Dreams come true for rising magician Deddy

Dreams come true for rising magician Deddy

By I. Christianto

JAKARTA (JP): He holds a metal spoon tightly and looks deeply
at the object. And it bends.

Magic?

Yes, that's what Deddy Carbuzier demonstrates. But to him,
it's not magic, it's mind power. Deddy does not like being called
a magician, either. He prefers to dub himself a mentalist, an
enchanter who performs mind games with his audience.

Before he performs every trick, he informs his audience about
what he is going to do.

"Take bending a spoon, for instance, I'll start by saying that
there is a man who is psychokinetic, who can bend a spoon with
his mind. I'll tell them that I can demonstrate such an ability,"
he said.

He said that once he saw a similar show where the magician did
not give any introduction and, instead of being amazed, a kid in
the show unexpectedly reacted by saying the spoon had to be bent
because it was used to eat with.

Deddy Corbuzier, 25, had wanted to be a magician since he was
eight years old.

"I was so fascinated watching a magician on television. Since
then I wanted to be a magician. I never wanted to be a doctor,
engineer or anything else," he told The Jakarta Post at the RCTI
studios.

And his dream has come true. He is a rising magician in the
country and he is improving the image of the profession.

He has been on RCTI's variety show for seven months and is
preparing for his own weekly 30 minute program.

He performs not only on television, but also in various places
including cafes and a venue at the five-star Regent hotel.

"I want to improve the image of magicians in Indonesia. Look
at the way they promote themselves. We see small homemade
billboards nailed to trees in some streets, promoting magic shows
for birthday parties. Promotion is great but not in this way."

Deddy, whose teachers included the couple Jack and Linda and
Mr. Robin, said that once when he was 14, he accompanied his
teacher to perform in a New Year's Eve festival which involved
various prominent artists.

"It was a big event. At the end of the party, everybody
approached and mingled with the artists, the comedians and
singers, but not the magicians. We just packed and went home," he
said.

The situation has changed. After his shows at the RCTI
studios, some of the audiences came to Deddy to shake hands, to
chat or to ask for his autograph.

Bragging as a mentalist, Deddy, a student of the Psychology
School at Atma Jaya University, enjoys studying humanity.

"Though I have to take long leave from my school, I have
learned a lot about human behavior by mastering psychology. I
also learned a lot when I had an opportunity to visit the U.S. to
deepen my understanding of magic."

"If a magician can make a bird appear from a piece yarn, so
what? I need to perform better than that. Magic is attractive. It
can make something different, not only by making a bird appear
with no reason to do that," he said.

He said that magic for him is to give people a metaphor,
making the impossible possible and to give hope.

"With a topic on birds, for instance, I'd arrange a setting.
Say a kid lost a bird, then a magician came to him, taking a
piece of cloth and gave the kid a bird. That's it, giving hope,"
he said, adding that the audience would gain a meaning.

When playing tricks using a rope, Deddy narrates about life.

"I'd say that the rope is a kind of human life, that something
unexpected will happen someday in someone's life. Snap! the rope
suddenly cuts. Then I'd say a human is a special creature who can
do anything; I blow the cut rope and it is rejoined. This is hope
for the audience."

He said that many magicians have tried to imitate David
Copperfield after he performed in Indonesia a few years ago, but
he had no interest in doing the same. "I have to do something
different," he said.

Philosophy

Deddy said his philosophy is that many people believe magic is
all around and that they can feel it. Also, it's about effort. "A
man could be drowned not because he falls but because he stays in
the water making no effort to float," he said.

"Magicians perform tricks. In my show I also do tricks, but
not only that. I also talk for about 70 percent of the time."

Appearing with a unique haircut which resembles the Emperor
Ming in the Flash Gordon comic series, Deddy also applies special
effects to his eyebrows and always wears black costumes.

He likes theater and is a theatrical instructor at a school in
Jakarta. He wears numerous rings and speaks firmly on every
topic.

He is committed to magic, particularly mental magic.

"A mentalist is likely a modern paranormal. There is little
difference between mentalists and paranormals. But don't ask me
about ghosts and spirits. I never admit that I am a paranormal
and I don't believe in ghosts or spirits."

"I can show the same effects as ghost and spirit presences in
my performances. How do I do it? It's a secret. Whether people
say it's a trick or not, it's up to them. In my show I can do
paranormal-related things, but not in real life. I'm not a
paranormal. It's people's right to judge me as a paranormal
earning money as a magician," he reiterates.

"We have a code of conduct," said the member of the
International Brotherhood of Magicians. "If someone asks if there
is a trick in my show in bending a metal spoon, as an actor who
plays a role as magician, I'd say no, it's real, it's mind power.
But when I was a kid, the answer was yes."

According to Deddy, mental magic shows everything 'may be'
possible.

"In illusion magic, someone can fly and that's impossible.
It's very visual, and smart people think it's a trick. Mental
magic is something ambiguous. I'd say mental magic is modern
paranormal entertainment. We do things that 'may be' possible.
Reading the mind is one example."

"In the Netherlands, there's a scientific research study
concerning mind reading, but there's never been research on how
to mutilate a human body and fix it again," he said, adding that
the only disadvantage for this kind of show is that it is not
visual.

Deddy, who never uses boxes in his magic tricks, plans to run
an institute offering courses on magic and pantomime in
collaboration with pantomimist Septian Dwicahyo.

"Magic is universal, everyone can learn it," he said.

Deddy, the youngest of three, was born Deddy Cahyadi Sundjojo,
but he changed his name as he is fond of the architecture of the
Notredame church built by architect Corbuzier.

He recalled that his parents initially opposed him when he
wanted to be a magician.

"Magic is fine, but not as a profession. 'Forget it' they
said. For a while it affected me, but when I had an opportunity
to go to the U.S., I saw magic shows along a roadside in Las
Vegas, with dancers and musicians as complementary performers.
Why can't I find something like that in Indonesia? I want to put
magicians on an equal footing with other entertainers such as
singers and other artists in Indonesia."

"Now that I have proven to my parents that I can make (good)
money, I have won their full support," he said.