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On the last week of 2009, a few members of The Magic Annexe were given the opportunity to perform at a Christmas dinner for the homeless, organised by Grace Community Services. Having been out of the field for quite a while, I was rather reluctant to participate in this event initially, terrified that a spectator would grab my hand and go, “The coin's in here!”. But I figured that if there'd be anytime I was to get back into magic, this was the opportunity I needed to test the waters and see if I still had it in my blood. The author of the article, Wei Shan in action!
The venue was not easy to work; the tables were arranged to maximise seating space, not to facilitate ease of moving around (or large hand gestures, for that matter). Angles were quite a nightmare as it was rather impossible to find a “sweet spot” at any given table. The packed hall with over 300 guests. Given that the other Magic Annexe members had working experience, I tried to follow their lead And at the moment of truth, I just gritted my teeth and did the first table, somehow, something inside me changed, and I wasn't terrified anymore – despite the fact that my hands were still trembling from the adrenalin boost before I started performing. In fact, I kind of enjoyed it, and I didn't care if out of a whole table of 12 people, only 1 spectator was paying attention while the others either couldn't care less or would rather eat. What really got me going was seeing the smiles of wonderment and awe when a card changed before their eyes, or a coin disappeared from one hand and went to another. Zee Hame, back all the way from New Zealand for the hols, performing magic with rubberbands ... sheepishly (sic!)! Jonathan Lee wowing them with a deck of cards!
Mentalist Jeff Gan wrecking havoc on the cutlery!
It made me remember once again that, magic is a common language; its interpretation lies in fundamental human perception (unless you're talking about mentalism, of course). And it doesn't matter if an Ace of Spades changes into a Jack of Hearts in front of my eyes, or if a chair changes into a table the same way, since either way, I know something physically impossible has taken place. This transcends all social barriers of culture, background and social standing. I'd have enjoyed writing a whole treatise on how magic works to bring us all together, but since its the festive season, I'm going to spare you the pain of reading my ramblings. Lai up to knotty stuff on stage.
Andrew Lee - a gesture, a flash of light, and a real live dove appeared in his hands ....
then 2 ... then 3 ...then ending with 4 doves altogether.
That's Pastor Richard Thong in the background looking totally bewildered.
On a more technical note, I realised that it didn't matter how flashy my moves or sleights were. The simplest trick received the best response, and my ego found it hard to accept that at first (I spent three months trying to perfect my coins routine in the spectator's hands, and but this simple sleight from my past, which took me half an hour to rehearse and perfect got better responses!), but then I figured that if my goal in magic is really just to spark that sense of amazement in people, to make them believe that, for a moment, maybe anything is possible after all, then I guess it is time to dispense with all the ego-boosting flashy stuff that only impresses other magicians, and fine-tune my routines for what really matters. After all, it was to bea good time of bringing some magic from The Magic Annexe to bolster the Christmas festivities! That magical smile that makes it all worthwhile...
Credits : Photography by Daniel Seliong |
