Golden Birthdays

My daughter recently told me about golden birthdays. The concept is this - just once in your lifetime your age will correspond to the date of your birthday. That year is your golden birthday. For instance if you turn 11 on 11th Feb, then your 11th birthday is your golden birthday. The best example of this was a big party for a boy who turned 9 on 09/09/09. I was invited to perform my magic show last weekend for this celeberation at Basant restaurant in San Ramon,. This is a new restaurant with a large banquet room and I have performed twice in this place, It must be a good restaurant since it seems so popular, though I have not eaten there yet.

Back to golden birthdays, they wanted to cut the cake at 9:09 p.m. so I started and ended my show well before that and the show went off great. Like I say, I had fun performing and the audience had fun watching - what more can I ask?

http://www.amazingvijay.com/

San Jose Public Library show - July 2009

Hello Vijay!
The show was funny and you engaged the children and transported them in the land of magic. The adults enjoyed the show as much as the young ones. This was one of the best attended programs we presented and the audience lined up early to see the show! Thank you for the discount and you presented a high quality program.
Cris Johnson
Hillview Branch
Library

These are the types of testimonials I live for ! I was booked to do this show in the San Jose Public Library- Hillview Branch. Unfortunately I got there about 5 min. late since there was a mjor accident on the freeway and I had to take a detour in an unfamiliar area. Fortunately Cris had kept the crowd there and as soon as I got there, I set up very quickly and launched right in. This was a mixed family type audience with lots of children but not too young.

My show, the comedy bits, the parts where everyone participates - all went great and the crowd loved the show and gave me a lot of encouragement. The Miser's Delight is now a big highlight of my show and people always love this effect. I suppose it sublimally reminds them of Christmas and they enjoy watch me catch lights from kids ears, etc. and drop them in my bag. This is a modern adaptation of the old Miser's dream and is definitely a big hit. Rocky Raccoon was also a huge hit as was the Hippity Hop rabbits and Botania. The show lasted 45 min. or so and then I had to pack up and leave since people were doing a Chess program right after.

It is great to be able to perform at various public venues like this. I hope to see some of you again at the Cupertino Diwali festival this year. Summer is over now - school is here and we are all very busy once again. I did 5 shows in August and hence was very busy and happy

http://www.amazingvijay.com/

Larger magic illusions

I meant to write this for a while but somehow have been very busy in 2009. In this article, I would like to discuss the "larger" magic illusions. These are the illusions you often see on stage - someone levitating, sawing people in halves or even many pieces, the transposition where the magician changes into someone else and reappears else where. No doubt these effects are wonderful and everyone enjoys watching them on stage. Magicians have built reputations around these illusions and everyone is amazed when some of these amazing things happen right under their noses. While I have always watched and admired these illusions I have never tried to perform them. Well that changed this year when a lady who wanted to hire me asked me if I could "float the birthday child".

This got me thinking - this family had just come back from Las Vegas and wanted to recreate at least a small portion of what they saw on stage at their home. I have always thought it was impractical to carry a large, heavy illusion into some one's living room and perform it there. Now I had second thoughts about this. So I spent a lot of time learning about this and other effects that one could perform in a living room. To cut a long story short, I am now happy to announce that I can optionally include "a floating the birthday child" effect that I can perform at your next party. I have tried this a few times this year and the feedback has been very positive. Here's a comment from a satisfied mom from my website:

Thank you so much for coming today. Your show was great.
The kids loved it. The levitation was really incredible!

Sharon

This illusion is definitely a bit heavy and is not suitable for all occasions but it provides the audience with a sense of wonder that is truly amazing. The parents love the wonderful once in a lifetime photo opportunity when they can see their child suspended in the air in an impossible position. Please do let me know if you want to include this illusion at a small extra cost. See below for a picture of this.

Have a great summer - I will be away from the country for 4 weeks but will be back by July 12.