Magician Gopinath Muthukad

(1) Magician Gopinath Muthukad.

Gopinath Muthukad, a native of Kerala, is a sensational name in the world of magicians today. Among the Indian magicians, the 'Houdini; or 'escape'act had earlier been performed only by P.C.Sorkar(junior). Gopinath has specialized in what is called 'Phantomiya;, a multicolour, romantic, 3-dimensional magic show. He mixes magic with drama to make his shows more interesting. He got recognition from the International Brotherhood of Magicians at the age of 18. 

Gopinath Muthukad's shows are not just magic performances. They are formatted as 'total entertainers'. There are songs, music, drama, dance and what have you. But the beauty is when his artists perform brake dance to Michael Jackson number, his magic wand too dances in his hand in tune with the music, and the colour of the artiste's costumes changes briskly and wonderfully, without any special lighting support. This is what he has to say about the Michael Jackson trick. "I met Michael Jackson some time back, and it was he who suggested this novel idea to me. Now it has become a super hit item". 

Gopinath developed a keen interest in magic when he was in sixth standard. His first public performance was held in 1977, when he was just 13. He learnt subsequently that he must be trained. Eminent magicians like Malayath, Vazhakunnam, P.C. Sorcar Jr., K Lal, Kumar Kalathil, B Dayanand and Sarang guided him. At the age of 20, he took graduation in Mathematics from NSS College, Manjeri. He then formed a troupe named " Mandrafoura". Later on, to pursue his ambition of becoming a good magician, he dropped out of his LLB course 
In 1992 a new technique, "Phantomiya"-a new experiment , was staged. His very urge to create something new keeps him busy and makes him innovative. 

(2)Keeping the tricks for next generation.

Even Houdini wouldn't have thought of it. To celebrate 25 exciting years in magicdom, and be remembered a 
100 years later, intrepid Kerala magician Gopinath Muthukad has locked up a CD documenting secrets of 15 
rare magical acts in a stone box and buried it in the earth, to be opened exactly a century later. At a ceremony 
at Muthukad's Magic Academy in Thiruvananthapuram, he said, "Most ancient tricks, like the Great Indian 
Rope Trick, vanished because they weren't documented. I wanted to preserve mine for posterity." 
Will the box have a magic genie popping out of it too?

(3)International Convention.

Here are a few lines about my time in India. Although it was a few months ago, and much has happened in between, the memories are still very vivid and colorful and I am delighted you asked me to share some of my memories with the Conventions and Events Section of the Magic Web Channel. 

Both Gilles and I were thrilled to be invited to perform in India. Also performing with us were award winning magicians, Fukai & Kimiko from Japan and Jorge Blass from Spain. We were the only non-Indian magicians at the convention. The Convention was the first of its kind to be held in Southern India and was organized by Gopinath Muthukad. It took place in the city of Trivendrum in the Province of Kerela between the 19th and 26th December 2000 and was called Vismayam 2000. Apart from stories about the Indian Rope Trick I had never heard anything about Indian magic, much less even thought that I would perform there one day. 

Unfortunately, much of the Stage and Close-Up magic at the convention seemed to me somewhat lacking and several were copies of many well-known acts. What really made my stay was the superb hospitality and friendliness. However, I must say what impressed me the most was the remarkable 'Street Magic'. These magicians would literally perform surrounded in the street and afterwards 'pass the hat'. I saw some truly amazing magic. My favorite was an 85-year-old magician with a very dark brown skin and a flowing white beard. Very mystical and magical. He then continued to amaze both the audience and myself by producing a real live scorpion from his mouth. As I was standing less than a yard away from him, I can assure you the scorpion came from his empty mouth and not his beard. He then produced a 3-foot snake also from his mouth. He finished his act by transforming a large stone into a white rabbit and to top that, a live King Cobra. 

At this point, much to the amusement of our group of 500 Indian magicians I took off as fast as an Olympic sprinter! Being that close to a live Cobra was not my idea of a fun thing to do! Two days later they were still talking about how fast my legs would move when confronted with the presence of a King Cobra. This was particularly amusing for them as they had seen my act in which my legs change direction in mid-air. 

(4)Indian magician performs Houdini-like escape.

A famous Indian magician, Gopinath Muthucad, enthralled thousands of people with a spectacular, death-defying Houdini-style escape act at the Al Ain festival in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday night.The 32-year-old illusionist from Kerala, India, became in 1995 the first magician in the world to perform such an escape act after the great Harry Houdini's feat way back in 1904. Last night's performance at Al Ain, an oasis town in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, was Muthucad's first attempt to repeat the trick. Thousands thronged the specially-prepared site where the trick was to be performed and emergency services were on stand-by. In front of the crowd, which was kept a safe distance away, Muthucad was handcuffed, chained, and hung upside down from a crane. The crane lowered him into a pile of hay, which was then doused in petrol and set alight. As the spectators watched with bated breath, Muthucad emerged unshackled from the burning pyre in less than 60 seconds. The crowds broke into rapturous applause and many fans carried the magician shoulder-high around the arena.A triumphant Muthucad said this performance was one of his finest hours. ''Naturally, I was nervous, but I knew all along that I could do it'', he said. Muthucad is one of the main attractions at the festival, an annual event held at the 'Fun City' entertainment park in Al Ain to coincide with Id-ul-Fitr celebrations. As in previous years, the organisers have invited performers from around the world to entertain the thousands of people who turn up for the festival each day. Other attractions at the festival this year include dance, music, rides, games, comic skits, a toy circus, mimicry, and a vintage car show.  Muthucad and his 14-member troupe have been mesmerising crowds since the festival began last week and they will perform on all days till February 21. The fire escape act was, however, a one-off event. After performing the trick in February 1995 at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, the magician had decided not to attempt it again. ''I vowed that, like my hero Houdini, once was enough and I would never repeat the act. But the crowds in Al Ain have been tremendous and many people asked me to perform the stunt here,'' he said, explaining his decision to attempt the act in the UAE. Muthucad has many other tricks to entertain the crowds at Al Ain during his daily two-and-a-half hour show. ''Of the 100-odd tricks, three or four are really dangerous,'' he said, making special mention of the 'Water Torture Escape Act'. This was Muthucad's first performance in the UAE, though he has had shows in other gulf states like Oman and Bahrain before. 

(5) Asia's first magic academy being built in Kerala 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM -- The International Magic Academy, billed to be Asia's first state-of-the-art academy for magicians, is being built at a cost of Rs.100 million ($2.13 million) in Kerala and is due to become functional a year from now.
The academy, at the Kinfra Film and Video Park at Kazhakootam, 11 miles from the state capital, is a dream project of the Academy of Magical Sciences promoted by veteran Kerala magician Gopinath Muthukadu.Muthukadu said this project is the first of its kind in the whole of Asia.Its highlight would be a levitating stage and it would have an aroma sensory stimulating system."It would also house a reference library, complete with books and an exhaustive collection of audio and video cassettes on magic," Muthukadu said. "Above all, there would be a classroom which would have all modern teaching gadgets.""The proposed magic academy is being conceived and built on the lines of the world famous Monte Carlo International Magic Theater in Paris," he said. "Work has already commenced and we are being partly supported by the Monte Carlo Prince Grace Magic Theater."Muthukadu said: "The whole idea of setting this up came up when I had a talk with David Copperfield, one of the world's most renowned magicians. I had invited him to be the chief guest of 'Vismayam 2000,' a program that just concluded in the capital city."Copperfield asked Muthukadu, "Since Asia does not have a magic academy, why don't you start one?"And Muthukadu agreed to it immediately.Muthukadu said the academy, to be built on a two-acre plot will have a fully air-conditioned state-of-the-art theater with multidimensional light and laser effects and a very sophisticated sound system."This is a dream theater," he said, "and our aim is to bring magic in everyone's life."

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