Putting magic back in the box

While some may find David Blaine and his attention-getting stunts rather annoying and less than magical, the American has conjured up great success. So much so, that while local TV stations have yet to jump on the bandwagon, local magicians are looking to do outdoor and corporate sponsored magic shows and taking to the streets in an attempt to keep their magic arts alive.

A combination of state-of-the-art developments within the leisure industry and the economic slump have led to a decline in business over the past half-decade and Taiwan's dozen professional magicians are finding that audiences are disappearing faster than they can say abracadabra.

Until as recently as five years ago, grandiose magic shows were hugely popular. Many of the nation's theme parks employed full time magicians and shows were plentiful. Well-known magicians commanded appearance fees ranging from NT$10,000 to upwards of NT$30,000 for a single performance. Now, according to illusionist Chen Kuan-lin (陳冠霖), Taiwan's professional magicians are considered lucky if they make NT$40,000 per month.

"There was a time when I was doing three or four shows a night," said Taiwan's best-known magician, Chia Ke-li (賈克禮), or "The Man with the Magic Hand" as he was known until he retired from publicly performing three years ago.

"It all changed following the 921 earthquake. The economy went down hill and people stopped visiting the theme parks I used to perform at. The grandiose magic show seemed to die overnight."

In a magic career that spanned almost five decades, Chia and his Magicfantastic troupe not only captivated audiences in Taiwan, but also toured the globe. They performed to packed houses in Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Korea, Philippines and even the US, where in the late 1970s Chia and his troupe were featured in the New York Times.

While Chia performed his greatest tricks -- including catching a flying bullet with a piece of string -- on large stages with props and assistants, the staging of such shows, however breathtakingly spectacular, is no longer possible. Recuperating the cost of staging a noteworthy large-scale magic show is now unfeasible and sponsorship for such a venture is even harder to find, according to the celebrated illusionist.

"It can't be done anymore. In fact, when I look back and remember the illusions I have performed over the years, very few could be repeated simply because of the costs involved," Chia said. "Getting a backer is now even more difficult as nobody is going to want to sponsor an illusion, such as catching a bullet or making a building disappear that takes five minutes."

The decline in the number of venues now willing to book a magician because of the high costs of staging such grand illusions has led to a change in the way in which those in the magic community work. Local magicians now look to cheaper, fast hitting and in-your-face street magic as opposed to grand illusions.

"I still do the occasional, very occasional, large gig, but because they don't attract the numbers they used to I've taken to performing outside during the weekends and public holidays," said Fang Yuan-shih (方圓士), a 25 year veteran of Taiwan's magic scene who goes by the stage name of Mike. "Street magic might not have the glitz and glamour of large illusions, but its quick, still makes people think and, more importantly, is cheap."