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India’s young magicians are keeping the art of magical performance popular even today.
People in India have been known to enjoy magical tricks and performances for centuries. With modern day distractions like the video games, cell phones and social media, one often wonders if the art of magical performance and illusion has become a dying art.
We bring to you some of the most popular young magicians in the country who are determined to keep the art of magic alive and kicking. Be it stage performances, risky stunts or even TV shows, these young guns are sure to cast a spell over you.
Neel Madhav
For Neel Madhav, a chance meeting with the legendary magician Jason Randall in the United States changed his life. The 22-year-old even has his own magic show called You Got Magic with Neel Madhav that airs on NDTV Good Times channel. “We were in the mystical Rann of Kutch, shooting an episode for the show and I instantly fell in love with the vastness of the pristine white desert.I came up with the idea of doing a disappearing act standing all alone in the middle of the desert. My team loved the idea and that’s when we got down to planning the trick and it was only after hours and hours of preparation and practice that the trick was ready. Thankfully, it all happened smoothly and the positive reactions the made it all worth it,” he shares.
Suhani Shah
Illusionist Suhani Shah always knew that she was destined to do something different in life. She had her first stage show at the tender age of seven. She believes that Indian magicians have a long way to go if they want to compete with the gadget wizardry and social media today. “Indian magicians should leverage technology for their tricks to keep gadget-obsessed audiences engaged and entertained. We just have to move beyond the Indian Magic Rope trick,” she says. She also stresses that the beauty of the act lies in the presentation of the performance rather than the trick itself.
Rajesh Kumar
Rajesh admits that he wasn’t a big fan of magic performances earlier because he found the tricks to be old-fashioned and boring. But everything changed after he watched a video featuring the popular street magician Cris Angel. Kumar loves to challenge himself by trying out stunts that one considers to be risky. “I even fractured my arm when performing a particularly dangerous stunt called ‘Jaws of Death’ at the India’s Got Talentreality show this year,” he recalls.
Philip Abraham
Philip, who started doing magical performances from the age of 12, reveals that his trick of multiplying currency notes is such a hit among children that many of them sneak in backstage to beg him to teach them how to do it. He feels that magic shows are different from other forms of entertainment as they require one’s complete attention. “Tricks involving audience participation are the most challenging but they also tend to get the best reactions,” he opines.
Ugesh Sarcar
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that magic runs in Ugesh Sarcar’s veins. After all, he is the son of the world-renowned magical performer Prof. M. C. Sarcar, who was even presented with the title of the ‘Crown Magic Prince of India’ by the Late Lal Bahadur Shastri. “When I was very young, I would assist my dad in his stage performances. That was when I decided that I would be the next biggest name in magic,” he shares.
their bit for society by helping children be more confident through magic, shadow play and theatre. In the past, Prahalad Acharya has done Houdini-like tricks that are dangerous and death-defying escape stunts. He claims to be the only magician in India to escape from the Bangalore Central Prison (in just 8 seconds!). He says he has also performed the Houdini escape at the Jog Falls and has made 18-ft high the Golden Chariot of Udupi disappear. He also says he has perfomed the legendary Indian Rope Trick. Magic looks unbelievable but it is nothing but science and some sleight-of-hand by smart ‘magicians’. Prahalad Acharya, who is an exponent of ventriloquism, and a shadow play artiste says, “Magic is rational. There is no mesmerising, no power, no hypnotism. It is all about gadgets, the use of directions and optical illusions.” Wife Poornima is one of the rare women magicians. She took up magic after marriage, and does independent magic shows that last upto two hours.
cut it into tiny bits and returned the bits to me. Then he named the person I had thought of! When I asked him how he did it, he smiled and said, “Magicians don’t tell.” But Shenoy, who calls himself a ‘mindreader and corporate entertainer’ reminds us that magic is all science. He has 15 years of professional experience in magic entertainment, teaches magic, and writes for magic magazines. One of three mindreaders in India, he networks with the best in the business, across the world. He is just back in the city after a jam session in Las Vegas with other magic folk such as Max Maven, Jeff Mcbride, Eugene Burger and Bob Cassidy. “It helps to learn some magic for people to remember you by. Master a few tricks and you will find it is a useful icebreaker in get-togethers, a fascinating hobby, and it is lovely when people recognise you as ‘the Magic Kid’. Magic is not for muggles. To learn it, you have to be rational, nifty, and cool to fool an audience,” he says.
conjuring for 11 years now. As a 12-year-old, he saw a magic show and got a magic book. He did some shows and they were all successful. That got him hooked. Tiju has attended magic school — the Magic Academy. His ‘guru’ is magician Gopinath Muthukad. Now, Tiju has founded and designed a portal for Indian magicians called 