Yelp and their Reviews

Yelp.com is a good site to find out about various businesses and read actual user reviews. This works for restaurants, hotels, etc. But somehow their system appears broken when it comes to Entertainers like magicians. I have a yelp business profile and 14 VERY GOOD Reviews from real customers. But somehow their ratings engine has decided to hide these reviews. Thankfully if you really want to, you can read these reviews by clicking on the link at the bottom of their page. But I decided to make a picture and show some of reviews here. Hopefully you can see here how much people enjoy my magic shows... click on picture to see the full text or view them on my web-site www.amazingvijay.com

 

Magic Show at Elks Lodge, Gilroy

About 2 weeks ago, we had the good fortune of performing a full evening of magic at the Elks Lodge in Gilroy. Accompanying me were my 2 good friends - Carlucci and Ken King. All 3 of us have been together at the magic club, IBM Ring 216, San Jose for many, many years. There was walk around magic and a full stage magic show. Carlucci produced his cute rabbit which of course everyone wanted to pet. Ken performed some solid magic incl. the classic Linking Rings. I performed my abbreviated stage show which included some jedi style spoon bending and concluded with my "floating" child illusion. The audience seemed to have a lot of fun and I enjoyed performing with my friends. During my walk around I performed a couple of effects using my iPhone and people loved this. After a very busy July performing many magic shows, I am taking a break in August and focusing on other things. But if you a need a magic show, do call me.

Repeat Magic Shows

So do you see the same magic show if you invite me to your party after you see me at your friend's party? This is a great question and the answer is 'it depends on what you want'. Most magicians including me have many different effects they perform and can change at least 50% of the show quite easily. In fact I know so much magic that I can perform 2 completely different magic shows - with 90% different effects in each show. But that is probably not what people want. They book you because they like you and your show. This means that they may want to see some of the main effects again. So I always ask people a lot of questions when I get booked and then decide what to perform after I find out all the details about the party. I also regularly add new effects to the show and swap out some older effects, so if you have not seen the show for a while you will definitely see new stuff if you book me even if you have seen me before.

This year, Rocky the Racoon is not performing in all my shows. But we have some other new effects. You must see the show to find out what is new :-) Speaking of shows, Spring season has arrived, the weather is getting better and many more people seem to want magic shows at their party. Hopefully I will see you this quarter at one of my shows.

My very own iPhone Magic App

I am very proud to have just released my very own magic trick for the iPhone called MagicThinkACard. It is a very simple app that anyone with an interest in magic can learn and perform. In fact most of my customers so far have been non-magicians though some of the magicians have liked it also. You basically show 3 playing card images on the screen. Flip them over. Ask the spectator to take the phone, go somewhere you cannot see and touch one card and remember it. They then flip the card back and hand you back the phone. You can immediately read their mind and tell them the card they are just thinking about. As they say - no mirrors, no magnets, just simple magic, once you know how :-)

You can buy this little App for $0.99 at the iTunes App Store and it runs on your iPad also:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/magic-think-a-card/id556211184?mt=8
or
http://www.amazingvijay.com/iOsApps.html

Enjoy and if you buy it, please post some feedback on the iTunes App store.

iPhone magic becoming more advanced

So what if I want to do a card trick when I don't have a deck of cards? The answer is "use your iPhone". Hard to believe but true. I can actually show you a virtual deck of cards and shuffle it - looks very realistic with sound too :) I can finish this performance with an amazing prediction trick that you must see to believe. It is pretty cool if I may say so myself. I also found another great magic effect called Magic Wallet. If you ever see me - do ask me to perform these for you. I am sure you will enjoy the performance. I do not do these in my regular shows - they are better done one on one.

Speaking of shows I did several shows in January and February and they have gone very well. Do read reviews from my customers at:
http://maps.google.com/maps/place?q=amazingvijay&hl=en&cid=14991854654008109352

If you are considering organizing a birthday party or an anniversary party or a block party, do think about having a magic show. It is great fun for all ages.

Happy New Year - 2012

Happy New Year to all my friends in magic. Whether you are a fellow magician or a past or future customer, I hope you have a great 2012 and enjoy a healthy and prosperous new year. As the year wrapped up, I had two magic shows on Dec. 30 and 31 and the shows went off very well. Both shows had a large holiday crowd and the shows were received very well.

As we head into 2012, I will be adding a couple of new magic effects into the show. So even if you have seen the show recently, there will be new things for you to enjoy. I hope you saw the recent tricks I have added with the iPhone - if not, do ask and I will show you. They are a lot of fun. I know last year, I was booked solid in January and February, so if you are thinking of having a show, do let me know as soon as possible. I do hope we get to meet at one of my magic shows in 2012.

Holiday magic shows

Whether you are a small business owner considering a small party for your clients or a large company having a grand holiday party for your employees, a magic show is a great way to provide some wholesome family entertainment. As an example, last year I performed at the holiday party for a large Silicon Valley company at a Cupertino restaurant. I did an hour of ballon twisting followed by my deluxe magic show. All the kids and most of the adults watched and had a great time. These shows get booked weeks in advance - so please book early if you are thinking of a show in December.

I have also purchased a new backdrop for my magic shows, so if you have some extra space, do request me to bring it and you can have a great stage like area for the magic show. The nice backdrop with curtains and small mirrors is great for taking pictures also. See below for the picture of this (mine looks almost exactly like this). Have a great holiday season with your loved ones and do buy some stuff for yourself - so our economy can improve