SINGAPORE RING 115 - Feb 2022 Magic Meeting Report
IBM Singapore Ring 115's meeting was held on 13th February 2022 and conducted over Zoom. The theme was "Valentine and Chinese New Year Magic". It was co-hosted by Victor Heng and Siew Kim Siang and attracted 35 attendees.
The meeting commenced with both President John Teo and Vice-President Enrico Varella wishing all members a Happy Lunar New Year.
The first performer, Priscilla Thong, could not be present. She made her performance in a pre-recorded video clip. In line with the new year theme, she performed multiplying Chinese scrolls, broken and restored Chinese fan, box to Hershey’s chocolate bar, and ang pow envelopes to decorative Chinese banners.
JK Tan and Victor Heng extended further good wishes. They opened 4 ang pow type envelopes that had cards with IBM 115 Great Wong Ring, 2 Oranges and a Tiger images. JK Tan continued by using a packet of playing cards, and by a process of counting and eliminating, was able to find the correct number combination to open a lock in order to release a trapped finger ring. With a few snips of the scissors, he managed to do a beautiful paper-cut of a tiger, which was the animal freely selected by an assistant.
Using the Winston Freer Puzzle Tiles, Kenneth Chia was able to add in 2 orange drinks and then 2 beers to a tray already filled up full with Japanese food for a Valentine dinner. He also used an upside-down word to talk about “family” and “friends”.
Jeremy Pei did a “one-in-the-pocket and two-in-the-hand” trick using sponge oranges. He was also able to predict which one of 6 Rubik’s Cubes would be chosen. He then instantly solved a mixed-up Rubik’s Cube by putting it inside a paper bag and immediately taking it out. In his final effect, he had a card chosen
and divided the remainder of the deck of cards into 2 halves. The 2 halves seemed to synchronise with one another. When one half had its cards randomly turned face up and face down, the other half magically followed suit. Then both halves had their cards magically face one way. One half had red backs and the other half had blue backs. Finally the chosen card was shown to have a hybrid red-blue back and so was the card case.
Victor Ng, the son of The Great Wong was the special guest of the evening. He was accompanied by his wife Sally. Victor spoke about the magic meetings held at their home at 255 Jalan Besar and the chicken curry cooked by his father and still fondly remembered by the club members. He showed video clips as well as photographs of his father and other members of his family performing illusions and other types of magic. Mr Wong started as an acrobat in a circus in China and took to magic when he came to Singapore. He was a perfectionist in his performances, but was very generous in helping others to perform magic. He
was a very good craftsman and made all his wooden props himself. He was also creative and adapted a lot of tricks in his performances. Victor also spoke about the fire at his home that destroyed the majority of the family’s magic props. The Great Wong and his magic were featured in 2013 at an exhibition of Singapore magic organised by our National Heritage Board. Victor's Valentine day trick to his wife was the linking of 2 separate paper clips fixed into a folded paper.
Ng Ek Hwang came on with her hallmark cape, eye mask and hat. She took them off to reveal a huge heart on her shirt and a headband full of hearts. As a present for her beloved, she produced a necklace from an empty pan, and finally, a bouquet of flowers.
There was a break for 5 minutes, after which Siew Kim Siang took over the hosting from Victor Heng.
Wee Kien Meng (aka Mr Bottle) transformed a $10 note to $50 and then to $100, and each time the note got bigger and bigger in physical size. He then had a spectator unknowingly match her 5 emotions cards exactly with his own 5 emotions cards.
For the Lunar New Year trick, John Teo had 3 cards depicting the head, body and tail of a tiger arranged in the correct order. The 3 cards were jumbled up so that the picture of the tiger was out of order. Magically, he put the tiger back in the correct order. For his Valentine Day trick, he was able to magically influence an assistant to pair 5 love couples together: Anthony with Cleopatra, Adam with Eve, Romeo with Juliet, Clyde with Bonnie, and Samson with Delilah.
Goh Yin Xian dealer demonstration – He showed 3 gimmicked Chinese black and red coin sets made by N2G. They were Hopping Chinese Coins, N6, and Chinese Coins Set. The final effect demonstrated was “Yu Fu Yee Chun” – envelope to ang pow to Chinese decorations and banners.
Jeremy Pei dealer Demonstration – He demonstrated a small drawer box, and Tenyo’s “Wild Shock”. His offer of the evening was mystery golden paper bags containing 10 brand new tricks in each. Each bag cost only $38.
The evening ended with 2 lucky draws. The first lucky draw was in lieu of last month’s lucky draw. It comprised 2 magic DVDs and was won by Massimo Sacco and Siew Kim Siang. The prizes for the second lucky draws were 5 $8 ang pows. The lucky winners were Benwinner Kam, Kogi Oberoi, Low Hwee Lang, Enrico Varella and Kenneth Chia.