In screenwriting there is a narrative structure sometimes called “the traveller” or “the journey”. What it means is that we follow a person who undergoes a journey of discovery (into a new country, sub-culture etc) and we see and experience things and events through his/her perspective.

This is what Neil Humphreys has done in Notes “From An Even Smaller Island” (hereafter referred to as “Notes”). An Englishman from the working class suburb of Dagenham in East London, he first came to Singapore in 1996 and worked as a speech/drama teacher and a sports journalist. Unlike most expats, though, he stayed in Toa Payoh and has mixed and socialized with mostly HDB heartlanders.

“Notes” is Humphreys’ love letter to Singapore. First published in 2001, it caused a bit of a stir and topped the bestseller list. It is part memoir of his stay in the Little Red Dot – he recounts going to watch “Army Daze: The Movie”; gets lost while trekking at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve; and how aghast he was when a drunken Aussie tries to chat up his girlfriend (in front of him).

“Notes” is also part cultural observation and examination of Singapore. Humphreys examines many facets of Singapore life and behaviour that we regard as normal or not given much thought – eccentric uncles and aunties wandering the corridors of HDB estates; supporting local football; how overworked Singaporean students are; and materialism in Singapore culture. There is also the de rigueur nod to hawker food, criticizing the absolutely stifling humidity, his struggles with Singlish, and encounters with strange taxi drivers.

The book is at its best when he writes honestly about his opinions and what he sees (the good and the bad). The man has good insights. But admittedly, he has to walk a fine line. Humphreys is well aware of cultural sensitivities and wants to be diplomatic. When he criticizes an aspect of Singapore culture (a lot of his observations are still valid), He makes sure to contrast his experience with what he would likely encounter back in England. He clearly loved his time in Singapore and makes sure the reader is well aware that his criticism comes from a place of affection and respect.

Some of the references and jokes are outdated, but this is to be expected as it was published almost 15 years ago. He peppers his writing with expletives, which will amuse some people and irritate others. He goes for the “Cockney cheeky chappie” tone and mixes in a lot of British self-deprecating humour. Overall, Humphreys writes in a fast paced, lively and witty style and “Notes” is an easy, fun read.

  Yay hey! NingThing is finally up and running… Thank you so much for stopping by my new website, pretty much a revamped fusion of both my Magic Babe Ning website and …

This is one rare cookbook which really transports one back in time. The recipes in the cookbook are amassed from 42 of Philippines’ food personalities from cooking show hosts to restaurateurs, bakers and chefs. Every recipe is accompanied by a beautiful photo of the dish and a lovely story of how the recipe was passed down from generation to generation, resulting in dishes full of heritage and full bodied flavour with improvements made to the recipes over the passing of generations and time. I loved reading the nostalgic family stories on the history and unique charm of each dish, on how meals were like in the past and how things have changed over the generations.

With recipes dating back to the 1940s, this cookbook is a treasure trove of precious recipes held dear by Filipino families through several generations. We had Filipino domestic helpers our entire lives so we are very familiar with Filipino cuisine and very much enjoy traditional Filipino dishes. This cookbook is, as you can imagine, a beautiful and meaningful gift for anyone who appreciates Filipino cuisine. With the touching and nostalgic stories accompanying the recipes of classic favourite Filipino dishes like adobo, chicken afritada and kinilaw, clear and concise step by step instructions and beautiful food pictures accompanying every recipe, this cookbook is a delight for the senses. I can practically smell and imagine scenes straight out from the 1940s just by reading the little stories behind the dishes.

My Filipino domestic helper has been very happy with this delightful cookbook. With more than 50 precious family recipes of traditional Filipino dishes and our common love for Filipino cuisine to explore, we have been having a lot of Filipino dishes alongside our traditional Chinese dishes at meals and I am chuffed to say the two cuisines actually go really well together! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who has an appreciation for Filipino cuisine or to anyone who would like to explore Filipino cuisine. While cookbooks celebrating a country’s traditional dishes are dime a dozen, it’s certainly not commonplace to find a cookbook put together by so many celebrated food personalities that is this rich in heritage and nostalgia!

When you’ve read my interview with the vivacious Celine Chan, owner/ spa manager of the multi-award winning My Cozy Room Boutique Spa, you’d know what a phenomenal woman this passionate Singaporean entrepreneur is. They’ve very kindly …

The first of the on-going “At the Table” series by Murphy’s Magic, Michael Ammar’s live lecture is available as a solid 2 hour download that is generously packed with modern day magic miracles, appealing to magicians from all walks of life.

Hosted by another magic heavyweight, Joshua Jay, the professionally produced video was recorded with multi-cameras for various camera angles, and filmed before a live studio audience. A nice touch was that people tuning in ‘live’ could ask Ammar some realtime questions too. Magicians from all over the world – Japan, South Africa, America, etc. – had all sorts of questions for the master magician, who patiently and good-naturedly answered them all. It was wonderful getting a nugget of understanding and insight into Ammar’s thinking about magic, work smarts and ethics.

Unless you’re a magician who has been living under a rock, we would all agree that Ammar is well-loved and respected for his work. In fact, one of my very first magic videos was Ammar’s “Ice Breakers” from a long time ago, and back then I’d already enjoyed his personable easygoing style and his clear instruction in magic. Ammar’s classic “pencil behind ear” trick in there was my favorite go to for kids because it gets them every time.

In this lecture, Ammar candidly shares about the magic he performed during his recent guest appearance on David Letterman’s popular TV talk show. Some magician favorites like Ammar’s cute but freaky “Little Hand” effect, his famed topit work and more are taught, alongside footage from the TV spot.

One of my favorite parts of the teach-in was Ammar’s tutorial for his visual “Silk Thru Coffee Mug” routine (similar to his “silk through microphone” effect in his “Easy to Master Thread Miracles” DVD). Ammar shows the special something you will need to make the magic happen, and also suggests a much cheaper alternative you can buy instead… albeit the cheeky fact that it would need to come along with a loud cough from you to mask the loud tell-tale squeak during performance.

A good amount of time was also given to Ammar’s legendary handling of “Crazyman’s Handcuffs”; proving hands down that he is still the master of this visual magic classic. Besides rubber bands, the lecture also had Ammar teach a variety of close-up magic using common everyday objects like money, credit cards, mobile phones, besides playing cards (really enjoyed his side steal teach-in) and more, which makes up a pretty wide repertoire.

If you’re a magician who is new, or not yet familiar with Ammar’s solid body of work; this lecture would be a good first video as a sampler of what he can offer. Those of us who are already quite familiar with Ammar’s decades-long legacy, would find only a few brand new effects shared here. However, I do think the price of the video is already worth Ammar’s critical sharing of magic theory, personal life experiences and philosophy gleaned over the years in his amazing magic journey.

In summary, this lecture download has something for everybody and it was a delight to see how Ammar has evolved as an artist over the years. It is clear from this live session as well, that Ammar still has the magic. Highly passionate about the art and extremely driven; he is a shining beacon of inspiration to the rest of us. And oh man, Ammar’s bubbly little laugh is highly infectious.

Rating: 7/10

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For more information about “At the Table” live lecture series, held every Wednesday at 4pm PST, please visit http://www.murphysmagic.com/atthetable/

SPECIAL: To experience the first 20 minutes of any live lecture for free, please check out http://www.murphysmagic.com/free20/

I first met award-winning Kiwi magician, Paul Romhany, back in 2011 when he was working cruise ships and brought his artistic Charlie Chaplin magic act to Asia. This was just some months prior to him starting VANISH magazine.

Hanging out with him, his lovely wife Natalie and their beautiful baby over brunch, Romhany struck me as the real deal; an authentic gentleman who was a doting husband and family man, and a true worker of magic with very solid magic theory who was not afraid to share his knowledge and passion.

Having purchased the previous releases of Ran Pink over the years, I am familiar with his work, and have worked his various approaches to the centre tear in much of my professional shows. He is a great thinker.

I was pleasantly surprised with this release. P’ink is a utility that will allow you to have predictions change, visually if you so wish. There is just so much potential with it and it will allow you to create really organic, amazing animations on paper. I am really unsure how much I can reveal about this, but I think it is safe to say that it is a gimmicked pen, and if the Frixtion Pen was on one end of a rainbow, P’ink would be on the other end.

It comes with a link to an online instructional video, on which there are just so many ideas and applications that are possible. In one effect called Reburn, you strike a match and blow it out. You place the used match in a spectator’s hand and have them make a fist around it. After your magic moment, you have them open their hand to reveal that it has miraculously become a fresh match again, and you strike it to prove it.

One of my favourites is Flea Circus, which is performed with a business card. Little dots, or fleas, are seen to visually and gradually jump from one end of a business card to the other. The spectator gets to keep the card as well.

There are also more subtle applications, which probably suit me a little more, involving more mentalism type of presentations. In How to Read, you apparently cause a spectator’s to lose their ability to read. With P’ink, you are also able to predict the outcome of a string of coin tosses with the prediction in full view at all times.

As cliché as it sounds, the applications are truly only limited by your imagination. Just playing with it for a bit will fire up some ideas of your own, which is nice; few products out there are able to naturally encourage you to be creative like this.

Do watch the instructional video in its entirety before your play with the pen though. If you are not careful, you might mess up the nib of the pen and it will take some work to get it working properly again. Also, do experiment with different surfaces on which you intend to perform with. Some do work better than others – for example, I do not recommend plain white pieces of paper on which to prepare P’ink. You should be rather safe, as depending on what you are using the pen for, you can prepare the items in advance and ensure that they work perfectly before heading out there to bring it for a spin.

One pen should enable you to create many gimmicks to perform with and with proper care, it should last you for quite a long time.

Bio

Gregory Wilson is an American magician and a two-time FISM award winner who specializes in close-up magic.He is a regular performer at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, as well as large corporate events all over the world. He is professionally represented by Secret Source Entertainment, Inc. Gregory is also one of the resident “Wizards” on Wizard Wars with Penn & Teller

Product

This is a comprehensive 3 Hr. video /Lecture on impromptu magic with everyday objects, playing card but more importantly a lot of stress on performance strategy and misdirection techniques. Greg is one of my favorite magicians and i admire him more after seeing this lecture as he doesn’t shy away from his mistakes and shows the recordings where he is self critical and gives ideas what should have been done on approach and routining. Those are Big Lessons. This is the final segment and worth every $ you will invest on this Lecture

Effects

The lecture takes you through some of Greg’s signature effects and also teaches magic with impromptu objects that can be used in everyday situations.

There are more than 10 stunning effects and many of these i am sure you have seen people perform. What i personally liked is the way the effects have evolved for Greg. How he shares his experiences and makes the handling easier and approach each of these from the spectators psyche.

Bottle Production from paper Bag- Watch the explanation. Its clear,improvised and uses no gimmicks and personally something i perform too. It gets the wildest reactions. In this case he produces a champagne bottle and his handling is a slower reveal which makes it much more mystical.
Star Bucks: Greg uses the Star Bucks Coffee takeaway Cup and paper heat safe to perform some great transformations. He demonstrated with sugar sachets that change color while going through the heat safe. Extremely magical. This can greatly couple with the paper bag stick routine too
Pitch and Ditch: Greg’s signature. I have seen the teachings before for this which was really focused on skill. What i see in this lecture is he has simplified it and given the audience management angel in better detail to make the move easier. I would still say that it has Greg’s signature all over.

Ring Side: Its a combination of coin vanish with the ring transposition. Personally its a great get ready to go into a ring and string routine
Watch Steal and Pick Pocket: If you are into pick pockets , you will love the segment. This is the longest segment on the tape.it details improvised moves and mis-direction
Exact Change and Penny and Dime: Exact change is an effect where u ask a spectator to cal out a number between 10 and 100 and the exact change is in your pocket. Penny and dime is version of copper silver but with no gimmicks.
Stick Shift: Angry mans handcuff with toothpicks.. Intense impromptu and this version uses the spectators hand too. Fooled me badly and something i love and will surely practice to perform.
Card Work: Great class on Peek that can be used for many effects and card to box effects multiple sequence. Teaches sleights that helps to perform it. Its effects that throw spectators off and guarantee reactions.
Slydini paper Balls: Uses papers and solid objects liek glasses and Coke bottles etc. Must watch. This is one of my effects when people ask me to perform one more. This is the time where the spectators are with you.
Rating: 9/10

HIGHLY Recommended

Summary

I am biased when its Greg Wilson but i think this is 9/10 for couple of reasons.

The thing you learn on this video is not just magic effects but what makes your magic better. Even if you don’t perform the above 9 effects ,i can assure that the lessons you take from this will be relevant for your magic as well
Impromptu is a weapon a magician should have all the time. Analyze every situation if someone asks you to perform, what would you go for? This lecture gives you many ideas to fill your weaponry
This is also pack nothing still play Big on many counts.Things that captivate me are Stick Shift, Bottle production,Card to Box. Pickpocket magicians- Its a must watch

Lastly why 9/10, because its a 3Hr video and i didn’t realize it. I was thrown off that i watched 3Hrs without breaks and didn’t seem like it too.

Enjoy the Video. You won’t regret.

Please support intellectual property. Only buy original. Available from all reputable Murphy’s Magic dealers.

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Imprint enables a small 3-dimensional object to be imprinted as a 2-dimenional image onto a bill.

In its basic effect, the performer takes a bill out of his wallet. He then takes out a coin. The coin is tossed onto the bill. The coin vanishes and its image is visually imprinted onto the bill. The bill with the coin imprint can be handed out for examination.

The transformation of the 3-dimensional coin into the 2-dimensional image on the bill is unbelievably visual – it looks like real magic! However, the effect is dependable on the correct angle of performance. In this basic effect of coin onto bill, the wallet plays a significant role in the performance.

Jason Yu, the creator of Imprint, also discusses the possibility of tossing other small objects such as a piece of chocolate, or a small rubik-cube, onto the bill. When the object is much thicker than a coin, the wallet is no longer useful. In Jason’s own words, you then need to perform the effect in a slightly dark and loud environment. This makes performing Imprint in rather limited circumstances.

You receive an instructional DVD and 2 small but essential items to construct your own bill gimmick. It is not difficult to do this, but there are a lot of restrictions in performing Imprint effectively. You need to consider the performing angles as well as the performing environment.

Jason also explains how to toss a small live animal onto the bill. In the trailer, it shows an actual performance of him tossing a small goldfish onto the bill. Once again, you need the correct environment to perform this properly before a live audience.

As mentioned, Imprint scores full marks for the visual, but falls slightly below the passing marks for its rather restricted performing possibilities.

Please support intellectual property. Only buy original. Available from all reputable Murphy’s Magic dealers.

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I have to admit – this is not the first time I have watched Karl do this particular lecture. I attended Karl’s lecture when he made a stop in Singapore, and I thoroughly enjoyed the lecture. Hence, going into this online lecture, I had high expectations and was thankfully not disappointed. Karl Hein’s lecture was a well-organized, well taught event, consisting of a nice balance of goodies suitable for both amateurs and professionals.

Like most magicians, I have a pet peeve about teaser videos marketing effects that aren’t entirely honest. Thankfully, the “Changeling” is not one of those. Yes, it looks as awesome as it’s marketed. Hooray!

You receive the special somethings needed to make the magic happen – supply your own currency, along with your usual DIY craft kit, and budget about an hour to put together your new favorite magic gimmick. I live in a part of the world where rubber cement isn’t sold in stores so I used a correction tape styled roller glue which works like really strong double stick tape (don’t you just love fancy Japanese stationery) as an alternate adhesive and it worked beautifully.

Being nice guys, Marc Lavelle and Titanas have included more than enough special somethings in their DVD, allowing you to create three gimmicks. It’s really up to you how you want to construct it – you could do a color change (two different colored bills) or even a lottery ticket to money change. It’s completely up to your imagination. It’s true that different size and colors don’t matter.

Where I live uses polymer/ plastic notes where the denominations are of different colors and sizes. Paper stock currency (the old dollar notes) are extremely rare in circulation these days. I was confident that “Changeling” would work flawlessly on regular paper stock, so I took on the task of constructing my gimmick using polymer/ plastic dollar notes to find out exactly how well it would hold up and what the challenges would be.

It took about 45 minutes to create my first gimmick carefully from scratch and one thing is for sure… Made well, it will impress your audience because the change is so visual! There are two transparent spots on our currency design, so I just avoided those see-through corners when planning the construction of my “Changeling” gimmick.

The DVD teaches you several moves required for the three main routines (excellent variations and handling are shared at the end of the DVD) and Lavelle does a good job bringing you through the effects and patiently takes time to explain the psychology behind the moves.

Polymer/ plastic notes however, will not behave like their paper stock counterparts. They have that inevitable bounce and will not fold down fully, much less stay still in a flat position, which unfortunately made the brilliant “Two Bill Transpo” effect (where the note is isolated in a glass held in the spectator’s hands) not quite work out for me.

But before you go “oh shucks”, there is an easy go-around this… Just use paper, not polymer/ plastic, money! We live in a world today where people travel all the time. Performers can easily come up with patter about why they are using foreign currency. Perhaps they were tipped by a very happy American tourist who loved their awesome magic. Or maybe they just came back from a business trip from said country. Lavelle also gives suggestions like having a cheque change into actual money, for instance.

Now how about ironing your polymer/ plastic notes for instance, you may ask. Well. I have not personally tried it but after thinking about it, I did wedge my folded gimmick under a heavy flat weight for two days to set the creases in and the results seemed to work. There is more control and much less unwanted unfurling, but I’m still not able to pull off the “Two Bill Transpo” effect because the gimmick stubbornly refuses to co-operate due to the nature of polymer/ plastic.

Having said that, it’s not the end of the world if where you live uses only non-paper bills. If you’re flexible and creative, you will still create a visual impact with “Changeling” and probably discover even more possibilities after playing around with it. This is a smart effect too good not to be used and the longevity of the gimmick should hold up decently. Kudos to the creators for coming up with a great idea and making this concept work.

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Effect:

A can’s tab is broken off the can and then put it back on.

Product description:

Described as an organic effect (whatever that term means, seems to be getting used frequently for hyping an effect). The product description says “grabbing any unprepared soda can off any one and then ripping the tab off”. Well, that part is not entirely true as the main version does require you to prepare the can. Alternate versions do allow you to perform an “impromptu” version.

Method:

Without giving away the method, you do have preparations. The preparation is divided into 2 parts. A onetime preparation will last you a long time, that is if you want to re-use the can. However, the preparation can be a pain and it will take some time to do it.

While watching the DVD, I was thinking, why go thru so much trouble to prepare the can when you can use a gimmick which most magicians have? If you use that gimmick, you will only need to prepare 1 part of the gimmick for the trick. I can’t tell you what that gimmick is as it will give away the method for this effect. Having said that, that method I just mentioned will not look as good as the original method but the difference is minute.

The version with the tab on the spectator’s hand looks good and if I were to do this trick, I’d probably do this version

Quality:

Simple gimmicks, detailed instructions. But not so simple preparation.

Pricing:

At a MSRP of US$29.95, I’d think its over-priced as the gimmick included are pretty simple and not that expensive. I’d rather spend this money on something else.

Verdict:

The effect looks great but what are you going to do with the can after you finish performing this effect? The spectator will check the can and you can’t really put away an empty can into your bag. If you do this at a hawker centre in Singapore, your can will definitely be kept by the cleaners as they are sold to be recycled.

I think the effect is ok, just don’t like the preparation when you have an easier option which is not taught. But then again, that method is used in another product, which may be the reason they didn’t use that. Also note that TV rights are not included for this product.

Please support intellectual property. Only buy original. Available from all reputable Murphy’s Magic dealers.

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