Customizing Magic for AstraZeneca International Event

With the advent of virtual conferences and events bringing people closer together regardless of their location, virtual magic shows are getting more and more popular.

To celebrate the end of the year for AstraZeneca, I was engaged to design magic based on 4 themes for them to showcase at their virtual event.

The magic I designed related to the awards for the virtual event.

The client was thrilled with the magic and left a glowing review:

"Apologies for not reaching out to you sooner – yesterday was a very busy day!

Thank you so much for such a wonderful contribution to the AZ event. Our clients were thrilled – your performance was the highlight of the evening! They have already commented on how great it was to see their scorecard priorities come to life, and that they would like to work with you again. From our agency’s side, we are working on more and more virtual meetings now too, so we will be sure to keep you in mind for future events.

 Best wishes for a relaxing break and a great start to 2021”

Ms Becca | Director of Corporate Communications

Customized Virtual iPad Magic Performance for AstraZeneca

If you have a virtual event and would like to find out how you can add that special touch of magic, be free to contact me:

alexander@metaillusions.com

Hope to see you, through the screen!

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Alexander Y. is Asia’s Top iPad Magician, who has been invited performing in several countries such as Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, India. Check out his virtual magic shows that has been booked internationally in places like Australia, Hong Kong, India and more. You will enjoy his touch of magic in your virtual events!

Crafting a Customized Virtual Magic Experience for SGX

The year 2020 is truly a year of innovation and change for me as a performer and a creator. Because of the social distancing policies and the restrictions on live events, most of my customized magic performances had to be adopted onto a virtual platform. This was truly not an easy task as I had to think outside the box to recreate the same experience as if the event was live.

I had the wonderful opportunity to work with SGX in creating a customized virtual magic show which involved their key messages of community, trust and partnerships at the most recent FIA's Asia Derivatives Conference.

We worked hand in hand to curate a script that embodies these key messages. In this show, we had magic illusions which involves partners of SGX.

We structured interactive pieces with highly visual magic to capture the audiences and cogently shared the main key message through these illusions.

Picture from SGX Twitter

I am very grateful for the learning opportunity while working with SGX as well as the opportunity to be able to showcase my work.

—

If you have a virtual event and would like to find out how you can add that special touch of magic, be free to contact me:

alexander@metaillusions.com

Hope to see you, through the screen!

------------------

Alexander Y. is Asia’s Top iPad Magician, who has been invited performing in several countries such as Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, India. Check out his virtual magic shows that has been booked internationally in places like Australia, Hong Kong, India and more. You will enjoy his touch of magic in your virtual events!

Singaporean iPad Magician Performing for Melbourne Victory Football Club

One of the true joys of being a Singaporean performing internationally is that I am able to represent my country and showcase a slice of what Singaporeans can do. I was invited to Melbourne Victory Football Club (home of Keisuke Honda) to do a showcase of my magic at their business luncheon.

It is really not often you get a true blue Singaporean specially invited to perform for a club like this. I was in fact very nervous when I received the confirmation.

I took the time to prepare and crafted something unique for them. Above, you can see a picture of me with the President of the Club Anthony Di Pietro.

It is a joy and privilege to showcase a piece of Singapore in Melbourne. The great news also is that I got a second round of bookings in June. Will be back Melbourne!

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Alexander Y. is Asia’s Top iPad Magician, who has been invited performing in several countries such as Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, India. He is known for his storytelling and magic, allowing him to not just capture the eyes of the audience, but also their hearts. Though he did not get to meet Keisuke Honda, he was soaked in the love of MVFC.

Got a story to tell? Contact him at alexander@ipadmagician.org

iPad Illusionist at an Multi National Corporation (MNCs) Event

Performing MNCs tend to be challenging for a lower tier magician because the crowd comes from a diverse background. 

This means 2 things:

1. The material you perform for one group might not be suitable for the next group
2. You might have to perform in a different language in the same event

Typically MNCs consider not only the experience of the magician and type of magic they present, they also prefer performers who have international experience. This is important especially for a roving performer who mingles and engages his audiences in a non-passive way (in contrast to a musician). 

Thus far, I have been booked to perform in USA, Japan, Hong Kong, India, Egypt, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. Every culture has their own social rules; through reading up and interacting with a diverse audience, one can be equipped with cultural norms that allows the performer to ease into conversations better. 

In this event, I was performing for ED & F Man. The crowd consisted of Singaporeans, Filipinos, Mainland Chinese and Caucasians. You can notice some subtle differences in the pictures when I perform for these groups of people. For some groups, I tend to be a bit more subdue, and for some I tend to be more expressive. I give them space to react according to their cultural rules. 

Case in point, here is a short video of me performing in Mandarin:

Enjoy the rest of the pictures below!

For more enquiry, drop me an email here:

alexander@ipadmagician.org

Signing out,

Alexander Y (Asia's Top iPad Magician)

"The Key is Right Here" : Showcasing the 4 Pillars of Sky Premium (an iPad Magic Launch)

A challenge that most marketeers face is that they run out of ideas to showcase a non-tangible product. For example, how do you showcase security? (See here!) How do you showcase a concierge service (read below!)

When I was consulted to design a sequence for Sky Premium, I too had some difficulties in trying to bring forth the ideas to life. Hence instead of focusing on what the company can do, I focused more on what their clients will experience. 

The four pillars of their services pertains to:

1. Travel
2. Wine and Dine
3. Shopping
4. Wellness

With this in mind, I brainstormed activities that are most associated with these pillars. Next I thought about the type of magic that would be most appropriate for this. 

A specific request the client wanted was to connect my act to the next segment where the emcee would talk about the "Key" to "The Good Life". Bearing that in mind, I had to end with that tagline so that my act can segway seamlessly into the next. 

Enjoy the good life and check out the end result below!

Living the Good Life,

Alexander Y (Asia's Top iPad Magician)

Want to showcase your intangible services?

Hit me up: alexander@ipadmagician.org

"Terrific Colours, Stylishly Compact!" - A Customized iPad Product Launch (VIP Launch)

Designing a product launch is never an easy task, it takes a lot of creative energy, trial and error and rehearsals. 

Imagine this, I was sent a brief for a launch of a printer with the tagline "Terrific Colours, Stylishly Compact". And a specific request that a VIP must be involved in the act.

How do you work from here? What type of imagery does this elicit in your mind?

While it is vague, I did my research on the Canon printer and found other neat features it has. With these features in mind, I knew objectively what I wanted to showcase. The terrific colors it has, its stylishness and its mobile-friendly capacity. 

With this said, the magic also has to reflect this. The visual assets I use must also reflect this. 

The total time I took to design this 3 minute sequence:

• Conceptualization: 10 hours
• Programming: 30 Hours
• Designing Visual Assets: 5 Hours
• Designing the Prop: 3 Hours
• Fabrication of Props: 10 Hours
• Rehearsals: 10 Hours

You can see that I make sure every detail is taken care of. I had to program the iPads such that the VIP can use it intuitively. 

You can hear how much the crowd enjoyed this sequence, as well as learning about its features. See the video below!

Hope you enjoyed that!

If you have a product or a campaign to launch, talk to a professional. I will be most happy to design a sequence specially for you!

Signing Off,

Alexander Y (Asia's Top iPad Magician)

Contact me here: 

alexander@ipadmagician.org

Doing Your Best as the Wedding Magician

"Alexander was really a wonderful surprise to many of my guests, who were expecting the standard dinner, speeches and videos at my wedding reception.

The smiles on their faces were priceless.

The excitement, wonder and amazement at his perfectly executed illusions were all that mattered at the end.

I would definitely recommend him to any one looking for something magical (no pun intended) to add to that special occasion.

He’s also a gem of a person, really going all out to make things seamless for the organiser.

Thanks Alex!"

Johsua & Yasha

27th August 2016

Pictures by: Othniel Liew

A special piece of magic for the couple

For anyone who has planned or be a part of a wedding, you would know how stressful it can be. So many decisions to be made and so much to be planned. While my role as a wedding magician is fairly compartmentalized, I do my best to ensure that my dealings with the couple remains as fuss free as possible. I want to ensure that they have a peace of mind when they book me, knowing that their guests will be immensely entertained and they can continue enjoying the rest of their special night.

My main responsibility as a wedding magician is just as important. I make sure that the guests are thoroughly entertained through the dinner, and I make sure my interactions with them brings out moments of joy and wonderment that adds to the atmosphere of the dinner.

Because of the nature of the wedding, the couple tends to miss some of the magic and I always make a point to perform something exclusively special for the couple. 

Weddings can be stressful to plan, but fret not, let the professionals worry about it for you.

;)

Signing off,
Alexander Yuen

_________

Want a fuss free entertainment for your wedding?

Contact me here (or alexander@metaillusions.com), I offer a 20 minute consultation for you and your partner so that you can be sure of a peace of mind when you book me.

Designing a Customized Illusion Show: Singtel Mambo Jambo Retro Night

In November 2015, I had a brief discussion with Singtel on developing a show as part of their customer appreciation event that would be held in mid-to-late 2016.

The concept was finalized to be about nostalgia and reminiscing the past, witnessing how technology has evolved and how Singtel is at the forefront of this evolution.

Singtel also wanted to showcase their latest Mobile Threat Prevention service that blocks and removes malware in mobile devices. My skills in programming and iPad Magic allowed me to be able to showcase this with a visual simulation of the service.

With this in mind, my magic has to have the element of nostalgia without being old fashion. I designed 2 illusions to showcase various objects from the past. The first illusion was a prediction type effect where a spectator would think of a toy from the 80s and it would match my prediction. And the second illusion was to make a retro toy levitate in mid air.

Check out the video below:

The show progressed to a more modern feel where I borrow a spectator's phone and have it appear inside a Singtel case that has been on stage throughout.

The next segment was the Mobile Threat Prevention feature where I performed my brand of iPad Magic to showcase the effects of malware and the capabilities of the service.

While this was technically the last illusion feature of my show, I wanted to end with an illusion that would punctuate the show as well as show our appreciation to the clients.

For this routine, I made a wine bottle appear and then invited the VIPs to toast the audiences.

The whole process of designing, coding, rehearsing and manufacturing took about 4 months of hard work. But at the end of the night, when the audiences cheer with applause, you know it is worth it! 

Signing Off,

Alexander Yuen (iPad Magician) 

Innovation, Technology, Edison and iPad Magic

I am truly humbled that, as a Singapore iPad Magician, I am able to perform my original iPad magic for a diverse international crowd. 

Enjoy iLight 2.0 LIVE!

Invitations to technological conferences are always amazing. There is nothing more exciting than performing my own creation to a group of coders, programmers and technological innovators.

Key Note Speaker from Cisco 

One of the many reasons why technological companies are intrigued by my iPad magic is that I pay homage to innovation, creativity and out of the box thinking through my magic. Through the use of the iPad, I create illusions that breaks the mould of conventional illusions and magic. Hence no square boxes and awkward looking props.

Day 2 of Cisco Connect in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was amazing. I performed my own inventions and illusions with the iPad. Here I am, standing on the Cisco stage, presenting one of my original iPad Magic as a tribute to the greatest innovator of our time, Thomas Edison. You can tell from the reaction of the audiences that they really enjoyed the iPad magic that I presented on stage. 

For booking and information:

info@metaillusions.com

Signing off, 

Alexander Y (Singapore iPad Magician)

Finding Beer in Saudi Arabia, Cisco Conference and iPad Illusions

After a grueling 15 hours of traveling, I am finally in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh. Woohoo! It is a gorgeous place, the charm of this city creeps on you like the light of dawn.

This was the very first picture I took on the ride to the hotel. Incidentally, this is also the place where I will be debuting my iPad Illusion Show. 

I am booked here to perform at Cisco Connect, a technological conference that engages the development of technological advancement. The iPad Illusion Show is a great fit for the theme as I present cutting edge illusions without old cliches in magic. More on that later.

After reaching the hotel, I had a refreshing sleep and then it is back to work. I had to do some last minute programming changes in some of the apps I developed as the customized content was tweaked a little.

Setting up the iPads

Commence Programming!

Singapore is 5 hours ahead of the Riyadh, therefore I was also 5 hours late in replying my emails. I guess no one ever sees the background work of an entrepreneur but it is not all glitz and glamour. After programming, I got to my emails.

Check out that killer view. This is my business suite and my sleeping place for the next few days. Awesome!

We had some time before the technical rehearsal, my stage assistant, Yi Hao and I took a walk. But soon after we took a few steps, we realized it was a better idea to stay indoors. The heat was scorching, we could feel the heat wave on our bodies. If you thought Singapore was hot, try Saudi Arabia.

However, we did the best thing on a sunny day, ICE CREAM! We also found non-alcoholic beer from Budweiser. We did a taste and videoed it, check it out below!

It was then call time for the technical rehearsal. The staging and set up looks magnificent!

I am very excited to perform on the pedestal-looking stage. Tech rehearsals went smoothly and we are good to go for tomorrow and Thursday!

To reward ourselves, we headed back for dinner and tried the non-alcoholic beer. Check out our reaction and thoughts on this in this video!

Yea.... Probably not my thing for now.

I am stoked to be performing tomorrow at the amazing stage for the international conference goers! It is about 10.41 pm right now, which means it is it is 3.40am in Singapore. I am still feeling a little jet lagged. Gonna head to bed soon!

Will be uploading a sample of my show tomorrow!

Signing Off,
Alexander Yuen (iPad Magician in Saudi Arabia)

"Magician of the Month" for iPad Magic

I was given the title of "Magician of the Month" by the International Brotherhood of Magicians (Singapore Ring 115) for the month of March. It was a privilege to be given this title and be recognized for uniqueness I bring into the magic landscape in Singapore.

I performed and lectured on Digital Magic (or iPad Magic). You can imagine how anxious I was presenting this to fellow peers of the industry. But thanks to the years of training in the university, for my BA and MA, I rehearsed and was able to give a very well received lecture. 

Being Magician of the Month in a domain of magic means that your peers recognize you to be the leading figure in that area. This recognition is not something lightly given. If you had followed my work, you would know that it was not an easy journey pioneering iPad Magic.

But as with all aspects of technology, there is a constant pressure to innovate and think outside the box. I am very excited to share that I am working on something really quite exciting, and I will share more in due time!
 

In the mean time, innovate!

Here is the lecture I presented which shows my thinking process behind designing the illusions.

(*Disclaimer, it is going to be quite boring because I've edited the teaching part out)

Logging Out,

Alexander Yuen

Interactive Roving iPad Magic

iPad Roving Magic Promo by Alexander

If you have read our previous article on iPad Magic and Digital Illusions, titled "Evolution of an Artist", you would know that the genre of iPad Magic within Meta Illusions started first with Jonathan designing iPad apps for our Interactive Roving Magic. 

As we progressed we had more need for palour and stage effects in the iPad and they were mostly custom designed to our client's specification.

But that aside, today I want to share with you more information about our Interactive iPad Roving Magic. This is our 2nd most popular engagement next to the Standard Interactive Roving Magic. 

Why iPad Magic?

The unique feature about the iPad Roving Magic is that you can book me to interact and mingle with your guests. You are offering a unique form of entertainment that is hardly seen in the industry; your guests and clients will be impressed by the novelty and the strength of the inherent magic. The best part: How about adding your client's or company's logo into the iPad and using them as part of the magic, at no additional cost?

Complimentary Logo Customization

Up to a limited time, I am offering complimentary basic customization for all my iPad Roving Magic where I would add your company's logo into the iPad and use it do magic. This increases marketing visibility and identity!

Check out the promo above to get a feel of what it is like for your clients to be at the cutting edge of magic! I would love to discuss with you further on thoughts, ideas and proposals for your event and your client!


Signing off,

Alexander Y.

Evolution of an Artist: iPad Digital Magic

One of the most unique services my team and I offer is our iPad Magic, in both roving format and theatrical format. Below is a teaser of our most recent customized commissioned project for DHL Asia Pacific Innovation Center:

Posted by Alexander Yuen: A Finer Side of Magic on Wednesday, December 9, 2015

It all began in 2012 when Jonathan (co-founder of Meta Illusions) came back from his stint in a tech start up at Silicon Valley and was invited to be featured in a Singapore Magic production called "M for Magic". Wanting to be different and to push the edge of magic, Jonathan designed routines and wrote specific codes for the iPad to make coins appear and disappear. Combined with strong magic and visual elements, we were proud to proclaim that we were doing magic that no one else in Singapore does. 

Watch the video below:

The magic was so sensational it got picked up by various media including Yahoo! News, Straits' Times RazorTV and NUS Post.

Because of the video, we found ourselves booked and commissioned by a Fortune 500 company to create a special iPad sequence to describe their production processes to the international dealers. Unfortunately, due to the sensitive content, we were unable to share our act publicly.

In December of 2012, we had a call from RazorTv wanting to do an exclusive interview with Jonathan and myself and our thoughts on iPad Magic. Once again, Jonathan and myself went back to the drawing board in a bid to create magic that is different and impactful.

You can see how we grew in terms of our magic as well as programming sophistication. The effects we did were more emotionally captivating and the apps we created were more complex than before.

From 2013 - 2014, we learned newer coding techniques and created apps for our professional usage, especially in the area of roving magic. Jonathan then took a hiatus on iOS magic programming as he took on a new role as the co-founder of another successful technological start up. The last video we created was a Christmas video in December 2014.

It was also during the same time I contemplated releasing some of the existing routines that we do professionally. But I took the leap of faith and released these videos.

The reception was overwhelming, both on YouTube and Facebook. Because of this video, I was chosen as a finalist for HP's YouTube Academy contest, in which I created other digital magic with a HP Laptop. I created a sequence in tribute to Singapore's Golden Jubilee Year in which we celebrated our 50th year of independence.

Also at the same time in June 2015, I was working closely with Esplanade to produce a show for Flipside Festival 2015 which involved digital elements to it. Because of its novel impact, the show was commissioned as the first digital magic illusion show in Esplanade. Read more about this show here!

A snippet of #VirtualXReality last night at #Esplanade for #Flipside. 2 more shows to go on the 2nd June, 7.15pm and 8.15pm. Come say hi! #magic #magictricks #magician #magictrick

A video posted by A Finer Side Of Magic (@alexander_yuen) on May 29, 2015 at 9:24pm PDT

Subsequently, the novelty and wow factor of these digital illusions caught on and I was commissioned to create more content for my clientele.

In December of 2015, I was consulted to design a digital illusion sequence for DHL's Innovation Center in Singapore. This is the first innovation center in Asia. They specifically wanted an illusion sequence that showcased innovation and technological progress.

And I was specifically told that the big illusion boxes, cutting and squeezing a girl in a box is out of the question.

I had to innovate.

Picture from: http://business.asiaone.com/news/dhl-launches-multi-million-dollar-innovation-centre-singapore

With a short timeline, I not only created an illusion sequence that hit their key messages with a punch but also presented it in a visually alluring manner. See teaser below:

Digital Illusion Show

Since the conception of Virtual x Reality in June 2015, the very first Virtual Reality Show in Singapore, I've been working and updating some of the illusions for my Digital Illusion Show.Some time ago, I was commissioned by DHL to do a fully customized sequence about for DHL Asia Pacific Innovation Center Launch, and here is a short teaser!Enjoy!

Posted by Alexander Yuen: A Finer Side of Magic on Wednesday, December 9, 2015

It is very well received and I am in the midst of collaborating with other artist and agencies on this platform.

You can see how an artist grows in his/her art form. Innovation does not happen overnight, it is all built on and upon previous innovations. No different from magic.

It is coming to the close of 2015 as I am writing this, and when I reflect upon how our Digital Illusions have evolved, I am extremely thankful for the various opportunities and the (paid-off) leaps of faith agencies have with us. I dare say, thanks to our expertise, experience and amazing track record, we've earn their trust. That much, I am very thankful.

2016 is an exciting year ahead with more cutting edge innovations to come. 
 

Have a great Christmas, and see you in 2016!

Signing off,

Alexander Yuen

Customized Digital Illusions: DHL Asia Pacific Innovation Center Launch

DHL launches S$10m innovation centre in Singapore

A couple of weeks ago, DHL launched their first innovation center in Asia, right in Singapore. In order to display their cutting edge innovation, they engaged me to design a series of illusions to showcase some of their capabilities and to tell a story about innovation. 

Posted by Alexander Yuen: A Finer Side of Magic on Wednesday, December 9, 2015

There were a few objectives I wanted to achieve for this illusion sequence:

1. The magic has to be presented in a modern and relevant platform; appropriate for the Innovation Center.
2. The illusions have to be well strung to tell a coherent story.

I spent close to 10 hours wrecking my brains in conceptualizing and designing appropriate illusions for this event. 

After that, a substantial amount of time was spent on practicing and coding.

Painting Sequence: Paint is "splashed" onto the screen.

An effect about Thomas Edison's Lightbulb Invention.

Innovation Idea on reducing carbon prints by making logistics more eco-friendly.

Taking out physical transportation in logistics.

It was an amazing experience for me (and the audiences) to be at the forefront of innovation.

Read more about their innovation center here:

DHL launches S$10m innovation centre in Singapore

Signing off,
Alexander Yuen