This report is to introduce magicians and magic lovers to the rich background of magic in Singapore. It honours the noteworthy achievements, prominence and importance of nearby magicians from the previous and existing.
The starting of Modern Magic in Singapore
It is the standard consensus that modern magic in Singapore (submit World War 2) started with the late-Ng Bo
Oen AKA The Great Wong. Details on regional magic pre-war is very scarce. The only details discovered has been on The Great Wong doing at the New Entire world Amusement Park (then situated at Kitchener Highway) in the 1930s.
The Excellent Wong was born in 1908 in Shanton, a metropolis of the Guangdong Province, China and immigrated to Singapore in 1933. He was the only expert magician of his time in Singapore and done across South East Asia. He was acknowledged for his sharp phase 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 Wonderful Wong created a considerable contribution to the international magic local community by publishing his popular 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 complete at the 15th Planet Congree of Magic in Lausanne, Switzerland.
(For far more data on The Great Wong refer to ‘The Excellent Wong Story’ in The Intercontinental Brotherhood of Magicians Singapore Ring 115 The Quantum Ring Golden Jubilee Concern)
One more local magician who was instrumental in increasing modern day magic in Singapore for the duration of the commencing was the late-Tan Hock Chuan. He was a instructor by career but carried out for once-a-year unique occasions, charity demonstrates and private parties. He was (and nonetheless is) internationally acknowledged for his magical inventions. His outcomes and ideas are nevertheless promoted seller items nowadays and have been released in many publications (of that time) such as Gen, Spinx, Pentagram, New Pentagram, Swami Mantra, Abracadabra and even Tarbell’s System in Magic. He is the 1st Asian magician to get the Spinx Award (1936-37)
The two The Fantastic Wong and Tan Hock Chuan have been essential influences to numerous of the first generation of Singapore present day-magicians who have paved the way for potential generations.
1950s
It was only right after the war and in the course of the British Army Administration that magic in Singapore started its rise to where it is today. 1950 was the 12 months that the Singapore Magician’s Club was shaped by a team of amateur magicians, comprising of English-educated professionals.
In 1951 the Singapore Magician’s Club acquired their constitution from The International Brotherhood of Magicians HQ in The united states and was from then on was formally identified as The Worldwide Brotherhood of Magicians Singapore Ring one hundred fifteen. Founding members of the club at that time included 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 birth to Singapore’s very first technology of modern magicians. Besides the founding users of the IBM Ring and The Great Wong (who joined the Ring in 1952 by invitation), some distinguished initial generation magicians included Lim Hap Hin, Tan Choon Tee, Tan Bah Chee, Yeo Before long Kian and his pupil Michael Lim.
The Excellent Wong operated the initial magic shop from his residence cum showroom/ workshop in Singapore at 255-A Jalan Besar exactly where he offered his possess handcrafted props as properly as imported seller objects from Japan. (This property/ shop was wrecked in a fire in Dec 1988 triggering him to get rid of most of his books and props)
nineteen sixties
During this period, magicians like The Wonderful Wong, Tan Bah Chee, Lim Hap Hin and Tan Choon Tee carried out magic courses at the Countrywide Theatre Club and the YMCA. They were responsible for producing energetic magicians this sort of as Charles Choo, Wong Fok Choy, Chia Hearn Jiang, Gwee Thiam Hock and the late-Vijeyacone.
The early 60s also noticed the ‘Golden Age’ of magic with magicians carrying out at distinct venues across the nation. Apart from neighborhood magicians carrying out in night golf equipment, overseas magicians this kind of as Socar done a grand illusion show to a total home at the Capitol Theatre (along Stamford Road) and The Excellent Nicholas at the Sky Theater in The Fantastic World Amusement Park at Kim Seng Highway (Now, Excellent Globe Town).
In the late 60s, Wee Peng Guan (Uncle of Charles Choo), opened the second magic shop in Singapore at a store property alongside Robinson Street. About that time, common entertainer Victor Khoo’s father Khoo Teng Heng who was a magician, a ventriloquist and hypnotist opened his magic store at Bras Basah. (in which Carlton Hotel stands currently).
During this 10 years, Tan Choon Tee was producing a identify for himself in the international magic community in the area of Mentalism. He gained several intercontinental Linking Ring Awards for his A single-Man Parades and has two books printed by Micky Hades. He was also a regular contributor to quite a few international magic magazines this kind of as Gen, New Pentagram, Magicgram, Magicana and The Linking Ring.
Abroad magicians whom handed through Singapore included Milo & Roger, Milbourne Christopher and Maurice Fogel.
seventies
The nineteen seventies observed the beginning of the 2nd generation of Singapore magicians. Some nicely-recognized magicians who received started in the course of this time included The Fantastic Wong’s son Ng Kee Chee, John Teo, Tang Sai Thong, Ng Seow Kiat, Tang Yeng Exciting, Bob Chua, Eric Leong, Tan Teck Seng, Lawrence Tham, Tan Tuan Seng, Lawrence Khong and Andrew Kong.
The Singapore Affiliation of Magicians was established on 10 March 1973 in friendly ‘rivalry’ to the IBM Ring. The club was led by Tan Bah Chee with well known founding members such as Lim Hap Hin, Tan Hock Chuan and Charles Choo.
Magic outlets in Singapore began 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 6th flooring of Significantly East Searching Centre. (It would transfer numerous occasions to numerous malls but at some point returned again to Significantly East). His store would shortly turn into an institution where magicians would purchase different magic products as effectively as meet up and understand from each and every other.
It was a variety haunt for a lot of magicians in the several years to arrive until the shop closed in the new millennium.
During this time period, The Tropicana Evening Club, which was positioned at Pacific Plaza, was a venue that experienced standard magic performances. A number of popular magicians also visited Singapore in the 70s. In 1970, John Calvert performed at the Nationwide Theatre. In 1972, Albert Goshman visited Ring 115 to give a lecture. In that same calendar year, “The Professor” Dai Vernon also frequented Singapore, lectured and interacted with local magicians. Other visiting magicians incorporated Andre Kole, Billy McComb, and Ali Bongo.
eighties
By the eighties, the regional magic scene was flourishing with healthful memberships for the two main magic golf equipment as well as a surge in the quantity of performing magicians. Several of modern veterans produced their identify in the 80s. Acquainted names like Richard Ang, Patrick Wan, Patrick Ng Wang Lin, Tan Hai Yan AKA Gician, Paul Koh, AB Francis and Gordon Koh were executing regularly at public and non-public demonstrates for the duration of this 10 years. Well-known regional venues for community magic exhibits by magic golf equipment held on a standard basis at that time included the Drama Centre and the National Museum Theatrette.
The recognition of magic stores also grew and in 1982, Chew Kin Music opened a Magic & Novelty Corner at the Chinese Guide Area of Common E-book Co Pte Ltd on the 4th Ground of Bras Basah Intricate. Gician Tan also opened up his very first magic shop at Parkway Parade which subsequently moved to Marina Sq. and was managed by Richard Ang. Besides this principal store, he distributed magic products and sets by way of section shops
in Singapore and South East Asia.The Singapore viewers was also exposed to planet-class magic by way of a number of magic tv exhibits and sequence that have been aired on nearby Tv set such as the David Copperfield specials, Magic Magic and The Best of Magic.
Foreign magicians who visited Singapore during this time incorporated David Copperfield, Mark Wilson, Ben Harris, Paul Daniels and Gene Anderson.
nineties
The beginning of this 10 years saw the introduction of the country’s third technology magicians into the neighborhood magic scene. Distinguished budding magicians included 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 nearby chapter of International Magicians Modern society was formed, founded by its President, Tan Bah Chee although the club’s existence in Singapore was short-lived.
The late-nineties noticed a large surge in magic global acceptance due to David Blaine’s avenue magic specials. A lot of folks started to ‘get into’ magic and had new mediums to understand the craft such as the introduction of DVDs and the Net.
A new magic shop, Magic Castle & Promotions, opened up by Vijay Kumar at Shaw Towers before long grew to become ‘the place to be’ exactly where new magicians would hang out and fulfill.
For the duration of this decade, Wang Leng’s store in Peninsula Plaza was offered to Patrick Wan. The shop was subsequently sold to Richard Ang and is now nicely identified as Ang Home of Magic. Patrick Wan opened his new store, Magic Wand, which has spawned into a number of stores in a variety of components of Singapore. online magic course opened Magic Supreme at Coronation Plaza which has subsequently moved to Park Mall.
The 90s was an thrilling ten years with many visits and performances by famous magicians. Aside 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 integrated Larry Becker, Tim Ellis, Terry Seabrooke, Phil Cass and Albert Tham.
2000 – Current
Magic has continued to flourish at the nearby stage in this 10 years. New opportunities and skills have emerged to elevate the artwork in Singapore. In Could 2000, J C Sum staged the first at any time nearby entire-evening theatre demonstrate ‘Magic at the Theatre’ at Victoria Theatre. Just a month later, much more than a dozen magicians from the US and Canada came down to Singapore as element of the Magic Festival organized by the Malls of Centrepoint. Magicians this sort of as Robert Baxt, Rocco and Peter Gossamer done several shows at various Centrepoint Malls for over a week.
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 fanatics collectively. SMC has considering that grown to in excess of 1000 members and routinely organize gatherings, functions as nicely as the latest Concept:Magic Micro MAGIC Conference in January 2007.
Through a large-scale theatre magic musical ‘Magic of Love’, Lawrence Khong, a pastor with Faith Neighborhood Baptist Church and his daughter Pricilla, spread the gospel message.
The multi-million dollar manufacturing has been staged a lot of occasions above the many years across the world to spread the phrase of Christ. Subsequently, the identical team organized two International Festival of Magic conventions in 2003 & 2005. The very first of its sort big magic events incorporated competitions, lectures, a dealers’ area and performances. Intercontinental performers this sort of as Jeff McBride, Max Maven, Johnny Thomspon, The Pendragons, Lee Eun Gyeol and Tommy Question ended up booked to perform at the gala displays and lectures.
In recent a long time, J C Sum has turn into arguably the most well known Singapore magician of this technology. His magic has been seen by millions through his dwell performances throughout Asia as properly as his landmark mass media assignments on MediaCorp Studio’s Ch eight as well as subsequent ‘Street Illusions’ compilation DVD/ VCD.
His 24-episode ‘Magic in Motion’ series can at present be witnessed every day on Singapore Press Holdings MediaBoxOffice by means of 2007. In the global magic local community, J C has also established himself as an elite illusion designer from Asia with the publication of his 3 critically acclaimed illusion textbooks that have been bought in far more than 30 nations to date.
One more proficient award-successful magician, Jeremy Pei, is elevating the profile of Singapore magic inside the regional magic group with his theatre shows, organized lectures, workshops and lively participation in magic conventions & competitions in Japan, Korea, China, Thailand and Australia. His distinctive North-Asian influence type of magic performance has garnered him a following with new budding magicians whom he teaches and guides. He has also introduced multiple authentic magic goods which are obtainable to magicians worldwide.
In yet another initial, award-winning junior magician, Kyle Ravin secured a thirteen-episode weekly Street Magic sequence, “Maya” on MediaCorp Studios’ Vasantham Central. This 30min collection saw him complete magic for the Indian community and celebrities throughout the region.
This 10 years has noticed the introduction of even a lot more magic outlets and sellers operate by young magicians to fulfill the need of magic enthusiasts and magicians. These consist of new ‘brick & mortar’ magic retailers these kinds of as Street Magic by Tan Wei Ping, Difficult Organization by Jimmy Wong, The Magic Corridor by Kenneth Peh as effectively as on-line outlets like The Minor Magic Store by Ning.