KEEPING THE MAGIC ALIVE.......

I learnt my art the hard way...Trial an error, the error outdoing the trial most of the time. But a lot of ventures have been successful and love and support from Mom, friends and fans, has resulted in today’s   “Amazing David!!”

However I did get Tips and tricks from a lot of people. One of the first to teach me tricks was a man named Basant Thapa. He would sell magic effects on the pavement in front of the Indian museum. I would sit with him for ages on the foot path and watch him demonstrate his wares to passer bys. It was there that I watched in awe, a dwarf who called himself Peter do some amazing sleight of hand with a coin. Later on, I was guided by Mr. Tarun Das, who would demonstrate science magic at the Birla Industrial and Technological museum. Invaluable advice came from Mr.Sujit Mukherjee, Mr.Solyl Kundu and Mr. Deepayan Chatterjee...who has grown to be my brother in magic. Today, it is mainly advice both to and from my friends in magic that keep pushing me towards better magic.

When friend and proprietor of Loknath Magic Centre, Santanu Sen, suggested that I take over mentoring two boys from the UK, I was happy to oblige. The twin boys, Arinjoy and Devjoy, nicknamed Sunny and Happy, were into magic for many years, however they lacked proper guidance. They were the grandsons of a popular magician based in Malaysia. Unfortunately their grandfather passed away before he could pass on the legacy to the boys. They did have an avid interest in magic and had performed shows with their Grandfathers props and props they had procured from Santanu. They mainly wanted to learn sleight of hand and magic they could do anytime, anywhere!

Sunny, Amazing David and Happy

I designed especially for them, a parasol act. Since they were identical twins, they would do the same act together. One being a mirror image of the other. Since it was their first attempt at stage sleight of hand, we had to work with simple sleights that would result in good magic. The act was designed for a lay audience, but would also wow magicians. They picked up pretty quick and I was impressed with their progress.

Working on the parasol act

Happy, Amazing David and Sunny doing the act together.

As far as close up magic was concerned, the two youngsters were having trouble to do justice to the question most beginner magicians fear –“show me a trick” or “do some magic” .We covered loads of effects using coins, cards, rubber bands, and everyday objects. Also covered were effects in mental magic that could be performed on stage or up close. Besides these effects which could be done with borrowed props, I also presented them with a bunch of my favourite close up effects.

Also, we video recorded all the lessons so that the boys had a record for future reference. It was a wonderful experience mentoring Happy and Sunny. I was glad i could share my magic with two boys who well deserved it. All the very best to both of you. Take care. God bless.

....and they are more than happy to reward their teacher........!!

Till we meet again, this is Amazing David..

Believe in magic

www.amazingdavidmagic.com

Khul Ja Sim Sim ..... A Machine-Gun Magic experience!!

No post for the last too months could mean just two things.. either I am too busy to write… or I am magically starved….   Unfortunately this time, it was the latter.. 

My magical famine came to an end, when I was invited by friend and president of the Society of Indian Magicians (SIM), Magician Atul Patil to attend and perform in Khul ja sim sim, their annual international magic convention.  Also of late, God bless Facebook, I had become friends with Kyle Ravin, a magician with Indian origin from Singapore and when he expressed his interest to some to India, the convention was a great excuse!! As Kyle flew into India a couple of days before the event, I had a great reason to be in Mumbai 2 days before the convention.



Kyle Ravin and Amazing David!!



As my flight landed in Mumbai at 8:35 on the morning of the 3^rd of june, I was greeted at the airport by Atul and Magician Sreeraj We drove to the hotel where I would be sharing a room with Kyle. I was great to finally meet Kyle Ravin in person. Kyle gave me a signed copy of his book on showmanship and his postcard as well as  a postcard and a Magicseen Magazine signed by ‘Singapore’s most famous Illusionist’ J C Sum. It is indeed a pleasure to add all these items to my collection. After a quick freshen up and a brunch of cheese burst pizza, we went down to Patils Magic Shop just around the corner from where we were staying. It was great to meet Mr.Mandar Patil, the owner of the shop after ages.

That afternoon, Atul took us, along with Sreeraj, Magician Ketan, Magician Arun Mande and Ravi Jadugar from Mauritius to see K.Lal’s magic production that was running in Mumbai at the time.



Amazing David with K.Lal



Amazing David with K.Lal jr

 
We met K.Lal and K.Lal jr backstage before we were treated to their  massive magic production. Appearances, vanishes, transformations, levitations and transpositions kept us all enthralled for a full 3 hours. It was indeed an honor when K.Lal called us up on stage and presented us with flowers. At 86 years,and suffering from brain tumor, K.Lal still owns the stage..

Post the show, while the rest of the gang headed for a chill out, I met up with my best-friend for almost 20 years, Nishant. We decided to head for Bandra for a date with my ‘other love’ KFC. However the weather had other plans and heavy rains had us sheltering in the canopy of a fast food joint for almost 45 miniutes. To make the most of the time we downed a couple of ‘shewarmas’ before making a second attempt to get to KFC, but when that failed, we ended up having a pizza for dinner. The rains had died down, however a light drizzle continued. Nishant an I took a long walk in the rain on the streets of Mumbai and down memory lane.

Early the next morning Nishant came to the hotel and we both feasted on a breakfast of aapam, malabari parathas and chicken sukha at a nearby joint. Kyle and I had an invitation the next day for lunch at the residence of friend and fellow magician Kruti Parekh. We met Kruti at Mahim station and took a train and thanks to the misdirection of our mysterious art, we missed our sation and had to take a cab back to her place. We had a great lunch prepared by Kruti’s mum and more pizza!!




Amazing David, Kruti Parkeh and Kyle Ravin make corn disappear

 

After lunch the three of us had a great time sharing and discussing magic. Kruti took us for a drive round Mumbai and we stopped at the Gateway of India. Kyle and I took a cab back to the hotel. We met Nishant that evening and went down to Bandra for KFC (finally). We were joined by Nishant’s friend Pritha.

I had met Pritha many months ago at the Taj Bengal, Kolkata. I had a performance there and Nishant and Pritha happened to be posted at the hotel at the time.



Pritha. Nishant, Amazing David and Kyle freak at KFC!



We had a great time at KFC as laughs were shared, magic blew minds and Pritha’s legs were mercilessly pulled!! This was followed by smoothies and later beers. Finally we got to the hotel at 1:00 am and then readied ourselves for the convention the next day.

We got a warm welcome at the convention premises, meeting old friends and new ones too. I knew a lot of magicians already thanks to Facebook. It was great meeting my long time net-buddy Ryan Viegas for the first time and also Sai Gopal, who I also know through the internet.

Sai Gopal, Amazing David, Ryan Viegas

We took a quick round of the dealer stalls and then went up to the auditorium in time for the opening of the event. The event was opened by K.Lal and K.Lal jr. This was followed by a tradional Indian dance performance. We were then joined by Kruti who as usual turned up late!





Amazing David and Kyle ravin judge the magic....
.......while kruti judges the camera



 Kyle and I had the honor and pleasure of judging the junior magic competion. There were a lot of children performing. There were a lot of good performances making judging difficult. I was utterly disgusted as I watched a child doing an act as a drunkard. The competition was won by Zenia Bhumgara a 14 year old magician who showed excellent skills and showmanship as she conjured with scarves, canes, wine glasses and doves.

Zenia Bhumgara, Amazing David and Pearl Bhumgara

 She has a bright future in magic ahead. I must make mention of a little boy named Pradnyesh aged 6. This pint-sized magician wowed the audience with his stage work. Though he performed standard magic effects, his stage-presence and showmanship was far far beyond his age. His promise shows that he might just be India’s next greatest name in magic! The competition was followed by a lecture by Singaporean magician Amazing Bosco who sent shivers down our spines by stapling currency notes to his body and face with an industrial stapler.. 



Amazing Bosco and Amazing David!!



 He taught how to prepare the mind and body to do such a stunt but I don’t think I will be trying it anytime soon. Kyle Ravin took the stage next and delivered the most mind-blowing magic lecture that I have ever heard. His tips on showmanship and presentation were really informative and educating…. And what he taught I have started executing already. A traditional lunch followed, Kyle, Kruti and I visited all the dealer stalls and I picked up a few Items.



Magician of the Year, the AVS, Amazing David and Niraksh



 The senior competition followed and all the contestants wowed in some way or the other. But the well deserved first prize went to third generation illusionist Niraksh. He enthralled the crowd with his endless card productions followed by the production of jumbo and even giant cards and a castle of cards too.



Amazing David's Musical manipulation..








Amazing David manifests a gituar



After a break for tea, the Grand gala show began. Yours truly, Amazing David opened with his musical manipulation act producing disco balls, cds and a guitar as the finale. Atul shed his mask and conjured with doves, coins and confettie, Zenia and Niraksh reprised their award winning acts, Samir Patel filled the stage with parasols, Magician Ali produced cards and doves, Amazing Bosco manipulated flames, and Kyle conjured up masks, linked and unlinked hula-hoops and escaped from a strait-jacket. Wow, truly a machine-gun of magic!!

Kyle konjurs with klass!

Post the convention, I dropped Kyle to the airport and was thankful for his visit to India.



Atul amazes!!





The next morning Atul dropped me to the airport and I had a relaxing flight back home.

Amazing David and Nishant Philip.. the magic of friendship!

Khul ja sim sim was an awesome convention and I look forward to more such conventions in the future!! Until next time…..this is Amazing David.. hoping to appear somewhere near you!! God bless……..







March Masala!!

Year endings and exams…….the things I hate about March. On the other hand I usually look forward to my birthday every year.. so march is a month of mixed emotions.

A metal detector proves i hide no tools to aid the escape..

The Federation of Indian Magic Associates held their 2nd Magic Fair at the Rabindra Sadan ground from the 2nd to the 6th of the month. I was scheduled to perform my Flames and Fiber escape. At 5:30 pm on the evening of the 2nd , I stood in the centre of a circle of straw with an anticipated audience all around me…..

The challenge was to escape from the bonds of a 100 feet of rope with in 90 seconds if not the straw would be ignited adding to the challenge. Though the escape involved a lot less fire than ‘the escape from inferno’ it was none the less more challenging. Besides, I also had a tip-off that there was a chance of the stunt being sabotaged. So with a prayer in my heart and well wishes from my friends, loved ones and colleagues, I announced the escape. After a short introduction touching on the life and work of master escape artist, Harry Houdini. I asked for volunteers to bind me.

The knots get tight as the straw is doused with fuel..

A rather shrewd looking guy came up on his own and I picked another guy who seemed to be a college student. Both guys inspected the chair to which I was to be bound as well as the rope. Once they were satisfied, I sat on the chair and they began to tie me.

Captive..!

The ropes began to tighten against my chest and stomach, then between my legs and arms. I could feel the ropes getting tighter and tighter….tighter than they had ever been…..i could hear the legs of the chairs squeak and crunch as the two from the audience bound me to the piece of furniture. The back legs of the chair started to break under tension of the rope. Of the at least 200 times that I have performed this escape, I had never been bound so tightly or so intricately.

The escape begins..

I could feel my blood flow getting restricted and my hands started to turn a ghastly shade of purple. The six and a half minutes of music had run out twice…. I was being bound for over fifteen minutes. I started feeling faint as my blood circulation was practically stopped. The final knots were tightened and I thanked my two volunteers as they returned to their seats. “Stay Calm” I said to my self. I took a deep breadth and started the escape. There wasn’t an inch of slack rope anywhere. Straining my muscles, I managed to get my right hand out… I started pulling at the knots…..before I knew it, the chair broke beneath me…tying to remain in the seated position I wriggled my body to get out of the knots… in vain.

feeling 'HOT HOT HOT!'

Smokin!!

To add to my plight, my restricted blood flow had caused my body to go numb. Ninety seconds just flew by and the ring of straw was set ablaze by my assistants. I tipped over in the chair and frantically began to gather enough slack… To say the least the fire was hot…. I could feel the heat around my face and palms. I was still bound to the chair and the flames were getting higher.

Out of the flames...Struggling with the rope..

MOM!!

 I managed to stand up and jump out of the circle of fire while I was still bound to the chair… using all my strength and remaining energy I lay on my back on the ground and freed my self from the tangle of fiber that was holding me captive.



'why cant u stick to producing flowers??'said my aunt

 In relief and victory I threw the chair into the flames while the audience cheered….and mom ran into the performing area for a tight hug. Photographs and autographs for friends and fans followed as I triumphantly placed another feather in my cap.

Congratulated my Pamela ma'am, one of my
school teachers..

On the 6th, FIMA honored me and the other Kolkata magicians who were part of “India’s Magic Star” with bouquets and plaques. On the same day I performed at the event. Geometrically impossible, a new twist on the voodoo box and of course Illuminati, my light manipulation routine which I actually did as a show off to other magicians.

Geometrically Impossible..

There were no other performances lined up this month but there are a few things in the pipeline…wish me luck for that.

Ruchira....!!!!

I celebrated a quite birthday this year and was honored to receive a self-written poem from my friend and fan Ryan Viegas from Mumbai. Well here it is…without his permission… :-D

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

A birthday is the most happiest time of the YEAR

It should be celebrated with a piece of cake and a glass full of BEER,

It’s the day you get everything you ever WANTED,

A magical day when every wish is GRANTED,

I hope you have a birthday better than the BEST,

So party hard and enjoy the day to the FULLEST,

I don’t have any gift but I promise to help you in making your dreams come TRUE,

You are a good person and you deserve an awesome birthday so-

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.

Thank you so much dude….I am really touched….





 The birthday card made by Ruchira and Rongit, my niece and nephew,
saluting my undying love for KFC....

 
God bless and I hope to see you soon. Until next time…

BELIEVE IN MAGIC!!

************************************************************************

February Flirts...

Twas great when I got a call from good friend and fellow magician Kruti Parekh sayin that she was in town. I picked her up and brought her over to my residence and we had a great time talking magic and catching up on old times. Kruti, Mom and myself then went to New Market and also feasted on puchkas..Kruti having Kolkata Puchkas after a decade. Another day, Kruti, our moms and I visited the magic shops and then feasted on Pizzas and ice-creams along with her dad in hobby centre. Twas really great having you here Kruti and a big thank-you for all those wonderful times in Mumbai!!

Kruti and I during the shoot of India's Magic Star

On the 3rd we had a performance at the Thakurpukur Cancer Hospital. The performance was meant for cancer affected children but unfortunately, a few moments before the performance was to begin, one of the children passed away. The wave of grief that swept over the other children and parents in the ward prevented them from coming over to the auditorium. However I performed for the other patients, doctors and nurses. I was honored to have in the audience, Dr. Sanmoy Ganguly ,who had treated me after my accident which occurred during my Escape from Inferno. After the performance, Mom and I went to the children’s ward and I performed close up magic at many bed sides and distributed goodie bags to all the children. The sight of such young children being victim to such a deadly disease brought tears to my eyes.

The next day, the 4th, we performed at a cancer awareness programme at City Centre. Organized by the Global Cancer Trust, this programme was aimed to create cancer awareness among all. Cancer, if detected at an early stage, is curable. The event was emceed by Rj Arnabi, there were plays by the doctors and their families and dance performances by Padatik and Twist n Turn.


Colors.....



The sign of Cancer appears...

I performed 2 slots. The first themed on cancer awareness where I made cigarettes disappear and then produced a hookah. Now though most think that the hookah is safe, it is actually just as dangerous as cigarettes. So after a short talk on the dangers of the hookah, I smashed the hookah on the ground to thunderous applause. I then made a crab, the sign of cancer, appear and disappear. The second slot was pure entertainment, my signature routines, streamers from the mouth, snow etc. The performance ended with the levitation of a girl from the audience.



Dr.Vikash Agarwal and I



I must congratulate Dr.Vikash Agarwal, chairman of the Global Cancer Trust for his exceptional work and devotion in the field.

The 5th saw us performing once again at Swabhumi, The heritage park, for the 9th anniversary of Bhagirati Neotia hospital. Titled ‘Babies Day Out’, the event was for all the children born over the past 9 years at the hospital. We performed to a crowd of over 5,000 people. Birds appeared, girls appeared, a doll came to life, my signature routines, geometrically impossible, the voodoo box etc. I must specially thank the emcee of the event, Pamela, who was gracious enough to be part of my show. When I approached her with the proposition to levitate her, she immediately agreed. Thanks Pam, it was really sweet of you.

This year was the best Valentine’s Day ever as I spent it doing what I love the most. We performed at Shreeram Ozone mall in Dhanbad,Jharkand. We drove 7 hours on the morning of the 14th and arrived at the venue at 2 in the afternoon. After lunch and a quick freshen up, we set up the show. After being introduced by old friend MC Vanisha, I hit the stage.

Ambika and I post the Quick-change act

Creating a poltergiest..

 It was one of the most challenging situations that I have performed in. on a small stage in the middle of the ground floor of the mall with over 4,500 people watching like hawks from all sides on the ground floor and on 4 floors above me. Besides this, there was another personal challenge, one of the Judges of India’s Magic Star had performed for the same client recently, he had been booed of the stage in 5 minutes… However I managed to sweep through my hour’s performance with ease.. The show was a huge hit. I performed my favorite effects and illusions, streamers from the mouth, snow, geometrically impossible and the levitation of a girl from the audience. We drove back that very night..very exhausted but very satisfied.



I was absolutely overjoyed when my old friend, Anna Sarkar was in town for a couple of days.. We have shared a good six years of friendship. Way back in 2005 I had cum up with an original illusion which I had called “The Pentecost”. Anna was the first girl who allowed me to set her hair on fire on stage! Her support is awesome and I must say that she is one of the few who helped shaping the Amazing David that exists today.



I launched the latest model of Hi-Tech Mobiles on the 27th at The Park Hotel. I started the launch sequence with my light manipulation routine followed by 2 of my girls appearing in a smoke filled chamber with cutouts of the phones. My streamers from the mouth routine turned out really well as I had a wonderful lady from the audience assisting. Pay, one of the special guests from china, garlanded me on stage with the streamers… I was following suite but stopped stating if I did the same, then we would be married!! We also performed Instant Magician, the volunteer was a guy called Atul. He reminded me of my friend Magician Atul from Mumbai! Snowstorm and Costume Quick-changes followed before I wrapped up the show with a favorite illusion of mine-Geometrically Impossible.



Well I apologize for this post being so late… well I have also performed an escape stunt n a few good things are in store…. All this n more next month….see you soon….Believe in magic!!!

January Jumpstart!!

2011, Revolutionizing my Magic…My new-years resolution, as far as my magic is concerned is not to invest in stock illusions unless absolutely necessary. That is I would not build any existing illusions unless required for a particular event….all my new illusions would be my own inventions. So far there are ideas a plenty but I haven’t started building any of them yet.


A private party for children kick–started the new year. It was a grand show and was appreciated by children and adults alike. Most of the audience knew me from my television and school appearances and all the smiling faces were a great way to start 2011.

I was really honored when NCS launched the BIZ-MAGIC calendar 2011. It is a desk calander with one of my illusions featuring each month along with the Biz-mantra of Manohar Ji, CEO of Navigating Concepts to Soultions. The calendar is being circulated to NCS clients all over India and abroad.



The Biz-Magic calendar has found a permernant place on my shelf..

 On the 9th we boarded the Garib-Rath kolkata- guwahati express. The final wing of Biz-Magic was to be held at Guwahati.( see details of Biz-Magic in the preious post) Though the train arrived three and a half hours late, it was a decent journey and the view from the compartment as we were entering Assam was breathtaking.As always it was a tedious task carrying the illusions across the platforms to the parking lot and we reahed the hotel pretty late.


Geometrically Impossible amidist smoke

 Early the next morning we got to the venue, a beautiful banquet hall at the Vishwaratna Hotel. After seeing that all was in order, I took Mom and my girls to KFC for lunch. Just like I do in the KFC at Kolkata, I had to perform magic there for my fans.The magic was great and the chicken was finger licking good!! The performance started as scheduled.


The team backstage at Guwahati

 The crowd was awesome and as always the audience participation routines were well received. The illusions went off exceptionally well. The audience went wild with my closing illusion – Illuminati: The manipulation of intangible light. Post the show, there was a rush for photographs and the crowd pulled me on stage to dance with them……!!


Chief assistant Jagat, Mr.Disembodied Hand and I fool around just before hitting the stage.

 Our train back to kolkata was late by 10 hours and instead of leaving Guwahati at noon, we left post 10pm. It was a rather boring ride back home with the team dozing off and on while I racked my brains on designing new illusions. The train pulled into Howrah station past 8:00 pm.

The 15th saw me hosting the annual company picnic for Danieli India Ltd, an Italian company that deals in metals. Of course I couldn’t go through the event with a touch of magic so I performed a lot of street magic for both the kids and adults.

On the 17th, I was invited to perform at the annual family night for Areva. Its always great to perform on the makeshift stage at Nicco Wet-O-Wild infront of the splendid artificial waterfall at this water park. It was my second year performing at this event. We performed a couple of illusions along with costume quick changes and my signature routines. Other performers on the show were The Violin Brothers, Padatik dancers and track singer Mou Mukherjee. The show went well, but imagine my surprise when I got an invitation from Areva to perform for their family night in Baroda. It was a double treat when I learned close friend, India’s leading female illusionist, Suhani Shah would be in Ahmedabad for a family get-together. We made plans to meet after my performance. Mom and myself, along with two of my team,flew to Baroda on the 22nd of January. We were checked into a wonderful hotel. The performance was in the evening and saw a crowd of over three thousand people. I debuted a fire manipulation routine and a new illusion called the Voodoo box. The Voodoo box is a compact illusion created by magician Andrew Mayne. It was appreciated well by the audience. My instant magician routine was the hit of the show, but it was Ambika, my assistant who got most of the applause!!! My performance was followed by stand up comedian,Sunil Pal. Post the show, I booked a car to Ahmedabad and arrived at 1:00am. I was greeted by Suhani and her family. We had dinner and after dinner I performed close-up magic for Suhani and her family. Suhani, her mother and I sat till early hours of the morning talking magic and exchanging secrets. Im must say that during my stay in Mumbai, while we were shooting for ‘India’s Magic Star’, Suhani’s mom took care of me like her own son. Thank you Aunty. We flew back to Kolkata on the 23rd, in time for me to emcee a private party at swabhumi, a heritage park. As usual I spiced up the event with a little bit of magic.

A grand illusion show for Manthan Broadband happened at their annual family carnival. This year the entire carnival was themed on magic. While my friends, Kaushik and Raven took to strolling magic, I took the stage with my illusions. I performed in two slots, the first having dove productions, audience participation routines and costume quick change illusions. I themed the second act on the orient and performed my fan act for the first time after India’s Magic Star. Here is the video in case you missed it..

Besides I also performed the snowstorm, and vanished a floating girl. The crowd went wild. Other performers on the show were The Crescendo dancers, Sanjay Mondol and troupe of India’s Got Talent, Chinese Lion Dancers and Chau Dancers of rural Bengal. Overall it was a grand event.

Well it’s been a rocking January, looking forward to a great year ahead!!!

God bless all and happy magic!!!