SHEER MAGIC

There are those who can impress with a flourish of the magic wand. There are those who can impress with sheer skill in their hands. Chennaibest.com spoke to magician and shadow-play artiste T K Vadivelu, who brings to each show an irresistible combination of both.

Background...

I was born and brought up in Chennai. Ours was the first batch that passed out of Sishya. While doing my Literature at Loyola College, I began to see Art more as a passion and less as a hobby. After I finished college, I held a one-man Painting Exhibition at Sakshi gallery and a one-man Photography Exhibition at Lalit Kala Academy. Even as I pursued my passion in Painting and Photography, there was always the spell of Magic that was cast on me since childhood.

Currently, I specialise in Magic Shows in a stage setting, Close-up magic and Shadow-Play with my hands. The Magic Shows could be for Corporate events, Product launches, Family meets, Employee meets, annual get-togethers..any get-together in a banquet setting, where I provide a 30 minute to 45 minute entertainment component. The Companies that I have done shows for include Ford, Lanson Toyota, Hyundai, TVS, Bank of America and Bank of Tokyo. Then there's Close-up magic; more one-to-one, where for instance, I approach a group sitting around a table and perform through interacting with the guests seated there. Finally, there's Hand Shadow theatre, where I use my fingers to bring to life personalities, animals and things that are tied together with studio-recorded music and a narration of the story.

The art of Hand-Shadow play started right from the days of the cavemen. Bonfires served our ancestors for cooking food, keeping warm and keeping wild animals away. In the night, these bonfires threw shadows on cave walls and barks of trees. Initially, these shadows were thought of as evil and demonic, but with time our ancestors began to play and manipulate these shadows for amusement. Today, this art has been finetuned and polished to the level of digital dexterity.

Preparation involves warming up. Just as one would warm up the body for Cricket, the fingers need stretching out and warming up to get circulation flowing freely.

The limitation is that you cannot produce multiple shadows if you are one Shadow-grapher. At the most you could show two rabbits or two people meeting. Having a variety of things happening simultaneously is limited. But I don't see this as a drawback. In fact, when the profile of a Brahmin priest changes in a split second to that of a Muslim doing his namaz, there's greater impact in that. (There's also the underlying message that all human beings are the same).

Shadow Theatre is very challenging because you don't have colour, you don't have three-dimensional forms. You have to create maximum impact on that flat screen.

My sources of inspiration have come mostly outside this art form; from Painting, Photography, Poetry... from just being attentive to whats happening in the world and exaggerating it a bit.

In the field of Hand-Shadow theatre, my role model is Prasanna Rao of Calcutta. In the realm of magic, P K Ilango, K Bhagyanath and Felix D'Silva have been instrumental in my learning. Of course, I continue to learn from every person I meet. When it comes to the ultimate in magic, there's David Copperfield. He's the best.

The show for Lanson Toyota, at the Le Royal Meridien. Customers were very happy. And that made the Company happy as well.

Its not very popular in India; the reason being, it is very difficult. There is excruciating pain when you start off, beacuse your fingers have to be bent out of shape to bring images to shape. Most people drop out in the initial stages.

I have so far explored Magic as it is commonly understood and the Magic of Shadows. What I intend exploring in the future is the Magic of the mind. I am qualified in NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming). Since the mind is programmable, we are all running on programs. Some programs are destructive and NLP works at re-programming constructively.

Magic allows greater flexibility. But for Shadow-Play with hands, developing one routine takes around ten to twleve years. It is not very easy to change. That is why the magic component of my show brings in more changes than the Shadow-Play with hands. Even in Shadow Play, I am working on incorporating more audience participation. For instance, I might invite one of the audience to come forward and while he stands between the projector and the screen, I could then replicate his profile with my hands. Or better still, I could try and add elements to his profile; a trunk, or a cigarrette in his mouth, or sunglasses for instance.

With everybody exposed to this clutter of hi-tech effects, the art of Shadow-play creates what I call a 'Pattern-Interrupt'. It brings the viewer down to the very basic level of graphic portrayal. And its a fast-paced, humourous way of shocking people into a state of astonishment.

Magic is the art of astonishment; the only form of art that evokes amazement in the audience. And it gives you a real good 'high', if you can create this astonishment in somebody else. You will carry that experience with you forever. That is what the Madras Magic Centre aims at giving - an opportunity to amaze others. We have Weekend Workshops for just about anybody interested in magic. The sessions are not theory-oriented, but give participants the opportunity to learn and perform. The Centre also sells Magic Effects in the form of Kits. These are self-working tricks for those who do not have the time to learn Magic or for Children.

Let me explain this with the example of the United States. They have the maximum number of Magic Shops and Video Cassettes teaching Magic. At least 2 shops can be found in any of their large Shopping malls. And yet, the United States has the most number of professional Magicians in the world. In India there's been a lot of secrecy, as in traditional medicine or even Yoga. Each generation had to reinvent the wheel. Probably because the gurus were intimidated by the idea of competition. Today, with so many techniques in Magic, there is no problem if the other Magician knows some technioques. In fact, sharing knowledge will only help all of us learn more.

Address: Madras Magic Centre, 33, Landons Road, Kilpauk, Chennai - 600 010.
Phone: 641 2835
Mobile: 98400 41587

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