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Sun, 29 Mar 09. Magic was in the air as the Magic Annexe hosted a Meet and Greet session with International Magicians Society founder and CEO Tony Hassini.
The event was open to all who were interested and many magicians and magic enthusiasts alike took this rare opportunity to meet Tony Hassini, who is visiting Malaysia for the very 1st time. He was here working on a project with The Magic Annexe’s founder Anslem Roy. 
Anslem Roy presenting Tony with a replica of a Malaysian keris as a token of appreciation
Having limited seating places available, all seats were promptly filled up. We also had guests from RedDotMagic.com, who came all the way from Singapore to cover the event for their website.
Mr. Hassini also graciously offered a magic lecture and workshop to all present, all for no charge whatsoever. Yes, absolutely FREE.
After a quick Meet & Greet session, Tony dived into his lecture. He presented a series of effects with the common underlying theme behind each of effects he taught was this “If you lost all your props in transit, and had no choice but put together a show at last minutes notice”. Thus, the magic he taught used simple everyday things like ropes, playing cards, handkerchiefs, books etc. Lecture in progress Tony teaching the working of a magical Rope Escape effect
My personal favourite bit from the lecture was the simple but effective method he uses to control the location of a playing card in a deck. Not having dexterous fingers, I found the move a delight to excecute. Tony answering questions from the crowd After the lecture, he talked briefly about the business of magic and his marketing strategies which he peppered with stories on how he negotiated his deals which was hilarious. He also touched on how he started out in magic and his funny story on how he got his first gig as a nightclub magician. The magic lecture and workshop ended at about 5 pm with participants taking the opportunity to ask for autographs and take pictures with Tony. The members of The Magic Annexe stayed back for a Q&A session with Tony Hassini. A wide range of questions was asked, from his aspirations for the IMS, his thoughts, his time working for Tony Corinda (famed author of what many consider to be the bible of mentalism “13 Steps to Mentalism”). Check out In The Spotlight : Tony Hassini for the transcript of the Q&A session. Anslem Roy, on behalf of the Magic Annexe later presented Tony Hassini with a souvenir of a replica of a Malaysia Keris as a token of appreciation. Tony Hassini with The Magic Annexe members |
