When a Birthday Girl’s Mom Writes a Glowing Review…

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best magician, Filipino magician, Leodini, magician in the philippines, Pinoy magician

When a birthday girl’s Mom writes glowingly about my show, I always get a narcotic-like high reading it over and over.

In every performance, I always gun for applause and laughter on top of enthralling the audience with astounding magic. So when the audience claps or laughs or oohs and aahs, those reactions are things I expect. People are supposed to do that, since I always bust my butt off to produce those reactions.

Prejudgment

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best magician, birthday party, corporate shows, Filipino magician, Leodini, magician in the philippines, Manila, Pinoy magician

People in the Philippines, including magicians, are astir because of the political entertainment now running indefinitely at the Senate. It is called the Impeachment of Chief Justice Corona.

As a result, many Filipinos will wise up in the ways of litigation and pick up a few legal terms to grow their brains a bit.

One of these terms might be “prejudgment”, which, according to dictionary.com, means “to pass judgment on prematurely or without sufficient reflection or investigation.”

These Videos Made me Laugh

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best magician, Filipino magician, Leodini, magician in the philippines, Manila, Philippines, Pinoy magician

You probably have seen David Blaine on national television fill a coffee mug with money, a trick he performed for a beggar on a street corner.

No doubt you also have seen him levitate on a sidewalk before a trio of screaming girls.

I’m sure you also have caught the episode of Mind Freak where Criss Angel walks on water to the befuddlement of passers-by.

Well, I’ve stumbled upon YouTube videos where these astounding miracles are performed not only to astonish people but also to make them laugh hard.

How to Make a Car Disappear

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best magician, birthday party, corporate shows, Filipino magician, Leodini, magician in the philippines, Pinoy magician

Next to magic, I like playing pranks. I love the sweet taste of triumph of well-laid plans and the hilarity of watching innocent victims, usually friends or relatives, recoil from practical jokes.

The reason I like pranks and magic might be that they both employ the same principles to achieve almost identical results. Both use stooges, misdirection, and elaborate set-ups to snare their intended victims. The payoffs are howls of laughter on the part of the pranksters, and amazement and consternation on the part of the victims.

I’m Easily Distracted

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Lately, I’ve found ambient stimuli easily distract me.

I have this sneaking suspicion that my inability to sustain focus has something to do with growing old, a prospect I don’t care about. I’d rather grow tomatoes in the garden than grow old, but, hey, it’s 2012. Another year has passed. There’s simply no stopping aging.

That must explain why when I’m distracted I become testy. I often shoot the person(s) causing the distraction a baleful stare.

2011 in review

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best magician, birthday party, Filipino magician, Leodini, magician in the philippines, Manila, Philippines, Pinoy magician

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 46,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 17 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Lay Audiences React Differently from Magicians

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best magic show, corporate shows, Filipino magician, illusion, IMC, Leodini, magician in the philippines, Manila, Pinoy magician

Not long ago, I said a great truth. It reverberated throughout the magic world. Let me say it again now, because, unlike Leodini, great truths don’t lie.

The great truth is this: magicians appreciate magic differently from lay people.

Magicians love clever props, subterfuges, and difficult sleights. While many love good presentations also, most don’t mind sleep-inducing performances. Provided the methods of the trick are clever and cutting-edge, they will lap up the performance.

A birthday mom, on the other hand, loves magic that energizes both children and adult guests. It doesn’t matter to her if the magician uses hack comedy, store-bought tricks, or dated methods out of Tarbell. If a kid in the audience laughs so hard he pees in his pants, she would take that as having gotten her money’s worth.

Killing the Sense of Wonder

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best magician, birthday, Filipino magician, Leodini, magician in the philippines, Manila, Pinoy magician

I wake up this morning and realize something dreadful. I have impaired my sense of wonder.

I know many magicians in the Philippines suffer from the same impairment. The difference is that many are not aware of their condition. A few others don’t miss the beautiful feeling of being mystified. I miss it sorely, though.

The onset of the malady is the same. We magicians begin to love the battle of wits with the performer, instead of enjoying his performance. We deconstruct magic tricks. We try to penetrate its veil of secrecy. We take pleasure in seeing through the deceptions.

Why I Only Use Bicycle Playing Cards

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best magician, birthday party, Filipino magician, Leodini, magician in the philippines, Manila, Pinoy magician

My idea of an obnoxious magician is one who struts around like a peacock and acts like he is the greatest thing since peacocks.

The strutting around is sometimes not physical. It also happens figuratively on online forums.

Someone writes a Yoda-like post and counsels everyone against the use of unfamiliar magic props. To be amazing, he pontificates, a magician must use only ordinary, everyday objects in his performance.

And then he proceeds to declare that he uses Black Tiger playing cards when doing card tricks.

The irony is so pure you can almost hear someone cues for a canned laughter.

Amazing Mathematical Card Trick

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best magic show, best magician, birthday party, corporate shows, Filipino magician, illusion, Leodini, magician in the philippines, Pinoy magician

Yes, the card trick I’m about to show you is amazing.

No, it’s not done by smoke, mirrors, trap doors, escaping gasses.

Yes, it’s a math trick.

And no, in its present form, it is not entertaining. The truth is that it is so boring you will entertain thoughts of suicide while watching it.

Card tricks based on mathematical quirkiness are inherently boring. Add a lot of counting and repetitious moves (like on the video), and you ensure a boring performance.