Rediscovering Magic with Suhani Shah
A chat with the Avant-garde Illusionist
On the zenith of a 4-day long techno-managerial extravaganza, Pragyan — a delightful ode to technology, innovation and learning — witnessed a magician like no other. With swift elegance and a medley of mind tricks, Ms Suhani Shah performed for the thousand-odd students gathered here at NIT Trichy.
This article is a glimpse of the delightful interview that we had with Ms Shah amidst her busy schedule.
A magic trick is a few seconds of awestruck wonder for the audience. But could you tell us how much work goes into your each of your magic act?
Well, to be fair, any art form that aims to entertain the audience, any craft that requires absolute mastery, always needs an equivalent amount of hard work to be poured into it. Magic isn’t any different. But since that is what I dabble the most in, let me give you an idea. Say, one of the tricks I performed earlier on stage would probably take a total of 30 seconds. But for that one half-minute trick to be pulled off flawlessly, I had to put in months of work.
There’s the conception of the trick, the actual execution of it, and rehearsals, lots and lots (of them).
But for me personally, confidence is the biggest factor. Putting aside the time it takes a trick, the confidence with which I pull it off on stage matters the most.
It’s pretty rare for a magician to label themselves a psychologist. Could you elaborate on that aspect of your performing arts?
Sure. See, when I started learning Magic around the age of 7, I wasn’t really looking at it the way society considers magic today. It was something fun, and I was very much into it. But as I grew older, I grew very much interested in psychology, in how people’s mind worked. Since the magic tricks I specialise in are illusions and linguistic deception, I don’t require props. So, I really had to find out how I could mislead and distract people’s attention to my tricks to have that ‘A-ha’ moment. And psychology was basically just that. I’ve written books on psychology, not a single one on magic, though. They’re really entwined together, two sides of the same coin, so to speak.
You say magic was something fantastical and romanticised for you. Do you think you have a substitute for magic? What would you have been if not a magician?
My passion is more about being on the stage. For example, if you give me a mic and ask me to speak on stage, I can, I’ll have fun and I’ll make sure that my audience is having fun too. I realized that something special happens when I’m on stage. I feel like I’m in love when I’m on stage.
Being on the stage itself is magical and I don’t have to create any trick to make it special.
So, when you ask for something equivalent, I find nothing that compares to what I feel on stage. The stage is my God, my religion and my everything. I feel that this is mainly because I have been performing since the age of 7. I grew up there and I’m more comfortable on the stage than anywhere else.
Any advice that you would like to give to us? Students, youth and aspiring magicians perhaps?
Back then it was more of a conventional atmosphere that loomed over the Indian community. You either became a lawyer or an engineer or some kind of a professional. But the youth today have so much exposure. Now you can even make a living out of painting your nails and showcasing it. Plus, the talent that is out there is immense. Also, technology has a tremendous role in giving us the required exposure and knowledge required to survive out in the real world. So, when you see the big picture you’ll realise that we have knowledge, talent and exposure. The Achilles heel of our generation is that we lack sincerity. I’m saying this on a more or less general scale. People do make things happen. But I feel that we will be able to and achieve more if we are a tad bit sincere. So let’s be sincere, let’s be the Go-getters.
With her charm and abundant flamboyance, Ms Suhani Shah laid the capstone to another memorable edition of Pragyan. From her words, it’s plain to see that she had immensely enjoyed herself, and from her performance, it’s easy to see that her audience were also equally entertained. After all, we all need a little magic in our lives.
This interview was taken in collaboration with Siddarth Arvind.
