Magic has always enthralled
people Jaya Joshi discovers schools of magic
in the city where children are taught the
art
Mandrake comics excited
you until Harry Porter came along. Do you
know what’s common with these stories
the characters have all been to schools
of magic. Just like any other art, magic
is a guided tour. Abrakadabra gili gilli
choo.
These are the words, which
have mesmerized and mystified people for
decades. It is a mystery to know how magicians
make a rope sway like a snake without anything
supporting it or bring doves out of thin
air or pull a rabbit out of a hat.
But a lot of effort goes
into making of a magician. A person who
wants to learn magic needs to go to a school
to polish his skills and acquire perfection
and performs on stage.
There are only three schools
of magic in India. They are in Trivandurm,
Hyderabad and Calcutta. They differ in their
style of teaching magic. The school of Trivandurm
is Indian Magic Academy. The one in Hyderabad
is Andhra Balanandam Magic School in Narayanaguda.
Calcutta has schools in every nook and corner.
Samala Venu, Secretary of Andhra Magic School
says, “Learning Magic is difficult
and very expensive. Many of the schools
concentrate on extracting money from the
kids who are keen to learn magic. But here,
we concentrate on teaching the child how
to present the show attractively.”
Students are tutored on
how to conduct themselves on stage. It is
very important for a magician to present
his show without any loopholes. The child
should not be nervous when presenting his
show.
Anirudh Baji who studies
in Class VII in Little Flower High School
says, “I was always interested in
learning magic. I am pretty serious about
it and want to take it up as my profession.
I have also done stage shows, I did a show
in Raj Bhavan on Children’s day. The
Governor was also present there. When asked
about his favourite trick he says, “It
is the one wherein you tear the paper and
then join it. Actually, there are two papers.
And you should be careful not to throw the
torn bits on the ground.”
V.A. Goud, who runs Magic
and Hypnotic Academy of Andhra Pradesh says,
“Learning magic depends on an individual.
There are no affiliated schools in India.
My schools is also not affiliated, but it
is a registered one. The training period
differs from college to college. It can
vary from six months to one year. But there
is no limit as to how much you can learn.
I am still in the process of learning magic.”
The Andhra Balanandam hopes to get an affiliation
from the London School of Magic. There are
no rules to join the school, anybody with
an inclination to learn magic, can join.
The ideal years for joining is 7 to 15 years.
You can even develop your hobby into a full
time profession.
The certificates are given
after every six months. Kids who learn magic
have to balance their studies and this time
consuming hobby. Hence parents tend to discourage
children from pursuing magic.
But there are others like
Pradeep Rangrez who never went to an institution
to learn the art. “I learnt magic
from B.V. Pattabhiram. I also got cassettes
from International Brotherhood of Magicians.
Here they show all the tricks very clearly.
I mostly do conjuring act, i.e. doing tricks
with fingers”, he says.
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