Hi Guys!
I was actually searching for a website for magic shops in singapore that I chanced upon this forum. It's a real surprise to me that there are Singaporeans who appreciates magic.

Just a brief introduction of myself... I would consider myself an a beginner to the magic world; having started this hobby in the beginning of 2006. I am 36 years old and currently working as an auditor in Hong Kong. I am a Singaporean, just in case you guys are wondering.

I am glad that I can see so many people especially the youngsters that are interested in magic. Having been into this hobby for a year, I have performed for my friends in Hong Kong, United Kingdom as well as in Singapore and I always find the reactions that I get from people in overseas are far more "crazier" then those in Singapore. I don't know why but somehow, I find that Singaporeans do not appreciate magic/illusions as much as people from overseas; which is why I said I am glad and happy that I have found this forum by chance!

It seems that you bunch of people are the young men of the magic circle!Well, I hope to get to know you regulars in future and maybe we can share some insights into Magic.

Do drop me a note.

Cheers!

Hi, welcome to the Circle.

Is that so?
I feel that sometimes, magicians are those who don't really appreciate the art.

HI silver dream. Welcome

Well I guess majority of the people are not really interested in magic and that is why they don't appreciate it. The are just there to find flaws in you. Magic is all about presentation!

cheers bro

Hi Silverdream,

Welcome to SMC. I hope you'll find SMC a cosy place to share discussions on Magic. Nice nick by the way. I suppose its the inspiration of Justin Miller's effect :D

I do agree with you that many foreigners do give stronger reactions than Singaporeans. Many Singaporeans do tend to look out for your mistakes as they strongly believe that magic is about deception. The common phase "Aiya pian ren de" (bluff people one) is so commonly heard. I personally hate to hear that phase but we have to respect our audiences' reactions. Some people are just very negative to this form of art.

However, as you've said yourself, magic boils down alot to Presentation. If the routine is presented well, both in terms of Sleight or Mechanics and Psychology, regardless of how tough a customer can be, the performer can still teleport the audience into another realm of reality. The psychology pillar is the important pillar of all in magic.

As people are getting more and more exposed to information, not just in magic, the intellectual disbelief in magic gets higher and higher and its our job to overcome this barrier. Once this barrier is broken, that is where the Emotional belief sets in. Magic is greatly about emotions. The more emotions you can spark in your audiences, the more engaged they are in being entertained.

This is just some food for thought ^_^

I like to Welcome you again and if you happen to be in Sinagapore and we're having a SMC gathering at the same time, do come down and mingle with us. Its always nice to meet people who shares the passion of this art.

Cheers
Jerome

Hi Jerome,
Justin Miller is such a cool illusionist but I heard he will no longer be coming out with any more DVDs.
Well, if I am in Singapore, I do look forward in joining one of your gatherings. I am not sure how's big your gathering normally are and what do you guys do in the gathering but I am sure it would be fun. Maybe you could share some of the things you guys do. I guess most of the gatherings would be attended by regulars and I presume you are the organiser :)

silverdream

It is true that some of the locals give very lukewarm responses. But in the many years that I have performed under fire(the worst ones are the bars and pubs) I have come to the conclusion that there are only a few reasons these lukewarm responses can be blamed on.

The first is the presentation used. The locals here seem to like gambling and psychic effects(predicting 4D). And comedy or visual spectacles.The second is the timing.Some spectators have no mood to watch a card selected replaced and found(most of them look on and say to themselves after witnessing effects like that "erm..so wat ah? can use that to make more money or not?". And I think the most important reason has just cum to light for me due to me being a hypnotist. Their state of mind has not been guided to enjoy the performance. You see, everyone goes into a hypnotic state of mind the moment they become idle and start talking to themselves(thats how adverts work). It's called hypnotic self-talk by the way.And usually it takes a long time for a person to fuly come out of that state.

Also to blame is the fact that there is a region called The Broca's Region on our brains that detect abnormal things that happen that warns our conscious mind to pay attention (that's why the Invisible Deck is so popular cos' the selection process seems so different from the normal pick-a-card-trick).

Eg..If u start with a card routine and the spectator has seen many plain old card tricks when he was younger..there is practically no hope of becoming interested in your effect. Period.

I hear many magicians discussing about the psychology of an effect and refer to the methodology behind the trick and confusing it wit psychology when dissecting the effect which I honestly feel is a waste of time. Magicians should now figure out how to activate that Broca's Region I was talking about.

So, I say you try out all the effects that your pocket allows and do those that seem to grab your audiences attention even if they are local.

Hint: (According to my experience) Invisible Deck,Haunted Deck,Ambitious Card, Floating Tissue, Hummer Card, I Ching Prediction, D Lite, Proffesor's Nitemare, Metal Bending, Visual Coin Vanishes.