CNY 2011 Meeting at KCC and other ramblings

It has been a while a while since I put any photos on my blog. Still no camera. :-( Will hopefully be getting a 2nd hand one in May! :-)

At the start of the magic show. I find it interesting that no matter what country I am in, people generally like to sit far behind, crowd the back and even stand at the back BUT they will not sit in the first couple of front rows.
Nice of some of the children to automatically come to the front on their own accord.

These were taken by my son's GF. :-) Thanks my dear! 

Photos are not in chronological order. Not sure why when I upload them this happens. 

Some of the ladies (those who can read
Mandarin - or at least the romanized version) preparing to sing a couple of traditional Chinese New Year songs. 

Also not been blogging much as I have been feeling rather listless the whole week and been having bouts of headaches and I have tiring dreams every night! . But the good part is that my IBS has only acted up once in 2 weeks! :-)  Bit of an energy "downer". I suppose too may late nights and early mornings as well ? :-) ...

But also just too much on my mind?

People playing one of the games I prepared
 for this meeting .  In small groups making tangram rabbit designs.

 

Strategy is actually needed for my version.
So it was cool to see the
leaders organizing their various teams.

Another game: The chopsticks game
and one of the judges keeping score 

I can always count on these two to present an item
(usually they come in threes but their "triplet"
had a sudden case of the jitters).
Very talented and fun girls!

I thought his was a wonderful photo.
Catches the mood of the meeting well.
My wife organized the decorations
this year - simple and nice

The meeting was top me wonderful as we had so many guests that I was overwhelmed. Great to see regular guests as well as many new ones, and having the chance to get to know new people. 

Every year I give our "red packets" with
something special related to money to
our guests.
This year it was "silver coins"

 Again I found that magic is a wonderful ice breaker. And it is good to know too that some I spoke to also mentioned the message part!

I was wiser too this year - I only took out my balloons and pump after most had left so I had a more leisurely time doing less than a dozen balloons for a small group of children. And I used a trick taught to me by "master clown" Hoby Tyler. "Sorry, but today we are celebrating Chinese New Year and it is the year of the rabbit. So today, I only make rabbits!" Less stress! :-)

Eating Yee Sang is always a must for some.
Not sure why :-)

First part of my gospel magic presentation.
I like this effect which I adapted to tell a story
as it  has lots of audience participation.
They have to come up, wear special gloves
 and join hands in a special way

This is me telling the story and putting on my special gloves as well as explaining what they need to do.

The children enjoying the lollipops while the show continues

This is my appearing lollipops trick -
where a clearly shown empty bag
magically fills up with lollipops. 

I saw this trick performed back in 2005.
I liked it very much and so I bought it 2
years ago when I saw it  but only now
performing it.
Very visual and plays big when done
properly.

I like this too. Learned the concept at a
magic workshop 2 years ago. And modified it
to suit my style and added some stuff
to make it into a longer more interactive routine

My opener - an Aldo Colombini effect (modified
again of course)
and I would like to modify it even more! :-)
4 part mentalism effect that I thought  is hilarious
... and thankfully so did the crowd. :-)