As they gear up to reveal their big lottery prediction, Singapore’s JC Sum and Magic Babe Ning have received a ton of attention for the mentalism stunt. Although known for their larger scale illusions, they seem to have hit on a cerebral cord with their latest venture.
They were nice enough to answer a few questions from iTricks via email.
- How did you get the idea for the stunt?
JC: Like many magicians, I actually thought of doing the lottery prediction (specifically the 4D in Singapore’s local context) midway in my career. I guess this would have been about 2002 when I first developed a full mentalism show. However, I had no avenue to do this. Fast forward to early 2009. A couple months before this, Ning & I teleported 3 spectators across the Singapore River in 2.5 Seconds so we ran an informal Facebook poll asking friends and fans what they would like to see us perform next. A large percentage said a lottery-type prediction.
We originally pitched “The Impossible 4D Prediction” to the Singapore
Tourism Board in Mar 2009 for the Singapore River Festival that was to be held in end-Jun 2009. They chose our “The Impossible Record: 15 Illusions in 5 Minutes” instead. So, we waited till now to present our version of the lottery prediction.
- What is the reaction locally to a mentalism effect like this in comparison to big visual illusion spectacle like you’ve done in the past?
Ning: The reaction with public and media has been awesome! While this might be the smallest scale stunt we have done, it has achieved the most amount of buzz in both traditional and new media. Not only did the psychological illusion make news headlines, the term “magic babe ning” was the #1 most searched item on Yahoo Singapore on 21 Jan 2010. But, we also know that it is all our previous mega illusions that gave us the “celebrity” and credibility for people to be interested in us attempting this prediction.
- You guys seem to have quite a following in Singapore, any plans to tour or perform in Europe or America?
JC: Plans have already been in the works since last year so let’s hope the stars are align for us to bring our magic to the U.S. this year!