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ಸಂದರ್ಶನ: ಸುಮಲತಾ ಎನ್. Apr 04, 2015

ಅತಿ ಚಿಕ್ಕ ವಯಸ್ಸಿಗೇ ಜಾದೂಕಲೆಯತ್ತ ಆಕರ್ಷಿತರಾದ ಉಡುಪಿ ಮೂಲದ ನಕುಲ್ ಶೆಣೈ ಅವರು ‘ಮೈಂಡ್‌ ರೀಡಿಂಗ್‌’ನಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿದ್ಧಹಸ್ತರು. ತಮ್ಮ ಹದಿನೈದನೇ ವಯಸ್ಸಿಗೇ ಮೊದಲ ಜಾದೂ ಪ್ರದರ್ಶನ ನೀಡಿದ ನಕುಲ್, ಸಂವಹನ ವಿಷಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ನಾತಕೋತ್ತರ ಪದವಿ ಪಡೆದು ಸುಮಾರು 14 ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಕಾಲ ಐಟಿ ಉದ್ಯೋಗದೊಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್‌ ಕಲೆಯನ್ನೂ ಬೆಳೆಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಬಂದರು.

ಅತಿ ಚಿಕ್ಕ ವಯಸ್ಸಿಗೇ ಜಾದೂಕಲೆಯತ್ತ ಆಕರ್ಷಿತರಾದ ಉಡುಪಿ ಮೂಲದ ನಕುಲ್ ಶೆಣೈ ಅವರು ‘ಮೈಂಡ್‌ ರೀಡಿಂಗ್‌’ನಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿದ್ಧಹಸ್ತರು. ತಮ್ಮ ಹದಿನೈದನೇ ವಯಸ್ಸಿಗೇ ಮೊದಲ ಜಾದೂ ಪ್ರದರ್ಶನ ನೀಡಿದ ನಕುಲ್, ಸಂವಹನ ವಿಷಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ನಾತಕೋತ್ತರ ಪದವಿ ಪಡೆದು ಸುಮಾರು 14 ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಕಾಲ ಐಟಿ ಉದ್ಯೋಗದೊಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್‌ ಕಲೆಯನ್ನೂ ಬೆಳೆಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಬಂದರು.

ಇದೀಗ ಜಾದೂ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿನ ತಮ್ಮ ಇಪ್ಪತ್ತು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಅನುಭವದೊಂದಿಗೆ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್‌ ಕಲೆಗೆ ಅಗತ್ಯವಾದ ಕೆಲವು ಮೂಲ ಅಂಶಗಳನ್ನು ತಮ್ಮ ‘ಸ್ಮಾರ್ಟ್‌ ಕೋರ್ಸ್‌ ಇನ್‌ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್’ ಎಂಬ ಪುಸ್ತಕದ ಮೂಲಕ ತೆರೆದಿಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಾರೆ.

** ನಿಮ್ಮ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ‘ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್’ ಎಂದರೆ ಏನು?
ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್ ಎಂದರೆ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಬೇರೆ ಪದವೇ ಇಲ್ಲ. ಅದರ ಅರ್ಥ ಅದರಲ್ಲೇ ಇದೆ. ಕಲೆಯ ಉತ್ತುಂಗ ಮಟ್ಟವನ್ನೇ ‘ಜಾದೂ’ ಎನ್ನಬಹುದು. ಕಲ್ಪನಾತೀತ, ಮನರಂಜನೆ, ತಂತ್ರಗಳಿಂದ ನೋಡುಗರಲ್ಲಿ ಅಚ್ಚರಿಯ ಅನುಭವ ಮೂಡಿಸುವುದೇ ಈ ಜಾದೂ ಕಲೆ.

**ಜಾದೂಕಲೆಗೆ ಬರಲು ನಿಮಗೆ ಸ್ಫೂರ್ತಿ ಏನು?
ನಾನು ಐದು ವರ್ಷದವನಿದ್ದಾಗ ‘ಮಾಂಡ್ರೇಕ್‌ ದಿ ಮೆಜೀಷಿಯನ್’ ಕಾಮಿಕ್ ಪುಸ್ತಕದ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳನ್ನು ನೋಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆ. ಆಗಿನಿಂದಲೇ ನನ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಆಸಕ್ತಿ ಹುಟ್ಟಿಕೊಂಡಿತ್ತು.  ಎಂಟನೇ ವಯಸ್ಸಿನಿಂದ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್ ಕಲಿಯಲು ಆರಂಭಿಸಿದೆ. ‘ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್ ಕಿಡ್ಸ್‌’ನಂಥ ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳನ್ನು ಓದುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆ. ಅದೇ ನನಗೆ ಸ್ಫೂರ್ತಿ. ಹದಿನೈದು ವರ್ಷದವನಿದ್ದಾಗ ಉಡುಪಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮೊದಲ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್ ಶೋ ನೀಡಿದ್ದು.

**ನಿಮ್ಮ ಜಾದೂಕಲೆಗೆ ಮನೆಯವರ ಬೆಂಬಲ ಹೇಗಿತ್ತು?
ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಪ್ರೋತ್ಸಾಹ ಕೊಟ್ಟರು. ತಂದೆ ಬಾಂಬೆಯಿಂದ ‘ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್ ಕಿಟ್‌’ ತಂದುಕೊಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ‘ಲರ್ನ್ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್’ ಎಂಬ ಪುಸ್ತಕವಿತ್ತು. ಅದನ್ನು ಯಾವಾಗಲೂ ಓದುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆ. ಈ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಅಂಶಗಳೇ ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಜಾದೂಗಾರನನ್ನಾಗಿ ರೂಪಿಸಿದ್ದು.

**‘ಸ್ಮಾರ್ಟ್ ಕೋರ್ಸ್ ಇನ್ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್’ ಬರೆಯಲು ಪ್ರೇರಣೆ ಏನು?
ನಾನು ಚಿಕ್ಕವನಾಗಿದ್ದಾಗ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್‌ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಅಷ್ಟು ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಮುಂಬೈನ ಅಂಗಡಿಯೊಂದ ರಿಂದ ಅಪ್ಪ ಪುಸ್ತಕ ತಂದುಕೊಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಈಗ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್ ಕುರಿತು ತುಂಬಾ ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳಿವೆ.  ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್ ಎಂದರೇನು, ಅದರ ರಹಸ್ಯ, ತಂತ್ರಗಳು, ಹೇಗೆ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು ಎಂಬ ಕುರಿತು ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಇರುತ್ತವೆ. ಜಾದೂ ಅನ್ನು ಒಂದು ತಂತ್ರದಂತೆ ನೋಡುವ ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳಿವೆ. ಆದರೆ ಜಾದೂಕಲೆಗೆ ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಬೇಕಿರುವ ಕೆಲ ಮೂಲ ಅಂಶಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ  ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳಿಲ್ಲ.   ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಜಾದೂ ಕಲೆಯನ್ನು ಒಂದು ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಪ್ರದರ್ಶನದಂತೆ ತೋರಲು ಇರುವ ಕಲೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಇಲ್ಲ. ಇದೇ ಕೊರತೆಯನ್ನೇ ಮೂಲವಾಗಿಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡು ಪ್ರಾಯೋಗಿಕ ಕಲಿಕೆಯಂತೆ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುವ ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಬರೆಯುವಲ್ಲಿ ತೊಡಗಿಕೊಂಡೆ. ಅದಕ್ಕೇ ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕಕ್ಕೆ ‘ಸ್ಮಾರ್ಟ್‌ ಕೋರ್ಸ್ ಇನ್ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್’ ಎಂದು ಹೆಸರಿಟ್ಟೆ.

**ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕದ ಉದ್ದೇಶವೇನು?
ಇದು ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಜನರಿಗೆ, ಜಾದೂಕಲೆ ಕಲಿಯಬೇಕು ಎಂದುಕೊಂಡವರಿಗೆ ಹಾಗೂ ಜಾದೂ ಅಭ್ಯಾಸನಿರತರಿಗೆ ತುಂಬಾ ಅನುಕೂಲ.   ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯರಿಗೂ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್ ಎಂದರೆ ಏನು ಎನ್ನುವುದು ತಿಳಿದಿರಬೇಕು. ಅದೇ ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕದ ಉದ್ದೇಶ.

**‘ಸ್ಮಾರ್ಟ್‌ ಕೋರ್ಸ್‌ ಇನ್‌ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್’ ಪುಸ್ತಕದ ಕುರಿತು…
ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಬರೆಯಲು ಒಂದು ವರ್ಷ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಂಡ್ದೇನೆ. ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್ ಕಲೆಯ ಒಟ್ಟಾರೆ ನೋಟವನ್ನು ಒಳಗೊಂಡಿದೆ. ಹದಿನೈದು ಅಧ್ಯಾಯ ಗಳಿವೆ. ಭಾರತೀಯ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್ ಕುರಿತ ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳು ಅಂತರರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಮಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಗುರುತಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದು ಕಡಿಮೆ. ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕವನ್ನು ವಿಶ್ವದ ಅತಿ ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧ ಜಾದೂಗಾರರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಸೇರಿ ಹೊರತಂದೆ. ಪುಸ್ತಕದ ಪ್ರಸ್ತಾವವನ್ನು ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್‌ನ ಇತಿಹಾಸ ತಜ್ಞ ಡಾ.ಪೀಟರ್ ಲೆಮೆಂಟ್ ಬರೆದಿದ್ದಾರೆ.  ಮೈಕಲ್ ವೆಬರ್ ಅವರ ಪರಿಚಯ ನುಡಿ ಇಲ್ಲಿದೆ.  ‘ಹಾರ್ಪರ್ ಕಾಲಿನ್ಸ್’ ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕವನ್ನು ಪ್ರಕಟಿಸಿದೆ.

**ವಿದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಹಾಗೂ ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿ ಜಾದೂ ಕಲೆಗಿರುವ ಮಾನ್ಯತೆ ಏನು?
ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕಳಪೆ, ಉತ್ತಮ ಎನ್ನುವಂತೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಇರುತ್ತದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಭಾರತೀಯರಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ತಪ್ಪು ಕಲ್ಪನೆ ಹಾಗೇ ಉಳಿದುಕೊಂಡಿದೆ. ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್ ಅನ್ನು ಮಾಟ–ಮಂತ್ರ ಎಂದು ತಿಳಿದುಕೊಂಡವರಲ್ಲಿ ಶಿಕ್ಷಿತರೂ ಇದ್ದಾರೆ.  ವಿದೇಶಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಜಾದೂ ಅನ್ನು ಕಲೆ ಎಂಬಂತೆ ಆಸ್ವಾದಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ, ಹೊಗಳುತ್ತಾರೆ.

**ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್‌ನಿಂದ ವೈಯಕ್ತಿಕವಾಗಿ ಕಲಿತದ್ದು?
ನಾನು ಮೊದಲ ಮ್ಯಾಜಿಕ್ ಶೋ ನೀಡುವ ಮುನ್ನ ವೇದಿಕೆ ಹತ್ತಿದವನೇ ಅಲ್ಲ. ಹಿಂದೆ ಎರಡು ಬಾರಿ ವೇದಿಕೆವರೆಗೂ ಹೋಗಿ ವಾಪಸ್ ಓಡಿ ಬಂದಿದ್ದೆ. ಈ ಕಲೆ ನನ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಆತ್ಮವಿಶ್ವಾಸ ತುಂಬಿತು. ಈಗ ಐನೂರಕ್ಕೂ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಕಾರ್ಪೊರೇಟ್‌ ಶೋಗಳನ್ನು ನೀಡಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಅಮೆರಿಕ, ಯುರೋಪ್ ಹೀಗೆ ವಿದೇಶಗಳಲ್ಲೂ ಶೋ ನೀಡಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಈ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿನ ಗಣ್ಯರ ಪರಿಚಯವೂ ಆಯಿತು.

**ಮುಂಬರುವ ಜಾದೂಗಾರರಿಗೆ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಸಲಹೆ?
ಈ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದು ಕೆಲವು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ನಂತರ ಬಂದ ಉದ್ದೇಶವನ್ನೇ ಮರೆತು ಯಾಂತ್ರಿಕವಾಗಿಬಿಡುತ್ತೇವೆ. ಹಾಗಾಗಬಾರದು ಎನ್ನುವುದೇ ನನ್ನ ಸಲಹೆ.  ಅಚ್ಚರಿಯ ಅನುಭವವನ್ನು ನೋಡುಗರಿಗೆ ನೀಡಬೇಕು. ಅದು ಜಾದೂಕಲೆಯ ಮೂಲ ಎಂಬುದನ್ನು ನೆನಪಿನಲ್ಲಿಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡು ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು.

Note: Article reproduced from ಜಾದೂ ಕೃತಿಕಾರನ ಹೊಳಹು – Prajavani

March 20, 2015

SMART COURSE IN MAGIC: SECRETS, STAGING, TRICKS, TIPS (Collins, Rs 299) by Nakul Shenoy offers a crash course to help you “teach yourself magic”. This books will strike a chord with anyone who grew up at a time when magic shows were an immensely exciting prospect, either at birthday parties or in a full-fledged show, and who recognize that the demand for magicians and their acts has declined drastically in present times. The book makes an admirable attempt to prove that magic can be a fulfilling pursuit both for budding magicians and for those who seek to be entertained.

Note: Article reproduced from Paperback Pickings – The Telegraph.

Bangalore Mirror Bureau. March 3, 2015.

There are magic tricks to be learnt, a crafty murderer to be nailed and beautiful verses to be savoured

Weekend of abracadabra

This little book should keep you entertained over the weekend. A Collins publication, Smart Course In Magic — Secrets. Staging. Tricks. Tips by Nakul Shenoy, India’s premier performers, will keep you enthralled, even if you are the skeptical kind. It is a simple and effective off-the-shelf course that teaches the craft focusing on the theory of performance and presentation. You can learn card tricks, coin tricks, mind-reading with cards, card-to-pocket trick and many more. The book will set you on a path to develop the ability to convince people — amaze and entertain.

Inheritance

She was easily the most endearing rebel who defied categorisation. Kamala Das Selected Poems by Penguin can be a nostalgic read for Das’ fans and for those who yearn for a poetry in a world filled with prose. A major poet in English, Kamala Das’s taboo-breaking work explores themes of love and betrayal, the corporeal and the spiritual, while celebrating female sexuality and remaining deeply rooted in the poet’s ancestral tradition and landscape. Selected poems from her previously published six volumes of poetry and few unpublished works find place in this edition. It offers a unified perspective on her poetic achievement.

Cat & Mouse Game

Malice (published by Hachette) authored by Keigo Higashino, also known as the Japanese Stieg Larsson, is an intricate and thrilling read. Acclaimed bestselling novelist Kunihiko Hidaka is brutally murdered in his home on the night before he’s planning to leave Japan and relocate to Vancouver. His body is found in his office, in a locked room, by his wife and his best friend, both of whom have rock-solid alibis. Or so it seems. Police Detective Kaga suspects the best friend’s statement. Kaga finds evidence which shows that the two friends’ relationship was very different than they claimed. It is a brilliant telling of a cat and mouse game.

Note: Article reproduced from Bangalore Mirror: Reading Room dated March 03, 2015.

JUNE 19, 2015

Smart Course in Magic by Nakul Shenoy, Collins, Rs. 299

A simple and effective off-the-shelf course that teaches the craft as it should be taught: focusing on the theory of performance on the theory of performance and presentation. Whether you want to take up magic as a hobby or improve your skills as a professional performer, this book will set you on your way.

Note: Article reproduced from New On The Rack: Smart Course In Magic –The Hindu: Young World

By Jaya. December 2014.

A career in magic & reading minds

About The Writer: Nakul Shenoy

Nakul calls himself a mind-reader and is in fact a professional magician who makes a living out of not only performing magic shows, but also reading minds, understanding how people behave etc and using that knowledge to help companies and brands better their products/services for the end user.

He has been a magician for about 20 years now, having performed all over India and abroad with more than 500 shows to his credit. He has performed for a range of audiences –from elite exclusive groups consisting of CEOs and corporate honchos to a mass audience of 10,000 and more.He has rubbed shoulders with prominent celebrities and as already mentioned, he has been consultant to popular brands in the area of communication and technology, helping them understand user behaviour.

An unusual profession, you might say, but Nakul can convince you that everyone should learn a magic trick or two which, by extension, also includes reading minds. He feels it is a skill that gives you great confidence, helps you break ice socially and helps you connect with and understand people much better. You see, end of the day, it’s really all about human psychology and the science of probability in the context of human behaviour.

Nakul is in fact coming out with his book, ‘Smart Course in Magic’ published by HarperCollins to help people with their journey in magic.It will be hitting the stores this month.

Read on as Nakul shares his journey of how he got into this exciting, if unconventional, profession and what makes it so rewarding….

Why I chose this career path 

I came into magic because I got fascinated by the character Mandrake when I was 5 years old. In fact, till I was about 15 or so I used to walk around thinking and imagining I was Mandrake and behaving like I was him. I love interacting with people and knowing them. For me that’s the prime. So whatever I do or have done over the years, be it in the area of technology or communication, it’s been about that. Magic helps me do that.

How I got into it and trained myself for it

I gave my first public performance when I was 15 and it was in ’94-’95 that I started  performing magic professionally. From then on till about 2001 I was doing regular magic shows. That is, I used to make things appear and disappear etc and then I loved to create stage illusions – producing people, making people disappear, cutting them up etc. But at some point of time I got disillusioned with all of that and I decided to explore more. You see, I have a Masters degree in Communication and I sort of trained to be a journalist. So I decided to apply that to magic and do something different. For example, there’s a field in magic called Psychological Entertainment, which deals with the people’s minds and behaviour, for e.g. you can read what’s in people’s minds and influence them. So that gave me a chance to play a real life Mandrake because I knew hypnosis and I knew magic. By using the skills of persuasion I created a stage character called the Mind Reader. So that’s essentially what I do. The last 12 years or so have been a journey in perfecting the required skill-sets – to be Mandrake. I’m not there yet. For me perfection would be getting people to behave and see the way I want them to, like Mandrake. Most of the skills I use today are trained and developed, and not in-born or intuitive though you do develop some sort of intuition over the years. I trained myself to perform magic, learnt to hypnotise people, to read body language, to memorize and remember at a rapid pace. Also in addition to my academic training in Communication, I have trained myself in behavioural psychology, persuasion and influence.

Job Description

Like I said I love interacting with people and knowing people. So whatever I do or have done over the years, be it in the area of technology or communication, it’s been about that. I’m not an engineer. I did my B.Com and then earned my Master of Science degree in Communication from Manipal University. I have always been keen to understand how people behave, how they use technology. And then I have this other side to me which is a performer and that’s where the magician in me comes into play. The mind reader that I play is a combination of many aspects. It’s not just the persuasion, it’s not just the magic tricks, it’s not just the hypnosis or the memory. It’s about everything put together, and these are my tools. Like a scientist or a mathematician has his tools, I have my tools too. In fact I look at myself as a Communication Scientist and what I really do is experimenting with people. There is a lot of psychology involved there. It also involves playing with a lot of probabilities and controlling people . At the end of the day I would say my main career is performing magic and everything else has been on and off. Magic is something that has always stood by me and will stay with me till my last breath.

Challenges and how I overcame them.   

When I was a kid, till I was about 15, I was literally scared of crowds and have actually run away from facing an audience. But with magic I gained confidence and soon enough I became the de-facto emcee in college. Also, initially my family did not really think I would seriously take up magic as a profession although they did encourage it as a hobby and a lot of money was spent on buying me books, video tapes etc (I’m self taught). They felt I had to have a proper job. You see, today everybody talks about mind readers and so on, but when I started it was unheard of.

My family thought it was possibly a passing fad. They didn’t  really think I would make money from it. But once I started performing and the local media started going gaga over me and I became a local celebrity, my family looked at it quite differently. Yet I must say there has always been this expectation from me to have a regular job. So I do get involved with work projects for companies. But I make sure they are projects that are interesting to me, which means they have to be about understanding people. So it’s been quite a journey. People ask me if I do magic for a hobby. I tell them, no, I do magic for a living. Everything else I do is a hobby. So that’s how I look at it.

I have not had to solicit shows or do any kind of advertising in the last 20 years . It’s all been word of mouth. And over these years I have had chances to travel and work with my idols. I have always believed that I can achieve anything if I put my mind to it. I am a huge believer in destiny but I do believe that destiny is in my hands. I had always wanted to be a magician and I made sure I became one. The dreams kept changing only in terms of the scale of recognition and I have realised them one by one. I think I just need to have a new dream now and have a new set of challenges.

My role models or people I look up to in my industry

I used to watch videos of people like Max Maven, David Berglas, etc, and I did not understand them because at that time I was a big fan of magicians and illusionists like Paul Daniels, David Copperfield, and of course Mac King. Yet I was intrigued by what Max was doing which was more about psychology and he became a role model.  In fact, when I look back I now realise I have always had at least one mind-reading type effect even during my first magic days. Today I am lucky to have personally met and get to know Max Maven and other idols well.

Achievements and memorable incidents 

For me the biggest achievement is being friends and working with people I have looked up to or read about in books or seen videos of, the people I have already mentioned. They know me and respect me for what I have done and that I think is my biggest achievement. Meeting, and spending time with these legends of magic has been biggest boon.  Performing for a specific people of people has also given a high. For example, I had the opportunity to perform for Mr Azim Premji and his team and that has been a high point in my career. The other memorable occasion was when I went on stage at a PAN-IIT event. The event was delayed and I went on stage at about 10.30 p.m after the performances of legends like Siva Mani, Louis Banks and Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, who had already received a standing ovation. I went up after them so late in the night telling myself I had to get a standing ovation too. It was a daunting task, especially after their show. But when I did get it, it was an unmatched experience.  There have been many such highs, but these two are worth mentioning at this point.

Advice to kids who want to pursue magic and their parents

I would surely recommend magic or entertainment as a career and if not as a career, then surely as a hobby. No other skill-set can give you the social confidence to make friends or break ice. In the corporate circles too when I do workshops, I ask people to learn at least five magic tricks. I know people coming from difficult circumstances, financial and otherwise, and making a brilliant career out of magic. There are thousands of people who are successful because of magic in spite of coming from poor or challenging backgrounds. In my own case I have gained so many connects because of my performances. People remember me and I have grown to know top people from the corporate world because of this one skill that I have developed. Also, there are a lot of magicians who have chosen to have another career job – what we call the Day Job. Magic is their Night Job or their ‘Super hero’ job, like Batman. And in their day job, they are much ahead of the crowd in skills-sets simply because of their night job, which is magic. Learning a magic trick can change your life immensely. If you practice and put in effort then it gives you great confidence. In terms of performance, I think it was Churchill who said, “When you go up on stage, think that the audience does not know anything and only you know all about the subject.” In the case of magic it is true. You don’t need to lie, you ARE the only person who knows how to do it. But if you don’t perform well then you will be ripped apart on stage. Remember that. And put in the effort to put up a magical show.

Note: Reproduced from HooplaClub.com – That Job Rocks published in December 2014. (WebArchive)

By Michelle Garren Flye

OCTOBER 31, 2014

Aha! Welcome to party central! It’s the birthday of my new book, Island Magic, and I figured…what better way to celebrate than to have a real live email interview posted on my blog? Nakul Shenoy and I have been twitter buddies since I first started getting seriously interested in magic. He was the first magician to take me seriously, and he’s even read a couple of my books! Now it’s my turn. He has a book about magic coming out, and I thought it’d be a good chance to return the favor. Please help me make him welcome. Also, I’ve decided to give out a $10 Amazon gift card to one random commenter on my blog today, so leave Nakul a question, then beat tracks over to Amazon to buy your copy of Island Magic, if you haven’t already!

~The Interview~

First of all, let me be honest, I don’t want to know the secrets of my favorite magic tricks. I prefer to believe. Should I read your book?

Indeed, Michelle! I agree. Belief in magic is what keeps many of us going; it inspires us to create effects and presentations that represent ‘real magic’. Anyway, my book is not as much about the tricks, as much as it is about learning to present and perform magic. In many ways the real secrets to creating a magical experience.

This book will serve as a good guide to anybody interested in putting together an effective performance in magic, while also helping them in various ways to improve their confidence, public speaking, and social skills.

You should read my book simply because it is a wonderful thing to be able to amaze and entertain others using magic, and it helps us bring smiles to people’s faces.

What’s the biggest misconception about learning to perform magic?

Good question! The way I see it – and this is based on the numerous interactions I have had over the years – there are two major misconceptions about learning magic.

One, people think magic is performed using hypnosis. That in many ways could be attributed to the mysterious passes and gestures that the magicians perform as part of their act. As romantic as it may sound, hypnotism has really not much to do with the stage magic that we encounter most of the time.

The second misconception is that tricks make magic. Much as this is true, the technical aspects of the trick itself – also called method – has a limited role to play in the performance of magic. A magical performance is embellished with the story, presentation, and premise of the effect; it is this that makes a trick into a miracle. Yet, many of us – including professional magicians – cannot get over the search for the perfect method. Somehow, we can’t get over the belief that learning the secrets of tricks is what makes the best magic.

What’s your best advice for aspiring magicians?

The first, second, and third rule of magic is Practice, Practice, Practice. You really have to internalise the workings and handling of a magic trick, before you can even take it to a rehearsal stage – let alone perform before a live audience.

That aside, the focus of the magician has to be on making magic, magical. As weird as that may sound, in many ways we forget what made us get into magic – that feeling of something being real and amazing – and get too caught up in performing magic tricks, because we can. As far as the aspiring magician remembers to give all the attention to the performance, the presentation that creates the feeling of magic in the audience’s minds, they will create magic, and not just perform a puzzle for the audience to solve.

How do you go about teaching someone to perform magic?

Magic is both an art and a craft. It involves skills that have to be learnt first, then mastered, before they can be crafted together into a charming performance. Much like a musician has to learn and master musical notes and a dancer has to learn and master dance steps, the aspiring magician too has to first concentrate on the basics. Once that step has been crossed comes the performance part, where the focus has to shift on learning and mastering the basics of acting. The words of Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin – the father of modern magic – comes to mind here: the magician is but an actor playing the role of a magician.

Why did you decide to write the Smart Course in Magic?

I took to magic as a 5-year-old kid, fascinated by Mandrake the Magician. I wanted to be Mandrake. In many ways, I still do. I took to seeing any magic show that came my way, as many times as I could. I took to reading anything and everything remotely connected to magic. Somewhere down the line, I found books that dealt with tricks, and later also some that dealt with the performance of magic.

It is just fortuitous that I am where I am today in the world of magic, as I had a lot of things falling into place at the right time – to get the proper guidance, mentorship, and of course friendship. This is linked to a lot of circumstances coming together in the right way – a feat no less magical.

The idea for the Smart Course in Magic came though as I wanted to create a workshop in a book. Not one that taught numerous magic tricks – there are too many already in the market – but one that focused on presenting magic in the way it should be. So in this book, the tricks are incidental; they are taught only in the context of learning a larger concept of magical performance. I do believe I have delivered what I intended with this book.

How did you choose mind reading as your specialty in magic?

This came more recently. I was performing stage magic – the conjuring and illusion variety – for about 10 years. Yet somewhere I found that I was going away from my idea of Mandrake The Magician. He did not seem to have a 10-member troupe or a truck load of equipment. That was when I discovered psychological magic or magic of the mind. Dabbling in that allowed me to create an onstage persona of The Mind Reader. And so most of what I do today is limited to the ‘powers’ that I have attributed to that persona.

Have you ever performed other types of magic? Illusion? Sleight of hand? 

Yes! I have walked the path, so to say. I began with close up and conjuring magic – mostly the sleight of hand variety. Then I moved to the stage magic – as I found that more fitting to my context, and performed shows with illusions and conjuring effects. As I said earlier, the move to mind reading was my need – to push myself to other realms of magical performance; to entertain audiences in the best way available to me.

Mind reading is very different from other types of magic, but I imagine they use some of the same psychology. How do you see this?

Yes, they are all various genres of magic. And in many ways, the basic rules remain the same. The methods are varied and different, but what makes any type of magic – magic, is the performance of the same. Yet, there is a great difference in the way you are perceived by the audience, basically because of the premise you are performing in and of course the story of the presentation itself. I like it because there is nothing much to hide behind, and it is magical performance at its purest. It is just the audience and you the performer – with minimal focus on props.

Do humans as a whole want to be fooled?

I do have a theory on that, but in this context I would say that we do wish to be entertained. And in the best possible way. Dariel Fitzkee once wrote, “the audience is there to be entertained – entertained by magic” while reminding that magic was only one of the various other modes of entertainment available. This is a truism I hold dear, and remind myself all the time.

If the focus of our performance is to entertain and entertain with magic, then it never matters what the audience is there originally for and with what intent. So again, whether we wish to be fooled or not, I sincerely believe we wish to be entertained.

What is the biggest challenge magicians face today?

Like everything else in life, the digital age is changing things faster than we realise. Television brought along opportunities to take magic to homes, and now the internet has provided the opportunity to take it to everybody in the connected world. Yet, the real joy of magic is in the performance of it – in front of a live audience. And similarly, it is best enjoyed in first person, live. Somehow, in today’s tech world we are losing the charm of the live theatre performances, and this to me is the biggest challenge for the craft and its practitioners.

Okay, you knew I was going to ask. Can you read my mind over the internet?

Haha! Yes, I indeed did. I think it is best that I share that thought offline!

Ha! Get on out of here, magic man. Thanks for stopping by!

If you want to know more about Nakul, check out his bio below:

NAKUL SHENOY is The Mind Reader – an expert magician and hypnotist based in Bangalore, India. A leading corporate speaker and entertainer with unique insights on communication and people behaviour, he travels the world addressing elite audiences drawn from top corporates.

Nakul took to magic at the age of five via his fascination for the comic book ‘Mandrake The Magician’. He performed his first public show at the age of 15, and since then has continued in his self-professed journey to be “a real-life Mandrake”.

Over the last two decades, Nakul has grown to be a sought-after entertainer for Fortune 500 companies and other coveted events, and has performed at venues in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, UK and the USA.

A compulsive reader of books “on every topic under the Sun and beyond,” he haunts Twitter as @nakulshenoy. Nakul’s first book on performance titled ‘Smart Course in Magic’ will be published by HarperCollins India in December 2014.

Note: Article reproduced from Welcome Nakul Shenoy! And happy birthday, ISLAND MAGIC – Michelle Garden Flye

By Suzanne Sangi. 19th May 2014.

BANGALORE: From time immemorial, humans have been charmed by acts that go slightly beyond what’s ‘normal’ or ‘possible’ — the alluring art of ‘magic’. Bangalore has seen the growth of a number of young magicians — under the wings of older, experienced ones — earning fame not only on a national level but internationally as well.

One of the youngest contenders — Karun Krishna, has proved himself. Currently doing his engineering, Karun started off with magic at the age of three. “I used to play with coins and cards and come up with small tricks. My parents were intrigued by this and took me to professionals to figure out if my behaviour was abnormal or something to encourage,” says Karun. However, since he was too young to join clubs where magic was professionally taught, his father became his guru. “My dad would go to professional magicians, learn from them, then come home and teach me,” he says. “This went on for five years until I found my master — M P Hashim from Kerala.”

Apart from earning titles like the ‘Pogo Amazing Kid’ (2005) and ‘Bournvita Confidence Champion’ (2007), Karun was also the first Indian to be invited to the International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM) Convention held at Dallas in 2011.

Another young magician, Sharan Kuttappa, strives to keep away from ‘mainstream’ magic. Currently a fourth year student at MSRIT, Sharan began dabbling in magic when he was in class 11 and is now a professional performer. Sharan prefers to ‘buy’ new ideas from magicians abroad and incorporates his own ideas with them. “I buy their videos and works, and interact with them regularly. This is how I learn magic,” says Sharan. Meanwhile, Nagarjun Karnatakam, who has just passed out of Christ University this year, believes in his own magic. “I am self-taught — I buy instruments and come up with my own tricks,” he says. Nagarjun is a core member of the International Magic Academy and organises magic conventions and training workshops. With a rising number of artistes in the city, the challenge to be ‘unique’ is faced by these young magicians. “People are looking for ‘new’, or at least new ways of doing the ‘old’,” says Nakul Shenoy, a renowned magician who has been performing for 20 years. “The internet has massively influenced these new-age magicians. With increased accessibility and exposure, they can easily pick up tricks and come up with their own,” he says.

Bangalore is one of the patrons of this art, hosting numerous magic conventions and individual performances. “The lifestyle in Bangalore is such that people have a thirst for entertainment,” says Nagarjun.

Note: Article reproduced from Abracadabra: Their Winning Mantra – The New Indian Express

By DJ Grothe. 07 February 2013.

In 2003, Randi challenged Dr. Emoto’s claims surrounding Tri-Vortex Technology, an “alternative medical technology” developed by Brian David Anderson (in the US) and Anton Ungerer (in South Africa).

Recently in India, Naveen Jindal, a Member of Parliament and one of the biggest industrialists in the country came across the “bangle” and its miraculous claims during his trip to South Africa and believes in its powers. He has recently sent tweets to the effect that he has personally “personally from this” and that it is “unfair to dismiss the claims”.

Indian mentalist, magician and skeptic, Nakul Shenoy, has been applying public scrutiny to these claims, which he believes are harmful to the public good. Randi.org interviewed Nakul on his public education and skeptical activist campaign.

JREF: First off, what is the exact claim and who is making it?

Nakul Shenoy: This “Tiranga bangle” campaign was inaugurated by our Minister of State (HRD) Shashi Tharoor and is avidly promoted by eminent industrialist and Member of Parliament Naveen Jindal, and will be distributed through his Flag Foundation. Then again, it is not just a tri-coloured band that would foster patriotism and the spirit of one-ness.

This bangle, supposedly powered by “Tri-Vortex Technology” and imported from South Africa, claims to cure a long list of ailments — everything from acidity to arthritis — and also purify water and even protect people from harmful cell phone radiation! Further, we are assured that it would “prove particularly beneficial for athletes and the elderly”. There have been a number of media reports that focus on the product launch of the bangle and its amazing properties.

JREF: Isn’t it possible that some of these claims are valid? Have the healing claims about the bracelets been tested by scientists?

Nakul Shenoy: Indeed! It would be a great advancement in science and health if these claims were real! Researching the possibilities, I discovered that CAMcheck (a South African consumers’ guide to scams, pseudoscience and voodoo science) had a couple of articles on this pseudoscientific “technology.” In summary, they call Tri-Vortex related products “pseudoscience baloney, quackery, and scam”.

A second article on the same site speaks about a consumer complaint regarding the product’s false advertisements, which was upheld by the South African ASA Directorate as being unsubstantiated and in contravention of the local consumer protection laws.

JREF:  If the claims are real, it would be a huge advance in medical science. Are you willing to conduct a test of these bands yourself, should the company accept the challenge?

Nakul Shenoy: India is a country plagued by superstition, “black magic,” quack cures and magic remedies, and so the last thing we need is that our Members of Parliament peddle or support by association such snake oil to the gullible. The very least our MPs could do is put this product and its claims to a rigorous scientific test with respect to its medical claims.

After a sustained Twitter campaign questioning and ridiculing the claims of the Tri-Vortex Bangle, we finally saw the Minister of State Shashi Tharoor issue a public clarification that his launching the product in no way endorses its claims, and that “scientific temper requires that any claims of health benefits be tested empirically before being accepted or dismissed“.

This clarification from Mr Tharoor is a huge win in itself for the campaign we have been running. After all, if the technology is found to be real and beneficial, we should indeed harness its amazing life-changing properties for the benefit of one and all around the world. On the other hand, if it proves to be a pseudoscientific fraud — as I believe the evidence clearly demonstrates — we would prevent thousands of our countrymen in India, and in other countries, from falling prey to yet another scam that has the potential to hurt their health as well as their pockets.

In this particular context I am exploring organizing or conducting controlled group experiments to verify the validity of the claims. These would be held under proper observation conditions and would help validate the claims, if they can be substantiated. I am confident that the James Randi Educational Foundation will also come forward and happily put the One Million Dollars from its Paranormal Challenge on the line, should the claimants apply for the test.

JREF: Why is a Minister of State and Member of Parliament in India involved in promoting such products? Are you suggesting they have financial interests?

Nakul Shenoy: Not at all. Mr Tharoor and Mr Jindal count among of the more respected and well-meaning parliamentarians in our country. Plus Mr Tharoor has just issued his clarification that his launch in no way endorses the claims.

The reality is that despite ample evidence to suggest that the so-called “Tri-Vortex” technology is pseudoscience, Mr Jindal remains convinced that the technology is real and insists he has personally benefitted from it. Thus, he sees no harm in making this “technology” available to others, in spite of numerous articles online questioning the veracity of its tall claims — especially with regard to its healing properties.

It is in this bleak context that I implore on our popular, well-meaning MP to be an example of working in the public good based on science and desist from promoting quackery and pseudoscience. If anybody is convinced from personal experience that what they have on offer is real, the least they can do is validate it through scientific lab tests. And this is what we hope Mr Jindal would also agree to.

JREF: What can our readers do to help you? Can we assist even if we do not live in India?

Nakul Shenoy: Those of your readers who are from India can help us immensely by supporting the petition and requesting the parliamentarian to reconsider their stand in support of this scam product. The international readers too can pitch in making the world more aware to this new scam that is making the rounds.

Everybody, no matter where they are, can help in spreading the awareness to their friends and contacts and making the movement stronger. After all, this “technology” has now reached Indian shores from the USA and South Africa, and there are also a few reports of its existence in UK and Australia. So clearly it is developing into a global scam.

JREF: Big picture, why do you even care about this issue? Shouldn’t people be able to believe what they want without your trying to restrict their ability to buy products you don’t believe in?

Nakul Shenoy: Having been a performing magician for most part of my life, I have faced numerous situations where people, educated and well-to-do ones at that, associate magic with paranormal and yogic powers.

Research exists in India and abroad to show that even among the well-educated, well over one third of the people associate simple magic tricks to being the fruit of yogic or paranormal powers!  If this is the case among our more educated and in our cities, one can only fear the worst among the millions that make our villages and the country.

Of course, people have every right to believe in what they want and to buy what they wish. Yet, it would always be nice to be able to prevent the gullible from being taken for a ride, and that’s why I am ringing the alarm bell, much like James Randi and his foundation has been doing about similar scams for decades. I hope that we will be able to diminish belief in this fake product, if only to help people from being abused by unscrupulous promoters of the fake healing bands.

For more information about the Trianga Bangle, check out Nakul’s post here.

And please sign his petition to stop promoting unscrupulous magic cure products here

Nakul Shenoy is The Mind Reader – a Bangalore-based professional magician and stage hypnotist. An occasional blogger at www.nakulshenoy.com, he haunts twitter as @nakulshenoy.

Note: Article reproduced from Help Indian Skeptics Fight New Nonsense – JREF SWIFT

By Nishala Murthy. March 03, 2013.

About  NAKUL SHENOY 

NAKUL SHENOY is “The Mind Reader” – a leading corporate speaker and entertainer based in Bangalore (India). An expert in Persuasion, Influence, & People Behaviour, this wonder-worker travels the world addressing elite audiences drawn from top corporates.

Globally acclaimed for his unique, high-impact presentations, Nakul has performed at venues in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, UK and the USA over the last two decades. He holds the unique distinction of presenting seven TEDx Talks in addition to numerous super-successful sessions at premier conferences & events.

A Master of Science in Communication with two gold medals from MIC (Manipal), he is the only Indian to be awarded memberships to the Psychic Entertainers Association (USA), the British Society of Psychic Entertainers (UK), and The Magic Circle (London), and is a Wizards Award member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (USA).

A speaker of choice at Fortune 100 and other premier corporate events, Nakul has worked his magic at coveted events of Apple, Bosch, Cisco, Dell, Ford, GE, HP, HSBC, IBM, Infosys, ING, Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft, Oracle, Samsung, SAP, TCS, and Wipro, to name a few.

With over a decade’s experience (and multiple patents to his name) in Usability Research and User Experience Design, Nakul is a co-founder of PeepalDesign – a premier usability research and design firm. Among his various creations are the thought-provoking “Thinking Kit” and his first book “The Smart Course in Magic” which he recently completed writing.

A compulsive reader of books “on every topic under the Sun and beyond,” he is an occasional blogger at www.nakulshenoy.comand haunts Twitter as @nakulshenoy [Src: http://www.nakulshenoy.com/about-nakul/ , http://www.nspcw.com/about/ ]

THE RENDEZVOUS

I first met Nakul several months back at a corporate event. He did a “Mind-Reading performance” on the stage and I was one of his “on-stage audience volunteers” (I guess that’s what you’d call random people picked up from an audience and put on-stage). As the session progressed, I was the first to exit the stage :(. He said “I was a complete give-away on stage, and it was so easy to read my body language”

After the event, we got talking and he handed me his visiting card. All it said was “Nakul Shenoy – The Mind Reader” and that fascinated me a great deal. I mean someone with an official designation of “Mind Reader” – The first I’d met in my life!

After the small chat and general talk, we said our Good-Byes. However, the word “Mind Reader” continued to linger in my thoughts. So I read about his work, did a little research about magic and “Mind Reading” and found it to be a fascinating world of its own.

Along the way, Nakul and I continued to stay in touch – Off and on. And then I thought “Why not learn more from Nakul himself?”.

So I sent him a request on whether he’d like to feature in the Nischala’s Blog-o-RendezvousSeries.

Gladly for me, he said “YES”

In this rendezvous, we discuss the world of magic, mind-reading and Nakul’s foray into this world of magic.

So, let’s go on a magical rendezvous

Nischala: Nakul – Thank you so much for your time. 

Nakul: It’s my pleasure! Thank you for being interested in my work.

Nischala: Let’s start from the beginning. MAGIC as a word is something which is of interest to everyone –especially in childhood. As kids, we all believe that there is magic in the world around. Somehow as we grow, the “magic” just dies. So how did you manage to keep “Magic”in your life or rather make “Magic” a part of your life?

Nakul: I have always been fascinated by magic. Whether it was a Mandrake the Magician, Enid Blyton’s magic carpets, random books starring magic, or even the occult – they all interest me.

I must have been five, when I came across “Mandrake the Magician” – I loved the fact that Mandrake could make the most amazing magic happen with just a wave of his hand! “Mandrake gestures hypnotically” captured by imagination, and right from that moment, I have wanted to be Mandrake.

I guess somewhere I did not quite grow out of that childhood dream, and so I became a magician. And I continue to try to live up to my dream of being a real-life Mandrake.

Nischala: So how did your journey into the world of magic come to be?

Nakul: Since I was so very interested in Magic and always play-acting as a magician, my dad got me a children’s magic kit and that began my journey in magic. As the years passed, I continued to learn from various books and practice magic. Yet I was too scared to perform in front of strangers.

In 1994, Udupi – where I am from – hosted an all-India magic convention. I was too shy to call and enquire about what the event was about or how to participate in it. I thought you needed some special qualifications or be a performing magician to attend the convention. So all I did was attend the public performances every evening. And I really enjoyed those performances!

A couple of weeks later, the event organizers of that conference along with Prof Shankar and Junior Shankar visited our shop and my uncle mentioned that I was keenly interested in magic. Looking back, that moment changed my life.

A few days later, Prof Shankar and Junior Shankar visited my home as promised to see me perform a magic show for them. There I was in the drawing room of our house, performing the first (and possibly worst) show of my life to two world famous magicians! They then gave me encouraging feedback, advice of the routine in a show, and other valuable tips and left.

Much to my surprise, in a few weeks they recommended my name for a public performance at a local temple for a Ganesha Chaturdashi event – and that’s how I got my first public on-stage magic show.

Before this my “performances” where restricted to the four walls and to the exclusive eyes of friends and family. I was too scared to go on a stage or perform for a real audience! Yet when I went on stage that day – at the age of 15 – to perform magic to an audience of about 500 people, I was transported to a different world. That feeling was magical and clearly set me up to the realization that “I want to do MAGIC”! Luckily for me, my first stage performance was a grand success – And there’s been no looking back since then!

During my college days, I continued to perform magic and hone my skills. We had a team – primarily my friends – eight people and we started doing bigger magic shows (for festivals, parties, events, etc.). But as my shows grew, so did my props, we now needed a van to transport all our equipment for each show – as I felt that audiences wanted to see people being vanished, produced, cut-in-half!

It was about ten years since had started performing magic, that I began to get disillusioned with the bags and baggage I needed to perform my magic. My mind and heart kept asking me “Mandrake does not use props. He has no trucks with magical equipment’s, then why do you?”

Fortunately it was around this time that I came across the field of “psychological entertainment” or “Mentalism” as it is known ; and began researching more about this subject – a genre of magic that deals with the seeming powers of the mind. And so my journey into Mind Reading began and the urge to be Mandrake continues.

Nischala: That’s an interesting journey. So you call yourself a corporate entertainer – So what does corporate entertainment include – Mind Reading? Magic Shows? What else?

Nakul:  A lot of people think and believe magic is for kids. But that’s not true! And as a performer, I’ve realized that magic is enjoyed more by adults. It transports them to a magical land; and they are happy in this land of make-believe.

In 1999-2000, after my masters I shifted to Bangalore for an IT job, and it exposed me to a different kind of environment, audience and possibilities. Plus I knew that I could do things very differently from everybody else!

So I thought “Why not Magical Entertainment for adults?”. During that time I was only doing some select private engagements. For e.g., I did many shows for the IAF (Indian Air Force) and the Air Marshall turned into a big fan of my presentations. The foreign military officers who were the guests loved it. I realized this had potential; and a wider audience could be interested in it.

About 10 years back I started working on my first show called “Beyond Magic” which applied the principles of human psychology, body language, hypnosis, magic, etc. – to give a performance which seemingly works on the “Powers of the Human Mind”.

That is when I began doing exclusive shows for Corporates – for their various events, be it employees, partners, clients – and began calling myself a Corporate Entertainer. My focus is always on entertaining the audience – and so each shows is customized with the audience in mind.

I transform into “The Mind Reader” by combining all my skills, be it persuasion, influence, hypnosis, magic, body language, memory… all of which deal with the “Human Mind” – I am trying to be a Mandrake, at least on stage!

Nischala: That ONE audience response / feedback that was most memorable?

Nakul: Well, there are two moments which stand out in memory.

The first was when I was called in to give a show at Wipro to the senior leadership team, i.e., the Chairman (Mr Azim Premji) and all his direct reports. It was a small gathering, and I was informed that there is a possibility the Mr Premji would not stay to see my whole show as he had other commitments, and hence I should be prepared for this. I said, sure. Yet, after I started performing I observed that Mr. Premji was enjoying himself thoroughly and that made me really happy. Towards the end, I conjured the courage to ask him if he would be willing to be a part of one of my acts. And again, he gladly agreed and did participate. So in the end, the event was an outstanding success & I was happy to be given the opportunity to be able to perform in-front of Mr. Premji himself; and also proud that he enjoyed the show and sat through the entire performance. Also, after the show he spoke to me and mentioned that he enjoyed the performance. So that is special and will always be memorable.

The second was when I was called to perform at IIT Mumbai for a Pan-IIT event in 2006. I was supposed to go on-stage at 7 PM, but the show was running late and I finally got to go on stage at 11 PM. Now the other little detail was that just before I went on stage, there was a performance by Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Sivamani and Louis Banks. They had a full auditorium with a roaring crowd, and received a standing ovation at the end. “The performer ego” in me, I guess told me that I had to get a standing ovation too :). And I’m happy to share that the show went really well, and when I finished – at 11:40 PM – I got my standing ovation too!  So that was very special, and on very different terms from the first experience.

Nischala: So, what has been your most “magical moment” as a magician?

Nakul: Magical moments there are too many to list. Watching David Copperfield perform live was one, watching the performances and spending time with some of my idols in Magic especially Mac King and Max Maven is another. Meeting Uri Geller and then spending time with James Randi all in a matter of two weeks is really special too.

Everything I do, I relate back to magic. If not for learning magic, I would not have led this life that I am leading. I have met some wonderful people and made good friends across the globe, only because I am a magician. So today, clearly magic is life and life is magic.

As a magician, the one magical moment was performing at The Magic Circle in London, the most prestigious magic club in the world, and being offered membership right after that performance. That is special, because in many ways it was special for my country too.

Nischala : OK. Moving on, your site and work speaks about the word “influence”. So how can a magician / mind-reader influence anyone – be it a CEO or a celebrity or an ordinary soul like me ?

Nakul: “Influence” to me is really about influencing “human choices”. There are a lot of factors which go into how human-beings make choices for anything in life; and it is amazing how one can influence these choices. In each situation we think that our choice was our own and thus a free choice, yet the learning’s from behavioral psychology make it clear that we are influenced by the context, the surroundings – in fact everything around.

Using these learning’s to influence choices and persuade individuals towards changing decisions interests me a lot. Whether it is making people call out colors that I want them to or influencing their choices of playing cards or random numbers – it is fun, and a great learning too.

If I asked you to imagine a color, you may think black, or even white. But if I could make you think of blue without seemingly doing anything… Now that fascinates me. I guess that is the “communication scientist” in me trying to understand just how far you can push the envelope.

Nischala: OK. Another Question. Have you been formally trained in Magic?

Nakul: No. I learnt hypnosis by attending a workshop by Pradeep Aggarwal at age 17. Magic per se I am largely self-taught. When I began it was essentially from reading a lot of books on magic. And I continue to read and build my repertoire from books and other magical literature. I have an amazing collection of books, and it continues to grow.

I have also had the good fortune to have good friends in magic right from when I began performing. Friends like Prahlad Acharya, who is among the best magicians India has produced; he continues to be my sounding board as I work on developing any new idea.

Having said that, over the last six years I have had the occasion to receive personal training from some of the most brilliant minds in magic. And that comes at the right moment when I am vying to make my magic better and best.

I am fortunate to count many of the top performers and magical thinkers as friends and well- wishers, and consider myself most lucky to have learnt the nuances of the craft from some of the stalwarts of our field. This includes my guru Bob Cassidy whose work in this genre – of psychic entertainment – I deeply admire, and whose theories and ideas influence most of my work.

 Nischala: Your profile says that you read a lot and you also mentioned during the course of our conversation that you have an amazing collection of Magic Books. So what is your favourite book on Magic? And otherwise?

Nakul: Yes! And not just Magic, I have an amazing collection of books on almost every topic of interest.

Books remain the first love of my life. I would not have been a magician if not for books – be it Mandrake, much of Enid Blyton, or even the books on magic themselves. I don’t read as much as I would like to, is how I always like to see it. I read anything and everything, although nowadays it is mostly non-fiction and behavioral topics.

I have always been a big fan of occult and magic related writings, communication theory, psychology, polity, war and propaganda, Wodehouse, Perry Mason, you name it… The joke at home is that everybody wishes they were treated as special as my books – for then they would at least get their own room!

Favorite book is always the most difficult question to answer. One of my all-time favorites is Illusions by Richard Bach, and if you are interested in learning magic you should definitely pick up a Henry Hay book.

Nischala: I also see that you have co-founded PeepalDesign – which is a usability Research and Design lab? So are you actively involved here? And are there synergies between magic, mind-reading, research and design?

Nakul: Well, I am one of the three co-founders at PeepalDesign and handle the Usability Research side of things. Given I have over 10 years of work experience in this area, and also that people per se fascinate me a great deal – I love the research work. It is a phenomenal learning experience to see and observe users in a lab set-up. And every new research project gives me valuable insights into human behavior, which again enables me to refine my on-stage performance and shows.

 Nischala: I also see that you travel abroad for shows and events. So are there a global communities / associations for magicians?

Nakul: There are a lot of magic communities and a couple of prestigious clubs for psychic entertainers too. I am a member of some of these including, the Psychic Entertainers Association (USA), British Society of Psychic Entertainers (UK), and The Magic Circle (London). Incidentally, I happen to be the only one from India to hold memberships to all three prestigious associations.

The primary focus of these associations is to enable the members to exchange ideas and learn from each other, and also conduct periodic meetings and conventions. The conventions allow a lot of us from around the world to meet and perform together under one roof. The audience gains a lot as they get to see the best talent together on one stage. It is also good for the performers as we get to perform in a different country and in front of a diverse audience.

These communities / associations also have online forums for members to share thoughts, ideas and exchanging experiences based on what worked or what did not work. The other useful insight that we all share is the cultural space / context which influences the actual performance. This is very important especially in our area of work which draws a lot from behavioral psychology and cultural contexts, as what may work for an audience in the US or London may not necessarily work in India.

In some instances like-minded performers come together to perform joint shows too. For e.g: Four of my friends in Australia teamed up and did a series of stage shows. So it is definitely invaluable to be part of these communities / associations.

Nischala: OK, Moving on. Do you personally see any role and impact of Social Media in your line of work?

Nakul: Well, definitely Yes! Social media has helped in many ways. I used to be an active blogger in early 2000, but nowadays it is only occasional blogging. Twitter is now my preferred channel of communication. It is an outlet for my thoughts, ideas and activism. Even a place for me to engage in theoretical discussions.

And in terms of helping “Nakul Shenoy – The Mind Reader” it has definitely helped to creating more awareness about my work, and about me as a performer. Best of all, people know you as a person, and that helps a lot in personal networking, brand building. It also helps me get engagements, be it events / shows.

 Nischala: Anything else you’d like to share as a part of this Rendezvous?

Nakul: Not really. You have not allowed me to leave anything unsaid! So great work on your part. If your readers come back with a lot of questions, you can always direct the top three of those back to me. I would be most happy to answer them.

Nischala: Thanks so much for your time. It was an absolute pleasure

Nakul: Thank you! The pleasure was mine too.

Note: Article reproduced from Nischala’s Blog-o-Rendezvous with NAKUL SHENOY – Nischala’s Blog