A Magical Journey

The STAR’s 18th Anniversary Celebration last month, magician Eric Mana dazzled an initially skeptical crowd with trick after magic trick, making believers out of them. Near the end of the show, he asked columnist Jarius Bondoc to sit on ten playing cards and to "squeeze hard with his butt cheeks".

Bondoc gamely complied, and as Mana chanted the magic words, he ordered his willing victim to stand up and hold the cards out for everyone to see. The audience counted seven! Without touching the cards that were under the columnist’s bottom, Mana made three of the cards vanish. It was an impressive trick, and he got a well-deserved ovation.

"That’s why it saddens me when people look at me in a funny way after I introduce myself as a magician," Mana says. "They’re probably wondering ‘why?’ and I can see that they don’t really respect the craft. It’s an art, you see, and as magicians, we’re here to bring wonder and amusement into people’s lives. What’s so wrong about that?"

Well, nothing–at least for him. If anything, Eric Mana is making a fine living, performing his wizardry at corporate shows and private parties. Recently, he co-produced and starred in his own TV special "Stranger", which aired on Studio 23. It was the first of a three-part series, and features Mana’s version of street magic a la David Blaine. He is currently working on the next episode, which is scheduled to air this November.

"I wanted to try my magic here, to test the waters, to see if Filipinos would embrace it. And so far, it’s been great," he says. "I mean, ‘Stranger’ was a hit and people began asking me if it was going to be a weekly thing. I said no because I didn’t want viewers to get tired of it."

"The goal here is to bring back the respect that magic deserves," he stresses, "to change the minds of cynics and for them to appreciate it."

That goal, however ideal, may seem like a rather difficult mission because many still think of local magicians as clumsy, bumbling hacks performing at kiddie birthday parties. And Mana himself agrees that it might take more than magic to break this stereotype.

He has been a professional magician for 14 years now, and has worked mostly in Canada, where he and his family migrated.

"I started practicing magic when I was eight years old. It all started after this kid showed me a coin trick," he recalls. "And it soon turned into a passion. My folks, thankfully, never forced me to do anything I didn’t want. It’s unusual for parents to be so understanding of their kids’ silly hobbies. So for me, they’re wonderful. It became my profession after college, even though I majored in audio engineering."

After his studies, Mana toured around his adopted country with the group Princess Karma & Company until he decided to go solo in 1993. He then apprenticed under Gary Edmonds and Eric Slone, whom he says taught him the theories and principles of magic. He also learned stage hypnosis from Jason Hurley and Steve Jess–two friends and mentors who were notorious for their stage antics.

Nine years ago, Mana came up with something that combined magic, mental telepathy and hypnosis. The show was called "Stranger", and ran for six years at Toronto colleges and comedy clubs. Subsequently, that mental gimmick became his trademark style.

"I see my magic leaning towards more mentalism acts," he admits. "Although I really have no specific preference. I love magic in its entirety."

But his life is not all magic. "I have two loves in my life: music and magic. I used to be an amateur DJ, but it was as a magician where I really excelled and paid my dues. I’ve bombed on stage a lot, but you learn from it. You’re only human. You just have to be careful not to repeat the same mistakes."

And so far, he hasn’t. Mana claims that every show–here or abroad–is memorable, although he relates one unforgettable incident with a middle-aged man during a show in Toronto.

"This guy in the audience told me that he has seen a magician only once in his life, and already some 40 years to the day. So I did this card trick for him and the guy suddenly jumped up and cried that what I did was the very same trick that he saw four decades ago! It blew him away!"

He explains: "In magic, you see, showmanship is just as important as the trick itself. It’s very difficult because even when you’ve finally mastered the trick, there’s still the question of how to present it well in public. And that’s where you seperate the men from the boys."

The magic trade has been around for ages, and though its origins are sketchy, there are many tales about devilry and potions; about witches and warlocks particularly Merlin, who, despite his supposed psychic abilities, caused havoc when he said Lancelot was Arthur’s savior. There came a number of other noteworthy wizards during the next centuries, but only in recent times did magic produce its most famous son, Harry Houdini.

Houdini was capable of doing many things, but he made his fortune picking locks and engineering show-stopping escapes. And today, it is Blaine, Siegfried and Roy, and of course, David Copperfield–perhaps the greatest illusionist in modern history–who continue to amaze the people.

"I really look up to him (Copperfield)," Mana says. "He’s a legend and has done some of the best spectacles ever. And then you also have Blaine, who went small. I think they’re equally great."

While now considered an art, the essence of magic lost a chunk of its luster after its biggest secrets were exposed on television–the most memorable of which was the Penn and Teller broadcast several years back. The show blatantly broke the ancient code of magicians that kept their knowledge a secret, and this started all those boob-tube "exposés".

More significantly, it ruined the livelihood of many people, even as Penn and Teller laughed all the way to the bank.

"I don’t like it when people go on TV and expose those secrets," Mana says, turning serious. "They’re breaking the constitution of the magician. They’re killing the work of many. Penn and Teller really demystified magic," he sighs.

Despite this setback, Mana remains optimistic about the future of magic–as well as his own future as a magician. While he might soon venture into other fields such as music and finance ("because I was a financial broker before!"), his biggest ambition remains within the realms of his art.

"My dream is to create, produce, and direct my own stage production," he reveals. "That’s always been my wish."

And it’s certainly a possibility given his talent and drive.

In 2001, Mana came back to the Philippines. "Apart from wanting to do magic here, I also decided to move because I was in a transitional phase in my life at the time," he says. "So I thought it would be neat if I could finally get in touch with my roots as a Filipino after living in Toronto."

He didn’t have to wait long for that. In just a short time, the balikbayan has amazed the common pedestrian on "Stranger" with endless card tricks, a one-second handshake that ends up in a vanishing wristwatch (he’ll give it back, don’t worry), and the "think-of-any-word-but-don’t-tell-me-because-I’ll-tell-you" routine. This is probably why he is often compared to David Blaine and dismissed–unfairly–as a lesser, localized version of the American.

Mana claims that while he doesn’t mind the comparison, he would still rather be known for his own style.

"Famous magicians like Copperfield are not very different from the unpopular ones. I myself am influenced by every magician out there because they have decided, for the rest of their life, that they would bring magic back to people’s lives."

Asked on how long he plans to continue pulling rabbits from hats, Eric Mana’s face suddenly brightens. "Magic will be in my life forever; to the very day I die. And probably beyond," he laughs. "I might be haunting people after!"