Best Magic (Part 1)

Having done magic for quite some times, from a mere hobbyist in the very beginning till perform professionally, I'm still feeling so lucky that I came to know this art, and it's really one of the best things I learnt in life. Much of my thoughts on magic was written in the previous post, and now i'd like to share some of the best magicians that I know of, throughout my magic journey=)

Best Mentalism

As Stephen Fry said, this is absolutely superb and extraordinary. World-class mentalism by Derren Brown. It's perfert.

Best Cups and Balls

Michael Ammar, one of the world champions of close-up magic, his cups and balls is indeed the smoothest i've seen.

Best Flourish in Asia

Virtuoso from singapore, a leading group of flourishers in Asia.

Best Creativity

David Stone's magic has been very creative, and hilariously entertaining. Always gives me a good laugh!

To be continued=)

WeeMee "Darren"

Woohoo..weemee Darren! Wanna try creating a miniature of yourself? Everything can be customized and every little thing can go in details..and the avatar made can be used in Skype and MSN. So how's my weemee look? A doc who's always carrying his deck of card has become my trademark image..hehe. So, go get a virtual mini-you today at weemee world!=)

Apex Group Annual Dinner Night

Performed for the Apex Group annual dinner magic night on 11th Jan, my first show of the year! Thanks for the invitation from Brendan, as his cousin brother, James is the chief organizer of the event.

Partner up again with my good friend, David Lai. The last time we performed together was in DiGi's party quite sometimes ago. I was supposed to do the show with another mentalist who couldn't make it in the very last minute, luckily David was there to help. Really big thanks for him.

The food of buffet was definitely good ones. Had a kinda heavy meal before the show hehe.

The crowd was about 200 pax in around 20 tables. David and I walked around doing mentalism plus close up magic..kinda combining performance and the crowd response was excellent!=)

With James, the chief organizer of the event, a very nice person to work with!

A short comment from him at the end of the show,

"I really like you guys for your pleasant attitude . You guys are really very marketable magicians.."

Another great performing experience!=)

Interesting Research

Fat spreads! A recent New England Journal of Medicine study declared that people can actually "catch" obesity from close friends. A research done on 12,067 people over 32 years, concluded that those of us with very close friends who are obese have a 171 percent higher chance of becoming obese too. The theory goes: you're influenced by your friends, and if they overeat, you may unwittingly follow their lead.
The good news is that it may also work in reverse. Hang out with thin ppl and you might lose weight!

--extracted from RD Jan 08

Female Magician

How many female magician (known as magicienne) have you seen? I came across the profile of Angela Funovits some years back and I was profoundly impressed by her: Take a look at her portfolio, she's a Dean's list medical student in Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Miss Teen USA AND a professional magician/ mentalist. And she's only 20. Truly incredible. And what's more, she's operating a program called The Magic of Medicine, which addresses the psychosocial needs of cancer community, and gathers voluntary magicians to teach magic to the cancer-affected families.

Here's a short vid of her performing:


I think what she does with magic is truly inspiring and brought it to the next level which is beyond just performing, but contributing greatly to society. Highly impressive!

Heartache

Was struck by a very bad and shocking news on 20th Nov, while attending the 2-day Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP), mom called and told me that dad was admitted to Hosp Serdang for unstable angina. Knowing that my dad has diabetes and angina, this is not entirely unforeseen but still, we all wish this timebomb would never get triggered. As a usual course of treatment, dad was given 3 days of clexane, done an Echo and was discharged with a COROS appointment.
I spoke to Dr Chong, a friend of mine as well as a cardiologist in IJN and discussed that whether it can be done in IJN..and very grateful to his help, he gave an early appt on 2nd Jan as soon as he's back from oversea conference. So the COROS was performed, finding was single vessel disease, 70% stenosed and angioplasty with stenting done.
"Prognosis is excellent," Dr Chong told me over the phone. What a huge relief. And one thing i'm relieved was that dad has been positive throughout the process and in doing the cardiac rehabilitative program, thanks mom who keeps him motivated!=)