Vacation to the Hills !

I travel a lot for work... this time I took a vacation! Mom and I set off for a vacation to the hills of Sikkim. It was a sudden plan and due the lack of availability of train tickets we resorted to travelling by a royal cruiser bus. A rather bumpy all night journey to Siliguri followed by drive to our destination We arrived in Gantok on the afternoon of April 22^nd. A quick freshen up and we took to exploring MG Marg, which is the shopping haven in Gantok. As usual I picked up a bunch of stuff that I hope to turn into magic routines at some point.

At the Lobby of our hotel in Gantok.

An early morning share taxi took us to Lachun ,a small town higher up in the hills, the next day. It was a whole day drive with us stopping at three spectacular waterfalls along the way. We reached Lachun after sunset. A quick dinner and falling asleep to the sounds of the nearby waterfall prepared us for the trip to Yumthang Valley and Zero Point the next day.

Mom by a waterfall on the road to Lachun.

Another waterfall along the way...

...and one more ! 

 The drive to zero point the next day was a bumpy one, with muddy roads to drive through. He had breakfast at Yumgthang valley and then continued to drive up hill. The snow capped mountain was a spectacular sight. I had never seen anything like it before.  Due to me constantly posing for pictures with my playing cards, it was revealed that I am a magician and thanks to constant requests to “show them something” I ended up doing “street magic” in the freezing cold. More on this episode in the next blog.
The Almighty decided to share some magic with me and we were blessed with snow! We drove back to Yumthang Valley and spent some time there enjoying the peace and serenity before getting back to Lachun.

Mom. All set for the drive to Yumthan and Zero Point.

At Yumthang Valley

At Zero Point, Photobombed by Santa Clause! 

Snow! 

After lunch, we were back on the road, a rather winding journey to Lachen.  We arrived in this small town at dusk. The next morning we were scheduled to visit the iconic Gurudongmar lake, however since mom wasn’t feeling too well. We stayed at the hotel. At around noon , I had just come out of the shower , I felt my head swinging. I looked at mom, she seemed unstable too. We were experiencing  the earthquake for the first time... the curtains and water bottles started shaking in a very uncanny way. We made our way to the balcony of the hotel, but it seemed everything had calmed down. Little did we know that this was the first tremor of the Nepal Earthquake. Once the travellers from Gurudongmar had returned, we had a hurried lunch and left for Gantok, fearing landslides and more earthquakes. By now, concerned calls and messages started coming and we were beginning to understand the magnitude of the calamity. We reached Gantok pretty late and after bidding farewell to our fellow travellers we made our way back to the hotel. 

with our fellow travellers... 

The next morning we were supposed to go tsomgo lake, but our plans were called off as the government had stopped all tourist visits in fear of the aftershocks. We took to exploring MG Marg again. After picking up gifts for friends and relatives, we sat down at a cafe for lunch. In about 5 miniutes, we felt the table shaking. The whole building was vibrating. We rushed out of the building to the streets now teeming with panicking tourists and locals. This tremor was stronger than the one we had felt in Lachen. Once Mother Nature had stabilised, we made our way to an all day breakfast joint  for lunch. As soon as we were done, we were confronted by the heaviest hailstorm I have ever experienced. Within minutes the entire road was covered with ice. We sheltered in the cafe for a while and once the rain got a little lighter, managed to rush to the hotel. We were lucky were were close to the hotel as the downpour continued for the next four hours!

At the New Jalpaiguri railway station.

Sensing the possibilities of landslides and road blocks on the road to the foothills, we booked a card to New Jalpaiguri the next day. We checked in at a local hotel. As soon as we entered the room, the earth started to tremble again. The drill was repeated as everyone frantically rushed to the streets. We managed a peaceful slumber that night. The next morning we took to exploring the local markets in New Jalpaiguri. After lunch and a little lazing around, we happily boarded the Darjeeling Mail and arrived in Kolkata at 6:45 am on the 29^th of April!

Not all who wander are lost !!

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……..