Next Journey of Life...

Recently, I saw many of my fellow classmates were distributing their questionnaires to their friends to fill up. One good thing I did notice about UK education is that, undergraduate and postgraduate students are required to write a thesis or dissertation to meet the standard as a business degree student.

Not only my fellow classmates were required to write a thesis, even I myself were required to submit my thesis on this coming May 2009. The scope of my thesis is involved about knowledge-sharing. I really hope this week I would be able to start distributing my questionnaires to my fellow friends, lecturers and other corporate workers to fill up as at the later stage, I have to gather all these information to make a thorough analysis by using a particular software.

I had interviewed a few colleges and universities for the past few weeks and I was surprised to find out that Australia and US Masters, they didn't offered the students to write thesis but instead, just merely assignments. Well, it is too early for me to say or make my own final judgement. Furthermore, the information that I got were just merely covered on a general surface. I did consult my lecturer whose is now taking a PhD and she told me even an Australian Masters programme will require their students to undertake thesis in their course. Perhaps different universities will provide different means of studying the courses or the systems? One thing for sure, after completing my business degree, I really hope I can further my study by taking up Masters degree as I think nowadays, degree is a rather common requirement that most of the graduates had in the industry.

I really hope that this coming April to June 2009 as there are proliferation of education systems that will be held at KLCC and other places, hope I can gain more information or enlightenment from the various universities.

Andrew Loh

What the Magicians Say About my E-books

I love your magic!
-- Didier Dupre (France)

Very nice routine (Meltdown Cardbox)!
-- Todd Ziegler (USA)

I particularly liked your version (Meltdown Cardbox) of the Doug Edwards trick.
-- Iain Moran (UK)

Buy it (Meltdown Cardbox), you won't be disappointed. (Extracted from the Magic Cafe)
-- Raphaël Czaja (France)

I have bought and currently enjoying a few of your card e-books. Keep them coming!
-- Matthew Lingard (UK)

Very nice trick (Divide & Conjure). I like this one a lot. I will definitely work on this effect.
-- Cameron Francis (USA)

I performed your trick (Meltdown Cardbox) for a few friends last night and it went really well. Excellent one!
-- Peter Duffie (UK)

I like (Divide & Conjure) very much because it is easy and direct to the point; these are the effects that I favor. Keep up the good work!
-- Aldo Colombini (USA)

Nice work, man! Good trick! The structure is very clean. And the card popping through the case is very visual (Meltdown Cardbox). Excellent crediting of sources. You are extremely thorough! Judging by this, I'm sure you have other well structured and creative effects to offer. I look forward to seeing them.
-- Cameron Francis (USA)

Andrew Loh

My Ebook Sales at Other Shops

Good day! My products can be purchased at the following site for your convenience:

Ebooks
http://www.lybrary.com/
http://www.elmwoodmagic.com/
http://www.hiddenbookshelf.com/

However, you still can purchase the ebooks directly from me. Thanks!

Andrew Loh

The Loh of Attraction - New E-Book

My ebook "The Loh of Attraction" is available at http://www.lybrary.com/the-loh-of-attraction-p-5370.html?manufacturers_id=297

I have been reserving these three effects for years and have been in my repertoire for many years. All the effects are extracted directly from my act and I am happy to share my pet routine with the magic fraternity. I really hope you enjoy these card magic miracles and hope you have fun performing them whether to your family, relatives, friends or your loved-ones.

The "Shift the Signature" routine has been my all-time favourite item in this ebook as moving spectator's signature from one card to another seems very magical and best of all, you can hand out the signed card as a souvenir. Everything can be examined before and after the routine.

The other two routines "The Sandwich Keepers" and "Metamorphosis" are very visual in apperance. I have enjoyed performing these routines for years.

Here's what a few of them say:

I enjoyed your three-trick ebook. The signature trick is simple and excellent. -- Peter Duffie

I read over "The Loh of Attraction" and I think it's really good! Nice stuff, man. -- Cameron Francis

Thank you for your support and my next ebook "Divide and Conjure" will be out soon.

Andrew Loh

Vernon Meets Bro. Hamman

A few years ago, I had an incomplete effect that utilised the idea from the late Professor, Dai Vernon. I am using his famous plot "Twisting the Aces" to work on with other effects but it seemed didn't work well and the dissatisfaction part was the handling. Due to that, I considered that was my incomplete project and today, I managed to combine this initial plot with Bro. John Hamman's famous effect which is a nice seamless effect.

I truly believe that the traditional "Twisting the Aces" effect has been a widely acceptance tool for every magicians in their impromptu card magic performances. Due to that, I refreshed some of the handling and adding some other plot to make this effect more interesting and powerful. Sometimes, we as a magician if we don't changed any current effect or to create something fresh that we usually do in our performance, there is a high probability that the spectators will feedback to you that they have seen this magic performed by other magicians. They will less impress by watching the same magic again and again. It all depends, you may vary the presentation too and sometimes a good presentation that you incorporate in an effect will create the impact as well.

Andrew Loh

An Ace-assembly Effect

This morning, I managed to come up an ace-assembly effect using non-gimmick cards. I am proud to be able to come up this effect as all these years, I always strive to come up at least one ace-assembly effect which base on my own version and ideas. I have read many versions but the disappointment part is, I lose interests quickly especially using gimmick cards to achieve this plot or there's ditching of cards at the end of the act.

I also dislike to bluff the spectators (I know as we always do), meaning that when you say you are using twelve cards, you really mean twelve cards you will use and not fourteen cards. If you do so, at the end, it seems this act will restrict you to perform other effects and you have to "ditch" the cards. Some versions using sticky-tape to achieve this plot which I think too much of hassle to take up this plot. In this version which I came up, I have to do extensive research whether my version is original or published elsewhere. If it's my own originality, perhaps I will reserve and include in my hardcopy for next year.

I believe my handling is very clean and each of the ace is travelled one at a time to join the leader ace (spades). At the end, your spectators can examine everything. Absolutely no ditching of cards and what I say is what you will get in my this effect.

Andrew Loh

My New Ebooks - Coming Soon!

Recently, I toyed around with a deck of playing cards and somehow I did come up a few card magic effects.

I just have no time to put up everything in scripts but I do hope after my final Business Financial and International Human Resource exams, I would be able to back on track and move things up. I just would like to update my readers that, soonly my new ebook will be on sales.

Again, my materials are mainly cards and I focus in delivering impromptu card magic. As a cardician for all over the years, one thing I notice is that, impromptu card magic is still the best. I am not condeming other card magic that uses gimmicks or special set-up, what I am trying to say is, it is better to perform any magic that can be performed anytime and anywhere. My principle in card magic always aim that vision to create a powerful magic without the use of heavy card sleights. In my "The Loh of Attraction" ebook, I include three of my favourite card effects. There are "A Quick Sandwich", "Metamorphosis" and "Shift the Signature" which are my all-time favourites.

Perhaps I will sell another effect of mine which I called "Collectors Card Case" which is inspired by Roy Walton. In this effect, this involves two selections. The idea is you place the three Kings inside the card case. Any two cards are freely selected and lost in the deck.

Instantly when the card case is opened, the performer tips out the contents and the Kings are seemed to interlace two face-down cards between them. When the face-down cards are removed, these cards proved to be spectators' selections. Spectators may sign their cards if you wish. There are no gimmicks involve in this effect and you can performed with a borrowed deck. There is no set-up, this effect is ideal for walkaround and table-hopping magic.

My next ebook the highlight effect is "Divide & Conjure" and this is my variation to "Spectator Cuts to the Aces" theme with a different climax at the end. I incorporated this effect with some transposition concept and the magic happens right in front of the spectator's face. The spectator cuts the deck and magically the four court cards will do wonders.

If your spectators have seen many versions of the usual "Spectator Cuts to the Aces" plot, in this effect, it will entirely different. On top of that, the "Divide & Conjure" meets the following criteria:

4100% no set-up or gimmicks
4Can be performed with any deck
4The spectators' selections can be signed
4Ideal for close-up or table-hopping magic
4Spectators can freely select any card in the deck
4Everything can be examined before and after the routine

Andrew Loh

Magical Tips

I will share with you the following tips when you perform magic to the public or friends. The tips below are just merely a basic or essential rules to obey in magic. I hope you find it useful and any feedback is much appreciated.

4 Do not overdo it! -- It is not a wise idea to do too many tricks in one session. Four or five knockout tricks should be quite enough for one session. Leave them wanting more.

4 Never divulge your secrets! -- If an audience asks you "how do you do it?" Just answer: "Very well!" or "It's magic!"

4 Never repeat a trick! -- You can repeat the trick unless you can create the same effect by using a totally different method or handling. Forewarned is forearmed - if an audience knows what is about to happen, there is high percentage that they will discover how it happens or you do the trick.

4 People will be watching your hands! -- It's wise to make sure that your hands are clean and well manicured if you are going to do a performance especially in close-up magic.

4 Know what you are going to say before you say it! -- Your patter has to be practised as much as your technique. There is nothing worse than a waffling magician. You could write yourself a script or record it on tape to help you develop a smooth flow.

4 Practise! -- It is essential that you practise until you know the trick backwards - until you can perform it in your sleep. The more you practise, the slicker you will become. Practise in front of a mirror so you can see how it looks from the spectator's point of view.

4 Do not try to make your audience looks foolish! -- Some people get annoyed if they cannot work out a trick. Explain beforehand that your objective is to entertain them. If they knew how you did your tricks, it would be worth doing them in the first place, would it?

4 Tricks sometimes go wrong! -- It happens to the best of us. Sometimes you will be able to disguise your embarrassment because you very seldom tell an audience what you are going to do until you have done it! If it is not possible, the best policy is to laugh off and go on to your next trick. Try not to be thrown off your stride by the problems. Find out what went wrong and at your first opportunity, get in some more practice so that you do not make the same mistake again.

4 Smile! -- Do not take your newly found skill as a wonderworker too seriously. You will not be entertaining if you do. Nobody likes a smart Alec.

Andrew Loh

Egyptian Magic

Egyptians were the masters magicians in the ancient world. It was said that "ten measures of magic" were given to the world. Egypt took nine, the rest took one. A few thousands years ago, the studies of religion, magic and science were intimately interwoven. The paintings on the wall and tombs, for instance, there were actually signify magical spells.

Sometimes, it also regarded as the "Book of the Dead", a source where it details spells, rituals, and incantations to ward off danger and evil in the soul's long journey into the afterlife. The first recorded magicians were in Egypt at the time of the Pharaohs. Magic was an enormous force in Egypt at the time of Exodus. It is known that in the past centuries, those people have the abilities to predict the future recognised as two different gifts. It is said that magicians were also skilled in phophecy at that time.

To Egyptians, words were magical and in order to preserve them, hieroglyphics were created. One of them is the "Eye of Horus", which is often used in magic. Horus was the son of the two chief deities, Osiris and Isis. Osiris's brother Seth killed Osiris out of jealousy. Horus avenged his father by attacking Seth, but during the battle, Seth gouged out Horu's eye. The eye was considered a symbol of the soul in ancient Egypt, so without it, Horus would be denied entry to the afterlife.

Thoth, the bird-headed god of reckoning, returned the eye to Horus in the form of amulet. To guarantee entry into the underworld, ancient Egypts used to place precious amulets featuring the eye on their dead. Haitian, Wiccan, Voodoo, Obeah and Indian mystical traditions inherit the symbolism of the eye as the "all-seeing eye" or the "third eye".

Andrew Loh