The Business of Show Business

I’ve not been blogging for a couple of days because the team has been busy with the development and preparation of many projects.

Our schedule for Dec is filling up with coporate shows as with Jan 2010. Remember, we have “Sexy Magic/ Urban Illusions” in the last week of Jan 2010 as well as something very special.

We are also working on several new projects for 2010 and the last few weeks have been negotiating deals and mutually agreeing on terms. This week alone, we had to negotiate the terms of projects. 3 went through, 1 did not but that is a good percentage!

Negotiating so that all parties are happy is a sweet science. One commonly advised tactic of negotiation is to compromise and meet halfway. I think that should be only the last resort as I feel it is not a win-win situation as both parties do not get what they want. So, meeting halfway can in a way be seen as a loss-loss situation instead.

The technique that has worked for me is to creatively find alternatives (and come prepared with these alternatives) that meet your objectives. For example, if you are negotiating on price or a professional fee, it is helpful to remember that value can come in many forms, not just monetary. If you can find a way to recognize value that indirectly translates into monetary returns, you will realize that you can close more win-win deals.

This is the “business” side of show business and this component of our work is keeping us especially busy now because we are setting ourselves up for 2010. It looks like it is going to be an awesome year and we look forward to break new ground in magic once again.

We recently updated our corporate website (www.conceptmagic.biz). We are doing more high end magic production work for special events and television and have cut down on providing small acts for events.

While we are still developing new talent, it is not under the Concept:Magic brand. Concept:Magic is focusing on illusion content which is what local and international clients and event producers know us for. Our mega illusions in the last 3 years have also cemented us as producers of mega magic events that have yet to be rivaled in this part of the world.

Check out our corporate video on the right side of the index page. Our work has evolved over the last year.

MetaCafe Bans our Revollusion Video?!

This is pretty unbelievable :-S

Several of our illusion performance videos were being uploaded to popular video sharing site MetaCafe. However, we received an email for one of our videos:

“Thank you for submitting to Metacafe. Your video ‘Cool Illusion with a Giant Industrial Fan and a Hot Asian Female Illusionist’ has been declined for the following reason:

Your video has been marked as sexually explicit or extremely violent by our review panel.

Your video will not be published on Metacafe. We invite you to submit other videos that fit our submission rules.”

I have no idea what they found sexually explicit or extremely violent but I guess our show should get a ‘R’ rating if “Revollusion” is performed. And this illusion was also performed on network primetime TV! Oh no!!

Judge for yourself the video we tried to upload on MetaCafe:

Christmas Surprises for our Industry Partners & Clients!

We received numerous calls, messages and emails from several industry partners and clients who were lucky enough to receive a complimentary copy of our magicseen cover.

Thanks for the well wishes and congrats! Many expressed that they were happy Ning and I were representing Singapore our counry’s top illusionists and were glad that we were still supporting their events. Our answer – It should be the other way around, we are glad that they are booking our show for their events

Right now amidst corporate shows, the Concept:Magic Team have also transformed into a team of magic elves. We are busy preparing a special something for clients and industry partners and hope to get it out by the 2nd week of Dec 2009.

It is really a cool unique item that will bring cheer to the festival year-end!

Introducing The Spike Box

Another illusion has been added to our illusion arsenal!

Constantly on the look out for different uncommon illusions to add to the show, this baby (in its original form) caught my eye. While we do have a large number of illusions that we rotate into the show, different illusions serve different functions in the show formats we offer.

Although I can’t go into specifics of why we chose this particular illusion, suffice to say, it will be rotated into our current show program for corporate & special events.

“The Spike Box” is an uncommon illusion with a one-of-its-kind design. We modified and changed several components and added our own touches to make this another ‘Magic Babe’ & J C Sum illusion.

The choreograph will include Ning’s signature “Dance of the Sais” with the option of using her beloved signature sais or a brand new pair of weapons we had custom made.

Look out for it!

Lots of Magic in Singapore in the Upcoming Weeks

Magic Enthusiasts revel! There will be lots of magic events and activities happening in Singapore in the next few weeks. This is the most number of magic-centric events organized by different parties at the same time ever that I can recall!

Some of the upcoming events include a Magic Festival at the Singapore Flyer which also features a Street Magic competition, a one-day magic convention with lectures and performances and another lecture towards the end of the year.

Read more about the different events at Red Dot Magic, Singapore’s one stop magic portal. Events listings.

Also visit the International Brotherhood of Magicians portal here for upcoming lectures and events.

We were originally approached to be part of the Magic Festival at the Singapore Flyer sometime in Aug this year but unfortunately we had to turn down the project because of budget contraints from the client. The festival is billed as “the first ever free admission magic festival” but that is not correct as the “Malls of Centrepoint” organized one in Jun 2000 at various malls across the country.

However, Ning & I have been booked to make a special appearance at the finals of another magic competition organized by Square 2 mall in Dec 2009.

Billed as “The 1st Singapore Open Magic Competition” (which is not correct as there have been at least 3 or 4 open competitions in the last 4 years alone organized by various parties), the competition boasts over S$5000 worth of prizes. At this point, however, it is not made clear what category of magic this is yet.

If you are a magic enthusiast, you may want to enter the competition here.

One of the best parts of our job is being able to bring our magic to charity events or to support a legitimate cause. We were approached to support an upcoming event because the commitee felt that Ning would be the perfect fit as the highlight performer.

The students from Ngee Ann Poly are organizing a fund raising event / clubbing event to raise funds for the cause of Violence Against Women. I truly believe ‘Magic Babe’s’ strong character, passion for causes and celebrity will add to the event. So, please come down to support the event or at least buy a ticket for the cause!

Date: 26 Nov 2009, Thurs
Venue: Zirca
Time: 7pm – late
Last admission: 930pm
Prizes to be won: Body Shop products, eng wah voucher, espirit vouchers, heeren privilege card.
Age Limit: 18+

Door sale: $23
Pre-sale: $20 (W/ one Drink)
$18 (NP students w/ one drink)
$15 ( W/O drink)

For more info & ticketing, visit the event’s Facebook page here

Redesigning a New Illusion!!!

We recently shipped a new illusion in from Las Vegas. As usual, we will be redesigning this illusion completely.

As with the standard way we approach new illusions, weeks before we even purchased the illusion, we had already designed the artwork and choreographed the illusion.

We did graphical digital mock-ups of the new look of the illusion after I did literally hundreds of sketches to determine the look and function of all our new elements.

The prop is current in our studio stripped down and new parts are being fabricated now.

Just like our “360 Sawing” illusion, this will be a distinct ‘Magic Babe’ & J C Sum illusion with a presentation to match.

Look out for it!

Our Magic in International Magic TV Shows Now on DVDs

We are happy to announce that our brand magic has crept its way into two international magic TV shows that are now released on DVD. Another small way we are proud to put Singapore on the world map!

The International Magicians Society has produced a TV show and DVD set on magicians from 32 countries. The entire series took two years to film.

Among the magicians that are featured include Criss Angel, Brett Daniels, Peter Marvey, Shimada and many others.

Ning & I are the privileged to be representing Singapore as one of the 32 countries in the “Great Magicians of the World”. While the title of the show is a tad pompous, it is safe to say that the magicians featured are very good, have a proven track record and are one of the best that the respective countries have to offer.

We are honoured to have been chosen by the International Magicians Society (IMS) for the show and two of our illusions are featured in the show.

Our performance was shot from multiple angles during our 6 Oct 2009 preview show at St James Power Station. From what Tony Hassini (President of IMS) told us, our footage is really good and the edited performances look great.

Incidentally, we were the last country to be filmed for this show. You can buy the DVD set for US$75 here.

Another TV show that has been released on DVD is Franz Harary’s “Magic Planet”. Franz Harary is an American illusionist and brilliant illusion designer.

You might not have heard of him because his work is mainly in the high end corporate events and live concert market. He created illusions for Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and Backstreet Boys.

In 2004/ 2005, he went around the world performing and filming other magicians in different countries. While this is somewhat similar to what Tony Hassini did, this show is different because the focus is on Franz and each episode features one country.

I’ve seen one episode because he sent me the episode that I’m featured in. The production values are extremely high and the overall show is entertaining and the format is akin to a Discovery Travel and Living-type show.

The episode I’m featured in is “Bangladesh” because I was an invited performer/ lecturer for an International Magic Festival produced by Ali Raj (Bangladesh’s top magician). So, this show features a younger me performing material that has since been retired from my show

It was also at this festival that I had conversations with New York Times writer and now best-selling author, Neil Strauss. I also had the pleasure of interacting with Florida-based magician Travis Wrinkler.

Anyway, I think this DVD set is a highly entertaining series and features many of Harary’s mega illusions. You can buy the DVDs here. 

Siegfried & Roy Masters of the Impossible

Last week, I posted an entry on some outstanding presentations of the classic “Sawing a Girl in Half” illusion. One of those magicians featured was Siegfried & Roy. You can read avery brief history on them on Wiki here.

While the Wiki briefly talks about their history, most of the article is on Roy’s tragic tiger ‘attack’ accident. Luckily, a few years ago, an IMAX film was made on their lives/ magic which, in a way, preserves their legacy as “Masters of the Impossible”. They used the word “SARMOTI” as a magic word and to descibe themselves which basically is an abbreviation for “Siegfried & Roy Masters of the Impossible”.

The IMAX film called “The Magic Box” is wonderful journey into the spectacle that was their show and also gives a dramatised look at their history. There are several parts to the entire movie and you can watch part 1 of “The Magic Box” here. 

Naturally, anyone who is in magic would have heard of S & R even though the prominent parts of their career have been in Las Vegas. In fact, they are the pioneers of the Las Vegas Magic Show as we know it it (although the styles/ concepts of the Vegas shows have changed now). They personalified the glizy, flamboyant and spectacular production shows that defined the 1980s – 1990s era of Vegas entertainment.

Of course, they are most known for their use of exotic animals such as white tigers, lion and elephants in their show. No one has used large animals to the level and scale that S & R did, and probably, no one else will ever do; especially after the tiger attack.

Years ago, I remember watching their shows on TV and always remembered the spectacle of their magic. However, I never got a chance to watch them live. I passed on the chance to watch them when I was in Vegas in 1995 mainly because I was told by many people that the show was mainly production dance numbers, animals with little magic. I also had the impression (possibly by the bits I watched on TV and what other magicians told me) that their magic was very standard but made different only becaue big the animals.

Now, more than one and a half decades later, upon watching the videos, I have a new opinion. Yes, their show is a spectacle with lots of animals, costumes, sets and dancers. And, it is true there are a few standard illusions in the show. However, all their standards have the  S & R twist because of the way they incorporate the animals. Just like their Interlude presentation which I shared 2 weeks ago.

As an experienced illusion designer looking at their work now, I can see just how sophisticated their illusion methodology is. The amount of illusioneering that went into their theatre is staggering and I wonder if any other illusionists will ever have that degree of creative control built into their venue.

Here are two awesome illusions, that to me, are just S & R at their finest:

The first is the most amazing and direct version of such an illusion ever staged. Remember, this is performed up close to an almost surrounded audience.

This next video showcases their personality and chemistry.

Finally, check out their farewell performance that they gave earlier this year. This is 6 years after the accident which left Roy partially paralysed and doctors did not expect him to walk again. The tiger used in this inspirational performance is the very same one that caused Roy his career-ending injury.