I'll Be On TV Tonight!

.:The Sweet Life HP7 Launch Episode Is TONIGHT!:.

Check out "The Sweet Life" on QTV-11 tonight, 6:30 PM,as I will be having my fifteen seconds of fame as the magician at the Harry Potter 7 Book Launch they covered last Saturday in Fully Booked @ the Fort.

Lemme know how you like it!

.:Fully Booked Recap:.

So yes, I was booked at Fully Booked (I love saying that.) as the magician-on-call for the Harry Potter 7 book launch (Book Review coming next week, but I finished the ruddy book on the same day I got it.). I got there around 6:20, a good forty or so minutes before the store was going to open, and I immediately saw people in line, albeit not as many as we anticipated at the start.

I immediately got to work, and performed for the first six people in line. They were genuinely pleased with my routine, as one of them was genuinely floored even by my Ring Thing opener, and the Ultimate Transhypno effect was worthy of being a finisher for this group. Nonetheless, I capped my short routine off for them with Liquid Metal, and left it at that.

From there, I moved onto various people, and even ended up being interviewed by some people from QTV-11, and someone from Correspondents Asia, although I think they got disappointed to find out I wasn't a member of Hogwarts Philippines, which was mainly because I have a sinking feeling if I started joining NWA-affiliated organizations, I'd spread myself out too thin. I also love The Matrix, LOTR, Star Wars, and so forth, so if I joined PHP, it'd be a crime not to join the other groups. But I digress.

So in any case, I performed for the next couple of hours, including once for Hope and her cousin. I had some other performances here and there, but I kept my routine mostly the same as most of my walkaround bits everywhere else, since I knew that stuff has always served me well.

However, I knew I was merely gearing up for a short stage presentation, and I told Paolo of NWA about that. I was slowly building a reputation for Osterlind's Rubik's Blindfolded Solve (Henceforth, this effect shall be refered to as ORBS.), and I knew it had to be done.

With much fanfare and a few preliminary effects, I managed to pull the effect off smoothly, and with that, I capped my bit off, and went ahead to collect my bounty: among other things, I received a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for my efforts, and hopefully, a good deal of awareness that there's yet another magician/mentalist running around the metro... =P

Oops!

.:Erratum:.

Apparently, my TV appearance on Channel 11 wasn't tonight, but this Wednesday night, around 6:30 PM. This is for the show "The Sweet Life", and features my magic gig last Saturday for the Harry Potter book launch.

That being said, hope you guys can catch it!

My Magic On TV! (Hopefully)

.:The Sweet Life, QTV Channel 11, 6:30 PM:.

Hey, guys! I might be on TV tonight, or tomorrow night, because of the show I did for the Harry Potter book launch at Fully Booked last Saturday.

Lemme know how it turns out, since I have class!

Thanks!

Magical Update...

.:Booked At Fully Booked!:.

I'll be there at the Harry Potter 7 launch of Fully Booked in the Fort. I know it's way too far and way too early at7 in the morning, but I'm sure there'll be a lot of people there. Perfect opportunity for me to build my rep up...

I'm still looking for bookings. Here's hoping I find a few more by August...

.:Pre-Show: A Call To A Gellasenheit Of Wonder:.

Well, as I mentioned, I was booked on a Friday the 13th by Sir Nonoy and his wife, as there was a birthday party they wanted me at, the 79th birthday of the man fondly known by his grandchildren as Lolo Etong. Unlike most of my other bookings, I was going to do a pure mentalism act, and I was fairly glad I finally got the chance to flex my muscles in this endeavor.

So I got there at Kamay Kainan early enough, and I was preparing a few of my items, which is why I brought a jacket with me, which was purely going to be for walkaround. I had a few decks of cards, and of course, my ring for the De'Ring + Ring Thing routine, as well as some effects for my calling cards. Soon enough, dinner was served, and as I was famished, I made sure to fill up before even starting. Performing on a competely empty stomach is not good at all...

Food was great. It was a buffet of Filipino cuisine, so you have everything from Bistek to Liempo to Kare-Kare. That was really awesome.

In any case, walkaround was a very simple matter of course. I usually do this stuff, but I had to give everything I did, barring De'Ring, a mentalist edge. The Ultimate Transpo was a demonstration of low-grade hypnosis, and it worked very well. It was a setup for my attempt at mass hypnosis later on in the night.

This was a unique experience because the kids in attendance, the standout being Alwin, were genuinely interested in mentalism. Normally, mind-reading is a concept lost on kids because they're more likely to go for the visual and spectacular magic, not the subtle yet mindboggling effects mentalists do. The fact that I personally endeavor in both allows me to experience the differences firsthand.

That being said, there was ample anticipation built up by my walkaround routine. It was only a matter of nailing the stage show when we finally get there.

.:The Main Event: Mission Accomplished!:.

Let me give credit where credit is due. Much gratitude to the five main originators of my act: Richard Osterlind, Max Maven, Banachek, Morgan Strebler, and Devin Knight. I picked and chose the best elements of these five upstanding mentalists, resulting in last Friday’s program. Of course, my thanks to the people who directly led me to these esteemed people: Mr. Bing Lim-It, and Dr. Ronnie Moraleta.

Unfortunately, just so I don't give away the contents of my routine in public, I will simply say that I've done a lot of effects that were meant to floor the audience present, and I'll let their glowing comments speak for itself instead. I'd want to keep people on their toes so they don't know what to expect from my show except that it's going to be one Hades of an experience for them.

I'm glad they enjoyed the show, and I can only hope that there's more opportunities for me to amaze people this way to come.

Prelude To Friday The 13th

.:Hey, Jay!:.

My thanks to Jay Mata for lending me his Pegasus Page copy of The Prestige. I must say, he did a pretty brilliant job at it, not to mention the few other stuff he constructed himself, which is just perfect for my next booking...

.:Speaking Of Booking...:.

Yes, blogging works! This Friday, I'll be doing a mentalism show for a birthday party, and I have prepared a stunning repertoire meant to really floor everyone. I'm going to take a page from Derren Brown's book and just run with it... ::winks::

So for anyone else who wants to add some pizazz to their parties, I'm still available for bookings (As I usually am.). It's time to unlock the boundaries of the mind, courtesy of yours truly. Feel free to reach me via e-mail at mistervader@gmail.com. =)

Wish me luck on Friday! I have a packed show!

.:Thanks, Crissey!:.

I owe Crissey a bit as well for being my willing guinea pig for my take on Black Ops Hypnosis.

I haven't perfected the effect yet, but the fact that Crissey *did* forget what just happened made me smile. Looks like I got things down to pat for the most part...

Looks like I have a finale for tomorrow's show.

.:Friday The 13th? Pah!:.

I'm... not... scared... Aja!

Taste Asia: The Party

.:Bloggers Assemble!:.

So last Tuesday night, at the behest of Aileen Apolo, I headed off to SM Mall Of Asia where the bloggers got together. My memory is failing me, but I remember running into quite a few popular bloggers, and I'll do the link-loving thing when I get a comprehensive enough list. Heh.

In any case, I came prepared with a short but sweet mentalism routine that was designed to really make an impact: Disposable Color, Nile Derivation, Lightning Box, Liquid Metal, Fork Flower, and the Blindfolded Rubik's Solve. Sorsi and JayVee were hosting, so it was definitely going to be a hilarious program whatever happened. After Aileen spoke up, Sorsi mentioned to the SM people that someone has been swiping their forks, and they're going to find out what this guy happened to do with these forks, and that was my cue to go up and do my schtick.

In any case, for a taste of one of my favorite acts that night (The Osterlind Fork Flower, here's a thousand words (Ergo, one picture...), originally from Karla Redor:

The power of Christ compels you! The power of Christ compels you!

And of course, Much thanks to Alliver and PJ, who were my “eyes” when I solved the rubik's cube for my finale. This time, the picture is originally from Alan Racoma:

I'm blind! Blind as a bat! How blind is a bat?

Well, it was a success all the way, and I managed to complete the cube quickly enough. Shari was her usual self, just staring in utter disbelief at the fork bending at her behest. Her brother, Robby, was more of the same. During dinner, I ran into a lot of other bloggers, and even a lot of other people I knew from outside of blogging. All in all, it was a really eventful night, and even latecomers like Rico and Sasha were welcome additions to the celebrations. One of the earlybirds would naturally be Ms. Janette Toral, and with blogging celebrity Ms. Noemi Dado, this was a star-studded event, to say the least.

Taste Asia's food was eclectic, considering how they had everything from sisig to siopao, and just about everything in between. The food was splendid, and with the mix of food they had available, there was definitely something for everyone, to say the least.

All in all, the party was a veritable success. One can only hope more of these events turn up soon enough, seeing how well-received it was by the blogging community.

Congratulations to all the people who made this possible! This was just a really awesome meeting of the minds!

And, as ganked from Aileen: Link-Loving galore!

An Apple a Day
Pinoycentric
Zoul1380's The Daily Me!
Misteryosa
Project Manila
Ramblings of a Princess
Sexy Mom
Ceskypooh's World
Keysinunez.com
Bambastic
Single Brown Mommy
Bakla Ako, May Reklamo?
Touched by an Angel
Teacher Julie
Bababa ba?
Ultradust
The Thumbsucker
Mimi and Karl (Cliquebooth owners)
Jerico
You Will Be Forever
Tom
Mr. Kwee for SM Hypermarket
Paul's Blog
Pinoyblogero
Biyahilo
Baratillo.net
Rockersworld.com
Techievangelism
Vignettes
The Chef at Chez Panda
Brian's Blog
Sharmskee
Rain Contreras
Prudence and Madness
Lamonster Traveler
Pinoy Photo Blog
Brian for IAMD
Brian on Taste Asia 1
Brian on Taste Asia 2
Janette Toral
SM Hypermarket
Paradise Philippines
Geeky Guide to Nearly Everything
Ala Eh, the Batangas Blog
Jedianalyst
Half the World Away
Alan Racoma Jr.
Kutitots
Mistervader
In the Brink of the Mental Warzone
Pinoyblogero
Guitarchic.net
Cliquebooth Blog
The Parody
Vaes9
Random Pieces of my Mind
Mike Villar
Vanidosa
Ganns Deen
Mind, Heart & Mysteries
Life's a Beach... (sorry AJ with the ... wholesome po blog ko eh eheheh)
This Week on Pinoycentric
Style Manila


Photos! Photos! Photos!

Cliquebooth

An Apple a Day
Ultradust
Jerico
Karla Redor
Noemi Dado
BA Racoma
Rain Contreras
Brian
Bayanihan Blog Network
Juned
Project Manila
Juned's Multiply
Vanidosa
Shutterhappy
Ann
Eugene
Ganns
Rebelpixel.com

Wonder

.:The Sense Of Wonder: The Philosopher-Mentalist's Harmony:.

"We see the world, not the way it is, but in the way we are."

- Talmund

It's easy to get lost and jaded when you have nothing but angst to fill your waking moments. When you just feel like there's no cause for you to get up out of bed, and nothing is driving you any longer.

As a magician, I have learned that my ability to entertain lies in my ability to unlock a sense of wonder in my audience. There are times I achieve this, there are times I simply don't. While doing the best magic show I can could certainly unlock wonder in a lot of people, there will always be the skeptic or even the heckler who wants to prove he's better than me and act unimpressed, all the while figuring out whether quietly or otherwise how this or that effect works.

It's a very subtle dichotomy: how receptive your audience is to the concept of magic, and how good your execution and persona while performing happens to be. For the most part, you can rest assured that even the most skeptical of audiences would at least begrudgingly respect the most skilled prestidigitationist, but not everyone can channel Chow Yun Fat in "Lord Of Gamblers", so relying on pure skill and cheek would sometimes be insufficient.

Magic is viewed, as is any other thing, with varying degrees of acceptance or skepticism, not merely because of what you can do as a magician, but also because of how the audience thinks. While this is common sense to any performer, some people still overlook this, and end up getting into a one-upsmanship contest with a given spectator.

The moment you do this as a magician, you pretty much have conceded defeat already. No matter how good you are or how bad the offending spectator is, in trying to compete with them, you defeat the purpose of helping them unlock their sense of wonder. Instead, you're now just flat-out trying to show them up.

In knowing our motivations, our passions, and the things that drive us, we see that a sense of wonder does not necessarily rely on how old someone is. While it's true that children are in general more entertained by magic than adults, and women more than men, and drunk more than sober, this does not mean that performing magic for sober adult men will never pay off. Believe it or not, despite my personal preference of usually selecting a group which is predominantly female, the best reactions more often than not come from the few male spectators in the group.

As I am taking up Epistemology under Dr. Angeles in my Masters for Philosophy, she emphasizes that a sense of wonder is something that allows us to dwell, to linger, and to focus on something. In an age of fast food and fast cars and fast internet connections, there is much to be said about a deliberate and conscious effort to slow down and smell the proverbial roses from time to time. In having a sense of wonder, anything we do never ceases to be exciting. Even the most repetitive of routines can be made spectacular simply by finding the discipline to dwell, linger, and focus. This ability to dwell is precisely what Heidegger endorses in several of his writings.

The key to developing a sense of wonder is habituation. In allowing one's self to find the small miracles in the simplest of things, in allowing one's self to find elegance in the seemingly crude, then one embarks upon a path only the most serious of magicians genuinely take: that of learning to astound even themselves.

It’s easy to be jaded because of what we see in the world. It’s easy to take the worst in what we see and ignore that which is good or beautiful or worthy of praise. It’s not that a magician is a bad performer most of the time, it’s that the jaded magician does not see himself as the broker of wonder. He sees himself as an employee, or as an amateur, or sees magic merely as a means to an end, and the way he views his craft lends an impact and an aura to his performance that most of the audience catch on to. This is what sets apart any regular street magician from a David Blaine, or any regular stage magician from a David Copperfield. These two famous prestidigitationists have an intrinsic sense of wonder in the very things they do. In short, the audience’s sense of wonder is inextricably tied to that of the performer’s!

Yes, I am a magician, but even I must learn how to have a sense of wonder. It’s easy to brush off another version of, say, the ambitious card routine, as a trick “I’ve seen a thousand times before”. Yet why does such a simple yet elegant routine still persist to this day. There is a reason why the Ambitious Card is a classic, and there is a reason why the classics are still popular even now. To ignore the basics in favor of the so-called new and cutting edge is to bypass a seemingly tedious but genuinely rewarding aspect of the craft: mastering the fundamentals.

The sense of wonder for a magician is in finding the amazing and astounding even in the simplest of effects. Before even attempting to do Bill Goldman’s “Free Chance”, knowledge of a key fundamental move must be mastered first. Even I found myself guilty of bypassing learning this very basic move in favor of doing the effect right away, often taking away from the overall impact of the routine. While learning swivels, undercuts, and other seemingly mundane principles would appear boring to the eager magician, those who have a genuine sense of wonder learn to appreciate how the most effective effects are usually the ones with the simplest principles behind them.

Who here doesn’t appreciate the unbelievably simple yet elegant forces at work in Anthony Billan Co’s Mindbender? To those who find that upon “killing the fairy” they are disappointed, I feel dismay for them. Mindbender is one of my favorite effects not just because it is very impactful and happens right before the spectator’s eyes, but it’s also because what makes it work is just so brilliant that it’s a surprise nobody published the effect sooner!

It’s not just the spectators who need a sense of wonder. We as magicians do not have absolute control over that, to begin with.. We ourselves need to have a sense of wonder in our own routines, no matter how many times we’ve done it in front of a mirror before. We have to learn to believe our own hype and learn to view our effects with the same kind of enthusiasm we wish our spectators to meet us with. Unfortunate is the prestidigitationist who looks at the “correct” hand while doing a French drop. A pox on the elite who look down on the novice and destroy their confidence instead of helping them learn.

In having a sense of wonder, we learn to sell ourself. In believing in our own magic, we not only take the audience on a journey, but go with them with the same wide-eyed awe that we wish to imbibe in them.

The real world is full of jaded people who can’t see beyond what they tell themselves to see. There ought be no room for that for the prestidigitationist, lest he be no different from the hoi poloi that he hopes to uplift through his simple means.. Let the magician be the key to unlocking a sense of wonder in those whom they deal with, and be the advocates for those who wish to dwell, linger, and focus.

Videos Galore...

.:Coincidence With A Cube:.

There are 42,000,000,000,000,000,000 different configurations for a rubik's cube. Simply put, if you can see 1,000 combinations a second, and with only about a few million seconds in a year, it would take you about 30,000 years to see every single combination possible.

With these numbers, it boggles the mind how there can only be one combination to solving a cube. It becomes even more boggling when two people can come up with the exact same combination just by shuffling a cube behind their backs, as if some kind of psionic link between them exists.

This is Coinci-Cube, and you'd be loath to miss it.

And just because I feel like it, I'm embedding it here for you to see it as well...

.:Thanks, Crissey!:.

As I mentioned, I made new friends last Tuesday, as I hung out in Ateneo after class, and one of them is Crissey.

In any case, I did a bit of magic for her and the rest of the people there, and of course, one of the highlights of my routine is the now-infamous Liquid Metal, as done by Morgan Strebler. This is definitely a show-stopper, and I'd have embedded it had I asked permission from Crissey sooner.

In any case, if you want to see this awesome fork bending routine for yourself, feel free to check out the videos HERE, then HERE. Hope you jabronis like it.

And, oh, since you all know I'm not exactly the richest guy alive right now, if you want to book me for a magic show, just get in touch with me over at my e-mail, mistervader@gmail.com. I can do mentalism routines, street magic routines, even children's party routines. All you need do is ask.

Finally! This Blog Is ALIVE!!!

.:Don’t Miss Out On ToyCon ’07, Because…:.

Kel Fabie is more easily recognized as Kel the Mushroom, one half of the Insomaniacs at WAVE 89.1, from Tuesdays to Fridays, 2-6 in the morning. However, he has been slowly building a name for himself in quite a different path.

As a friend to quite a few members of the Philippine Cosplay community, he has been seen hosting last year’s TOEI-nty Group Cosplay competition at Eastwood City, and has been a constant presence in other conventions such as UP’s AME Matsuri, Hero Channel’s Hataw Hanep Hero, and the recently-concluded launch of Mangaholix in SM Mall of Asia, to mention a few.

Lately, however, Kel has been making quite a name for himself as a magician and mentalist, having performed for parties and audiences organized by the likes of Richard Merck, Mapua University, and presidential daughter Luli Arroyo, and his unique and versatile brand of prestidigitation has extended to the Philippine cosplay committee, as he has performed “crash magic” (The term “crash magic” is courtesy of The Story Circle.) for the people on-the-spot, for the entertainment of those watching.

No stooges. No pre-show setup. Obviously, no camera tricks. Kel Fabie’s repertoire will amaze and astound you, and baffle the mind, as he tells you that anything he can do, you can do. All it takes is unlocking a sense of wonder and gaining an insight into the human psyche. From cards to rings to forks, you will be entertained and astounded at what he has to offer, and all you have to do is show up and watch!

This year’s Philippine Toy Convention will be the next venue for Kel’s “crash magic”, as he does walkaround magic for the audiences on Saturday and Sunday, culminating in a rare onstage appearance as he performs his show-stopping effects, topped off by one that must be seen to be believed! Don’t miss out on it, because all you have to do is go to the ToyCon, and you get grade-A mentalism along with the other excellent highlights of the convention, all for the price of entry!

Get ready to unlock your sense of wonder.

For those interested in booking Kel Fabie for shows, get in touch with him via e-mail: mistervader@gmail.com.