JOURNEY IN MAGIC

My biggest Project SMILE class @ MONFORT SEC 2 CAMP

2008-04-04T02:59:00.000-07:00

Just finished the biggest Project SMILE class ever!

This was the first time that I conducted a Project SMILE class of such magnitude. The entire Monfort Secondary 2 was taught magic at their school camp held at Camelot campsite.

Our Project SMILE team coined it Operation SMILE. It sure felt that way as we had to set up a huge canvas screen, 2 digital cameras, sound speakers, lights and enlist the aid of almost 40 volunteers over 3 days to facilitate the boys in their learning.

A big shout out to all the Monfort boys! I totally enjoyed myself teaching you all!

Learning the first trick of the day.Automatic Aces!

Doesn't he look like a pro?

The automatic aces! A big hit with the boys!

Check out their expressions as I teach the vanishing silk trick. *grinz*

The looks...
"I can do it!"

"How did she do it?"

"Where'd it go?"

"Huh?"

I think it's super cool of your school to organize such activities for you.

We've uploaded some more of your pictures into the gallery. See if you can spot yourself and your friends. Click on the link to view- http://www.magicoflawrence.com/mc_projectsmile_gallery_mfss.htm

I know that there are many of you who are really keen to learn more magic. I wish I could've answered each and every one of the questions you had after the camp. Don't stop with this Project SMILE. Go online and learn more magic, and come to our Magic Circle. It'll be held at SCAPE Youth Centre on Apr 25. Trust me, you'll learn a lot at a meeting like this, plus you get to hang out with magicians! It's free entrance!

I'll be there; so you come look me up, k?

Project SMILE 2 - A Healing Touch - in Singapore General Hospital

2008-03-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since we've done Project SMILE 2. I still remember when we launched it in 2003. Let me give you some background info on Project SMILE 2. Well, Project SMILE 2 is a program that uses magic as a form of rehabilitation therapy for hospital patients. It has gotten widespread support from therapists in the United States as an alternative form of therapy that exceeds traditional therapeutic methods. Today, I was invited to do a presentation at Singapore General Hospital, introducing them to the concept of magic as a form of rehabilitation.

I realize that Project SMILE 2 - A Healing Touch - is a great way to tie in magic with rehabilitation because the use of magic tricks adds fun and motivation to the difficult rehabilitation process for patients.

At SGH, I demonstrated some tricks that could aid the rehabilitation process to about 25 doctors and therapists at their staff meeting. They took the opportunity to learn the tricks for themselves which they found very entertaining and seemed enthusiastic to incorporate this form of rehabilitation into their therapy for their patients.

It has always been my passion to develop Project SMILE 2 - A Healing Touch. I long to see this program succeed, not for us magicians, but for the patients. I sincerely believe it will help them on their road to recovery, plus it'll bring them lotsa fun!

Project Smile 2 is indeed a great tool to synergise our love for magic and our contribution to our community. For all of you, magicians, therapists or caregivers of the sick, interested to get involved in Project SMILE 2, do email us at magiccircle@magicoflawrence.com

VJC Arts Appreciation Day

2008-03-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

VJC had their annual arts appreciation day and I was invited to do a 2-hour magic appreciation workshop. I conducted a semi-lecture-style workshop, starting off with a 20 min show. There was great response from the students. They were all very eager to start learning magic. (Man! I wish that my school had magic classes when I was a student! Seems like there are so many more choices nowadays)

While planning this lecture, I wasn't sure what to teach - how much magic would be sufficient. So I decided to cover a wide range of magic - cards, coins, street magic and miscellaneous objects. My guys thought that I was giving them too much to manage. However, as I dialogued with them, I found that many said that they've been learning magic on their own and most have watched many close-up effects on YouTube and Metacafe.

Welcome to the 21st century - Where anything can be found on the web!

Check out the class... Glad that they are so into learning the magic.

Fiddling with the pack of cards that was given to them free, most of my students gave a resounding “Chey!” upon the revelation of the trick. It's a standard response! It's hard for many people, even magicians themselves, to understand that magic need not be complicated to create a magical effect. It's all about the presentation. Like Eugene Burger says "The greatest magic is usually very simple"
To all the VJ students who attended my Magic Appreciation course, let me know how your magic is coming along. Hope that you'll continue to pursue magic as a hobby! You never know where it may lead you.

In love and magic,

Priscilla

Community Service at TOUCH Senior Activity Centre

2008-03-13T23:00:00.000-07:00

Today, the Ngee Ann Polytechnic Project SMILE students performed their community service and I believed it was a great experience for all of them.

First of all, it was a chance for them to perform magic in front of a live audience and, at the same time, be a blessing to the community. It was also great to see Nigel put up a 30-minute show for the elderly. Kudos to Nigel who commanded the stage and did the show in Mandarin! Wow. That made the show so much more appealing to the elderly who are much more familiar with the Chinese language.

It is great for trainers and volunteers like myself to be able to use Project SMILE as a platform to practise our routines. We’re no longer standing in front of a passive mirror or a group of indulgent magic peers. It’s time to put our money where our mouths are and get some genuine oohs and aahs from the audience.

Many of us have gained a lot of invaluable experience during these community services which has helped us to become better performers. Nigel highlighted this today at the TOUCH Senior Activity Centre.

I encourage all current students and alumni members to step forward and perform for Project SMILE community services; it’s a great platform to use our passion for magic to serve the community.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-03T22:40:00.000-08:00

I’ve been dreaming! My dream is to perform a magic show grander than anything I’ve ever done yet, a show that will travel the world performing for millions. Well, you know the skies are the limit when it comes to dreaming.

I was reading Cyril Takayama’s and Criss Angel’s bios and it was really interesting to find out how they came up with their unique ideas that has taken the world by storm, giving birth to concepts that have transformed the way people look at magic today.

I realized that they too started with a dream. They were spurred by a vision that they felt, at the beginning, was too daunting for them to achieve.

A common attribute of these great magicians is their willingness to persevere despite everything going against them. This never-say-die attitude is one that I’d like to adopt, not only in my magic, but also in life in general.

I guess, right now, I have to keep working on my magic so that I can hopefully achieve my dream, just like these great magicians!

Tick, Tock

2007-12-28T23:00:00.000-08:00

The calendar is ticking off the days till the end of the year. As I look back to the beginning of 2007, I remember Dad telling me, “Pris, this is going to be a lull year for us.”

So much for a lull year… I sure have been busy! In fact, this is one of the busiest years for me. Hah! Lull year indeed.

This year has been very unusual in that I’ve been able to conduct many Project SMILE classes; and I was able to spend time with old and new friends in the Magic Circle. I’m very thankful for that. Through conducting many Project SMILE classes, I have been able to make "serving the community, AND learning new magic" an integral part of my life.

Like most of you who are amateur magicians, I do have regular work to do as well. Yes, it’s magic-related but it doesn’t actually create more time for me to learn magic. I do stuff like managing website content, planning forecasts for Project SMILE, organizing Magic Circle meetings, teaching classes, and working on conceptualizing our new show.

All these magic-related duties can rob me of time that I should spend to learn new magic. I thus end up being more of a manager than a magician.

So how can we approach the challenge of learning new magic?

Step1: Decide That You Want To Learn New Magic

Step 2: Have A Goal
For me, the need to perform new magic tricks at Magic Circle meetings gives me the impetus to learn new magic. If you are attending Magic Circle meetings regularly, hey, you have a ready goal! Every participant must of course bring a new trick to the meetings!

Step 3: Have A Game Plan
I decided to learn ONE new trick every alternate week, which gives me a week in between to practise what I have learnt. Ideally, I would then have four new tricks to perform in front of a live audience at every meeting.

Step 4: Set Aside Time
Like everyone else, I have to make time to learn new magic. This process of setting aside time is tedious. But like cultivating any other habit, once we get the hang of doing it regularly, subconsciously it will become a habit.

I hope that this will encourage more of you to proactively learn magic on your own; and to join us in the Magic Circle.

Is Magic All About Tricks?

2007-11-30T20:22:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking, what makes a performer "magical". What gives him or her that certain 'X' factor that allows him or her to shine?

I've had the opportunity to do alot of big illusions with my dad. When I first started out, I was just his assistant aka "dumb blonde". In recent years, I've had the opportunity to be the key illusions in more routines. Yet, I was always feeling inadequate, as though I am not in control of the magic. It could have happened with or without me.

I try to cover it up with slick moves and all my performances look good. But the fact of the matter remains... Deep down I didn't buy it. But as the professionals say, 'THE SHOW MUST GO ON!'

And so it did.

A week ago, Joanie Spina - our new magic director / choreographer was in Singapore working with us on our magic routine. It was intense. We were rehearsing each illusion about 20 times. I was aching like mad. My body really felt bruised and battered. But despite the aches and pain, those rehearsals left a deep impression on me.

I remember how we always emphasize in our magic classes... "The Real Magic Is You!"

Well, Joanie's rehearsals really ingrained that in me. The aura of magic really emanates from us. What do I mean by that?

This begins with us actually seeing the magic we perform. And more importantly, let us ENJOY our own performance and appreciate the wonder that it brings forth. It has taken me 6 years as a performer to learn that truth. The truth is that, indeed, we all have something to give; the truth is that the real magic lies within us.

Magician 24/7

2007-11-24T23:00:00.000-08:00

‘Magician 24/7’ was a topic that master magician Jeff Mcbride covered in his magic lecture in the first International Festival of Magic held here in Singapore.

Believe it or not, the highlight of his lecture was not the mind blowing tricks he taught us, but his compelling speech on how he became the magician he is today by first of all being a Magician 24/7.

So what is a magician 24/7? Well, many magicians are only magicians when they are performing their gigs but, once they’re out of their tux or off the stage, they’re off the job. Jeff spoke about doing magic every chance you get, whether you’re performing to the taxi-driver sending you to work in the morning, or to your colleagues during lunchtime. Performing to different kinds of spectators allow us to understand what works for us and what would get the best reactions. We strive continually to achieve greater effortlessness in our acts. It sounds paradoxical, but magicians understand what I mean.

A 24/7 magician is always ready with a trick in hand because he never knows when he would be called upon to entertain somebody. A good example would be at a dinner party. If someone there knows that you are a magician and asks you to do a trick for his friends and you do not have anything on you, what are you going to say? “I left my invisible thread and tapered cards at home?”

His lecture made such a deep impression on me that I went home and packed a B’wave (a lightweight portable card trick) into my wallet. It’s been in there since and has never failed me.

That day, Jeff hammered home the message that magic should become second nature to the magician.

So, friends, let’s be 24/7 Magicians, ready any time or day of the week whenever called upon to show our stuff.

The 10 Commandments of Magic (Cont'd)

2007-10-07T20:45:00.000-07:00

Commandment No. 7: Look Into the Spectators’ Eyes
To be a great magician or a great entertainer, we need to be able to engage the audience. It doesn’t matter if you have the world’s best sleight of hand, but you have failed if you can’t get your audience to look at it. Engaging the audience is the key. One good way would be to look into the spectators’ eyes whenever you get the chance to. When you have to talk during your show, talk to the audience and don’t just recite a prepared script. If you can’t engage the audience, the audience won’t bother being engaged to your performance. Remember, talk to them. Whenever you get the chance, look into their eyes. Do remember to lock eyes with different members of the audience to ensure that you engage as many of them as possible.

Commandment No. 8: Respect Your Audience
No one likes to talk or interact with a rude person. Similarly, during a magic performance, we as magicians need to respect our audience. No one likes to watch a performance where the magician is rude and uses all available opportunities to humiliate the audience. Remember how we have always taught you the need to make the audience feel good whenever we use them as volunteers? Hence, we always honour volunteers by making it appear that they were instrumental in making the magic happen, even though they didn’t. Even if it is a comical routine, such as the Paper-Ball Over the Head, we never make fun of the audience member even though he is the only one who doesn’t get it. Of course, in this case there is no opportunity to honour them for making the magic happen, but neither do we humiliate the person. If we often put down our volunteers, then people would not want to volunteer for us or even watch our performances even though we may be great magicians. So remember, always engage your audience by looking into their eyes and also always, always, respect your audience. A great magician is not just one who has smooth skills, but one who is “likeable” to the audience.

Commandment No. 9: Never Distract From Another Magician’s Performance
As a magician, do you dream of a perfect audience? Well, start by being a good audience yourself. You can occasionally spot the smart alecs in a crowd. They’d be nudging their friends and whispering in their ears, most likely clueing them where and when to watch for the magician’s secret move. This can be so annoying, right? Partly because they are distracting the other spectators from your act (if you are the performing magician) and partly because, if they guess your secret correctly, they would steal your thunder. Since we are magicians, we would have learned many a trade secret and we probably can guess how the magician on stage is doing his trick. We should respect him by keeping the knowledge to ourselves, and besides, we shouldn’t rob our fellow spectators of the thrill of suspense and the surprise at the end of the act. In such a situation, learn to sit back and enjoy another magician’s performance.

Commandment No 10 – Have FUN!
Loaded with nine commandments by now, you may start thinking magic is pretty grim business. But remember how you entered into this lifestyle? Wasn't it because you were mystified, fascinated and mesmerised by the craft? Master magicians who have been practising magic for ten or even 20 years have one thing in common. Ask them why they do magic and they’ll answer that it’s because they’re still having fun. Yup, having fun while doing what you do is the only surefire way to improve and excel in magic, and I suspect, in any career or enterprise. So, relax and enjoy your craft. And until we meet again, stay magical.

Yours Magically,
Daniel Khong

The 10 Commandments of Magic (Cont'd)

2007-10-06T22:00:00.000-07:00

Commandment No 4: Act Normal

In all our classes, the trainers say, “Think natural” and “Act normal”.

We know there’s always a secret move in every trick. The definition of ‘secret’ means that others shouldn’t know it is being done at all. How is that possible, you ask.

Simple, we must look natural while carrying it out.

One good example is palming. We’ve learned how to do a basic finger palm. If your hand is clenched tight into a fist or open with your fingers extended, doesn’t it look abnormal, and therefore suspicious? Our hand’s natural position is a semi-closed fist and people know that. Do anything else and it’d look ‘fake’. People will find it fishy.

Another problem many budding magicians face is the ‘blink’. It’s a natural physiological reaction to blink our eyes when we tense up to make a move. We can’t see ourselves blinking, so we think others won’t as well. Even if the audience doesn’t spot anything, we need to control this habit. Why? It doesn’t look natural.

Magicians aim to convince people that the impossible can happen. To be truly convincing, we need to perform the trick naturally to give the impression.

Commandment No. 5: A Bigger Action Covers a Smaller One

This commandment essentially refers to misdirection. Misdirection can be defined as a form of deception in which the attention of the audience is focused on one thing in order to distract its attention from another.

It is human tendency to focus more attention on a larger action than a small one. Think of it this way: we’ve all seen cheesy action movies where the hero points past the villain’s shoulder and the villain obediently turns around to look, allowing the hero to sneak in a punch or to make his escape.

Magic largely revolves around the manipulation of this human tendency, but of course with a greater level of subtlety. You don’t often see a magician pointing behind the audience and shouting “Look!” so that he can surreptitiously roll an elephant on stage. As said, in magic it’s done subtly.

If you recap what you’ve learnt in all the magic lessons so far, you’d realize how, in many tricks, we use a larger action to cover a smaller action. The smaller action is usually the “secret move”. Being a “secret” move, it should obviously remain a secret to the audience.

For example, in the trick where we use a magic wand to call up a coin from two empty hands, we use the larger action of turning our entire body to cover the secret move of transferring the coin together with the wand to the other hand.

Another example would be the Professor’s Nightmare (also known as Rope Trio), during the part where the magician lets the audience inspect the ropes and, under cover of collecting back the medium length rope, the magician proceeds to execute his secret move of forming the cross on the long and short rope.

Equal care should be put into practising the misdirection as well as your secret move. The key to mystify the audience is to make your cover-up action look natural and spontaneous. This takes practice! The more nonchalant you are, the more natural the move would appear and the more the audience would be unable to catch the smaller, secret move.

Commandment No. 6: People Will Look Where You Look

When I was in primary school, a teacher told us to try a simple experiment to prove his theory that people around us are “kaypo” (busybodies). In the experiment, we stood in a cluster in the middle of the school quadrangle and kept our heads turned to the sky for several minutes. The result was that fellow students started moving towards us with their heads tilted to the sky. Some asked what we were looking at but most just scanned the sky curiously, trying to figure out what had drawn our attention.

That experiment indeed proved that people are quite “kaypo”, but it also proved that people will look where you look. Even in daily life, like holding a conversation with someone, if you stare at something other than the person you’re conversing with, the person will gradually start to wonder what you are looking at and turn to look in the direction you are staring at.

I can’t explain it, I didn’t study the human brain or psychology or whatever, but here’s my take on it. Generally, when we focus our eyes on something, it’s in preparation to make an action on the object.

Understand this human behaviour and you are on your way to incorporate it into your magic show.

This is what the audience thinks. When the magician is looking at an object, like his rope or his wand, the audience thinks that he is going to make his magic with that object, so they focus all their attention on the item as well. A miracle can happen in the blink of an eye, so they don’t want to miss it.

Once again, it’s a perfect opportunity for magicians to exploit a human tendency. Pretend to focus on an unimportant object so that we draw their attention to the object, thereby distracting them from the crucial part of the trick. However, this means that we, too, must not look or even risk a glance towards the direction of our secret move. This is harder to pull off than it sounds!

Are you executing the secret move? Look somewhere else! This will throw off the audience as they wouldn’t be looking at the spot where the secret move is happening.

I’ll use the Professor’s Nightmare again as an illustration. During the counting portion of the trick, imagine if you stared at your hands while you were switching ropes. Immediately, the audience will be clued that something important is happening there. Look somewhere else! Be subtle and nonchalant.

As you can see, we magicians recognise and exploit human tendencies so that we can make something that is logical appear magical.

By the way, pointing past a person’s shoulder and shouting “Look!” only works in B-grade movies.

The 10 Commandments of Magic

2007-10-01T22:36:00.000-07:00

I have such good feedback about Daniel’s Ten Commandments of Magic that I thought I’ll reproduce it here for those who haven’t read it yet. Daniel has captured the ten fundamental rules which we, the cast and crew in Magic of Lawrence and Priscilla, all adhere to. Of course, these commandments are not sacred and you won’t be condemned if you violate them! But trust me when I say that they are worth following.

Commandment No. 1: Never tell how the trick is done

Why is this a crucial factor in magic? You see, the reason magic entertains is because of its ability to intrigue and to mystify its audience. Once the audience has knowledge of how a certain magic trick is done, their perception towards the trick is forever altered.

I speak the truth when I say that after all these years of being exposed to many aspects of magic, I seem to become numb to magic acts. When I view a magic show, I find myself looking out for secret moves, trapdoors and hidden items, rather than just sitting back and enjoying the show. It becomes more of an analysis of the techniques rather than an enjoyable entertaining hour.

So, to keep your audience intrigued and mystified by magic, don’t tell them how an illusion is done! Keep them in suspense and this in turn will fan the passion they have towards magic. You never know, one of these people may some day be the next Copperfield.

Moreover, letting people into our trade secrets would ruin the market for magic and cost us our jobs. So, please do us a favour and keep mum!

Commandment No. 2: Practise, practise practise!

Since your first magic lesson, your trainers would’ve persistently reiterated the importance of practice. Practice is essential to improvement; as the saying goes, “practice makes perfect’.

Ever been caught in a fix when you’re performing a trick and you forget what to do next? Or how about struggling to recall what you’re supposed to say halfway through your magic routine? Perhaps you pulled off an illusion brilliantly in one performance and flopped the very next time you did it. Just because we know a trick well doesn’t mean that we will remember it for the rest of our lives.

These are all the result of lack of practice.

Magic should be practised to a level of proficiency where one does not need to look at one’s hands to perform a trick. The magician should be able to perform a trick without looking at it or even thinking about it. Every single detail has already been thought through and performed exactly how it should be done.

So how then do we practise? Use a mirror. Constantly practise and polish your moves in front of a mirror so that you are able to spot any mistakes that you make. Of course, we may very possibly miss our own mistakes, so another alternative is to find a buddy who would be comfortable to help you spot and give you constructive feedback on how to improve on your magic.

Once you’ve got all the moves down and you’re comfortable with the routine, you’ll need to move on to practising in front of a live audience. Nothing beats performing to a live audience as that is when you have a chance to test people’s reactions to the way you have interpreted and performed the trick.

So please remember, Commandment No. 2 also includes practising before a live audience.

Commandment No. 3: Never Repeat A Trick During A Show

Some magicians describe a repeat trick as a suicide move.

What makes a trick so special the first time a spectator watches it? The element of surprise.

That’s why we tell our students never to reveal the effect before performing it, for example “My next trick involves this red silk which I’ll place in my left hand and then vanish.” Do that and the surprise is gone.

Similarly, performing the same trick again alerts the audience. Your misdirections and big covering actions won’t be as convincing the second time around and people might spot how the trick is done or notice things they didn’t see the first time. With their guard up, they’d be searching for suspicious moves. They may not catch your “secret” move, but why take the chance?

Take my advice -- quit while you’re ahead. Mystify them and stop there. Sure, they’d plead with you “Do it again, pleez!”, but think: if they expose your secret, we’d not be helping ourselves as magicians.

Commandment No 4: Act Normal

In all our classes, the trainers say, “Think natural” and “Act normal”.

We know there’s always a secret move in every trick. The definition of ‘secret’ means that others shouldn’t know it is being done at all. How is that possible, you ask.

The answer is simple -- we must look natural while carrying it out.

One good example is palming. We’ve learned how to do a basic finger palm. If your hand is clenched tight into a fist or open with your fingers extended, doesn’t it look abnormal, and therefore suspicious? Our hand’s natural position is a semi-closed fist and people know that. Do anything else and it’d look ‘fake’. People will find it fishy.

Another problem many budding magicians face is the ‘blink’. It’s a natural physiological reaction to blink our eyes when we tense up to make a move. We can’t see ourselves blinking, so we think others won’t as well. Even if the audience doesn’t spot anything, we need to control this habit. Why? It doesn’t look natural.

Magicians aim to convince people that the impossible can happen. To be truly convincing, we need to perform the trick naturally to give the right impression.

DVD Review

2007-09-29T22:35:00.000-07:00

“Pack Small Play Big – All Purpose Show” by Dan Harlan

Finally, a DVD that presents to you how to do a mini show. The tricks performed by this master magician are suitable for an intimate audience of less than 15 people.

What I like about this DVD is that Harlan not only performs and teaches the tricks, he also provides pointers on how to pack for your tricks and the steps to take to ensure tricks flow logically into each other. He provides an insight into how to prepare and pack for the show.

Harlan injects comedy into his routines. I was truly enthralled by how the tricks transition smoothly into each other. The audience, as well as myself, was lapping up every moment of it. I could not take my eyes off this DVD.

I like all of his tricks and if I have to choose, I would choose the Cut and Restore Rope trick as I was truly mesmerized by his routine. He brought laughter to his audience with this trick and the routine was natural. I was captivated and nearly falling out of my seat from laughter.

Another trick that impressed was Lester. This is the trick on the disappearing and appearing balls. The instructions to this trick are easy to follow and the routine is magnificent. He shows you how to palm the ball in a natural manner. The patter he provides fits the routine to a tee.

This is a must watch video for any amateur magician trying to put a simple act together. Those doing their Magic 2 course simply MUST get their hands on this as it will help them to improve on their technique that they have learnt in class.

Enjoy the show, and then prepare to learn the secrets revealed. Soon, you too will Pack Small, and Play Big.

By: Brandon Tennakoon

DVD Review

2007-09-05T22:35:00.000-07:00

“The Exciting World Of Magic” by Michael Ammar

This is a great DVD for all beginners. Watch amazing magic effects performed, then clearly explained by Michael Ammar, one of magic's most renowned performers and teachers.

He not only teaches you the magic, but also takes time to give you a tour of the magic world and where to find resources, conventions, magazines, plus professional advice about all the things he wished he had known when first starting out in magic. I find this very magnanimous of him. I am inspired to mentor younger magicians by his example.

You can always count on Michael Ammar to teach you the best magic the best way. Most of the magic is not hard to learn and do, but it will absolutely astonish anyone you perform it for.

Gene Grant’s version of a classic card trick called “Out Of This World”, created by Paul Curry, is taught on this DVD. I learned this trick a long time ago, and had forgotten what a killer effect it had till I watched this DVD.

There are other kinds of fabulous magic taught with ordinary items that can be done anytime, anywhere. If you want to learn magic that you can pull off under almost any circumstance, and absolutely floor your audience, then this is the video you want, because it's OUT OF THIS WORLD!

You'll be ready to amaze people just minutes after watching. So come down to our Magic Circle meeting to watch this latest DVD.

My recent 'street magic' experience

2007-08-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

Talk about coincidence! Just after I've been reading and airing my thoughts on Street Magic. I get to do my own old school street magic performance. Scheduled as a performer at the TCS Take the City Walk 2007 - Celebrate Singapore, Celebrate Family, I had gingerly prepared for a half an hour stage performance. Due to rain, the Padang was really muddy. Especially the area directly in front of the stage. There was no way anyone could watch my show or any other performance unless they stood, like, 30 metres away.

I decided to perform in the middle of the Padang, on the cricket patch that was covered up so nicely with a big green canvas. (Not a very glamourous performance!) Families gathered round to to watch the show, sitting and standing less than 3 feet away. I quickly changed my show line-up to work the crowd. All's well that went well! Everyone had loads of laughs and loads of fun.

Thank God for the friendly audience. A big thanks to all the friends that came to support me during the show! Couldn't have done it without you! :)

Yours,
Priscilla

Take the City Walk

2007-08-18T22:33:00.000-07:00

I was so busy, I haven’t spoken about our novel time at the “Take the City Walk” on 28 July.

This walkathon is a fund-raising event to support programmes for the needy and disadvantaged under the care of TOUCH Community Services. Where Project SMILE graduands came in was the carnival at the finishing line of the Walk.

The students were tasked to perform magic at the carnival as a part of the programme. The carnival had the right atmosphere to test the skills and creativity of this batch of Project SMILE students. It was noisy, there were a hundred things going on, and our 'street magicians' had to compete with a balloon castle, a free popcorn queue and game stalls offering attractive prizes.

But were they intimidated? No way! They carried themselves like professional street magicians (although I knew quite a few of them were nervous!) They mesmerized the crowd with their pocket card and rope tricks. Pretty soon, they were swallowed by a huddle of brand new fans, who clamoured for more. After tantalizing them with promises of more magic treats, they rallied the carnival participants to watch the stage magic show by yours truly.

With such a tough opening act in their magic career, I would certainly say that this batch of Project SMILE students graduated with flying colours. Don’t you agree?

Project SMILE in China

2007-08-11T22:32:00.000-07:00

I am taking stock after the Shenyang trip.

This trip had been a huge challenge to me. I had never taught a Project SMILE class on this scale before, let alone in Mandarin! Help! As most of you know, Chinese is NOT my forte (and that is putting it mildly?)

Well, I SURVIVED! I not only survived the trip, but to my surprise… I actually enjoyed myself. I managed to teach two out of three c1assroom sessions and anchored an entire community service in Mandarin. But I didn’t do it by myself. I had a kick-ass team of volunteer magicians who helped me every step of the way. (You guys were awesome!)

I remembered how, in 2006, TOUCH Community Services International (TCSI) and Liaoning’s Provincial Communist Youth Party partnered to bring Project SMILE to Shenyang. As Chairman of TOUCH, my dad personally taught magic to 50 of their varsity students.

It was such a successful collaboration that they not only invited us back to teach magic; they also invited my dad to be a guest speaker at Shenyang Technological University and Dongbei University. This is one of the rare occasions whereby China has given an outsider the liberty to speak to their youths about life values.

Wow, I gotta stop a moment to appreciate the immensity of this privilege -- we were allowed the extraordinary opportunity to speak into China’s next generation.

In retrospect, this trip has been very meaningful to me on many levels. Not just Dad’s speech to the varsity students, but through the entire Project SMILE. From the experience of serving the community, our students were able to understand how they as individuals can make a difference.

Their act of kindness of performing magic and spending time with the elderly during the community service segment brought immeasurable joy to the elderly, so much so that it evoked strong emotions in the students themselves.

I always knew that Project SMILE is a great way to get people involved in serving the community, but this particular Project SMILE has taught me that EVERYONE OF US CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Yours Magically,
Priscilla

Qian Qian Shou

2007-08-01T22:28:00.000-07:00

It's great to be back!

I've just finished conducting a two-day intensive Project SMILE for 150 students at the Thousand Linking Hands (Qian Qian Shou) 2nd Shanghai Summer Camp in July. Man, was it challenging to coach in Mandarin! Despite this, I enjoyed every moment teaching the Shanghai students!

The slogan for this mission is very poetic and evocative.

Linking Hearts Linking Minds Linking Hands
心心相印心智相通心手相连

Qian Qian Shou (千牵手) is a project spanning three years that aims to bring a thousand youths from Singapore to Shanghai to serve the various communities across China in 2008. This is our second year conducting the Shanghai Summer Camp. This camp prepares the youth for the culmination of 千牵手 in 2008, by training them in both Service-Learning and Project SMILE.

Qian Qian Shou (千牵手) aims to impart the heart of serving the community to all participating youths. During the camp, they are guided to plan Service-Learning projects, which will then be executed at various locations with the help of the host social service groups.

Magic was introduced as a tool to engage the community, but it made a greater impact than we initially thought. Last year, the campers were trained by my dad whom they called "Kwang Lao Shi". He had shaped an ordinary piece of tissue into a flower and presented it to one of the campers whose birthday was on the day itself. This participant was visibly touched by the gesture; she not only received the tissue flower with tears in her eyes, but she understood the underlying message of the flower, which was that she was special.

Many of those trained in Project SMILE last year came back as trained leaders to spearhead their group's Service-Learning projects. First-timers at this year’s camp were brought through two days of intensive Project SMILE lessons. But they learned fast, with the help of their magic facilitators.

It is evident that last year's camp had instilled in the participants a desire not just to serve the community, but to excel in it. And the excitement is building up to the final camp in 2008.

"The Service-Learning training helps us to prepare fully for the projects. The 6 steps to victory over social ills also equip me to build a community (of like minded volunteers) for service. This is the key to success.”
Leon Lee, Shanghai Participant

"I learnt Project SMILE in 2005 back in Singapore, and I didn't expect to be a magic facilitator... I was very stressed. But on the first day, after I revised and listened to Priscilla's teaching again, I managed to recall my past lessons and helped my group. I feel that, as I teach others, I learned the tricks better myself."
Sze Yung, Group Magic Facilitator

Armed with their newly acquired skills, the students are all set to serve the community through their meticulously planned Service-Learning projects complemented with their magic tricks.

We take our (magic) hats off to these new members of the Magic Circle who have bravely taken up the challenge! I'm sure they will do us all proud!

Yours Magically,
Priscilla

STREET MAGIC LINKS

2007-07-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

"Street magic effects have to pack small and play big... High-impact, raw, real magic.”

Check out the following links to learn more about street magic -

For all your street magic needs, go to http://www.ellusionist.com

Wanna watch clips of magic? Youtube has everything. Best bet is to look for specifc magicians or routines that you wanna see. Or if you have alot of time.. slowly watch all the home videos of people performing magic. There was one kid who perfromed the ACR that was quite good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AveqS9Lbq0o

Another great site to find magic clips are on http://www.metacafe.com/

Evolution By Jeff

For all of you who want to learn how to do card flourishes and look really slick,

check out these clips -

SIMPLE SYBIL CUT

TOMAHAWK CUT

CRAZY CUTS

Guess I kinda went OTT with the clips. What can I say... I've always liked flourishes.

That's all for now!

STREET MAGIC (I)

2007-07-19T23:22:00.000-07:00

After writing the article in the newsletter, I realize that it might not be enough and further explanation might be needed. So here goes…

There is a big difference between performing STREET MAGIC and a STREET MAGICIAN. All magicians can perform street magic. But that DOES NOT mean that all magicians can be street magicians.

Sounds chiem doesn’t it? ;)

Let's deal with one thing at a time. Nowadays, the first thought that comes to mind when you mention Street Magic is… Self Levitation. Well at least I did! When I first learnt magic, I thought street magic the ‘cool’ version of tricks. Style of performing: fast & furious.

Hence the first few tricks that I learnt involved using ravens and loops. First card magic I first learnt was the Ambitious Card Routine (which by the way… is now known as ACR). Other than that, I only bothered learning all sorts ‘tricks with cards’ like card cuts and flourishes. I thought that the magic had to be visual and instant, be it cards, coins or anything else.

I still remember the first time I did a ‘Street Magic’ shoot. It was in 2002, where my friend Ferris and I did a street magic shoot for HTV. We shot around the Esplanade and along Orchard Road. By then, I learnt that eveb quick flashy effects needed some sort of build up in order to create a visual miracle for your spectators. However, the choice of magic performed was really based on what we thought was ‘cool’. I remember working coin tricks, card tricks, mental magic and even tried David Blaine’s self levitation.

This is how I stereotyped street magic. Nothing wrong with that! Many still perceive street magic as such, especially with so many local magicians now on TV.

Check out this clip. The magician not only performs good visual card effects, but teaches them as well.

Magic Exposed

DOES CLOTHES MAKE A MAN? in our case.. does clothes make a magician?)

2007-07-04T00:35:00.000-07:00

In the corporate world, we always hear the term ' Dress For Success!". And as all youths know, IMAGE COUNTS!

Let's say you're quite a good magician. You have a decent repertoire with some great effects. You’ve practiced it thousands of times, perfected it in front of the mirror and now are ready to take your act to the streets. Ok... maybe not the streets but you are ready to perform a 15 min segment for a small group of people at an informal gathering.

But wait....what are you going to wear???

You say “What?, who cares what I am wearing?”.

Let me tell you something, image and presentation is everything. What is the first thing people see when you start performing?? It’s you of course! First impressions last. You only have one chance to make a great first impression even before you do your magic. You might think, I can wear anything to do my magic trick and it will still amaze them. You're probably right! A great effect is a great effect! But with a littlle style and imaging, you can take your performance to a whole new level.

Imagine with me.
2 cars side by side. Both have the same high powered engine same sport suspension. The first car is dull mustard in color. The interior is basic grey. Very functional in its look. The second car is a shiny orange in color and looks stylish inside. There are some titanium-effect trims on the dashboard with the top patterned so it almost resembled carbon fibre. Feels expensive.
Now, which car would you instinctive go and look at first? Let me rephrase that... Which car will your friends go and look at first? *grinz*

Get the picture right?

Likewise, if you are dressed in just your regular clothes (jeans & t-shirt or pants & short sleeved collared shirt) and performing tricks, yes you will still probably get great reactions. But consider the possibilities if you stepped up your dress code slightly. Now, I am not saying that you have to wear branded clothes nor spend alot of money on your imaging. Just be aware of what your are wearing and what you want to portray. It can determine the type of impression you leave behind.

~ A rule of thumb I always follow: Don't dress for the occasion, instead dress slightly better than what the occasion requires. ~

Our Second Magic Circle Meeting 8 JUNE

2007-06-30T21:59:00.000-07:00

Our second Magic Circle meeting was rather hectic for many of our GE staff. We had rehearsals the whole week and only finished an hour before the Magic Circle was supposed to start. My dad and I quickly went to prepare for the routines that we were performing that evening. I was nervous yet excited about debuting my Linking Rings routine, and also watching my Magic II students perform their routines.

Tick tock tick tock… It’s 7:30pm. People started to stream in and chill out and talk magic.

Tat's my dad performing a magic trick for Jorim and he in turn performs for Christina

Kengsan shows off his new card sleights:) while I attempt a new card trick.

(right) Peng Yew demos a new trick learnt from the Royal Road to Card MAgic,
while Amelia demonstrates more magic to Chris. (left)

(right) Addy performing tricks he learnt from a magic shop in Shenyang, while in the

next table, Eugene teaches his trick from last month's magic circle meeting (left)

(right) Dad peacticing a new card routine and Ronald trying a trick he just learnt. (left)

Hey! Cards seem to be the universal language of magicians. From the pics I'm sure you can gather that no matter what the theme of the night is... Magicians will always have card tricks up their sleeves!

Well, this is the fun and relaxing part of our magic circle meetings. Hanging out with friends, winding down after work and watch people perform magic. After much warming up, everyone adjourned to the studio for the real show.

There were 10 performers that evening, of which some were from my graduating Magic II class. In order to graduate from Magic II, each group had to put up their own 20min stage show the next day at IMH – our community service venue. This was their chance to run their individual segments in front of a live audience. (And also for me and my dad. *grinz*)

The first to take the stage were Lam Peng Yew and Jorim Sim. They performed a routine with ropes, combining the Cut & Restore with the Rope Trio. The transition between the 2 performers was flawless and their routine was well executed. I could tell they had been practicing.

The next to take to the stage was my son Isaac Khong. I told him that in order to come, he had to perform a trick and he came well prepared with his mini Color Changing Rabbit trick. The prop he used was a miniature version of the kids trick called “Find The Rabbit”. The prop actually comes in a pair, but to simplify it for him, I taught it to him as a color changing rabbit trick. At 4 years old, he really is the youngest performer at the Magic Circle. I was so proud of him!

Armed with Cups & Balls, Collin Tan was up next. He performed Michael Ammar’s Cups & Balls routine which outright astounded the audience with the production of 4 real life fruits – lemon, prune, apple & tomato from the 3 cups. Because of his clear presentation and deliberate actions, no one even saw it coming.
Too bad I don't have a pic of the final production :(

The next performer was Eugene Lim who did Eugene Burger’s Gypsy Thread, whereby he breaks off a long piece of thread from a spool, shows it to everyone before proceeding to break it into many small pieces. He continues to roll all these pieces together and slowly uncoil it to show that it is completely restored. This trick is truly a pack small play big trick with an amazing effect.

(Can u see e thread in e pic??

Psst... Eugene, next time wear a darker shirt when u do tis trick!)

Amelia Goh, our up and coming Project SMILE trainer was up next. She defty performed the Magic II trick - Burnt & Restored Tissue Paper. After which, she decided to try out a new silk routine, using a production canister. Although her nerves were shaking... she still pulled it off beautifully.

All

good

fun,

Addy Ang delivered a hilarious Floating Bill routine, although it wasn't his original intention. Oh course, with any routine using money, Addy seized the opportunity to borrow a bill from the audience and requested that he keep the bill if he performed it well. Looks quite good from the pics huh? The dollar bill slowly starts to rise. However, it turned into a farce when his bill started to fly away and Addy desperately tries to catch it! His routine became the talk of the night. :)

Our veteran Project SMILE trainer Daniel Gan performed an amazing torn and restored card trick, of which he does not know what it is called. First he asked someone to choose a card and 3 indifferent others from an SIA deck. Likewise, he took 4 indifferent cards as well. Both Daniel and his audience started to tear up the each card into 4 pieces, place all the pieces into a bag and mixed it up. Form the bag, Daniel randomly pulls out 4, assembles it face down in between 2 clear acrylic boards, and reveals it to be the card that the audience selected. Fantastic!

It was my turn and like everyone else, I was about to perform my new routines. I was really nervous at debuting my 3 ring, Linking Ring routine. I’ve always done a 2 ring, Linking Ring routine in the Magic Of Love. So what made performing a 3 ring routine any different? Well for starters, there was an additional ring. Duh! But that was not really the reason. This was one of the rare pieces of magic, that I really put a lot of heart and soul into the routine.

I wanted to use my magic to inspire people to look within themselves and find the childlike wonder that they once had. Combining it with dance and mime, I performed my 3 ring routine to the song “Remember When” by LeAnn Rimes. I managed to captivate my audience. Phew! I was relieved when that was over. (hey, good idea for another article… A Magician’s First…) My next trick was a routine called Mixed Emotions by Rick Maue. Great effect! But not very easy to pull off… if you don’t know how to manage all the audience members involved in the trick. *hint*

My dad, Lawrence Khong was the final performer. First performed Johnny Thompson’s signature Egg Bag routine. I’ve seen this routine performed by Johnny many times. It’s a really great routine. My dad really did justice to the routine. Johnny would be proud! Since the theme of the night was Parlor magic, he decided to perform and teach everyone how to do the 20th Century Silk. Silk magic is very visual. Everyone loved the instantaneous effect of the vanished silk appearing in between 2 silks tied together and was eager to learn. The show wasn’t over yet. My dad took full opportunity to show 2 more great routines which he was working on - A mental trick using the 5 prediction symbols and Whit Hayden’s audience participation version of the Linking Rings. It was a humorous routine that not only drew much laughs from the audience, but also made his volunteer looked good.

As the show came to an end, my dad encouraged everyone to invest in some magic props. But, he also advised that before buying any trick, to drop us an email to check with us whether the trick was well worth its price. We’ve bought magic tricks that sounds promising, but upon receiving it, realize that it is really lame. Don’t think you want to be spending money on crap! ;)

Overall, it was a fun gathering of friends at the Magic Circle. But as always, my dad reminded all of us what Project Smile is all about - serving the community using magic, and how we as a Magic Circle must continue to promote this value. I think that this element is very important. Ooh! It just occurred to me… Technically, all magicians should be very community minded people. Why? Magic in itself, is something to be shared. Perhaps doing a community project together as alumni, would help to continually promote and retain this value.

Hmmm… My dad and I will definitely be putting more thought to this.
Ciao for now!

(Oh...one more thing...Sorry for not posting tis up earlier)

so little time ... so much magic...

2007-06-07T10:13:00.000-07:00

Dropping a quick note in between rehearsals.

Time passes way too fast for my liking. Ever since I cam back from Shenyang, its been one thing after the other. Last week, I had a2 day intensive train the trainers session. I was really pleased with everyone. My protegee in training - Amelia, has come a long way. This class not only benefited Amelia, but all my volunteer facilitators felt that they now have a better grasp on the tricks that they weren't so good at.

This week, we are having full on magic rehearsals. Our new director Joanie Spina is here in Singapore to work with us on our illusions. It's a painfully good experience. The pain kicked in after the second day. I was literally black and blue from rehearsing over and over again. We did one brand new illusion 20 times that day. Talk about monotonous! But it was worth it. Our routine looks...

Fine tuning and polishing our magic is a very tedious process. But that is what seperates from the good from the great. I wanna be great at everything I do. (Sigh... that just means I gotta lot to do)

Gotta run! I can hear them calling me.

"The devil is in the details"

DAY 3 - Rope, Ropes & more Ropes!

2007-05-24T17:15:00.000-07:00

Today started out as a rather relaxing day. Or so it seemed. It was our day for R&R. The Youth Communist Party was taking our team of volunteers out to visit their Botanical Garden. As for myself, I was planning to run some errands. I wanted to hunt for 8 – 10 mm cotton rope for my Magic II class. Sheesh… You would think that I’d be able to purchase it in Singapore right? Well, you can’t. I can only find nylon rope in Singapore and it wasn’t cheap either. Nowadays, it seems as though everything is made in China. So might as well try to find it since I’m here.

We went to many places but to no avail. I was sure that in such a big place like Shenyang, they were bound to have what I was looking for. We just had to find the right place. Finally! After searching the whole morning, some one pointed us to the right direction. Where we went, I do not have a clue. It looked like a small street behind a wholesale district, with many little shophouses. Oh well!

Yea!! They do have the rope which I was looking for. But oh my goodness! It was such a mess. They chucked a huge messy bundle of rope on the ground and told me - This is 150meters. For people who sell rope, they sure don’t know how to handle rope. It took them 30 minutes to try to recoil the rope, just to end up more tangled than when they started. Look at the mess they were making. I had no choice but to step in and lend a hand.

Initially, I was quite amused at the situation. It got old pretty quickly and the smile on my face soon dissapeared. By the time we were done, it was already close to 4pm. We spent the whole day searching for ropes. All I wanted to do was to enjoy what was left of one and only R&R day.

DAY 2 - REFLECTION

2007-05-24T01:15:00.000-07:00

Today wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. (phew!) When I was introduced, I came out and performed a short rope routine before starting that days session. I kinda froze for awhile after I performed. But I really need to thank God that I was able to overcome my fear. Strangely, after I did my welcome speech and asked for their kind understanding as I hardly speak Chinese back home… somehow everything went much better, as though a great burden was lifted from my shoulders. Words seemed to roll off the tip of my tongue.

That's me performing the mind reading act in chinese!! I'm still in shock. ;)

Actually, teaching the Liaoning university students was a lot of fun. I realize that magic transcends all languages. They really seemed to dig learning magic. But most importantly, teaching them magic was easy cos’ I had a great team behind me helping me all the way. Daniel Gan, our other Project SMILE trainer and magic enthusiast, was standing on stage with me the entire time just in case I got stuck and needed some assistance. Also, our volunteers were spread out, 2 to a group to help facilitate the university students learning. Check out how serious they all look during their debrief session. They really made my job a breeze!

After a 3 hour class, I was seriously tired and had a splitting headache. I had NEVER spoken as much Chinese as I did in that one session. It was a major overload of Chinese for me. Though tiring, I also had an immense sense of satisfaction. One of my goals this year was to proficient in Chinese, so as to help my dad teach magic in China. And even though this does not make me an expert in Chinese, it has helped me start this process of reaching my goal.

“A goal is a dream with a deadline.”

DAY 2 - TOTALLY FREAKING OUT!

2007-05-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

What on earth am I doing?? I can’t imagine that in less than 3 hours I’m going to have to stand in front of 100 University students and teach them magic in CHINESE!! Was was I thinking when I agreed to do this? I only speak Chinese while performing the Magic Of Love. I had never held a conversation in Chinese before, let alone teach and interact in Chinese. I know I’ve been preparing for this, and this was also one of my goals for this year. BUT…

[pacing up and down] 欢迎大家来参于触爱社会服务的欢乐魔术…
Arrggghhh! Can’t seem to ease my nerves.

Aiyah… whatever will be will be.

SHENYANG - DAY 1

2007-05-22T23:48:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Shenyang today. 30 volunteers, including myself flew on China Southern airlines, with a quick transit at Guangzhou. Check out the gate number on our ticket versus what was on the signboard. Hmm… wasn’t sure whether we’d arrive at the right destination. :)

I was surprised at the welcome we received at the airport. The Shenyang delegates had a big banner prepared to welcome us, and they also gave me a huge bouquet of flowers. (Seriously, taking pictures upon arrival is not the best idea. Felt so grubby... oh well!)

We were immediately ushered to a dinner prepared in our honor.

Good food... Good friends… It was really was a good start to the trip. Starting classes tmr. I’d better get some shut eye.

PROJECT SMILE IS GOING TO SHENYANG FOR A SECOND TIME!

2007-05-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

Let me give you all some background information –

Last year, my dad and I went to Shenyang with 10 volunteers from Singapore to engage with the youth via Project SMILE. My dad taught magic classes for 3 days and on the 4th day, we brought the entire team to serve in an elderly home in the city. Five major TV stations were there to cover the event.

My dad, Lawrence was extended an invitation to come back this year to conduct more magic classes and to speak to the youths on leadership and other youth related issues. What an opportunity!

Back to real time. We have been invited back to conduct Project SMILE aka for 100 university students all over Liaoning. These students come from more than 20 different universities, coming together to take part in a Singapore and Liaoning exchange program, which Project SMILE is a part of. Not only will we be conducting Project SMILE classes, but my dad will be using magic to give a speech about life, to the university students in Dongbei University and Shenyang Technological University. This will really be a first of its kind!

Normally, I wouldn’t get excited about conducting Project SMILE classes overseas, as my dad usually does most of the work. I’m just his ‘blonde’ assistant. However this time, I’m supposed to be the MAIN TRAINER. Hoo boy! This could end up being a very painful experience for both me and my students. I plan to blog this whole experience, so stay tuned. Will unravel how everything goes…

Passionate about Magic?

2007-05-08T01:43:00.000-07:00

A question that I have to answer for myself. I guess for a lot of you… you’ve just graduated from Project SMILE class. And you do have a genuine interest, but not sure if it’s just a phase or will it be a permanent part of your life.

I’ve been teaching magic alongside my dad since 2002. (At that time I was just his assistant) And I’ve seen many people who picked up magic and like us… have made it a permanent part of our lives. My brother Daniel & my cousin Chris are no exception. I guess Magic does run in the family. *grinz* Apart from family members, many others have caught the magic bug. It might sound strange… but learning and performing magic becomes a way of life.

For example, Over the weekend I met Kenneth & Jonathan from the recent Intermediate Magic class I am teaching.

Kenneth was attending the S-L class on Saturday, which I was there as a facilitator. He & I were doing the same thing – we were both carrying around our manipulation ball and were keeping our fingers occupied by constantly twirling it around our fingers, trying to keep them limber and agile.

On Sunday, I met Jonathan at church. (No surprise there since Eileen – Jon’s wife and I are from the same group.) Anyway, the first thing that he said to me was… “Can you show me again how to turn the ball in this manner?”

I was psyched that I wasn’t the only person obsessed with practicing magic. I’ve been carrying my multiplying balls with me EVERYWHERE and practicing all the time. What do I practice? Well, nowadays… I’ve been intent on working on my ball manipulation. Not just the multiplying portion but general sleight of hand. So I try to palm a ball when doing all activities. (well, except for when I’m typing with both hands… the ball is small but not that small.)

I remember that Jeff McBride once told me, “MAGIC = PASSION + PRECISION”
He is right! (Ohh… that sounds like an entire topic itself. Will develop more about that) My dad loves magic, and he watches at least one new magic DVD everyday. Till now, that itself amazes me. He is so busy constantly, but he always makes time to watch and learn new magic. He has made learning magic both a passion and a key priority in his life. I envy his passion.

It must be great to be so passionate about something. I’ve still been developing in this area. I enjoy watching magic, but for that to be a form of relaxation… I dunnoe… still skeptical.

As for me, I do like magic. But like us all… we get contented with what we do would and find ourselves in our own comfort zone. I have been very contented to doing illusions and performing the same card tricks, same close up sleights that I already know. BUT, you all inspire me. As you desire to learn more magic, I too want to continue developing my magic and move out into my comfort zone >> Develop more magic routines, learn new technique… a basically grow together as a community. *yeah!*

This is what I am working on now – A good multiplying ball routine. I hope to perform in when I am in Shenyang at the end of May. And will definitely perform it at the next Magic Circle meeting. Seeya all there!!

! Reminder !
Next Magic Circle Meeting – 8 JUNE, 7:30pm
(open only for Project SMILE graduates)

Intermediate Magic Class > what's that about?

2007-05-01T01:12:00.000-07:00

Just had our first session of the Intermediate Magic Class. It was great! (from my perspective anyway) How did you guys find it?? Let me know k!

For all of you who weren’t able to join this round of classes due to the class being filled… Don’t worry. There will definitely be another round of classes, but it’ll definitely be after June. *grinz* We will keep you posted via our monthly newsletter.

So what is this Intermediate Magic Class all about?? Is it just learning more tricks?? Let me tell you all about it. I’m totally psyched about it. Initially, it was a response to people who wanted to learn more magic. So, I decided to put together a class with the follow objectives.

♠ To introduce you all to a world of sleights.
♥ To help you put up a 5-10 minute mini show aka “Parlor Magic”
(Check out the article about Parlor Magic)
♣ To create more platforms for you to serve the community via magic.
♦ To have fun and totally go nuts with magic!

My friend Eugene helped me find this clip online. It’s one of the tricks that I teach in this Intermediate class. It’s sort of a preview of what you will learn in this Magic II class.
-> For all my current students...check it out!!

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src="http://www.magicoflawrence.com/OneCard&OneCardAlone.wmv" autostart="true" designtimesp="5311" loop="true">

Hope you guys are practicing your magic. I look forward to seeing you guys performing for the class (as per what we do before learning more incredible magic.)

Ciao for now!

OUR FIRST MAGIC CIRCLE MEETING FOR THE YEAR!

2007-04-30T03:11:00.000-07:00

We just had our first official Magic Circle meeting in our office on Friday the 13th. Auspicious day to launch our magic circle huh! *grins cheekily*

“All about Cards” was the theme, and we saw a great turnout! We had more than forty people present for our first official Magic Circle meeting held at our office.

Check it out! We transformed our pantry and dance studio into a cosy chill out area with comfy sofas, mood lights, snacks and of course… lots of magic. With the ambience set, everyone was all out to hang loose and talk magic.

For all those who were not able to come, let me give you a brief rundown on the evening. Everyone did great and learnt at least one new trick before coming. Between showing close up magic and snacking, everyone quickly loosened up to the prospects of performing in front of everyone else.

We had a total of thirteen performers that night, including my dad and me. (13 performers on Friday the 13th! How apt *lol*) We had a great variety of card tricks. From automatic card tricks, tricks with different sleights, different ways to force a card, card tricks using gimmicked cards, mental magic. We had them all. One of the perks of the meeting was that most of the performers taught us the trick that they performed. Of course, as we all know… just because we know the secret didn’t mean that we could proceed to performing it. After all the performances, everyone hung around to learn the tricks that they wanted to learn from each other. Really enjoyable!

The first to perform was Addy Ang, our GE props master and one of our Project SMILE mentor. You should have seen his face when he was asked to be the first to perform. He performed Micheal’s Skinner’s Ultimate 3 Card Monte. Even though his hands were shaking with nervousness, he still took the crowd for a ride. Great job! Like many of you, that was his first time performing in front of a crowd.

Next, was our Project SMILE Director Chua Seng Lee. e performed a memorized deck where he got 2 spectators to randomly select a card and proceeded to read their minds. Although nerves got the better of him at one point, he kept his composure and successfully pulled off the trick on his next try.

Reaney Peh performed 2 great effects. The first was a great effect with 12 cards: 4 Kings & 8 indifferent cards, where the Kings were placed in between 2 cards each, and proceeded to vanish from the packs. Not too sure what the name of the trick is cos he bought it from a road side stall. (Who says magic isn’t easily available? *grinz*) The second was a an Ace Assembly.

Gutsy Emily Phua was up next, who performed a great self working card trick. By forming the face of a clock, she was able to know what card her audience had selected. Up next, was Nigel Wong, our veteran Project SMILE trainer who demonstrated his sleight of hand by bringing a selected card to the top of the deck and doing a top change, and a mind reading routine. The twins Konrad & Kendrick Leong then did a back to back performance which made everyone do a double take with their clever moves. Konrad executed another version of cutting to the 4 Aces, while Kendrick performed a wicked triple card revelation based on the ‘one ahead principle’.

Eugene Lim one of our Project SMILE mentors, was our next performer. He made all of us wait for for ages while he gnawed over his cards till my dad teased him that the trick had better be worth the wait. Finally, he did a very simple yet mind blowing routine where he laid out 5 cards – King of hearts, 7 of clubs, 4 of hearts, Ace of diamonds and 9 of diamonds, on the table. Asked someone to remember one card. Took up all the cards and selects and confidently tosses one card out on the table. He asks the audience to name the card. And lo and behold… the card named is the very card that is on table! Gads! How did he do it? That trick was Dai Vernon’s Mental Force. The effect was so simple yet powerful that it was really worth the wait.

One of the highlights for the evening was to see 10 year old Jorim Sim stand up in front of everyone to perform. He performed a simple card force that he learnt from Addy. Just to let you guys know, Jorim has been helping out as one of our facilitators as well. And it is a blast to see him teaching everyone. Betty Sim proved that card magic is not reserved solely for grown men. She deftly displayed the skills of her sons (Konrad & Kendrick), getting 3 volunteers to cut the cards and pick one, then proceeded to name their cards effortlessly.

Daniel Gan, another veteran Project SMILE trainer took the stage next. He performed Max Maven’s killer mental routine. For all of you who do not know what that is, let me describe it for you. Basically, he cuts the deck into 2 piles, gives the audience free choice of whichever piles. Audience deals 5 stacks of cards and selects any stack. Daniel proceeds to name each card in the selected pile.

Finally, it was my turn! I decided to do 2 card tricks by Eugene Burger. The first trick is called Simple Ten, I challenged 4 audience to cut to exactly 10 cards, though they failed but to their surprise, the 10 of hearts, 10 of clubs, 10 of diamonds & 10 of spades all turned up on top of decks which they cut. The next trick was a Double Reverse Trick where both myself and a spectator chooses a card and places it into the deck. Instantly, the cards are reversed in the deck.

The charm, wit and professional showmanship of my dad, Lawrence Khong closed April’s Magic Circle meeting on a high note. He conjured a performance that was simply mesmerising. Pulling out both old and new tricks from his hat, sleeves and even shoe! First he unleashed a fast and furious medley of card manipulation – producing single cards, card fans and ended by shooting cards into the audience. Then did his trite and true Ambitious Card routine & ended off with the signed card in his shoe. That’s not it. He later continued with Martin Lewis’s Come-Back Card and Ton Onosaka’s Giant 3 Card Monte.

In wrapping up the meeting, Lawrence shared what was on his heart concerning Project Smile. He encouraged all present to consider becoming facilitators and trainers, and to work on becoming better magicians by putting their magic lessons into practice more often.

I was excited to see so many familiar faces from past coming back together. I was even more thrilled that the Magic Circle gathering is revived. Like I’ve said before… All of you inspire me to want to be a better magician. I hope you all share the same sentiments, and together we will all grow in our art of magic. So till we meet again! Ciao!

Love and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul, delights the heart a
And they both take practice!

2007-04-12T02:47:00.000-07:00

Ok… back to 2007. So what have I been doing since the Christmas Magic Of Love show? Well, I’ve been living life in a whirlwind for the past 2 months. This year we’re like taking a break from touring Magic Of Love to work on tweaking the show. In the mean time, I’ve been doing more corporate shows and teaching lots of magic classes.

Let’s see… I’ve taught 10 different magic classes in the last 2 months and done many many community services. I’m gearing up to go to Shenyang to teach magic in Chinese. Man! That’s really going to be a challenge for me. Guess what… I just conducted my first CHINESE Project SMILE Magic Class last Friday. One down, 3 more session to go. You know what they say… that the first step is always the hardest. Well, I did it and survived!

Someone ask me whether I really like what I’m doing? By that she was talking specifically about teaching magic class.

Well, it is very different from performing. And it is very time consuming and somewhat tiring. Can you imagine teaching a class of 30 Primary 4 students?? I tell you, kids now days are too smart for their own good. There’s like this boy that catches on so fast that he actually completes my sentences for me. Of course I enjoyed teaching him, however sometimes it seemed as though he was perpetually sugar high. He’d speak like a bullet train and just ramble on.

That’s him on the left. His name is Tommy.

There was this other boy who was so precocious. When I told him magicians should never reveal the secret of the tricks. His first question was: “What if your parents ask you to tell and if you don’t they will disown you?”

Kids love to do that… They love to put you on the spot. OF course I told him that in that instance, to tell their parents, No point causing strife between you and your parents. Sheesh!

What was most rewarding about teaching all the primary school and secondary school students was to see them succeed during their class party and community service. I felt so proud of all of them.

My students rising up to the occasion, performing just like veterans magicians. Getting volunteers to participate in their act.

One even mustered his courage & got his Principal as a volunteer.

That’s when I really learnt the power of magic. Magic has the ability to change people, not just those who watch the magic… but very much for the performers. I’ve seen the shyest kid come out of their shell and the mischievous ones buckle down to practice their magic.

This parent actually told me, “My son has been changed ever he has learnt magic.” That was reward in itself.

So my answer to that question is… Yes. I do enjoy teaching Magic classes. I enjoy sharing what I know with my students. I realize that to teach someone, is to impart part of yourself to others. And my hope is that all my students not only take home a new skill with them, but take back a new level of confidence in themselves. That they are special and they really have the ability to put a smile on people’s faces.

Check out some pics of the classes I’ve taught.

Here are some primary school kids that stepped out of their comfort zone to bring a smile to patients at SACH.

Pretty cool huh. We’ve got angels & devils incorporated to our class.

Remember gals, the real magic is in you.

More primary school kids doing their parents proud!

That’s all for now!
Priscilla

2007-03-30T01:12:00.000-07:00

Hi! Finally made the resolution to start blogging. I know people usually make resolutions at the beginning of the year and mine seems to be kind of late. Well, better late than never!

That saying doesn’t always work all the time. But I guess in this case, that’s always a good thing.

Last year was a busy year. Hmmm… come to think of it… every year is a busy year! Although this year is really unlike the last. Last year was really hectic. We were in US for 2 months rehearsing and performing the Magic of Love. Guess you guys already know that from the old blogs. (lol)

Betcha don’t know one of the highlights of that trip… My dad and I performed for the 2006 Magic Castle Award show in Hollywood, California.

It was a special award show to honor Chris Angel, where they officially presented him the 2005 Magician of the Year award.

It was truly a honor to be able to perform there. Saw lots of famous magicians at there.

Yes… I did get to meet Chris Angel !! Even took pictures with him and got his signature.

There’s me totally taken with him.

And here’s the real shot. From left to right: myself, Chris Angel, Liz, Amos, my dad & mom.

Just another day in my life

2005-09-01T18:27:00.000-07:00

Well, SPOOK show ended with a great success on sunday night where we put up 4 shows with very good response. The preshow was very interesting and fun to do as we were all dressed up and were all out scaring people, it felt like halloween all over again, this time with the help of professionals and in an enclosed area. Monday saw us back in the office to start on rehearsals to prepare for MOL Japan in September which really doesn't give us much time to prepare. I have a whole new set of props that i have to put together to form a Priscilla's routine and these are huge compared to the props i used to perform with. Gay Blackstone and Johnny Thompson are here helping us with the producing of the show for the Asian audience and give them input as Producer and Magic Director. It's been a mad rush but there are a lot of new and exciting things happening and I'm looking forward to touring Japan, China and Korea

SPOOK SHOW

2005-08-29T09:29:00.000-07:00

the past week has been a very fast paced one for all of us. we had put together the skeleton of the show but it lacked a certain body that is needed to keep the audience enthralled and entertained. i also had to change most of the music in the show and my sound engineers and i often had to go back to the office after rehearsals. rehearsals would end at 11pm on a good day and we would be in office until morning.
after a few days of this regime, i started having a sore throat that did not help at all especially during the show..
we only had a full rehearsal with the sound and everything put together on the day of our first show. what a close shave..
jeff mcbride made some changes to the show and his comments really made the show seem better..
organising preshow was also a headache but it turned out well.

and guess what, rehearsals for MOL Japan starts TODAY!

2005-08-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

for more information, pls visit http://www.thespookshow.com/

First city of the tour

2005-08-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

Yeehah! Texas - land of cowboys!

But, so far, all I've seen is the theatre and the hotel room. Music Hall is huge; it sits 3000. I don't think we'll be able to fill this hall, but that isn't my worry. I have to focus on the show. I woke up at 6am this morning to attend a TV interview. We drove for about an hour or more to get there. The scenery for the entire journey was grass and more grass! But we had a good five-minute interview at Channel 12 First News.

This was the first interview of our USA tour. Haha, I sorta felt like I was on Oprah. Rushed to rehearsals after that. We met up with George (Charlie), Jeffrey (Mr Low), the
dancers and Richard (our director) at a studio near the theatre. We rehearsed the entire show, including the illusions, without any props at all. We even had a "faux" intermission. Man, talk about using our imagination.

Everyone is in a major state of jet lag and can't focus anymore.

A One Of A Kind, NeveTo Be Seen Again Version Of Magic Of Love

2005-08-12T11:47:00.000-07:00

Magic of Love in Dallas - Opening Night

To everyone back in Singapore who’ve watched our show before... you just missed a one time only, never to be repeated performance of Magic Of Love.
It was our opening night at Music Hall, Fair Park in Dallas, Texas. The show was moving along fine - the pacing was good and our energy was high. Up till ...Act 2.

Charlie: "He wants the secret to the Death Trap." (He pulls the cloth away and powers up the huge Water Chamber, aka Death Trap, with 200 gallons of water

The chamber started rotating as per normal. Suddenly, the hatch flung open and all the water started gushing out on the stage. Trust me when I say that everyone just stared silently. The audience was watching in amazement and the crew in disbelief. Many thoughts flew across my mind as I watched the water flood the stage – ‘Oh no!’, 'So this was what it looked like in FISM when water from a tank flooded the stage and into the audience' and 'Let's see how we get out of this mess'.

Thank goodness the water didn't flow down to the audience. After the Water Chamber emptied all the water onto the stage, there was total silence for like 2 seconds. You could literally see both George (Charlie) and my dad thinking what they should do.

The entire act 2 revolved around The Death Trap. How do we continue if the illusion can’t work anymore? You've got to be there to see for yourself how we bailed ourselves out of that situation.

Amazingly, we managed to pull the show off; the audience did not even know that anything had gone wrong and they gave us a standing ovation. Jeff McBride, our Magic Director, and Richard, our Show Director, were totally amazed at how we managed to even finish the show.

After an event like this, I'm sure nothing else can stump us (but I'd better not speak too soon).