We wrote about this amazing duo a couple of weeks ago.  The article previewed their upcoming appearance on Asia Uncut.   It was impressive.  We don’t get the network on which J C Sum and “Magic Babe” Ning  appeared here in Mystic Hollow – even with our hacked-up satellite antennae.

We do, however, get YouTube.com and were able to see the Asia Uncut show in high definition.

Ning does one heck of a great straight-jacket escape — very clever and entertaining.

Well, the magic couple have returned with a new event to promote.

On June 27, 2009, J C Sum and  “Magic Babe” Ning will attempt “The Impossible Record.”

What is “The Impossible Record,” you ask.

We will let J C Sum explain:

Set to a countdown timer in front of an expected audience of 5000 people, Ning & I will attempt to perform a world record-setting 15 grand illusions in 5 minutes.

Grand illusions are defined as large-scale stage magic acts that involve physicality and usually utilize, but not limited to, large props. Sleight of hand acts, card tricks, magic with birds or handkerchiefs do not constitute as grand illusion.

The record attempt will be adjudicated by the Singapore Book of Records and the International Brotherhood of Magicians. The record is the first ever magic record of any kind to be adjudicated by the Singapore Book of Records and is also being submitted to Guinness World Records.

For this mega event, we will be making ourselves appear, vanish, teleport, exchange places, dissect their bodies, pass through solid objects, making a motorcycle appear, and much more in this physically and mentally challenging feat of attempting 15 grand illusions in 5 minutes.

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She is just 17-years-old but has powers to bring life to inanimate objects.

In an article titled “The Girl with Magic Fingers,” Aarthi Mangala JM is profiled on The New Indian Express today.

“A small figurine of a boy, legs and arms stick-thin and spread out, rest in peace in magician Aarthi Mangala JM’s humid hands.  She gently whooshes twice over them and the figure, as if life is induced into it, rises slowly.”

Like most magicians in India, the young magician is quick to point out her work is based on science and not black magic.

“Science is definitely the basis for all magic,” she told the paper.  Her power is not maayajalam, an integral part of religion, but applied science.

We cannot disagree with her belief that “‘magic is not about tricking people. It’s about entertaining them with the wonders of science. ‘And it’s not just that also. Everything needs a purpose. My tricks are worth the time spent on it only if there is a theme or message that they convey.’”

And take it from us — or don’t — she is good!

If you don’t trust our judgment — and that is usually a smart move — you can see for yourself by checking out the YouTube video of a recent show. It really is very good.

Aarthi is proud of her involvement with magic so far. But how did she get hooked?  At five, she needed to present something, anything, for a school cultural event and was frustrated.  Her father hooked her up with a magician friend, she learned a few effects, performed them, received applause and adulation, and voila.

“The applause I got was infectious. That still drives me to learn more, and I have worked under over a dozen magicians across the country,”  she said. It is clear from the videos that she loves the audience and the feeling is apparently mutual. We are sure she’ll be a big name in magic very soon.

She has been a darling of the media for a while.  If we are not mistaken, there was a very nice article in The Hindu from her younger days — back in 2005.

In fact, way back in the heyday of Inside Magic, we noted that the then very young Aarthi Mangala received The National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement for 2003 in the field of magic.

Eventually, Aarthi would like to use her magic skills to help healing in a very real sense.

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The International Magicians Society (“IMS”) named Turkish magician, screenwriter and professor, Kubilay “QB” Tunçer their 2009 Merlin Award winner.

This is hot news. How hot? We learned about it from the on-line outlet for Hurriyet Daily News of Istanbul but found no other outlets carrying the story, yet.

The IMS has not yet updated their web site to announce the 2009 Merlin winner.

Mr. Tunçer is a man of many skills. In addition to his award-winning magic, he writes critically acclaimed plays, television scripts, and films. If that is not enough, he is an accomplished actor and starred with the beautiful Lale Mansur in the 2002 play Ordinary Miracles during its run in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. But wait, there’s more. He is also a professor at the prestigious Bilgi University in Istanbul; plus, consults with major corporations like Hyundai and Pfizer. He vanished a new vehicle for the former and used his magic ingenuity to launch the latter’s new drug.

We hear that he may actually sleep in 2010.

You can visit his web site at http://www.kubilayTunçer .com. It is in Turkish but you can see a translated version here.

Mr. Tunçer’s world tour took him through the States last year. He performed with Jeff McBride in Magical Wonderground in Vegas in October 2008. According to the Hurriyet Daily News, he was the first Turkish magician to appear in Las Vegas.

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