Saturday, December 06, 2008

Magic... The Science of Illusion

When I was young, I loved public holidays because they always showed David Copperfield on TV. Then David Blaine exploded on the TV screen in the '90s with his sizzling street magic. I was totally blown away by him levitating off the sidewalk!

Magic. I know it's all explainable, that there's a slew of science, maths & psychology principles behind it. But still, it baffles the child in me. So when the Science Centre brought in an exhibition from California USA, entitled Magic: The Science of Illusion, I had to go check it out for myself.

I dragged Ning along (I interviewed her for Vanilla magazine's Oct 08 cover story), so that she could give me a running commentary on the various illusions. Well, you may know Ning as 'Magic Babe' Ning, Singapore's only professional female magician. Here she is...

Ning, levitating a stone seat... OK, this is not her usual style of magic! 

And here I am ~ or at least, my disembodied head!!!


How is it done, you ask? Well, take a closer look........

Secret of the "disembodied head" illusion..... mirrors!!!

Well, I did an interview with Dr Chew Tuan Chiong, Chief Executive of Science Centre Singapore, on The Living Room the day after I visited the exhibition. Yes, yes, I did my homework. Hey, who says homework needs to be boring? *grin*

Well, if you want to find out the secrets behind the supernatural, head down to the Science Centre for Magic: The Science of Illusion, which is on till February 2009. And in case you're wondering? No, it won't kill the magic in Magic for you.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Magic certainly brings out the child in all us...

It's a good way to introduce science to the students and adults too. :-)

Pam said...

Hi Tiat Leong, did you catch the exhibition at the Science Centre? :)

I was really lousy at Science in school, so I'm envious kids today have such fun ways to learn!