Chan's key to magic: Originality

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Malaysian magician Thomas Chan cannot help but be flirtatious. If you are amazed by his magic tricks and ask for the secrets to them, he will always reply with "I'll tell you if you'll be my girlfriend".

When asked about his age, he says "That depends on what you prefer, younger or older men."

His interests outside magic? "Golf, chess and women."

His statements are followed by laughter, but you know that he is not really joking.

"Oooh, I'm so naughty sometimes, it gets me into trouble," laughed the 42-year-old magician.

Even his reason to learn magic goes back to when he was 14 years old and he wanted to impress the opposite sex.

"I can't sing, I have a terrible voice. I've got two left feet, and I can't dance. So I took up magic."

Did it work? Chan said yes, although his wife is no longer interested and has became bored with all his tricks.

Chan is an award-winning magician who has traveled around the world, amazing people from all walks of life, including the president of the United States and the Queen of England.

He started out by winning local and regional competitions, but his big break came when he was asked to perform in Las Vegas. Chan was hired by the Hyatt International group to become its corporate magician for seven-and-a-half years in a job that took him to many countries where Hyatt owns hotels.

He later joined Shangri-La for another six years.

Throughout May, he has been performing at The Park Lane Hotel in South Jakarta.

Chan's signature illusion lies in "table magic", especially card tricks, which are considered to be the most difficult of all magic skills to master.

"I actually started as a stage magician with props and all. But later on, I found it much more challenging to become a table magician, entertaining guests from table to table," he said.

"Stage magic is about 30 percent skill and 70 percent presentation. You just buy a box and some equipment and not much skill is required. Whereas table magic is the opposite. The audience is very very near, so you have to be very very fast. It's certainly much more difficult."

He then showed me several tricks. He shuffled the cards and asked me to take one, take a peak at it, put it down and rub it. And ... voila, the card changed.

As if reading my mind and Asian way of thinking, Chan said that there was no such thing as the supernatural and spirits were not involved in magic.

"They are all tricks and skills that anyone can learn. It's just a matter of how fast your hands are and also misdirection, like when I tell you to look at my left hand, I then do something with my right."

Chan retired four years ago from being a magician. His recent performance here was only "a favor to an old friend, the hotel manager".

One of the reasons was his two daughters, aged 10 and two.

"My oldest daughter had to settle down and go to school instead of constantly moving. She also became really spoiled. You know, we always traveled first class, staying in hotel suites where she could just call room service anytime she needed something. That kind of life is very plastic," he said.

"Another reason was I wanted to be the best and I've become one. Until today, no group of hotels hires corporate magicians. So there's no challenge anymore."

Chan is back in his home country, running some businesses, including a magic school, which was opened two and a half years ago.

"In the first year, though, I was very disappointed because I wanted to teach children, but 80 percent of my students were adults. Corporate companies sent their people there to learn magic as an ice breaker."

Chan said that he was willing to open a magic school here in Indonesia if there was a sponsor.

"Some seven to nine years ago, the standard was not that good. Now, it has improved a lot. I've met your top magician Deddy (Corbuzier). He's good. The important thing is he brought magic back to life in this country."

The key to becoming a great magician and having international recognition, he said, was originality.

"You can copy other magicians, but you don't follow it as exactly," he said.

He referred to Japanese magicians, who he said have the second highest standard of magic in the world after the United States.

"They have great mentality. Only the best magician can go out and perform. The Japanese are fantastic because they invent their own tricks. They can even fool me sometimes."

Chan recalled the best part about being a magician was amazing people and making them happy.

"Every gig is memorable because of that. Magic is also good because it teaches you to have a lot of confidence. It teaches you a way to communicate, and it especially teaches you logic."

The interview ended then. We thanked each other, shook hands, said goodbye and then there was a question from him: "Do you have a boyfriend?"