New Delhi: For seasoned psychological illusionist Karan Singh whose last name is Magic, the biggest challenge of his 'topsy turvy' professional life is making people understand that earning a living by doing magic is "not an easy task."
"What I do is not very common, especially in India. Getting people to understand that I do magic for a living is not an easy task. But slowly and steadily it is changing. People are more interested in magic now," says Singh. The illusionist says he has performed in over 100 shows across the country including performances with international magicians like Derren Brown and Penn & Teller and had curated 'Jaadunagri' a festival of magic and illusion at the 10 Heads
Festival held last year here.
Singh, 24, who began his professional career at the age of 16, fuses behavioral psychology, sub-conscious suggestion, hypnosis and misdirection to create a unique brand of modern magic that involves mind reading. He calls his new show
'Illusionati'. "The main theory of the show is about 9/11. There are lot of conspiracy theories that the (attack on the World Trade Centre in September 2001 in the US) was an inside job. In my show I question that and the basic things about life and mix that with magic," says the illusionist.
Even though he says that one of the best response he has ever got was in Kozhikode during a performance at IIM-Kozhikode, the national capital holds a special place for the city-based magician. "People have said that Delhi audiences are really bad, but I don't think so. I think they are fantastic. My shows here have been a lot of fun," says Singh who has enthralled the audience here with several shows like 'Venexis', 'Dybukk 13' and 'One Night Stand', among others.
The magician is so "deeply" in love with his profession that doing magic doesn't really feel like work to him. "I love it so much and can't see myself doing any other thing whatsoever. It feels like I just wake up and start doing it. It is so easy when you love what you do," he says.
Singh, who does mind-reading and hypnosis, says he has had strange requests from men asking him to make their wives disappear the moment they discover that he is a magician! "I don't do that kind of magic. I don't make people disappear. When you think of a magician, you think of someone wearing a hat and taking rabbits out of it. I don't do such things. I can be dressed as casually as audience and without any props I do the tricks. In fact my audience is my prop,"
says the illusionist.
Singh describes his experience of working with world renowned magicians like Derren Brown and Penn and Teller as "surreal". A die-hard Derren Brown fan, Singh says he flies to London every year to see Brown perform. Recounting his experience of curating 'Jaadunagri", a festival of magic and illusion at the 10 Heads Festival, he says it was unique because magic festivals in India are
unheard of. "It was a fantastic experience for me to get magicians from all around the country. I made it a point to get professional magicians as well as people who were just starting off. It got a word outside that magic is evolving because none of the magicians there were stereotypical magicians. It was all modern from of magic."
Singh says he always looks for the "ultimate satisfaction" in the next show as he feels it is very sad when a particular show gets over and can't be done again. "It feels like a baby that you have given away," says Singh.
