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A Continuing Journey In The Magic History Of Singapore

This post is to introduce magicians and magic enthusiasts to the rich heritage of magic in Singapore. It honours the notable achievements, prominence and significance of neighborhood magicians from the previous and present.

The commencing of Present day Magic in Singapore

It is the general consensus that present day magic in Singapore (publish World War 2) commenced with the late-Ng Bo

Oen AKA The Wonderful Wong. Information on nearby magic pre-war is very scarce. The only info identified has been on The Great Wong performing at the New Entire world Amusement Park (then situated at Kitchener Road) in the thirties.

The Wonderful Wong was born in 1908 in Shanton, a town of the Guangdong Province, China and immigrated to Singapore in 1933. He was the only expert magician of his time in Singapore and executed across South East Asia. He was acknowledged for his sharp stage magic, Linking Rings routine and Sword Basket illusion. He was also an professional craftsman who constructed all of his props by hand. He experienced the reward of figuring out the mechanics and methodology of magic props and fabricating them from scratch.

In 1962, The Great Wong manufactured a substantial contribution to the intercontinental magic neighborhood by publishing his well-known linking rings program with English script created by Tudor Brock. Davenports Magic in London distributes his manuscript to day. In 1982, he was invited by the Federation Internationale des Societes Magiques (FISM) to execute at the 15th Planet Congree of Magic in Lausanne, Switzerland.

(For a lot more details on The Great Wong refer to ‘The Fantastic Wong Story’ in The International Brotherhood of Magicians Singapore Ring one hundred fifteen The Quantum Ring Golden Jubilee Situation)

Yet another nearby magician who was instrumental in expanding present day magic in Singapore for the duration of the starting was the late-Tan Hock Chuan. He was a instructor by occupation but done for yearly special events, charity displays and private get-togethers. He was (and nonetheless is) internationally acknowledged for his magical inventions. His consequences and ideas are still marketed seller items these days and have been published in countless publications (of that time) these kinds of as Gen, Spinx, Pentagram, New Pentagram, Swami Mantra, Abracadabra and even Tarbell’s System in Magic. He is the very first Asian magician to get the Spinx Award (1936-37)

Equally The Wonderful Wong and Tan Hock Chuan were critical influences to a lot of of the first era of Singapore modern-magicians who have paved the way for future generations.

nineteen fifties

It was only after the war and during the British Military Administration that magic in Singapore started its rise to where it is today. 1950 was the calendar year that the Singapore Magician’s Club was fashioned by a group of amateur magicians, comprising of English-educated experts.

In 1951 the Singapore Magician’s Club obtained their charter from The Global Brotherhood of Magicians HQ in The united states and was from then on was officially acknowledged as The International Brotherhood of Magicians Singapore Ring 115. Founding members of the club at that time incorporated Tan Ewe Chee (President), Yeo Before long Kian, Lim Kim Tian, Lim Hap Hin, J.H Stafford, L.A Joseph, J.W Jackson (Vice-President) and Tan Hock Chuan (Secretary).

The 50’s gave beginning to Singapore’s first generation of contemporary magicians. In addition to the founding members of the IBM Ring and The Excellent Wong (who joined the Ring in 1952 by invitation), some well known very first generation magicians incorporated Lim Hap Hin, Tan Choon Tee, Tan Bah Chee, Yeo Quickly Kian and his student Michael Lim.

The Great Wong operated the first magic shop from his residence cum showroom/ workshop in Singapore at 255-A Jalan Besar in which he bought his own handcrafted props as properly as imported seller objects from Japan. (This house/ store was destroyed in a fire in Dec 1988 leading to him to lose most of his textbooks and props)

sixties

For the duration of this period of time, magicians like The Great Wong, Tan Bah Chee, Lim Hap Hin and Tan Choon Tee conducted magic courses at the Countrywide Theatre Club and the YMCA. They were accountable for making lively magicians this kind of as Charles Choo, Wong Fok Choy, Chia Hearn Jiang, Gwee Thiam Hock and the late-Vijeyacone.

The early 60s also saw the ‘Golden Age’ of magic with magicians carrying out at different venues throughout the place. In addition to neighborhood magicians carrying out in evening clubs, overseas magicians such as Socar performed a grand illusion show to a total property at the Capitol Theatre (along Stamford Road) and The Fantastic Nicholas at the Sky Theater in The Great World Amusement Park at Kim Seng Road (Now, Fantastic Globe Town).

In the late 60s, Wee Peng Guan (Uncle of Charles Choo), opened the 2nd magic shop in Singapore at a shop property together Robinson Street. Close to that time, well-liked entertainer Victor Khoo’s father Khoo Teng Heng who was a magician, a ventriloquist and hypnotist opened his magic shop at Bras Basah. (the place Carlton Hotel stands at present).

For the duration of this ten years, Tan Choon Tee was making a name for himself in the international magic local community in the area of Mentalism. He gained numerous international Linking Ring Awards for his 1-Guy Parades and has two publications printed by Micky Hades. He was also a typical contributor to quite a few intercontinental magic journals these kinds of as Gen, New Pentagram, Magicgram, Magicana and The Linking Ring.

Overseas magicians whom passed through Singapore provided Milo & Roger, Milbourne Christopher and Maurice Fogel.

seventies

The seventies noticed the beginning of the 2nd generation of Singapore magicians. Some nicely-recognized magicians who got started out during this time provided The Great Wong’s son Ng Kee Chee, John Teo, Tang Sai Thong, Ng Seow Kiat, Tang Yeng Fun, Bob Chua, Eric Leong, Tan Teck Seng, Lawrence Tham, Tan Tuan Seng, Lawrence Khong and Andrew Kong.

The Singapore Association of Magicians was launched on ten March 1973 in friendly ‘rivalry’ to the IBM Ring. The club was led by Tan Bah Chee with notable founding members these kinds of as Lim Hap Hin, Tan Hock Chuan and Charles Choo.

Magic shops in Singapore commenced to spring up in the course of the late seventies. Ng Kee Chee established up a magic stall at Yaohan in Plaza Singapura and Wang Leng opened his store in Peninsula Plaza. Charles Choo opened his store in August 1978 on the sixth flooring of Significantly East Searching Centre. (It would move a number of times to different malls but at some point returned again to Significantly East). His store would soon become an institution in which magicians would purchase different magic items as properly as meet up with up and find out from each and every other.

It was a selection haunt for many magicians in the a long time to come until the shop closed in the new millennium.

During this period of time, The Tropicana Night time Club, which was positioned at Pacific Plaza, was a venue that had regular magic performances. Numerous famous magicians also frequented Singapore in the 70s. In 1970, John Calvert performed at the Nationwide Theatre. In 1972, Albert Goshman visited Ring a hundred and fifteen to give a lecture. In that identical calendar year, “The Professor” Dai Vernon also frequented Singapore, lectured and interacted with regional magicians. Other browsing magicians incorporated Andre Kole, Billy McComb, and Ali Bongo.

eighties

By the eighties, the nearby magic scene was flourishing with healthier memberships for the two primary magic clubs as effectively as a surge in the amount of carrying out magicians. A lot of of present day veterans produced their identify in the 80s. Common names like Richard Ang, Patrick Wan, Patrick Ng Wang Lin, Tan Hai Yan AKA Gician, Paul Koh, AB Francis and Gordon Koh have been doing often at community and private displays in the course of this ten years. Common nearby venues for community magic displays by magic golf equipment held on a normal basis at that time provided the Drama Centre and the Countrywide Museum Theatrette.

The acceptance of magic retailers also grew and in 1982, Chew Kin Song opened a Magic & Novelty Corner at the Chinese Book Segment of Popular Book Co Pte Ltd on the 4th Flooring of Bras Basah Complex. Gician Tan also opened up his initial magic shop at Parkway Parade which subsequently moved to Marina Square and was managed by Richard Ang. In addition to this main shop, he dispersed magic objects and sets through department retailers

in Singapore and South East Asia.The Singapore viewers was also uncovered to entire world-course magic through a number of magic television displays and series that ended up aired on neighborhood Television which includes the David Copperfield specials, Magic Magic and The Very best of Magic.

Foreign magicians who frequented Singapore in the course of this time incorporated David Copperfield, Mark Wilson, Ben Harris, Paul Daniels and Gene Anderson.

1990s

The starting of this ten years observed the introduction of the country’s 3rd technology magicians into the regional magic scene. Notable budding magicians incorporated Enrico Varella, Sherman Tjiong, J C Sum, Joe Yu (Chan Ee Kang), Nique Tan Li Keong, Prakash Puru, Kiki Tay, Alex Tan and Jeremy Pei.

The regional chapter of International Magicians Culture was formed, launched by its President, Tan Bah Chee although the club’s existence in Singapore was quick-lived.

The late-1990s noticed a large surge in magic global acceptance because of to David Blaine’s street magic specials. Many people commenced to ‘get into’ magic and experienced new mediums to find out the craft these kinds of as the introduction of DVDs and the Web.

champignon hallucinogène acheter , Magic Castle & Promotions, opened up by Vijay Kumar at Shaw Towers before long grew to become ‘the area to be’ in which new magicians would cling out and meet.

Throughout this 10 years, Wang Leng’s shop in Peninsula Plaza was sold to Patrick Wan. The shop was subsequently sold to Richard Ang and is now nicely recognized as Ang Residence of Magic. Patrick Wan opened his new store, Magic Wand, which has spawned into numerous outlets in various components of Singapore. Steven Sim also opened Magic Supreme at Coronation Plaza which has subsequently moved to Park Mall.

The 90s was an thrilling 10 years with many visits and performances by renowned magicians. Apart from lectures by Michael & Hannah Ammar, Mark Leveridge and Wolfgang & Sonja Riebe there were also community theatre performances by the Pendragons, Princess Tenko, Andre Kole, Franz Harary, David Copperfield, Rudy Coby and Robert Gallop. Other browsing magicians included Larry Becker, Tim Ellis, Terry Seabrooke, Phil Cass and Albert Tham.

2000 – Existing

Magic has ongoing to flourish at the nearby stage in this ten years. New options and abilities have emerged to elevate the artwork in Singapore. In Might 2000, J C Sum staged the initial ever neighborhood total-night theatre display ‘Magic at the Theatre’ at Victoria Theatre. Just a month afterwards, far more than a dozen magicians from the US and Canada arrived down to Singapore as component of the Magic Pageant organized by the Malls of Centrepoint. Magicians this sort of as Robert Baxt, Rocco and Peter Gossamer carried out multiple exhibits at various Centrepoint Malls for over a 7 days.

In 2004, the Singapore Magic Circle (SMC) was developed by Aloysius Yeo and with its on-line discussion board drew a new pool of magic lovers together. SMC has given that developed to over one thousand associates and often organize gatherings, functions as effectively as the current Concept:Magic Micro MAGIC Convention in January 2007.

Via a huge-scale theatre magic musical ‘Magic of Love’, Lawrence Khong, a pastor with Faith Community Baptist Church and his daughter Pricilla, distribute the gospel concept.

The multi-million greenback production has been staged several times more than the a long time across the planet to unfold the word of Christ. Subsequently, the exact same team arranged two Global Festival of Magic conventions in 2003 & 2005. The first of its kind huge magic functions provided competitions, lectures, a dealers’ room and performances. Worldwide performers such as Jeff McBride, Max Maven, Johnny Thomspon, The Pendragons, Lee Eun Gyeol and Tommy Wonder had been booked to complete at the gala exhibits and lectures.

In recent many years, J C Sum has become arguably the most notable Singapore magician of this technology. His magic has been witnessed by thousands and thousands through his reside performances throughout Asia as nicely as his landmark mass media assignments on MediaCorp Studio’s Ch eight as nicely as subsequent ‘Street Illusions’ compilation DVD/ VCD.

His 24-episode ‘Magic in Motion’ collection can currently be noticed day-to-day on Singapore Push Holdings MediaBoxOffice via 2007. In the international magic local community, J C has also recognized himself as an elite illusion designer from Asia with the publication of his three critically acclaimed illusion textbooks that have been marketed in more than 30 countries to date.

An additional proficient award-profitable magician, Jeremy Pei, is raising the profile of Singapore magic inside of the regional magic neighborhood with his theatre exhibits, organized lectures, workshops and lively participation in magic conventions & competitions in Japan, Korea, China, Thailand and Australia. His distinct North-Asian affect design of magic efficiency has garnered him a pursuing with new budding magicians whom he teaches and guides. He has also introduced several first magic goods which are accessible to magicians globally.

In another very first, award-successful junior magician, Kyle Ravin secured a 13-episode weekly Road Magic collection, “Maya” on MediaCorp Studios’ Vasantham Central. This 30min series noticed him perform magic for the Indian community and famous people across the region.

This decade has witnessed the introduction of even more magic stores and dealers run by youthful magicians to satisfy the need of magic fanatics and magicians. These contain new ‘brick & mortar’ magic outlets this kind of as Road Magic by Tan Wei Ping, Difficult Enterprise by Jimmy Wong, The Magic Hall by Kenneth Peh as effectively as on-line shops like The Small Magic Shop by Ning.

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