“He was flying in the air!
Smile on his face, no despair!
Then he cut her in half! Not tragic!
Just your regular town fair magic!”
Did you know that one of the greatest acts of magic was to make the Statue of Liberty disappear on live TV!?
read on!
In our schools magic shows was the old uncle with great dressing sense! It was great because very rarely out of our army parties have we seen uncles with a coat!
Our KV teachers were usually very modestly dressed and coat was never a choice! The only exception was our English sir in 11th and 12th who used to come wearing a coat even in peak summer!
Exceptions are never examples so to see someone in a coat was really unique!
These magicians would perform cool tricks like cutting a person in half or making the bottle of milk disappear or the amazing card tricks!
We used to be amazed at their talents and it was magical! At the end of the show they would most definitely sell us a box or bag of magic tricks set! These would have those trick cards and some other stuffs like the trick glass with the milk or water which could be poured only one side or had holes on the side to control!
Some kits also had false fingers and some cards with strings attached!
The kits used to come with instructions and some were easy! Most of them were not! The kits also were of two types; basic with some simple tricks and advanced with more tricks and complicated instructions!
The coming days after the show, kids would be showing each other tricks which they practised! Some would do it really well while some others would fail miserably!
They magicians would have also given address and phone numbers for aspiring magicians and some would have actually joined for a couple of months!
But I have always been marvelled by the elaborate showmanship and those fit people who were part of the show!
Once I remember a famous show in which a well known magician finally revealed how many of the famous magic tricks were done! It was a big revelation at the time and once you know how it is done then the whole thrill is gone! I am sure even if you know the trick the whole charade takes lots of practice and skill.
Now coming to the greatest act! This was by the world most famous Magician David Copperfield. His best known illusion was making the Statue of Liberty disappear (and then reappear!). During a live TV event in April 1983, the illusion features an audience sitting on Liberty Island, facing the Statue of Liberty. After Copperfield raises a sheet to obscure the statue, the statue appears to be gone. To prove to the audience that the statue isn’t there, a helicopter flies above and searchlights move through the space. Copperfield remarked that the point of the illusion was to emphasize the importance of freedom and “how precious liberty is and how easily it can be lost. I can show with magic how we take our freedom for granted.”!
After the magic show when I used to go home and tell my mother about the acts, she would dismiss it instantly! Saying, “The best magician in the whole world is PC SORKAR and no one else!”
PC Sorkar and his son; Junior Sorcar, were legendary magicians and probably one of the most famous magicians in the country! At the peak of the popularity of magic in the country was also when Amitabh Bachan movies like Toofan and Jadugar came! Both these movies had Amitabh playing a magician. I was told that both the movies bombed! So I am guessing magic as a profession was not that lucrative at that time! And of course PC was a well known magician! Which reminds me of this famous quote by Jack Sparrow when told by a captain that he was the worst pirate he had ever heard! To this John Christopher Depp as Jack Sparrow in his style says, “Yes, but you have HEARD about me!”
Another sketch of my Son’s choice!
Now close your eyes and magically transform yourself to the dream world!
Shubh Ratri!
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