The trick is only half the fun. The other half is figuring out how it works, dreaming up something of your own and finding the nerve to perform it in front of a roomful of people.
In Thiruvananthapuram, magician Arun Babu, in collaboration with The Artist Cafe, is building a community around just that — a space where magicians and mentalists can try out ideas, newcomers can get over their stage fright, and the audience can do more than simply go: “How did he do that?”
The meet-ups at The Artist Cafe are designed to get everyone involved. “We want magicians and mentalists to have a space to perform, but we also want newcomers to overcome their stage fear,” says Arun.
“The audience should be able to participate, too. Everyone gets activities to do, whether they are performers or people who have come to watch.”
Alongside performances, the community makes room for discussions, idea-sharing and mini-lectures, giving practitioners and audience a chance to talk about their work and learn from one another. Interactive exercises encourage participants to get creative themselves rather than simply watch practitioners perform on stage.
“The activities are designed to help everyone think creatively, not just magicians and mentalists,” says Arun.
“While they can help performers in their field, we also want the audience to take something away and apply it in their own lives.”
The idea started with a simple plan: get a few magicians in Thiruvananthapuram together for a meet-up. But when Arun and the others chose a cafe as the venue, they figured, why keep it just among magicians when there were other people around?
The first gathering brought together around 20 to 25 people. The next is planned for a fortnight later, with more activities and hopes of drawing a larger crowd. “The aim is not just to create a space for performers, as there are already many such communities,” says Arun.
“We want to include people who are curious about magic and mentalism and make this a larger, more inclusive community. That is what makes it different.”
The group also plans to take magic and mentalism beyond the cafe, with larger gatherings in open spaces such as Kanakakkunnu on the cards.
The idea is to introduce busking, where performers entertain passers-by in public spaces, giving more people a chance to encounter magic, mentalism and hypnotism outside conventional performance venues.
“There is often a perception that magic is some kind of secret society or something ordinary people cannot do,” Arun adds. “These efforts are meant to popularise these art forms and make them more accessible.”