IBM Singapore Ring 115’s May meeting was held on Thursday, 15th May 2025, in Function Room 2, Level 3, of the National Library building. Ian Tan was the host. It was attended by 37 members and 24 guests. The evening had 2 themes: presentations by the Phoenix Project Team and expert talks on how to perform magic in restaurants. As usual, it ended with a lucky draw.
Ian welcomed all the guests with special thanks to the students of the Phoenix Project Team with their leader Luke Tan and mentor Shade Soo, and the students from the Republic Poly with their leader Dr Loke Han Ying.
Luke Tan announced the Phoenix Project’s Gala Magic show on 24th May 2025 at the SingPost Auditorium. This initiative is part of the MOE Uplift project. Complementary tickets were offered to all IBM members. Those present were invited to tell Luke or go to their website to register. He then introduced the performing team, namely Jerrad, Zenn, Xuande and Erica. He also urged the members to give feedback on the performances.
Jerrad Ng started by having the audience shuffle a deck of cards and select one. The chosen card was predicted in advance by Jerrad.
Zenn Ong asked a volunteer to think of a 6-letter word, got the first letter of the word (C) written on a card. Spectacularly, he revealed his prediction to match the chosen word was CANDLE. In the feedback he was advised to think of making his revelation more dramatic by destroying the envelopes.
Xuande Tan awed the audience with his 3 Card Monte routine using giant-sized cards. His message was to not gamble with him OR lose.
Erica Seah cut and restored a newspaper with an interesting patter. She went to great lengths of time and strength to tear the sheets to very small pieces that looked messy but the result was flashy and a crisp restoration.
John Teo shared his personal emotional experience of a gig he did for the M1 event. This was to entertain underprivileged children. He was moved by the reaction of an unwell child whose mother said that John’s magic had brought a smile to the child’s face after a long time. John reinforced what Project Phoenix was all about – the power of magic to make a positive difference in people’s lives.
The first expert talk was by Tommy Kian. Smartly dressed in a 3-piece suit, he shared insights on many issues relating to restaurant magic, such as how to approach a table, how to recover from a mistake, and how to solicit good tips from the diners. Tommy reiterated the importance of including tricks for children. He proceeded to demonstrate the die in box effect, the sponge balls routine, and the double cross trick.
Next, Sng Ming Da, also smartly dressed, was introduced as a high-level restaurant performer who also performed at the famous Magic Castle in Hollywood, USA. Ming Da explained how he surveyed the restaurant for layout and the diners, the importance of including a signature effect, how to make his tricks modular, and how to personalise an effect for the VIPs. He ended with an effect where a chosen and signed card ended in his mouth, clenched in his teeth.
Ian Tan carried on with the restaurant theme. Smartly dressed, he shared on ways to announce his attendance, how to perform tricks fully surrounded, how to pose for photographs and how to achieve those special photo moments. Ian then showed a sample of his restaurant magic: his mini Chinese linking rings routine, hopping halves coin effect, and a card trick.
Harapan Ong took over the floor to announce that the Spanish magician, Rubi Ferez would be in Singapore on 24th May 2025. A show, a workshop and a lecture are planned. Tickets are now on sale.
Ng Kah King told us about the afternoon jam session held on 14th May 2025. It was well attended and appreciated. More jamming sessions are planned. One will be held in the evening for working members to join.
5 lucky draws were conducted before closing the formal evening at 10:30pm. However, networking and exchange of tricks carried on vigorously long after the formal closure.
Reported by
Kogi
