

We have converted it to .pdf format so that you guys can download it and read it offline for your convenience! Enjoy!

Lee Asher Interview Transcript PDF

Transcript of the Interview with Lee Asher

Thor: So… Who is your favorite artist?

Lee Asher: Magician or Painter? Ahh… Just kidding. Haha. I have a lot but I actually like anything that is performed well. So anyone that does good magic I like. But if I had to choose, I would say guys like
Aaron Fisher, Beam, Banachek, there is a whole list that goes on and on… Bill Malone… Anyone who
does magic really well. John Thompson, Anyone who does magic really well.

Thor: What are you up to these days? Besides doing lectures and stuff.

Lee Asher: Magic wise? What I’m working on?

Thor: Yea!

Lee Asher: I’m working on something called Pulp Friction. It is a revolutionary idea that basically you can..

Thor: With Theory11?

Lee Asher: It’s not with Theory11, It is basically an idea where you can do any type of card magic with one move, and the move is called Pulp Friction. I didn’t get the chance to teach it in the lecture today unfortunately cause we ran out of time. But Isaac (Magic Garage Founder) can testify, you can do ANYTHING with Pulp Friction, it is a REALLY great move. (Isaac nods his head)

Thor: You should him and you didn’t show us?!?! Haha nevermind.

Thor: So do you create magic for Laymen more, or for Magicians?

Lee Asher: No I create magic more for myself! And it just so happens that the laymen like it, cool. If the magicians like it too, cool. But it is really for me. Everything you have seen me do today at the lecture, I invented for me.

Vogue: So how would you describe your style of magic?

Lee Asher: My style is very direct, especially when it comes to the method. Very simple, very direct.
There is no time for lot of moves, or a bunch of procedures, it is right to the point. Most of the time
most people don’t have the time to watch so I have to get right to it so I’m a very direct magician!

Vogue: So how did you tie up with Theory11?

Lee Asher: They contacted me. There was a team of five of them that called me and told me that they would like me to be a flagship artist and we talked for a while. I basically explained my business model to them and they explained their business model and we kinda saw things overlapped and worked well and so I signed a contract with them about a year ago.

Thor: Love some of their products!

Lee Asher: Yea, they were searching for some of the best magicians that they could find, and I’m glad
that they called me!

Thor: Do you think the rise of Youtube and piracy is more beneficial or harmful to magic?

Lee Asher: Absolutely. I don’t put Youtube in the same sentence as piracy cause piracy is actually
someone copying a DVD. In Youtube, we mostly find people teaching others how to perform. It’s
definitely exposure but you have to understand about Youtube that information is inclusive or exclusive. Those that are look for the Asher Twist Exposure and if someone finds it it was because they were looking for it and they were interested in magic. The common laymen in the streets, they are not looking for exposure, and they are not going to find it!

Lee Asher: So I think in the right context, it is a good teaching tool. It is a good way to get people to see, to hear and to understand new magic. Unfortunately I do not have the choice teaching it well. If there is a lot of exposure, for example on the Asher Twist, they don’t know how to perform it, so it’s sad that they try and teach it! It’s like trying to teach algebra when you don’t understand math. I wished that they learnt it better so that if they were going to expose it they would expose it better. That is my only qualm. But you know, there aren’t that many people exposing tricks and it is just that handful of people and unfortunately if they were taught not to do that they would not do that.

Lee Asher: So I think it is about educating people to not do things like that like mentorship. A mentor
would tell you to not do something like that. I mean you are in a society and within a society there are
rules. You don’t just go shoot someone. You have been taught since young that you aren’t supposed to do that. So people that are exposing just haven’t been taught that’s all. But I think it’s a really strong medium for learning.

Thor: Ok, last question, tell us something that would freak us all out!

Lee Asher: That would freak you all out?? Hmm.. Freak you out?!?!? I don’t have anything that would
freak you out…

Vogue: Tell us something that nobody knows!

Lee Asher: Let me think…
(After a long long time…)

Lee Asher: My favorite color is blue! No one knows that!

(He’s a really dedicated magician! Must have spent his time coming up with tricks! Or he’s just shy to tell us. Don’t worry we will start fishing out more juicy information from people we interview soon!)

Thor: Thank you so much!

Lee Asher: My pleasure guys. I really appreciate it!