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.