Be Enthralled with Superstars of Magic 4!

Now, I have never personally watched a magic show performed live in front of my eyes. I am also very skeptical when watching them on TV, and most times I just think it’s got to do with the camera angles and tricks. So when Resorts World Genting invited me for the review, I was excited but not over the moon about it. I was super wrong, read on to find out why.  Superstars of Magic 4, the 4th year running in Resorts World Genting, has different world class magicians come perform at every season. So imagine how awed I was by the show while watching it, I felt like I was transformed into a kid again. This show is definitely kid friendly but at the same time will wow any adult with the upbeat arrangement that does not allow you a moment of boredom.

Check out the preview of each of the Illusionists in the video above. This special show had started since July 10 and will be going on every night (except on off days) until Oct 25, 2015.

A Compilation of the FULL DAY TRIP

The theme of this year’s show is Magic of the East Meets West, with illusionists from US, Canada, Taiwan, Germany and South Korea promising an enchanting evening that will stay with you for days if not weeks.

Jay Mattioli is the emcee and also the illusionist from USA. He got his big break after appearing on America’s Got Talent 2009 at only 27. In the words of the judges from his very first audition, Jay not only does magic, but he’s also very entertaining and very cool, and that’s exactly what he is. He is able to carry the whole show and display special magic while introducing the rest of the world class magicians and complementing each one with the other. Jay actually appeared on the stage magically on this big bike after Mrs Mattioli pulled down a curtain, it was in split seconds that left me in awe. Jay encouraged the audience to clap and be wild so that the magicians can feed off the energy. As it was a 4pm Sunday show, there were not that many audience besides the bloggers. Nonetheless, the team performed their show at full gear, with all their hearts and soul poured out. It was very inspiring!

This was one of the amazing tricks he did, when he was tied to the board, but after the curtain was covered and removed from him, he was freed but his assistant was tied instead. Seriously, within seconds. His most spellbinding act was the finale, when he changed Mrs Mattioli (above)’s black tights and shirt into a white bridal gown just by sprinkling some sparkly paper, you got to see it to believe it! I could not imagine how, there was no way she could have hidden that long white gown in that tight black clothes she was wearing. I guess that’s why they call it magic. By the way, yes the assistant and the magician are married, and they have a cute little 3 year old son, the youngest member of this troupe, it was very sweet as the baby came along for this trip together.

Jeff Lee (李佳峰) from Taiwan was the next act, and he is known as the TV Maestro.

Why? Because he can take things out of the TV, in his act, mainly CDs, colourful CDs. He did it flawlessly and effortlessly, and it was really funny too, when he created patterns on the CDs, crack some CDs and put CDs back together and making it go back into that TV Screen, while grooving to some pop songs. This multi award winning magician has the ability to keep your eyes glued to his hands. He is also a storyteller where he created a love story with the CDs. Jeff Lee injects humour into his show that will definitely carve a smile on your face. With his charms, I am sure many ladies in the audience was completely spellbound ahem. Very entertaining and completely safe for kids. Jeff also could produce way a lot of CDs from the air, it was indeed a mystery as he was not even wearing long sleeves. We wondered in awe how he did his tricks and blinded us completely. Even though he is an entertainer and a magician, you can see Jeff Lee is a man of deep thoughts, carefully crafting his art every step of the way to produce the kind of reactions he anticipate. I also heard that he loves doing magic for charity, as all he wants is to make people happy. He is also an amazing street magician, he can take something that belongs to you and perform magic with it on the spot. Quite unbelievable eh? Here I was thinking that it’s all to do with the stage and the props, but magic is much more than that.

The next act and the only Princess of Magic in the troupe is Alana Moehlmann all the way from Germany.

Alana gracefully put on her In Her Hands act, the famous act that propelled her into the top class of International Magicians when she was awarded Germany’s Magician of the Year in 2012. Alana is so beautiful and exudes sexiness and confidence with every move as she glides about on stage. She came in wearing this leather jacket, and this is the magic jacket with many hands. The jacket unzips itself and a pair of hands started gliding out and help her put on her earrings. Ok, I think the hands are actually hers, there is definitely not another tiny human with big hands hiding inside her jacket, however with the multiple hands she was able to change her earrings at top speed. Now, that’s a feat every woman would want and every man would desire, imagine how much shortened the time it would have taken for the woman to get ready for a night out.

Alana Moehlmann was very mesmerizing, you wouldn’t want to take your hands, oh I mean eyes away from her for even a second. Especially her trick at the end, when she did a head removing trick. That was a little shocking, but it wasn’t scary in anyway.

At this moment, Jay Mattioli returned with more magic and entertainment. He was levitating a fluorescent light stick that floated through the air and was spotting some illuminated jacket which reminded me of the iLuminate show at Genting recently. The part that was most thrilling was when his lights went off, and he climbed up this gigantic mock plug to get the electric back, and the plug literally pierced through his body. Being the great actor he was, Jay put the audience into a state of disarray when he laid lifeless on the plug for a few seconds! I knew it was just show, but it was way surreal. Of course, finally he lifted his head and lifted himself off the plug to everyone’s applause and cheers and even from the children. You would have heard me sighed in relief.

The next act is from Korea and is known as One Gun or Ha Won Keun (하원근). This young 24 year old known as the Justin Bieber of Korea is not to be messed with. He has strings of awards since starting his Magic career in 2009 suddenly, and in 2012 he bagged the award of General Magic and Magic Invention at FISM 2012 (Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques). FISM is basically the Olympic for Magicians and is held once every 3 years. One Gun’s magic trick is of changing tshirts in a flash and includes making pics on the tshirt come alive from 2D to 3D. You might have seen people doing the Tshirt trick on youtube, well this is NOTHING like that. I lost count how many times One Gun changed his shirt including his pants. He also did tricks with cans of soda, and his creativity lies in the story he tells just through magic, without words or high tech stuffs. It helps that he is incessantly charming and cheeky all at the same time, and could effortlessly draw in the audience from young to old as can be heard from the loud cheers and claps at his every move.

For the benefit of my readers who can’t get enough of 하원근, let me share with you this very funny video filmed on SBS set back in 2014. However, do book your tickets for Superstars of Magic 4 to watch him live, that is the best you can do to support One Gun!  

What’s a magic show with doves right? Well, that’s where famed magician from Las Vegas Joseph Gabriel comes in. I was definitely anticipating his appearance.

Joseph Gabriel, also known as the bird guy, gets away playing with flames, fur and of course, living white doves on stage, simply because he has a death stare. I believe once he casts his glance your way, you will be too blinded to know where the doves come from. Joseph also levitates birds and makes them go to sleep and then awakens them again, simply breathtakingly magical.

With his years of experience, it was impossible to spot any flaws in his magic, he does it with such ease, grace and confidence. What was even more astounding was when he came right to the audience at the end of the stage, and produces not one but two large white ducks out of nowhere! That was indeed magic worthy to be praised.

The final act, Ted Kim (김태원) also hails from Korea. He is also a winner at FISM 2012 with the title of Most Original Act, and he definitely is one of a kind. Ted uses what he branded as White Art, where he was dressed in white as a clown with a red nose, and there were props in white on stage too, and he used a live video that projects onto the white surfaces, and he interacted with the live video like they were real. Ok, I heard comments like where is the magic? Well, guess what, magic is not just about pulling things out of hats and making things mysteriously appear and disappear. Magic is really about imagination, about how you view things and the possibility of a third dimension. Watching Ted’s show is like being transformed into a dream dimension…with poise and fun at the same time, Ted integrates digital life into real life, bringing in the theme of old school video games like Super Mario, Tetris, Breakout and even Legos. I just found it tremendously fascinating and it brought me back to my childhood for real having played all those games before.

Ted Kim’s White Art Magic was pure, peaceful and dreamy, artistic and playful all rolled into one. I find myself amazed at how his mind thinks, Ted Kim is a magician that sees magic in everything. Kids loved his show a lot. He left a long lasting memory and definitely Superstars of Magic 4 knew how to end the show on a high note. Jay Mattioli once again closed the whole magic show with a true story about his family, bringing the families closer together in the audience, it was a nice touch. It was even more touching when Jay brought his son onto the stage and we could clearly see the love he has for his family. The finale should not be missed, it has one of the best scenes ever.

In the acts list was also Shawn Farquhar but he was not on that night. Maybe he was at FISM? Anyways, a little biography about him.
Shawn Farquhar (Canada)
FISM World Champion Close-Up Magician 2009

Shawn Faquhar is the current IBM president . He has appeared on the “Ellen Show “ and was one of the few magicians in the world who managed to fool Penn and Teller on their hit tv series.
Shawn is acclaimed by his peers to be the sleight of hand artist of our time, and proved this true when he won the FISM close-up champion in 2012.

What an enthralling show it was. I might have went in skeptical, but I am now a convert of MAGIC! A most amazing show that I think nobody should miss. If you have children with great creativity and imagination, bring them for this. Show them the possibilities of using that creativity for something great, at the end of the day, I believe Magic is the ability to make people smile.

Superstars of Magic 4 runs daily (except on off days) at 8pm from now till Oct 25, 2015 at Resorts World Genting International Showroom (GISR). Tickets can be booked online or call 60327181118 ranging from RM98 to RM248 for adults and RM48 to RM98 for children, with special pricing for Genting Rewards Card members.