This post is to introduce magicians and magic fanatics to the abundant historical past of magic in Singapore. It honours the notable achievements, prominence and significance of local magicians from the previous and current.
The commencing of Modern Magic in Singapore
It is the standard consensus that present day magic in Singapore (post Globe War two) started with the late-Ng Bo
Oen AKA The Excellent Wong. Information on nearby magic pre-war is extremely scarce. The only details found has been on The Excellent Wong performing at the New Entire world Amusement Park (then located at Kitchener Road) in the 1930s.
The Fantastic Wong was born in 1908 in Shanton, a metropolis of the Guangdong Province, China and immigrated to Singapore in 1933. He was the only expert magician of his time in Singapore and performed across South East Asia. He was acknowledged for his sharp phase magic, Linking Rings regimen and Sword Basket illusion. He was also an expert craftsman who built all of his props by hand. He had the reward of figuring out the mechanics and methodology of magic props and fabricating them from scratch.
In 1962, The Excellent Wong produced a substantial contribution to the international magic community by publishing his renowned linking rings program with English script written by Tudor Brock. Davenports Magic in London distributes his manuscript to day. In 1982, he was invited by the Federation Internationale des Societes Magiques (FISM) to complete at the 15th Globe Congree of Magic in Lausanne, Switzerland.
(For much more info on The Great Wong refer to ‘The Great Wong Story’ in The Global Brotherhood of Magicians Singapore Ring one hundred fifteen The Quantum Ring Golden Jubilee Problem)
Yet another local magician who was instrumental in increasing contemporary magic in Singapore in the course of the beginning was the late-Tan Hock Chuan. He was a teacher by job but performed for yearly specific events, charity displays and personal get-togethers. He was (and still is) internationally known for his magical inventions. His results and ideas are nonetheless marketed vendor things right now and have been published in many publications (of that time) such as Gen, Spinx, Pentagram, New Pentagram, Swami Mantra, Abracadabra and even Tarbell’s Training course in Magic. He is the very first Asian magician to obtain the Spinx Award (1936-37)
Equally The Excellent Wong and Tan Hock Chuan ended up critical influences to numerous of the first era of Singapore modern day-magicians who have paved the way for potential generations.
nineteen fifties
It was only right after the war and for the duration of the British Army Administration that magic in Singapore started its rise to the place it is today. 1950 was the 12 months that the Singapore Magician’s Club was formed by a team of newbie magicians, comprising of English-educated specialists.
In 1951 the Singapore Magician’s Club gained their constitution from The Worldwide Brotherhood of Magicians HQ in The us and was from then on was officially recognized as The Worldwide Brotherhood of Magicians Singapore Ring one hundred fifteen. Founding customers of the club at that time incorporated Tan Ewe Chee (President), Yeo Soon Kian, Lim Kim Tian, Lim Hap Hin, J.H Stafford, L.A Joseph, J.W Jackson (Vice-President) and Tan Hock Chuan (Secretary).
The 50’s gave delivery to Singapore’s first generation of present day magicians. In addition to the founding associates of the IBM Ring and The Fantastic Wong (who joined the Ring in 1952 by invitation), some prominent initial technology magicians provided Lim Hap Hin, Tan Choon Tee, Tan Bah Chee, Yeo Before long Kian and his scholar Michael Lim.
The Wonderful Wong operated the first magic store from his home cum showroom/ workshop in Singapore at 255-A Jalan Besar in which he bought his personal handcrafted props as effectively as imported seller items from Japan. (This home/ store was ruined in a fireplace in Dec 1988 leading to him to drop most of his guides and props)
1960s
In the course of this interval, magicians like The Fantastic Wong, Tan Bah Chee, Lim Hap Hin and Tan Choon Tee executed magic programs at the Countrywide Theatre Club and the YMCA. They have been responsible for making active magicians this kind of as Charles Choo, Wong Fok Choy, Chia Hearn Jiang, Gwee Thiam Hock and the late-Vijeyacone.
The early 60s also saw the ‘Golden Age’ of magic with magicians doing at different venues throughout the region. Besides regional magicians doing in evening clubs, international magicians this sort of as Socar done a grand illusion demonstrate to a complete home at the Capitol Theatre (together Stamford Road) and The Great Nicholas at the Sky Theater in The Wonderful Entire world Amusement Park at Kim Seng Road (Now, Excellent World City).
In the late 60s, Wee Peng Guan (Uncle of Charles Choo), opened the second magic store in Singapore at a store house together Robinson Road. About that time, well-liked entertainer Victor Khoo’s father Khoo Teng Heng who was a magician, a ventriloquist and hypnotist opened his magic store at Bras Basah. (exactly where Carlton Hotel stands currently).
In the course of this ten years, Tan Choon Tee was making a title for himself in the intercontinental magic group in the discipline of Mentalism. He won many intercontinental Linking Ring Awards for his A single-Guy Parades and has two guides released by Micky Hades. He was also a typical contributor to several global magic magazines these kinds of as Gen, New Pentagram, Magicgram, Magicana and The Linking Ring.
Overseas magicians whom passed via Singapore included Milo & Roger, Milbourne Christopher and Maurice Fogel.
1970s
The seventies noticed the delivery of the 2nd era of Singapore magicians. Some effectively-identified magicians who received began during this time included The Excellent Wong’s son Ng Kee Chee, John Teo, Tang Sai Thong, Ng Seow Kiat, Tang Yeng Fun, Bob Chua, Eric Leong, Tan Teck Seng, Lawrence Tham, Tan Tuan Seng, Lawrence Khong and Andrew Kong.
The Singapore Association of Magicians was established on 10 March 1973 in welcoming ‘rivalry’ to the IBM Ring. psilocybe cubensis was led by Tan Bah Chee with distinguished founding users this kind of as Lim Hap Hin, Tan Hock Chuan and Charles Choo.
Magic shops in Singapore commenced to spring up throughout the late seventies. Ng Kee Chee established up a magic stall at Yaohan in Plaza Singapura and Wang Leng opened his shop in Peninsula Plaza. Charles Choo opened his store in August 1978 on the 6th ground of Far East Purchasing Centre. (It would go several times to numerous malls but eventually returned back to Much East). His store would soon become an establishment in which magicians would buy numerous magic merchandise as effectively as meet up with up and find out from each and every other.
It was a selection haunt for many magicians in the several years to appear till the store shut in the new millennium.
During this time period, The Tropicana Night Club, which was located at Pacific Plaza, was a location that had normal magic performances. A number of famous magicians also visited Singapore in the 70s. In 1970, John Calvert performed at the Countrywide Theatre. In 1972, Albert Goshman visited Ring 115 to give a lecture. In that same year, “The Professor” Dai Vernon also frequented Singapore, lectured and interacted with local magicians. Other visiting magicians provided Andre Kole, Billy McComb, and Ali Bongo.
nineteen eighties
By the 1980s, the neighborhood magic scene was flourishing with healthful memberships for the two primary magic golf equipment as properly as a surge in the amount of carrying out magicians. Several of today’s veterans manufactured their title in the 80s. Common names like Richard Ang, Patrick Wan, Patrick Ng Wang Lin, Tan Hai Yan AKA Gician, Paul Koh, AB Francis and Gordon Koh were doing routinely at general public and personal displays for the duration of this ten years. Popular neighborhood venues for public magic exhibits by magic golf equipment held on a typical basis at that time provided the Drama Centre and the Nationwide Museum Theatrette.
The recognition of magic stores also grew and in 1982, Chew Kin Song opened a Magic & Novelty Corner at the Chinese Guide Segment of Well-liked Book Co Pte Ltd on the 4th Ground of Bras Basah Sophisticated. Gician Tan also opened up his 1st magic store at Parkway Parade which subsequently moved to Marina Square and was managed by Richard Ang. Besides this principal store, he dispersed magic objects and sets via section retailers
in Singapore and South East Asia.The Singapore audience was also exposed to planet-class magic by way of a number of magic television shows and collection that had been aired on regional Television such as the David Copperfield specials, Magic Magic and The Ideal of Magic.
Foreign magicians who visited Singapore for the duration of this time integrated David Copperfield, Mark Wilson, Ben Harris, Paul Daniels and Gene Anderson.
nineteen nineties
The starting of this decade noticed the introduction of the country’s third technology magicians into the nearby magic scene. Notable budding magicians integrated Enrico Varella, Sherman Tjiong, J C Sum, Joe Yu (Chan Ee Kang), Nique Tan Li Keong, Prakash Puru, Kiki Tay, Alex Tan and Jeremy Pei.
The local chapter of Global Magicians Modern society was shaped, established by its President, Tan Bah Chee although the club’s existence in Singapore was quick-lived.
The late-1990s saw a large surge in magic international reputation owing to David Blaine’s avenue magic specials. A lot of folks started to ‘get into’ magic and experienced new mediums to find out the craft such as the introduction of DVDs and the World wide web.
A new magic shop, Magic Castle & Promotions, opened up by Vijay Kumar at Shaw Towers shortly grew to become ‘the spot to be’ in which new magicians would dangle out and satisfy.
Throughout this 10 years, Wang Leng’s shop in Peninsula Plaza was offered to Patrick Wan. The shop was subsequently sold to Richard Ang and is now effectively identified as Ang Home of Magic. Patrick Wan opened his new store, Magic Wand, which has spawned into numerous stores in various components of Singapore. Steven Sim also opened Magic Supreme at Coronation Plaza which has subsequently moved to Park Mall.
The 90s was an exciting 10 years with many visits and performances by well-known magicians. Aside from lectures by Michael & Hannah Ammar, Mark Leveridge and Wolfgang & Sonja Riebe there ended up also general public theatre performances by the Pendragons, Princess Tenko, Andre Kole, Franz Harary, David Copperfield, Rudy Coby and Robert Gallop. Other browsing magicians provided Larry Becker, Tim Ellis, Terry Seabrooke, Phil Cass and Albert Tham.
2000 – Present
Magic has ongoing to flourish at the nearby degree in this ten years. New opportunities and abilities have emerged to elevate the art in Singapore. In Might 2000, J C Sum staged the first ever regional entire-evening theatre demonstrate ‘Magic at the Theatre’ at Victoria Theatre. Just a month afterwards, a lot more than a dozen magicians from the US and Canada arrived down to Singapore as portion of the Magic Pageant arranged by the Malls of Centrepoint. Magicians such as Robert Baxt, Rocco and Peter Gossamer carried out numerous demonstrates at various Centrepoint Malls for in excess of a 7 days.
In 2004, the Singapore Magic Circle (SMC) was developed by Aloysius Yeo and with its on-line discussion board drew a new pool of magic lovers jointly. SMC has because grown to over a thousand associates and frequently organize gatherings, activities as properly as the latest Principle:Magic Micro MAGIC Conference in January 2007.
By means of a large-scale theatre magic musical ‘Magic of Love’, Lawrence Khong, a pastor with Faith Community Baptist Church and his daughter Pricilla, distribute the gospel concept.
The multi-million dollar production has been staged numerous moments in excess of the years across the world to unfold the phrase of Christ. Subsequently, the very same group organized two International Competition of Magic conventions in 2003 & 2005. The first of its kind huge magic occasions provided competitions, lectures, a dealers’ area and performances. Intercontinental performers this kind of as Jeff McBride, Max Maven, Johnny Thomspon, The Pendragons, Lee Eun Gyeol and Tommy Question ended up booked to carry out at the gala demonstrates and lectures.
In modern a long time, J C Sum has turn into arguably the most distinguished Singapore magician of this technology. His magic has been seen by tens of millions through his live performances throughout Asia as properly as his landmark mass media assignments on MediaCorp Studio’s Ch 8 as effectively as subsequent ‘Street Illusions’ compilation DVD/ VCD.
His 24-episode ‘Magic in Motion’ sequence can currently be observed every day on Singapore Press Holdings MediaBoxOffice through 2007. In the international magic community, J C has also recognized himself as an elite illusion designer from Asia with the publication of his three critically acclaimed illusion books that have been offered in far more than 30 nations around the world to date.
An additional gifted award-profitable magician, Jeremy Pei, is increasing the profile of Singapore magic within the regional magic neighborhood with his theatre demonstrates, organized lectures, workshops and energetic participation in magic conventions & competitions in Japan, Korea, China, Thailand and Australia. His distinctive North-Asian affect design of magic functionality has garnered him a subsequent with new budding magicians whom he teaches and guides. He has also released numerous first magic merchandise which are available to magicians around the world.
In another initial, award-successful junior magician, Kyle Ravin secured a 13-episode weekly Street Magic collection, “Maya” on MediaCorp Studios’ Vasantham Central. This 30min collection noticed him perform magic for the Indian group and celebs across the nation.
This 10 years has seen the introduction of even more magic stores and sellers operate by young magicians to meet up with the need of magic enthusiasts and magicians. These consist of new ‘brick & mortar’ magic stores these kinds of as Avenue Magic by Tan Wei Ping, Challenging Business by Jimmy Wong, The Magic Corridor by Kenneth Peh as well as on-line outlets like The Tiny Magic Store by Ning.