Although during my childhood, I had never been to a birthday party which had a magician, I never was deprived of watching magic shows.
My father was a very very very (did I say very?) active volunteer in his grassroot neighbourhood, involving himself in the Resident’s Committee (RC), Community Centre, Civil Defence, Town Council… you name it, he is (still is) probably some part of it.
As a kid, my parents would bring me along to the events he was involved in. I was very lucky to have seen all kinds of magic shows.
One of them, that I remembered, was a magician from China. He was charging real cheap so RCs were booking him… a lot. He linked rings, he made egg appear, without much presentation.(Given that he don’t speak English.) I thought, I could do that…
In fact, I thought I could do what most of the magicians are doing since I could guess the secret behind them. I just need their props and practice right? I was wrong!
Some years later (around 16-17 years old probably), I was given a chance to perform at my father’s RC. (for free I think) I put together a few magic tricks that I just learnt and tried to perform them that evening. What a failure it was.
The selection was definitely wrong. It was a very forgettable show. (In fact, I forgot mostly what I did.) I think nobody understood what I was doing. I wondered even if people could see what I was doing! (One of the magic was done on a table.)
It was then I realised that there are some things much more than the secrets. I was on a long journey to learn what really magic is….