Great start to 2010 at Chinmaya Mission San Jose

I just returned from performing a fun filled show at the new Chinmaya Mission facility in San Jose. There were 200 plus kids and adults and everyone watched the show with great enthusiasm. They laughed at all the jokes, were amazed by some of the magic and in general had a great time. As usual most kids loved the "lights" trick and the "flower" trick. Several of them also like the "rabbits" trick. It was great to see everyone so engaged in the show and truly having fun.

It was a great start to 2010 for me and I would like to wish all of you a very HAPPY and FUN FILLED NEW YEAR - 2010 !

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.

Best age groups for performing magic

When can children start appreciating magic shows? What is the best age group for enjoying a magician? Do teenagers like magic? These are all tough questions and I am sure there is no single correct answer for any of these. I would just like to offer my opinion based on my performances.

I perform a lot of magic shows at "first birthday" parties. Now everyone knows that a 1 year old is not going to enjoy magic but in these parties you find kids in every age group. I usually try to get the age group of the majority of the kids but sometimes it trul is a mixed audience. Today I performed at a nine year old's birthday party and that went really well. Based on my performances I would like to propose that kids under 3 will usually not understand or appreciate magic effects. I fell that kids who are between 7 and 10 love magic and get totally into the shows. For these kids, you can even perform a full hour magic show and they will not get bored. Kids above 15 are not that interested but they soon start displaying adult like curiosity. And of course adults do not really follow a pattern. Most adults love watching good magic shows but I am sure there are some that think it is childish.

I perform for "kids of all ages" and do my shows for kids > 3 years old. Most of my parties are for kids 14 and under. I will of course tailor my effects and the length of the show according to the age group and all my audiences seem to have fun :-) Don't forget to book your shows at least a month in advance.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009 !

http://www.amazingvijay.com/

Fooling people vs. entertaining them

I just did a show yesterday for a mixed audience of children and adults. While I was performing the show, it suddenly struck me that the jokes I was telling, the gags, etc. generally drew a great response and really help build up the effects.

Here's an example. For years I watched magicians perform a sponge ball gag which I ignored because there was no magic in it. Now I do this every show and it draws a lot of laughs. Here's the way I do this: I give the two sponge balls names - I call them 'A' and 'B'. Then I place ball A in my hand and ball B in the spectator's hand. I then perform some magical gesture and then announce that I now have ball B and they have ball A. After a moment or so, when everyone is figuring this out, this draws a big laugh from the adults. Some of the kids will of course tell you that both balls look the same, etc. You can now continue with making your ball disappear and join the spectator's ball in their hand. If you are a magician and perform sponge balls, do try this and see how it works for you.

I also perform at least one effect like hippity hop rabbits, run rabbit run or die box and I think everyone knows the "turn it around" gags,or the "look don't see" gags, etc. These get tremendous response also. The whole idea is to keep people entertained while you are of course fooling them.

My pet theory is that people hate being fooled but they love to be entertained, so it is important to include a lot of fun gags, jokes, etc. Being a nice person helps also. So until next time, learn a few jokes and see if you can include them in your next magic show.

The holiday season is coming up and my calendar is filling up fast. So please call me if you need a birthday magic show: http://www.amazingvijay.com

YMCA family night

I performed at a YMCA family night last week. I did a 35 min. magic show and balloons. Huge hit - the kids loved it and really got into it. It is amazing (no pun intended) that they love magic so much and really get into this. I have started polling people on the trick they like the most and once again everyone loved my feather flower growth i.e. BOTANIA.

I also tried a Benson bowl routine for the first time and people loved that effect also. In the end the long line for balloons moved a bit slowly but the kids were very patient and well behaved. I had a truly great time and hope they invite me back soon

http://www.amazingvijay.com