Inside Magic

Magician Anuj Kumar Das

The Calcutta Telegraph reports this morning Illusionist Anuj Kumar Das is forming a brand-new school called the Academy of Magical Arts in Durgasarovar, in Guwahati, India.

Aside from using the very same name as the prestigious group of magicians who run Hollywood’s Magic Castle, the new school will be firmly based in India’s rich magical history.

The Telegraph article kicks off with “Legend has it that Pragjyotishpur was the land of magic, producing sorcerers who could turn humans into creepy, crawly beings. The myths about magic have long been busted, but one magician is trying to ensure that the show goes on.”

Who knew? We must be behind the times. We still close all of our birthday party shows with the tried-and-true “Human to Creepy, Crawly Beings” routine we bought at one of the famous Colon Yard Sales at the 1967 Abbott’s Get-Together.

Speaking of things Abbott-related, Academy advisor and former Benaras University lecturer Amal Dutta said the region was known as the land of the occult in ancient times and it was necessary to keep the tradition of magic alive. Magic was patronized as an art form throughout the reign of Ahom monarch Rajeswar Singha (1751 to 1769), but the tradition almost vanished with the passage of time. “We hope the academy will be able to revive the art form,” Professor Dutta said.

Magician Das wants to make sure his students and the community understand magic on stage is pure science and “should not be confused with black magic. The basic objective of the academy is to bring magic to an academic setting and prove that it is an art form worthy of recognition. I want to make people realize the depth of magic, its place in our lives and its connections with philosophy, psychology, religion, theatre, arts and other disciplines.”

Mr. Das is a graduate in English Literature and began working in our wonderful art in 1994 under the tutelage of former IBM President Edward Arthur Morris and Ted Winkle of The Netherlands. In 2004, Mr. Das picked up the well-deserved Maya Mayam Award at the National Magic Convention for his article on Magic and Its Presentation.

The Academy will accept students from 12 to 120 years of age. We’ll keep you up-to-date as the school forms. Congratulations to Mr. Das and his associates.

Continue reading New Magic Academy to Open

Megan Johnson – She Writes Good!

New Zealand’s very own The Thread Magazine is touted as The Fashion-Culture Journal for those who know why it’s important to be in the know and be known.

Megan Johnson is a regular contributor to the magazine and on-line version. She is also one of our favorite reads as we trip lightly across the URLs. She is a clothing designer with a great writing style. Ms. Johnson studied Business Management and Japanese at Waikato University, and pattern making in Auckland.

We’ve enjoyed her writing including “The Dumbing Down By the Fashion Media” (in which she suggests, and we agree, critics should treat fashion no differently than architecture or food).

Her title tells all: “The year?s most bizarre event outside of the war; David Blaine.”

Ever fancied locking locking yourself in a glass box from a crane for 44 days by Tower Bridge? No, me either, but clearly young Mr. Blaine thought it was a good idea at the time. In a move well clear of his usually illusion-based tricks, the well-publicized stunt was to test his endurance. And, presumably, London?s patience.

She notes that no matter what you think of the man, the magician, and his stunt, you have to agree he is really rich.

And virtually nothing else.

Ms. Johnson writes:

It was like a Big Brother show but without the sex, showers and trials for food; just an absence of knowledge about the world outside him at war, obsessed with Bush and Saddam and day-to-day life.

I guess he must have a clearer perspective on what?s important to himself, and a lot of time to think- always scribbling in those journals and watching his glam blonde girlfriend below. I actually expected him to propose to her when he came down, but he went by ambulance to hospital and then had fish and chips at the canteen there against his doctor?s approval.

Continue reading Megan Johnson Crowns Blaine as King of the Bizarre