Bracco enjoys friends, looks to add more I.B.M. Rings in Asia

We are into 2010, and the past year has seemed to fly by so fast. It was just last Christmas that my wife and I were in America celebrating the holidays with my family. It was a very special time for us and the first time I have been able to make it home for Christmas in eight years. But this holiday season was very special, too. It was a magical holiday season for us here in Korea.

The week before Christmas I got a call from some friends living in Busan, a major city in the south of the country, inviting us to meet them in Seoul to go and see some magic shows. We went up on the 26th of December and got to see the evening performance of Charming Choi’s Magic Concert called Tarot-By Destiny. (Read More)

Here in Korea magic shows that run for more than a few days are usually called concerts. I am not sure why, but that is how it goes here. Anyway, Charming Choi did a wonderful job at entertaining and wowing the audience through his stage, parlor and close-up magic. His show was very enjoyable and his interactions with the volunteers had the whole audience involved.

After the show, as my wife and I were waiting for a subway to head down to an area of Seoul called Myeong-dong, which is famous for its Holiday lights, we got a pleasant surprise. In this city of more than 15 million people who do we meet by chance but our friend Choi Han-Na. Some of you will know her from the 2009 I.B.M. Annual Convention as Han-Na from Jei-Min and Han-Na the People’s Choice award winners. She was on her way home and saw us. Well, as it turned out, we made plans for her and a few other magicians to join us the next day to go to the Lotte World Magic Festival in Seoul.

Lotte World is like the Disneyland of Seoul. They have both indoor and outdoor areas, but because it was December only the indoor area was open. But this area is amazing; it is basically a covered amusement park. It has numerous rides including a roller coaster, games, concessions, an ice rink, and full stage area under one roof. It is here that for the past nine years they have sponsored, in cooperation with Alexander Magic and UGM Magic and others, a three-hour magic competition. This year I believe that about nine of the thirteen competitors were youths under the age of eighteen. It was very nice to see so many young magicians competing. It was also nice to see so many Korean magicians there supporting them. Some of the top magicians in Korea have competed in competitions such as this one and it was nice to see some of them there in the audience watching and cheering the competitors on. After the competition, and before the announcement of the winners, the audience was treated to performances by four guest magicians: Yoo Hyun-Min, Lim Jae-Hun, Jo Yong-Ho, and Hong Jun-Pyo. All of these magicians are well-known here in Korea and did a great job at keeping the audience entertained.

It was a wonderful few days for us to come to Seoul and meet up with a number of our friends and see some great magic. As always the time went too fast and it was soon time for my wife and I to make the bus ride back to the center of the country where we live.

But, it was not the end of my magical journey before the New Year started. I was to go down to Busan on the 31st to visit with some old friends to help put together a short video to do our part to help the I.B.M. Magic Youth International Committee. I meet up with An Ha-Lim, Yoo Hyun-Min, Kim Hyung-June, and Kim Won-il. Together we spent the day making a short video clip and talking about magic, what the New Year will bring and just having a great time.

But now, the New Year is here and it is time to work toward keeping true to your New Year resolutions, be it staying away from the chocolate, completing those magic projects still in the works from last year, or making sure to go over each effect done in your show to see how you can improve upon them and make them more entertaining for the audience.

As for me, I have a long list of projects I have started and would like to see finished this year, including forming two more Rings here in Korea and devoting more time to helping with the I.B.M. Magic Youth International Program. Of course, some projects are dependent on the timetable of other people involved, but, for the most part, the majority of them just require a time commitment and the determination to get them done.

No matter what your resolutions are for this year, I hope you all make the time and muster up the determination to achieve your goals and enjoy a prosperous and exciting 2010.

Magically Yours,

Gregory Bracco