The ILLUSIVES’ ARTIST PROFILE

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To describe how this group operates, one can conjure the image of a band formed in high school – a number of people with different specialties in the craft coming together and jamming – aiming to do a one-of-a-kind performance – to the tune of their own unique song.

They are the best of what the industry has to offer at this time. These are the people who have stepped up to the challenge.

One such person with the distinction of having been named as the Best Magician (in his case, for the year 2004) is the one known as Aldino. The present MAGFI president, he specializes in stage, close up, and kiddie magic and has performed as a party entertainer since 1993 in almost all of the major five star hotels and restaurants in the country. Without revealing too much, his performance for the World of Wonders show involves classic magic – dealing with doves.

Aldino, perhaps, is the one that most gives importance to tradition in the craft as he is intent on showing the audience how it was done by his mentors in the past. His secret to good magic: It’s not in dexterity, it’s in timing. How will he make this age-old performance seem like new? There’s nothing to it but to see when you get there.

“Magic is how you present yourself on stage and how you get your audience involved in your trick,” says NAP BARGAS PEREZ, currently one of the youngest at HEART and the Legend as we tag him the Original MAGIKERONG PILIPINO himself ; who have discarded the image of the rabbit and top hat magician. His specialty is in stage magic, constantly interacting with the audience during his performances. Typically, his acts include mind reading and comedy magic. As a versatile corporate magician (or one who performs for corporate clients) there is a certain difficulty that he has to get past through the defenses of tough audiences and get them to participate. As such, he has been teased by his peers as the most serious magician.

Meanwhile, Rony Mariano or Ron, takes a slightly more scientific approach to his craft. If he were put in the shoes of someone in the audience, Ron is one who is on the constant look-out for the secrets behind each trick. Every illusion for him is a problem, and because of this he believes that there is a solution for every single one. There is almost nothing that his creative mind cannot fathom. Equipped with this knowledge, he makes sure that he keeps others stumped and amazed by his own tricks. An innate inquisitor and inventor, many of the items that he uses in his magic performances are made by his own hands. “My work place look sort of like a warehouse with all the items and tools I have in there,” he said. And the things he has created thus far, many have only dreamed of imitating.

Finally, for Marlon Ablay or Bibo, a member of the Inner Magic Club and named the Top Mime Magician of the Philippines, no words are necessary to draw you into his sphere of enchantment. The combination of his many experiences, Ablay’s Bibo persona is the combination of a mime, a clown, and a magician. Naturally a silent person with an intense desire to make those around him happy, especially children. Ablay is also doing away with the common image of the magician in a tuxedo. All he needs is a little bit of make-up, a clown suit, and the tricks up his sleeve to become a conjurer – minus the intimidating look, of course. It is already hard to communicate, and it is even harder to communicate without words, but for Bibo it is all in a day’s work to make his audience wear the same expression that this clown’s face wears – infinite joy and happiness.

So if anyone needs a little bit of perking up to start the year right a little bit of magic might just be what the doctor ordered. “In these times, we believe that everyone needs a little bit of magic in them. And with the support of those who have watched us, we can continue to evolve and do better in our craft.” -END-