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flipside festival

Esplanade Presents: Elephant In The Room (Flipside 2019)

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Esplanade Presents: Elephant In The Room (Flipside 2019)

We just finished the first weekend of Flipside Festival in Esplanade and it was wonder!

Our Scratch Night performance called Elephant in the Room was well received by the lay audiences.

Here are screen grabs from that night:

Elephant in the Room Magic Show Anderson Chua
Alexander Yuen Anderson Chua Meta Illusions Flipside Festival

This show can be described as cerebral and gestalt. Because if you look at the individual pieces, it might not make a lot of sense. Only when the show is over, and on hindsight, the full picture forms.

We are playing again this Friday (31st May) at 9,45pm at the Annexe Studio. See you there!

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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. In his (little to negligible) free time, he enjoys films by Christopher Nolan, Spike Jones and Makoto Shinkai. The best feeling one can give is to give his/her audience the satisfaction of realization and everything is illuminated.

Want more information about Esplanade' Presents’ performances? Contact him at alexander@ipadmagician.org

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Singapore Magic in Art's Spotlight: 2 Shows by Esplanade Presents (Flipside Festival 2019) [Details here]

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Singapore Magic in Art's Spotlight: 2 Shows by Esplanade Presents (Flipside Festival 2019) [Details here]

If You Can Imagine by Alexander Yuen iPad Magic

It is not every day that magic gets feature in a prestigious Art venue like the Esplanade. Though I did a show a by the Esplanade Presents programme in 2015 (Virtual x Reality), it is truly a feat for us to do 2 shows under the Esplanade Presents feature! It was not easy to be able to convince Esplanade to feature magic.

As I have learnt they had many magicians apply for the same programme but most of them lack artistic rigor and look too similar to a dinner and dance programme.

My involvement in Arts Festivals and directing magic content allowed me to see magic in a different way. I see magic as a vehicle to move narratives and emotions. Moving beyond just entertainment, magic can truly mean more than just the giggles and laughs.

Elephant in The Room Alexander Yuen Anderson Chua Flipside Festival

The shows, If You Can Imagine and Elephant in the Room are distinct pieces of magic show. Though they are both directed by me, they both have qualities that capture the hearts and minds.

If You Can Imagine (26th May & 2nd June: 6.30pm | 7.30pm @ Concourse)

If You Can Imagine is one of the projects I have been working on for many years. It always starts off with a simple idea and then it grew to a 30 minute performance. This show uses multiple iPads for the magic and storytelling to move a narrative about imagination.

Conceptualizing the show took me about 3 months and the programming itself took me 4 months. This is quite a technology intensive show. And I can assure that if you have not seen multiple iPad Magic and story telling, this is one show you do not want to miss!

Here are the details in brief:

Esplanade Presents: If You Can Imagine

Venue: Esplanade’s Concourse

Date and Time: 26th May and 2nd June (6.30pm and 7.30pm)

Elephant in the Room (24th May & 31st May: 9.45pm @ Annexe Studios)

One of the best lessons when I was an undergraduate psychology student was learning about information processing and that once a person learns a valuable information, it can never be unseen.

This forms the backbone of Elephant in the Room

My objective with this show was to craft a performance that can be experienced before, during and after the show. Valuable bits of information, hidden in plain sight, are planted throughout the show. And when the finale comes, it comes as a satisfying revelation.

Together with Anderson, we crafted this show to have an intellectual slant to it. The show itself has a variety of unorthodox magic pieces and even a viewing gallery before the show begins (which is part of the show)

Come by and experience the Elephant in the Room for yourself!

Here are the details in brief:

Esplanade Presents: Elephant in the Room

Venue: Esplanade’s Annexe Studios (Next to Outdoor Theatre)

Date and Time: 24th and 31st May (9.45pm. Come by early at 9.15 onwards for seating!)

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I really hope to see you guys there for an amazing and artful experience. This will not be just “another magic show”, this will truly be an experience for you.

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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. In his (little to negligible) free time, he enjoys films by Christopher Nolan, Spike Jones and Makoto Shinkai. The best feeling one can give is to give his/her audience the satisfaction of realization and everything is illuminated.

Want more information about Esplanade' Presents’ performances? Contact him at alexander@ipadmagician.org

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Evolution of an Artist: iPad Digital Magic

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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:

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!

Alexander Yuen Esplanade Digital Illusiuon

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

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

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

 

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Debut Performance at Esplanade: Virtual X Reality

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Debut Performance at Esplanade: Virtual X Reality

The Esplanade is a renowned arts performance venue in Singapore that showcases art performances and galleries.

Digital Illusion Show

Magic hardly gets recognize as an art in Singapore. But this year, I was booked at the Esplanade. I was there to debut my latest show Virtual X Reality. This is a show that crosses the boundaries between what is real and what is unreal. For most magic shows, magic tend to be linear in that there is no real transference of emotions from the artist to the audiences. It is mainly visual surprises laden along the show.

The organizers wanted a show that is light hearted but yet had an artistic element to it. I worked hard to craft out a story for my show, with the subtext of questioning whats real and whats unreal. With the help of director, Jeremiah Choy and circus artist, Jay Che, I refined the story and the magic.

I was pleased with the end result, a show that creates wonder through magic and illusion through technology.

I am also very grateful that Esplanade took the leap of faith for my show and gave magic a shot at being recognized as an art form.

Many other exciting projects for me ahead! Stay tuned!

Signing off,

Alexander Yuen

 

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