Chan's key to magic: Originality<\/p>\n
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Malaysian magician Thomas Chan cannot help but be flirtatious. If
\nyou are amazed by his magic tricks and ask for the secrets to
\nthem, he will always reply with \"I'll tell you if you'll be my
\ngirlfriend\".<\/p>\n
When asked about his age, he says \"That depends on what you
\nprefer, younger or older men.\"<\/p>\n
His interests outside magic? \"Golf, chess and women.\"<\/p>\n
His statements are followed by laughter, but you know that he
\nis not really joking.<\/p>\n
\"Oooh, I'm so naughty sometimes, it gets me into trouble,\"
\nlaughed the 42-year-old magician.<\/p>\n
Even his reason to learn magic goes back to when he was 14
\nyears old and he wanted to impress the opposite sex.<\/p>\n
\"I can't sing, I have a terrible voice. I've got two left
\nfeet, and I can't dance. So I took up magic.\"<\/p>\n
Did it work? Chan said yes, although his wife is no longer
\ninterested and has became bored with all his tricks.<\/p>\n
Chan is an award-winning magician who has traveled around the
\nworld, amazing people from all walks of life, including the
\npresident of the United States and the Queen of England.<\/p>\n
He started out by winning local and regional competitions, but
\nhis big break came when he was asked to perform in Las Vegas.
\nChan was hired by the Hyatt International group to become its
\ncorporate magician for seven-and-a-half years in a job that took
\nhim to many countries where Hyatt owns hotels.<\/p>\n
He later joined Shangri-La for another six years.<\/p>\n
Throughout May, he has been performing at The Park Lane Hotel
\nin South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Chan's signature illusion lies in \"table magic\", especially
\ncard tricks, which are considered to be the most difficult of all
\nmagic skills to master.<\/p>\n
\"I actually started as a stage magician with props and all.
\nBut later on, I found it much more challenging to become a table
\nmagician, entertaining guests from table to table,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Stage magic is about 30 percent skill and 70 percent
\npresentation. You just buy a box and some equipment and not much
\nskill is required. Whereas table magic is the opposite. The
\naudience is very very near, so you have to be very very fast.
\nIt's certainly much more difficult.\"<\/p>\n
He then showed me several tricks. He shuffled the cards and
\nasked me to take one, take a peak at it, put it down and rub it.
\nAnd ... voila, the card changed.<\/p>\n
As if reading my mind and Asian way of thinking, Chan said
\nthat there was no such thing as the supernatural and spirits were
\nnot involved in magic.<\/p>\n
\"They are all tricks and skills that anyone can learn. It's
\njust a matter of how fast your hands are and also misdirection,
\nlike when I tell you to look at my left hand, I then do something
\nwith my right.\"<\/p>\n
Chan retired four years ago from being a magician. His recent
\nperformance here was only \"a favor to an old friend, the hotel
\nmanager\".<\/p>\n
One of the reasons was his two daughters, aged 10 and two.<\/p>\n
\"My oldest daughter had to settle down and go to school
\ninstead of constantly moving. She also became really spoiled. You
\nknow, we always traveled first class, staying in hotel suites
\nwhere she could just call room service anytime she needed
\nsomething. That kind of life is very plastic,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Another reason was I wanted to be the best and I've become
\none. Until today, no group of hotels hires corporate magicians.
\nSo there's no challenge anymore.\"<\/p>\n
Chan is back in his home country, running some businesses,
\nincluding a magic school, which was opened two and a half years
\nago.<\/p>\n
\"In the first year, though, I was very disappointed because I
\nwanted to teach children, but 80 percent of my students were
\nadults. Corporate companies sent their people there to learn
\nmagic as an ice breaker.\"<\/p>\n
Chan said that he was willing to open a magic school here in
\nIndonesia if there was a sponsor.<\/p>\n
\"Some seven to nine years ago, the standard was not that good.
\nNow, it has improved a lot. I've met your top magician Deddy
\n(Corbuzier). He's good. The important thing is he brought magic
\nback to life in this country.\"<\/p>\n
The key to becoming a great magician and having international
\nrecognition, he said, was originality.<\/p>\n
\"You can copy other magicians, but you don't follow it as
\nexactly,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He referred to Japanese magicians, who he said have the second
\nhighest standard of magic in the world after the United States.<\/p>\n
\"They have great mentality. Only the best magician can go out
\nand perform. The Japanese are fantastic because they invent their
\nown tricks. They can even fool me sometimes.\"<\/p>\n
Chan recalled the best part about being a magician was amazing
\npeople and making them happy.<\/p>\n
\"Every gig is memorable because of that. Magic is also good
\nbecause it teaches you to have a lot of confidence. It teaches
\nyou a way to communicate, and it especially teaches you logic.\"<\/p>\n
The interview ended then. We thanked each other, shook hands,
\nsaid goodbye and then there was a question from him: \"Do you have
\na boyfriend?\"<\/p>",
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