The 10 Commandments of Magic

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

“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

“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

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

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

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

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