This post is to introduce magicians and magic lovers to the abundant heritage of magic in Singapore. It honours the noteworthy achievements, prominence and significance of nearby magicians from the past and present.

The starting of Contemporary Magic in Singapore

It is the general consensus that modern magic in Singapore (submit Planet War two) started with the late-Ng Bo

Oen AKA The Fantastic Wong. Information on regional magic pre-war is extremely scarce. The only information found has been on The Fantastic Wong executing at the New World Amusement Park (then found at Kitchener Road) in the 1930s.

The Great Wong was born in 1908 in Shanton, a town of the Guangdong Province, China and immigrated to Singapore in 1933. He was the only skilled magician of his time in Singapore and executed across South East Asia. He was acknowledged for his sharp phase magic, Linking Rings schedule and Sword Basket illusion. He was also an professional craftsman who developed 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 worldwide magic group by publishing his popular linking rings regimen 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 Globe Congree of Magic in Lausanne, Switzerland.

(For a lot more info on The Great Wong refer to ‘The Wonderful Wong Story’ in The International Brotherhood of Magicians Singapore Ring a hundred and fifteen The Quantum Ring Golden Jubilee Concern)

Another nearby magician who was instrumental in increasing modern magic in Singapore for the duration of the beginning was the late-Tan Hock Chuan. He was a teacher by job but done for yearly specific activities, charity displays and personal functions. He was (and nonetheless is) internationally identified for his magical inventions. His consequences and ideas are even now promoted seller items right now and have been revealed in numerous publications (of that time) this sort of as Gen, Spinx, Pentagram, New Pentagram, Swami Mantra, Abracadabra and even Tarbell’s Training course in Magic. He is the initial Asian magician to obtain the Spinx Award (1936-37)

Equally The Wonderful Wong and Tan Hock Chuan ended up crucial influences to numerous of the 1st era of Singapore present day-magicians who have paved the way for future generations.

nineteen fifties

It was only right after the war and throughout the British Military Administration that magic in Singapore began its rise to exactly where it is nowadays. 1950 was the yr that the Singapore Magician’s Club was shaped by a team of novice magicians, comprising of English-educated specialists.

In 1951 the Singapore Magician’s Club gained their charter from The Global Brotherhood of Magicians HQ in The usa and was from then on was formally recognized as The Worldwide Brotherhood of Magicians Singapore Ring a hundred and fifteen. Founding customers 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 delivery to Singapore’s initial era of present day magicians. Apart from the founding members of the IBM Ring and The Fantastic Wong (who joined the Ring in 1952 by invitation), some distinguished first era magicians provided Lim Hap Hin, Tan Choon Tee, Tan Bah Chee, Yeo Shortly Kian and his scholar Michael Lim.

The Wonderful Wong operated the very first magic shop from his residence cum showroom/ workshop in Singapore at 255-A Jalan Besar exactly where he sold his personal handcrafted props as effectively as imported supplier products from Japan. (This home/ shop was ruined in a fire in Dec 1988 creating him to lose most of his publications and props)

1960s

Throughout this period of time, magicians like The Fantastic Wong, Tan Bah Chee, Lim Hap Hin and Tan Choon Tee performed magic programs at the Countrywide Theatre Club and the YMCA. They ended up liable for generating active magicians this sort of as Charles Choo, Wong Fok Choy, Chia Hearn Jiang, Gwee Thiam Hock and the late-Vijeyacone.

The early 60s also observed the ‘Golden Age’ of magic with magicians carrying out at distinct venues across the nation. In addition to neighborhood magicians executing in night time clubs, overseas magicians these kinds of as Socar carried out a grand illusion present to a full house at the Capitol Theatre (together Stamford Street) and The Wonderful Nicholas at the Sky Theater in The Excellent Planet Amusement Park at Kim Seng Street (Now, Wonderful World Town).

In the late 60s, Wee Peng Guan (Uncle of Charles Choo), opened the next magic store in Singapore at a store home alongside Robinson Road. All around that time, well-liked entertainer Victor Khoo’s father Khoo Teng Heng who was a magician, a ventriloquist and hypnotist opened his magic store at Bras Basah. (where Carlton Hotel stands presently).

For the duration of this ten years, Tan Choon Tee was making a title for himself in the global magic group in the subject of Mentalism. He won numerous international Linking Ring Awards for his A single-Man Parades and has two guides published by Micky Hades. He was also a typical contributor to numerous global magic journals these kinds 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.

1970s

The nineteen seventies observed the birth of the second era of Singapore magicians. Some well-known magicians who received commenced in the course of this time integrated The Wonderful Wong’s son Ng Kee Chee, John Teo, Tang Sai Thong, Ng Seow Kiat, Tang Yeng Entertaining, Bob Chua, Eric Leong, Tan Teck Seng, Lawrence Tham, Tan Tuan Seng, Lawrence Khong and Andrew Kong.

The Singapore Association of Magicians was founded on ten March 1973 in helpful ‘rivalry’ to the IBM Ring. The club was led by Tan Bah Chee with distinguished founding customers this sort of as Lim Hap Hin, Tan Hock Chuan and Charles Choo.

Magic retailers 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 sixth floor of Much East Purchasing Centre. (It would transfer numerous occasions to a variety of malls but sooner or later returned back again to Considerably East). His shop would shortly turn into an establishment where magicians would acquire different magic merchandise as effectively as fulfill up and learn from every single other.

It was a assortment haunt for many magicians in the many years to occur until the store shut in the new millennium.

In the course of this period, The Tropicana Night Club, which was positioned at Pacific Plaza, was a location that had regular magic performances. Numerous popular magicians also frequented Singapore in the 70s. In 1970, John Calvert performed at the Nationwide Theatre. In 1972, Albert Goshman frequented Ring one hundred fifteen to give a lecture. In that same yr, “The Professor” Dai Vernon also frequented Singapore, lectured and interacted with regional magicians. Other checking out magicians integrated Andre Kole, Billy McComb, and Ali Bongo.

eighties

By the nineteen eighties, the local magic scene was flourishing with healthy memberships for the two primary magic golf equipment as well as a surge in the amount of performing magicians. Several of present-day veterans manufactured 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 ended up performing routinely at community and private exhibits in the course of this decade. Common nearby venues for community magic demonstrates by magic golf equipment held on a typical foundation at that time included the Drama Centre and the Nationwide Museum Theatrette.

The reputation of magic retailers also grew and in 1982, Chew Kin Track opened a Magic & Novelty Corner at the Chinese Book Area of Popular Ebook Co Pte Ltd on the 4th Floor of Bras Basah Intricate. Gician Tan also opened up his initial magic store at Parkway Parade which subsequently moved to Marina Sq. and was managed by Richard Ang. In addition to this primary shop, he dispersed magic objects and sets via office shops

in Singapore and South East Asia.The Singapore viewers was also exposed to globe-course magic via a number of magic tv shows and sequence that were aired on local Television including the David Copperfield specials, Magic Magic and The Very best of Magic.

International magicians who frequented Singapore for the duration of this time provided David Copperfield, Mark Wilson, Ben Harris, Paul Daniels and Gene Anderson.

nineteen nineties

The beginning of this ten years observed the introduction of the country’s 3rd generation magicians into the neighborhood magic scene. Notable budding magicians integrated 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 Worldwide Magicians Society was shaped, launched by its President, Tan Bah Chee although the club’s existence in Singapore was quick-lived.

The late-1990s saw a enormous surge in magic world-wide acceptance owing to David Blaine’s avenue magic specials. Many people started out to ‘get into’ magic and experienced new mediums to discover the craft this kind of as the introduction of DVDs and the World wide web.

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

For the duration of this decade, Wang Leng’s shop in Peninsula Plaza was offered to Patrick Wan. The store was subsequently sold to Richard Ang and is now nicely recognized as Ang Residence of Magic. Patrick Wan opened his new shop, Magic Wand, which has spawned into numerous outlets in various parts of Singapore. Steven Sim also opened Magic Supreme at Coronation Plaza which has subsequently moved to Park Shopping mall.

The 90s was an interesting decade with several visits and performances by famous magicians. Apart from lectures by Michael & Hannah Ammar, Mark Leveridge and Wolfgang & Sonja Riebe there have been also general public theatre performances by the Pendragons, Princess Tenko, Andre Kole, Franz Harary, David Copperfield, Rudy Coby and Robert Gallop. Other visiting magicians included Larry Becker, Tim Ellis, Terry Seabrooke, Phil Cass and Albert Tham.

2000 – Present

Magic has ongoing to prosper at the local degree in this 10 years. New options and abilities have emerged to elevate the artwork in Singapore. In May possibly 2000, J C Sum staged the initial ever regional total-night theatre show ‘Magic at the Theatre’ at Victoria Theatre. Just a month later on, much more than a dozen magicians from the US and Canada arrived down to Singapore as part of the Magic Festival arranged by the Malls of Centrepoint. Magicians this kind of as Robert Baxt, Rocco and Peter Gossamer performed numerous exhibits at a variety of Centrepoint Malls for more than a week.

In 2004, the Singapore Magic Circle (SMC) was created by Aloysius Yeo and with its on-line forum drew a new pool of magic lovers jointly. SMC has considering that grown to over 1000 customers and frequently arrange gatherings, functions as nicely as the current Notion:Magic Micro MAGIC Conference in January 2007.

By way of a massive-scale theatre magic musical ‘Magic of Love’, Lawrence Khong, a pastor with Faith Neighborhood Baptist Church and his daughter Pricilla, spread the gospel information.

The multi-million dollar production has been staged numerous times over the a long time throughout the planet to distribute the phrase of Christ. Subsequently, the very same team organized two Worldwide Pageant of Magic conventions in 2003 & 2005. The very first of its type large magic activities included competitions, lectures, a dealers’ area and performances. Intercontinental performers such as Jeff McBride, Max Maven, Johnny Thomspon, The Pendragons, Lee Eun Gyeol and Tommy Question had been booked to perform at the gala exhibits and lectures.

In modern many years, J C Sum has grow to be arguably the most well known Singapore magician of this technology. His magic has been seen by millions by means of his dwell performances across Asia as properly as his landmark mass media initiatives on MediaCorp Studio’s Ch 8 as properly as subsequent ‘Street Illusions’ compilation DVD/ VCD.

His 24-episode ‘Magic in Motion’ collection can at the moment be noticed daily on Singapore Push Holdings MediaBoxOffice by means of 2007. In the global magic community, J C has also proven himself as an elite illusion designer from Asia with the publication of his three critically acclaimed illusion guides that have been sold in a lot more than thirty nations around the world to day.

Another proficient award-successful magician, Jeremy Pei, is increasing the profile of Singapore magic inside the regional magic community with his theatre demonstrates, arranged lectures, workshops and active participation in magic conventions & competitions in Japan, Korea, China, Thailand and Australia. His distinct North-Asian influence type of magic efficiency has garnered him a adhering to with new budding magicians whom he teaches and guides. He has also launched several unique magic goods which are accessible to magicians around the world.

In one more 1st, award-successful junior magician, Kyle Ravin secured a 13-episode weekly Street Magic collection, “Maya” on MediaCorp Studios’ Vasantham Central. This 30min series saw him execute magic for the Indian neighborhood and famous people throughout the place.

This 10 years has noticed the introduction of even more magic shops and dealers operate by younger magicians to fulfill the demand from customers of magic fans and magicians. These contain new ‘brick & mortar’ magic shops this kind of as Avenue Magic by Tan Wei Ping, Tough Business by Jimmy Wong, The Magic Hall by Kenneth Peh as effectively as on-line retailers like The Small Magic Shop by Ning.