Why did you take up magic? “For girls, obviously,” laughs Mike Chan, owner of M-Magic Entertainment. But he is only referring to his partner Danny Ng, who started playing with magic as an amateur when he was 13. Humorous, frank and straightforward, Mike is obviously someone who belongs on stage. “I used to grumble about people not appreciating magic, and so I started my own production company and offered courses to people,” says the magician cum businessman, who began his career in the tricks trade in 2000.

M-Magic’s clients now include major TV stations and listed companies, and Mike admits when he turned to magic, he had to treat it as business – a show business. He has seen young magicians with really amazing skills, but audiences just fell asleep during their performances. “They are too obsessed with skill and neglect the audience. They play to themselves and are satisfied when the trick is done.” But when a magician goes on stage, showmanship is what counts. “I can be bored by doing the same trick over and over again, but still I pretend to be excited every time I perform it,” he says.

The showman compares himself to David Copperfield – neither had a penny in their pockets at the beginning. “Well, he has a lot now but I am still broke,” he jokes. “I admire Copperfield not because of his trickery. The more I learn about magic, the easier I see how the illusion is done.” It’s Copperfield’s masterful presentation of the show that inspires Chan – and his path to success. “Copperfield knows how to promote himself. He didn’t haggle over money when he was still a nobody, because he knew he could ask to be reasonably paid when he got famous.”

However, not everyone is a stage performer. While stage magic, usually played in an auditorium with elaborate and large props, might be more entertaining to an audience, close-up magic involving everyday items like coins and poker cards is actually more difficult as it is performed under the noses of the audience.

Steven, co-founder of Magic East, a magic shop that also offers courses and performances, treats it as an art. “You can create some usual magic but combine it with music, props and your own presentation and it becomes a fantasy for the audience,” he says as he deftly shuffles cards. “But it is art with secrecy. There are still twists which amaze people.”
And so he is not happy about some of the magic culture in Hong Kong. Now magic products are easily found on the street, and discussion forums and web sites bloom on the internet: part of the community no longer thinks it necessary to keep the secrets. But what he is most upset about is attitudes in the profession. “Sometimes people come to my shop just to show off. They want to show how good they are, instead of exchanging tips and skills.” Steven started his business in May 2005 and quickly discovered that in Hong Kong people like unveiling the secret so much they forget the joy of experiencing the illusion.

And Mike Chan agrees. Although he says, “People know it is fake, but they enjoy the show as entertainment,” he recalls a show at the Aberdeen Marina Club, where a group from the audience suddenly rushed onto the stage and spoiled the show. It was duly cancelled – but such situations are not unfamiliar. “People are more happy when they destroy your show,” Chan says, casually.

However, while some folks seek their 15 minutes of stardom with on-stage magic, others use the illusionary art for different purposes. Set up in the summer of 1998, The Fellowship of Christian Magicians uses magic to spread the word. TK Goh, visiting scholar at HKUST and member of the fellowship, explains why it works: “You tell me, I forget. You show me, I remember. You get me involved, I understand.” The gospel magician believes through performance people become interested and by getting involved, they remember and understand his message better.

Common illusions can be classified into 19 categories, including vanishing (making a coin or, more typically, a dove disappear), production (pulling a rabbit out of a hat) and restoration (tearing a banknote apart, and restoring it with a rub). Goh, for example, uses vanishing and reappearance tricks as a metaphor for the Resurrection.

And magic can be used for healing. Physical contact with an audience is common in displays of magic, and when Harry Wong collaborated with the Families of SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy) Charitable Trust in 2001, he used some magical contact to heal. While many patients, especially adults, become bored with the usual physiotherapy routines, Harry makes the exercises extraordinary. “Say I give them a rubber band and teach them some tricks with it, it will uplift them and make them think the therapy isn’t that bad after all,” the conjurer says.

And through the physical contact, he communicates with the sufferers directly and effectively. He recalls a time when he was helping a female client suffering with depression. “We were watching television, laughing. Then suddenly she just went down in the dumps.” He immediately pulled out his cards, performed a trick and asked her to work through the twist. “It was like an injection… like I had empowered her and she became superwoman at that moment.”

Just a single little moment can change everything. To Harry, the illusion of magic makes it the most authentic thing on earth. “Politicians lie, publicists lie, even what you read in the paper may not be true. But when I say, ‘Let me play you a trick,’ it is definitely not a lie. I am not cheating you for money, it is for fun.”

He believes through magic one can escape reality, just for a short while. “Life is sometimes too much reality. By magic, I can give people the illusion and that’s when they can strike a balance in life.”