Things don’t always go well in a show.  Unless you are a real magician, something wrong will happen during one of your performances.  If not today, then one day.

If I sound like a doomsayer, it’s because I just watched the movie 2012 when it hit Philippine theaters last week.

But that’s another story.

My point is, no matter how well you know your act, sooner or later, something will not work well as planned that will lead to snafus.

I had a really bad experience a couple of years ago. I devoted time and energy in building and rehearsing a new act.  Despite my extensive preparations, it still bombed big time on its first performance.

The flop was so devastating I wanted to resign from the human race. The only thing that kept me from hanging myself was the need to save my magician’s rope for the next show.

Stay magical,

Leodini

www.leodini.com

I know of some magicians in the Philippines who  revamp their entire magic show every year.

I envy these magicians.  I want to change my shows, too, but my efforts are thwarted by the following reasons:

• Changing the entire show requires huge investment in time and money.
• Changing the entire show in one fell swoop will result in a less-developed program that may not be as entertaining as the current show.
• The clients (most of them hired me because they have seen my show) would insist to see the same act.

The last reason is the strongest reason that,  for a period of time, I’m stuck with my current show.

The feeling is like that of being marooned in a desert—although I have not been to a desert before, so I don’t really know how it feels to be stranded there.

I suppose it is not artistically rewarding to be doing the same show over and over again. However, it can be good business.  In Broadway the longer a show runs, the more profitable it is for the producers. Still, one day, a show, no matter how big a blockbuster, will exhaust its appeal. People will not come anymore to watch it.  And the production folds up.

Magic in the Philippines is a small industry with overcrowded performers. A magic show has shorter run than Cats or Phantom of the Opera. The clients’ point of exhaustion is shorter for a magic show.

So over years of performing, I have found a way—a middle ground—out of this stalemate. I don’t make  wholesale changes to my show.  I merely add and drop a trick here and there. Several months later, I have a show that is somewhat different from my show at the start of the year.

Stay magical,

Leodini

www.leodini.com

Wednesday’s Performance Tip: Don’t Discombobulate the Audience with a Cluttered Plot.

Does your magic have a kicker to a kicker to a kicker?

Does your Ambitious Card rise to the top of the deck several times, change its color, have a mutating back design, go blank, miss a pip, disappear from the deck and end inside a lemon that turns into an orange that you squeeze into a glass to make an orange juice that turns into a cola that turns into a milk that…?

Oh, well…

Do magic with a David Blaine-simple plot. When asked what David did, a girl on the street who witnessed his magic summarized the plot  in one sentence, “He floated.”

If the plot of your trick takes two sentences to summarize, rethink it. A crystal-clear thinking might lead to a streamlined version of your trick’s plot.

Stay magical,

Leodini

www.leodini.com

I like to speak with my children often, but my children prefer to talk to their mobile phones instead.

They only find time to talk to me when they run out of “load”, as in “Papa, pahingi pang load.”

I don’t blame them for not finding me a good conversationalist.  I speak 10 languages, seven of those I don’t understand, so what can I expect from the kids?

My wife fares less in the talking department. She has a hypnotic voice.  When she talks to me, I fall asleep.

There’s not much conversation in the house. For the most part, we have a silent home, which became the inspiration of Austrian priest Joseph Mohr to compose the lyrics of “Silent Night”.

I have a brilliant idea to solve this situation. One of these days, when I grow up, I want to be a mobile phone. Then the children will love to talk to me.

Sorry, I’m just talking to myself…

Stay magical,

Leodini

www.leodini.com

As a magician in the Philippines, I have never developed a taste for politics. More than anything else, politics boils my blood. A discussion going into it promptly turns me into a demented carabao.

Politicians also make me laugh with their antics. I make it a point to watch them mouth inanities on television every time I need a good laugh.

But today let me put aside my magic wand. I won’t say the magic words, nor cast my spell on my audience. Let me, instead, take pot shots at politicians and the multitudes who want to be politicians. Everybody else seems to be having fun doing that.

Election year in the Philippines always throws the country into a tizzy. Politics is a national pastime. Every Tom, Dick and Harry named Juan, Pablo and Jose have their own idea on how to run the country. Everyone also thinks he is fit to run for public office.

Psychologists call this malady delusion. It has afflicted the nation to the very sinews of its culture for so long now it is an epidemic. But unlike other epidemic breakouts, people don’t quake in their pants when a clueless individual enters politics the way they do when you mention to them “bird flu” or “cholera”. Instead, they shuffle their feet around the delusional, singing him paeans and celebrating the affliction of his brain.

As soon as the Commission on Elections fired the starter’s gun a yesterday, the country watches the spectacle of politicians and wannabes making a mad dash to the Comelec office to file their certificates of candidacy. Those who did not join the rush managed to appear on TV to threaten the great unwashed with their plan to run for office.  Expected to jump into the fray are the elite, the rich, the educated, movie personalities, comedians and sport heroes.

As usual, this year’s crop of candidates includes political neophytes with little or no experience or knowledge in public governance or legislating. No experience/knowledge as in nada, naught, zero, zilch, zip and zot.

The prospect of the popular but inexperience ignorant taking the reins of government or writing the laws of the land has driven eminent columnist Antonio Abaya to his wits’ end.

With a great measure of temperance, he called these wannabe politicians Idiot Candidates, a picturesque term that will not conjure the right images to the candidates in question. “Who me?” will probably be their answer if the term is brought to their attention.

I always have known one can find bliss in ignorance, but I never have imagined these many candidates finding it so easily.

Since this topic is about idiots, let me ask an idiotic question myself: Which came first, idiot candidates or idiot voters?

This is a chicken-and-egg  brain teaser, so I’m willing to wait several centuries for someone to come up with a good answer.

Meanwhile, let me go back to my magic wands. There are a great number of kids waiting for me to produce a rabbit for them and make them happy. Enough with idiocy and more Pinoy magic instead.

Stay magical everyone,

Leodini

www.leodini.com

Etiquette, as I understand the word, is conventional social behavior.  It means established, appropriate conduct in a community  for any occasion.

It’s loosely grounded on good manners and right conduct.

Sometimes behaviors that conform to these conventional requirements are unwritten. Many just happen to be common sense.

Dining etiquette is a bit structured.  Many people from other countries or cultures have to be instructed on which kitchen utensils and in what order to use during a meal.  Or how to eat with chopsticks. Or how to drink (or sip) expensive wine.

Inner Magic Club has its own set of appropriate behaviors. During meetings, for example, we impose a dress code.  No one is allowed to attend meetings in short pants, rubber shoes, or collarless shirts—no matter how good looking they are in those outfits.

We also don’t allow smoking inside the meeting room, even though some of our most respected members are smokers.  They just excuse themselves out of the room when they feel lighting their cigarettes.

Propriety of conduct when beginning interaction with fellow IMC member means offering each other the IMC handshake.  The IMC handshake now has become a standard of greetings not only in IMC but also in social functions among magicians in the Philippines, including non-IMC members.

Now why I’m mentioning etiquette today?

Because I stumbled upon a list that ranks performing artists according to how the lay public looks up to them.

Let me share with you the list, and be very humbled.  Magicians appear way down the bottom of the list.

1. Movie Star
2. Nationals News Anchor
3. Local News Anchor
4. Broadway actor
5. Co9median
6. Singer/Musician/Rock Band
7. Dancer
8. Magician
9. Ventriloquist
10. Juggler
11. Mime/Clown

I don’t know who took the time and effort to research the ranking, or who checked its accuracy, or who validated its genuineness. I have seen similar lists in the past. Although the ranking is not exactly the same way, one thing remains constant.  Magicians always reside in the bottom of the list.

The sad truth is this: no matter how highly we consider our art, the public doesn’t hold the same high esteem for us wonder workers.

I have been looking for reasons of our lowly status, but so far I couldn’t give you something scholarly.

So I’ll just try to offer one that may be plausible explanation.

I think one of the reasons is that many people find magicians childish.  They come off as cheesy, because some magicians are quick to disregard etiquette that other performing artists hold sacred.

Let me cite an example. When a singer like Gary Valenciano goes to Araneta Coliseum to watch a Martin Nievera concert, will Gary sing songs in the line going to the ticket booth, or in the lobby?

When a dancer goes to CCP to watch ballet, is she going to dance in the hall?

No, of course not.

But magicians going to watch another magician perform will do card tricks and coin tricks at the ticket booth, or at the lobby, or even at their seats while waiting for the show on stage to start.

Some magicians will even perform magic at a birthday party for free even though the birthday mom hired a professional magician to entertain the guests.

Simple etiquette dictates that a performer should not perform at another performer’s show (unless invited to do so), but many magicians in the Philippines don’t seem to have a good grasp of the words simple and etiquette and their ramifications.

Ever  wonder why the lay public has a low regard of magic and magicians?

Sad but true, there are magicians in the Philippines, heck around the globe, who lack etiquette.

And for bringing this ugly truth, I may be accused of being one of those ill-mannered magicians.

Sigh…

Stay magical,

Leodini

www.leodini.com

Though a little late, here’s the report of Inner Magic Club’s Performance at the Dingle Magic Festival.

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Dingle, Iloilo Festival of Magic

By Magic Boy Samson
It was past 5:00 in the morning of November 26 when Juztin Haber arrived at our apartment in Sampaloc, Manila.  We took a cab and headed for the airport terminal 3 lobby where members of Inner Magic Club were to assemble.  We saw Leodini, Rael, and the rest of the group waiting for us there.  Eric Ma was the last to arrive at the airport.

We boarded Cebu Pacific flight 5J453 bound for Iloilo at 8:00am.  It took us only 45 minutes to get to Iloilo City, where no less than Dingle mayor Dr. Biloy Palabrica welcomed us. He then brought us to Days Hotel where the group was to stay until November 28.  We rested for a few hours and at 12 noon, Eric Ma, who served as the group’s wakeup call, told us that we will have lunch at Emilion Japanese and International Cuisine.  Here, Mayor Biloy treated us to a sumptuous buffet lunch.  Some members of the group performed  magic to the staff of the restaurant.

After lunch, the officers went to the Dingle Auditorium for an ocular inspection of the venue.  Others slept in their respective rooms.  I wasted no time and went out to photograph downtown Iloilo, including Molo church and other human interest visuals.

At 7:00 PM, Mayor Biloy fetched us to have dinner at Breakthrough Restaurant.  We had talaba, blue marlin, chicken, scallops, lechon kawali, kilawing tangigue, atbp.  After dinner, Leodini, Boy Alviz, and Jeff Tam entertained the mayor and some guests in the restaurant with their magic antics, while Rael did his ventriloquism act.  In the restaurant, we were also greeted by Atty. Cyril Regalado, who is also a magician and the first Filipino to compete in a FISM convention in Germany.  The group went back to the hotel after dinner.  Cris Castro, Boy Alviz, Leodini, Rael, Alex, Leslie, and I had red wine in Cris’ room, where we had a little brainstorming on the magic show for the following night.

I learned later in the evening that Bob Dureza took other members of the group (Eric, Juztin, Teddy, and Jeff) to downtown Iloilo where they had a couple of drinks.  At 2:00am of the next day, Jeff woke me up and invited me to eat batchoy (a famous Iloilo meal) with them.

We had buffet breakfast at the hotel, after which Leodini and Tsukasa went out to play tennis.  I went with them hoping I could play table tennis, but I couldn’t find a venue for it.  Instead, I took some pictures of Leodini and Tsukasa playing.

Finally, it’s show time . . . We went to the Dingle Auditorium via the vans of Mayor Biloy.  It took us almost an hour to get there.  We arrived there pretty early at about 5:00pm, so I took the opportunity to take pictures of the very beautiful Dingle church.  At 6:00pm, guests started to come inside the auditorium.  Leslie Alviz, Dimples Ordonez, and Danna Precones made twisted balloons for the guests while other members walked around to perform close-up magic.  The group also gave away some light up lollipops courtesy of Leslie.

The show, hosted by Jeff Tam and Alex Lagula, and videographed by Juztin Haber, started at about 8:00pm.  Tedddy Bravo did a very good dove act followed by the Miser’s Dream of Tsukasa Maekawa.  The breathtaking balancing act of Tony Paler delighted the audiences, while Glenn “Dwarfie” Cuevas did his ­­­­usual act, much to the delight of the kids.  After Dwarfie, I came onstage from the audience and did the comedy rope escape.  I was followed by IMC Chairman Leodini, who did his hand chopper routine.  The audience had a 10-minute break after Richie Javier did his cane and dove act.

After the break, Boy Zhardum did his balloon and sword act before an awestruck audience.  Randee Ordonez mystified the crowd with his square/circle routine, while Rael entertained them with his hilarious ventriloquism.

It was almost past 11:00pm but the crowd didn’t seem to get tired.  Chairman Emeritus Boy Alviz did the floating table act, followed by the newspaper and butterfly magic of Erwin Reyes.  Michael Fernando and Danna made the crowd laugh with their comedy levitation.

President Cris Castro ended the program with his broom and chair suspension act.

Thanks to our universal assistant Eric Ma, musical scorer Criz Nunez, and other members of the group — Roger Olivarez, Peter and Gori — who helped us backstage.  The show ended at 1:00am the next day.

We went back to the hotel at past 2:00am.  We did not sleep until Mayor Biloy treated the group to siopao and mami at Chowking.  But wait there’s more.  Some of the customers there requested us to do some magic.  I did the floating mineral water cap and squeaker balloon.  Jeff Tam showed them the signed card in the cell phone magic.  After our late midnight snack, Leslie invited us to have red wine inside the room of Leo and Rael.  While drinking, I showed the group a slide presentation of the pictures I took during the show.  We slept at 6:00am and had to wake up at 11:00 because we had to be at the airport at 12 noon.  We boarded PAL flight PR144 bound for Manila.

On behalf of Inner Magic Club, maraming maraming salamat Mayor Biloy Palabrica.

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I hope you guys can come with us on our next out-of-town shows.  Next on the list of destination: Boracay!

Stay magical,

Leodini

www.leodini.com

As a long-time Inner Magic Club member, The Chinaman George Mamonluk is one of the most ardent supporters of Club activities.

He is also a fountainhead of ideas, which he freely shares with the group.  If IMC is running and humming like a well-oiled machine, count on it that some of the policies and strategies driving the Club comes from the Chinaman himself.

George and I share the same passion for good magic. Not run-of-the-mill, everybody-is-doing-it magic, but magic suited for the connoisseurs.

For example, we both love the trick Card-to-Wallet.  I have been using the BKM wallet to perform this trick. It has served me well over many years.

George, however, uses a more elegant and pricey wallet.  It’s such an expensive wallet that many magicians in the Philippines can’t afford it.  Even I, who have been salivating for this wallet for eons now, have not gotten around to plunking down serious dollars to buy one.

George also shares with me my fascination for the “Sands of Egypt”, a classic of magic so rarely performed in the Philippines, it seems new to audiences and some Filipino magicians.

George performed the “Sands of Egypt” last month at the birthday of his daughter Giannah.  I wanted to watch him do it, but I had engagements to catch, so I didn’t make it to Giannah’s party.  Anyway, George promised to give me a video of the performance.

The”Sands of Egypt”  is a beautiful piece of magic but difficult to pull off if you are a busy magician flitting from one party to another in one day. The setup is complicated.  The material is a headache to get. And the performer has to cart around breakable props plus water and a few chemicals.

If a magician in the Philippines is to perform the”Sands of Egypt” on a regular basis, he must be ready to spend money for a supply of the special sands.  It is not only difficult but also expensive to find even online.  Add the shipping cost, and one will be spending (or investing) money equivalent to buying a new illusion in just a few months of performing the trick.

In learning the trick,  the cost of the supply daunted me at first.  But I found a way, so I thought, around the cost.

I made my own sands.  I searched high and low for the formula on online forums and from old magic books.  I even read obscure books on chemical concoctions just to learn how to produce my own sands.

I also managed to find local suppliers of the three chemicals that will turn clear water to black, and then black water back to clear. Finding local suppliers saved me a bundle on the chemicals.  I figure I have enough stock to last me a whole year of performance.

Still, after all my labor and pains, I found that my home-made sands were not good enough for a professional performance of the trick.  The commercially available sands do a better job and look beautiful in performance. In the end, I had to obtain my supply from US manufacturers. There’s no getting around it.

Last Wednesday, though, after the IMC meeting, George gave me three bags of “Sands of Egypt”.  You can imagine how happy I was when I received them.  If used prudently, the supply will last for many performances.

So, I have to thank the Chinaman for my new supply of the magic sands.

For those who have not seen the trick yet, here’s a beautiful performance of it by Luis de Matos.

Stay magical,

Leodini

www.leodini.com

I’m one magician in the Philippines who love many things Chinese…

I love Chinese food, Chinese chop sticks, and the classic of magic, the Chinese Linking Rings.

There are two qualities I look for when choosing a Chinese linking-ring set.

One, the sound the rings make. They must make a noise (symphonies to my ears) loud enough to be heard above the din of the performing area or from the back row. The sound must also have a resonance that pleases the ears.

Two, the rings must have that buffed or polished look (I had my first set of rings nickel-plated for good measure).

The shiny appearance of the rings is extremely important if you want to perform Richard Ross’s slow-motion linking and unlinking sequence. Because the light bouncing off the rings confuses the eye, the spectator’s inability to tell when the actual linking or unlinking happens strengthens the illusion.

Several years ago, a friend showed me his three-ring aluminum set with a magnetic key ring. To put it bluntly, I didn’t like it. It was not my ideal linking rings set. They were a little pricey, too. Being made of aluminum, they didn’t have the buffed appearance I was looking for that would make the linking and unlinking deceptive.

Then too, they didn’t make as much noise as I’d like them to. Additionally, they were very light in weight, a feature (and a selling point capitalized by dealers) whose importance I could not fathom until now. Unless one is physically feeble or would want to add a floating sequence to his linking rings routine, why would a performer want to use featherweight rings is beyond me.

I remember marveling at the magnetic key ring, which I thought was cute. Just the same, it struck me as a newfangled curiosity. It served no real purpose except to try to deceive magicians who know about magnetic key rings, anyway.

Other performers will find good use for that set, I’m sure. But for me, I’d stick with my eight-ring set. It allows me to perform not only a full eight-ring routine but also two-ring, four-ring and six-ring routines. That’s a lot of routines from a single set.

Today magicians in the Philippines have a field day buying cheap Chinese linking rings in Divisoria.  These sets have the right polish and weight.  They give out the right symphonic clinks.  The magnets are strong and reliable.  For the non-magnetic type, the gimmick is so precise you can actually hand the key ring to members of the audience for inspection.  Above all the, the price of these sets is cheap—so cheap even the mere curious can afford to buy them.

These Chinese Linking Rings in Divisoria are made in, (where else?), China.

Stay magical,

Leodini

www.leodini.com

Every now and then, some creative pranksters, concoct stories to scare the community at large.

They then spend inordinate amount of thought and energy on making the stories viral.  In just a few days, the whole country is quaking in their shoes in fear. Over what?

Over imaginary goblins.

First there was the bird flu, then the swine flu.  While these diseases are real (not imaginary) and dangerous, the danger has been blown out of proportion. The victims don’t count as many as those killed by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, nor by suicide bombings in Iraq or Pakistan.

Yet, the bird and swine flu scare people more than the suicide bombers do. Go figure.

Lately, in the birthday party business, another scare is spread around.  Latex balloons can cause allergy, so moms don’t buy balloons to decorate your child’s birthday party venue.

While allergies may not be taken for granted, the latex balloon scare should also not be blown out of proportion, especially because no empirical data support such scare. (At least no empirical data have been cited so far for Philippine parties.)

Imagine what will happen to party decorating business if the scare tactic works and parents stop ordering balloons and start shying away from balloon decors. All for what? Because we heard of a story of a mother who has a friend whose cousin’s neighbor has a child who got sick from a latex balloon?

I think it’s unfair to the balloon industry and to countless performers, artists and decorators whose livelihood depends on balloons, to lose business over a small danger that is magnified out of proportion.

Allergy is a health issue. If balloons really pose problems to children in a big way, the DOH should have already stepped in and started banning them. But so far they have not. Maybe that could mean balloons are not more dangerous than crossing the street. In that case, the threat is in “permissible zone,” to borrow a Jun Lozada term.

I agree. As performers, we magicians in the Philippines have to follow the house rules of the performance venue. Sometimes I try to negotiate, but if they insist on banning some stuff like tigers, danger tricks, or latex from my show, it’s no big deal to me. Anyway I don’t use tigers, danger tricks and latex in my program.

Stay magical,

Leodini

www.leodini.com