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[1] When one thinks of magicians and magic shows, images of children’s parties or grand performances from the likes of David Copperfield come to mind. Here to change that perception are magicians and mentalists, The Clairvoyants, a husband-and-wife duo made up of Thommy Ten and Amelie Van Tass. The pair became a global sensation after their debut on the reality TV competition America’s Got Talent. After garnering the attention of audiences with a blend of mind reading and psychological illusion, they finished as runners-up in 2016.
[2] Now they have launched a new magic concept in Hong Kong. Taking up residency at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, The Magic Table offers a magical dining experience featuring 3D projection mapping. It transforms the dining table into an interactive canvas, allowing participants to shape the magical outcomes of the night. The evening includes a five-course gourmet menu, themed music and props.
[3] During our hosted experience, we took part in the magic act aided by pre-recorded prompts. Before our starter of beef tartare, we were presented with a grid of multicoloured symbols and asked to select one at will. Yet, no matter which symbol the diner chose, after being instructed to move around the grid, we would all end up on the same green key – and that was how the evening of personalised magic began.
[4] Letting the general public perform its own magical acts is not without its downfalls, however. One of the magic tricks involving a small deck of cards was messed up by a diner at the table who, instead of swapping the card with the person to their left, took additional cards from the diner on their right. Amid the confusion, some diners missed part of the pre-recorded instructions, causing the trick to fail for several of them.
[5] Asked if he was afraid the experience would demystify magic for their guests, Ten said that he was not worried. “We want the audience to perform magic by themselves and be magicians for the night,” he said. “We want our audience to learn magic, rather than just watching it on stage. If you’re holding the props and you perform the magic instead of just sitting there and watching it, I think that is a much stronger experience, you know?”
[6] Whatever missteps some diners may or may not have experienced, the trick before the main beef course won us back unequivocally. With a clever combination of 3D-projection mapping and mentalist mastery, diners were asked to pick a style of magic from a series and set aside the corresponding physical card. We were then instructed to move randomly along the table, eliminating some options as directed. To everyone’s fascination, no matter which card we chose to begin with and how we chose to move our random steps, the card remaining reflected our original choice.
[7] But why did The Clairvoyants choose Hong Kong as the first city to introduce The Magic Table experience to the world? “I love the people here,” Ten said. “They are also passionate about magic, but there aren’t a lot of acts or shows here. So this is a great place to launch The Magic Table.”
Source: South China Morning Post, October 6
