The Mind Heist: The Ultimate Social Magic Experiment

Happy 2012 everyone!

I trust you’re having a fantastic start to the year, with exciting possibilities and golden opportunities greeting you 🙂 If you missed our NYE performance on Le Plus Grand Cabaret du Monde (France’s most popular variety show that’s been running for 14 years now and still going very strong), you can watch it here:

60 million viewers around the world tune into it and we’ve been asked to come back this year by the TV producers… Really awesome that we can make Singapore proud again! And speaking of which…

On the days leading up to The Mind Heist, I’ve been extremely strict with myself in all the necessarily preparations for this mind experiment happening this Saturday that sees J C & yours truly attempting to set a world record for reading the minds of 100 different people in 1 sitting.

So that means more healthy food with lots of water, more meditation, more yoga and absolutely no alcohol, no late nights and no sex (I just leave that space blank on application forms).

As I poke on my keyboard, I have to admit that I’m feeling completely whacked out and exhausted. Don’t get me wrong now. This girl is still deeply excited about this never-been-done-before stunt which will take place at Sinema Old School. It’s just the mental and physical fatigue from all the intensive mind training, that’s getting to me.

However, I’ll definitely do my utmost BEST, simply because I want to do my country proud & I don’t believe in making excuses. You know… It’s incredible but us two Singaporeans, received the sincere blessings from Mr Vanni Pule, international president of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

Sign ups online for The Mind Heist have been encouraging, though plenty of people shared that they were highly afraid of getting their thoughts read by us, but were content to simply witness our mind heisting process. Hmph. Wusses!!! 😉

But seriously, I’m deeply moved and very appreciative of all the sincere support we’ve got from people not just here in Singapore, but from all over the world too… from Taiwan, to France, England, America, Australia, Spain, India, Canada, Israel, Malaysia, Middle East… it’s extremely touching! THANK YOU EVERYONE 🙂 The event as you know, will be streamed live on the internet in real time, so anyone anywhere will be able to join in!

The media (magic and mainstream) has also been nothing but super with event pre-publicity for The Mind Heist. In fact, several have even arranged for their plucky reporters to be part of the 100 in this mind experiment.

Just yesterday, we were on 987FM’s highly popular Muttons on the Move, with radio DJs Justin Ang & Vernon A:

If you missed us on the airwaves yesterday, here’s the video of us mind-heisting both JA & Vernon in the 987FM studio!

We’re also featured in an exclusive interview on the OMY lifestyle news portal:

As well as, on 4-pages of popular online news and entertainment portal, xinMSN:

ShinMin Daily News also published our story on their newspaper:

We were meant to be on 91.3FM this morning but our dear friend radio DJ Rod Monteiro was rushed to the hospital yesterday after getting a mild stroke while on air. Highly unexpected and very worrying, because Rod is such an active sporty guy. It’s shocking for me because I was just texting my friend yesterday. Please pray for his speedy recovery!

Oh yes…

J C & I will be on Channel News Asia‘s AMlive on Friday 8AM, so do tune in. Something very wicked this way comes 😉 And prior to that, we’ll be on Class95’s CarTunes with popular radio DJs Jean Danker & Bobby Tonelli at 6:30pm tomorrow (Thursday). Also, look out for our exclusive interview in the TODAY newspaper coming out very shortly.

A shout out of thanks to our friend Nicholas Chee, founder of Sinema Old School, for this picture taken with his smart phone. They’ve completely dressed up the place for us, mucho kudos to the passionate Sinema TV team.

We’re gonna make history this Saturday, Singapore!!!

New World Record: Reading 100 minds in 1 sitting

Hey folks, what’s new? My newly layered short hair with shades of electric purple aside, this is the hottest magic news in this part of the world 😉

The Mind Heist – our 9th mega illusion and the latest one to date, will be the most challenging psychological illusion that J C & I have attempted yet, for obvious reasons…

In this ultimate social magic experiment, J C & I will attempt to read the minds of 100 different people in 1 sitting. The International Brotherhood of Magicians & Singapore Book of Records will be present at the venue to officially adjudicate this never-been-done-before event.

Here’s the official trailer we filmed at Sinema Old School, just 2 days after I touched down in Singapore after traveling the world for 9 months.

This exciting new world record stunt happens on 7 Jan 2012 at Sinema Old School located at11B Mt Sophia. Interestingly, this exact venue was where my old school (no pun intended) used to be. Methodist Girls School originally occupied the very same grounds, so this will be pretty nostalgic 😉

Oh, did I mention about the ‘live’ streaming of The Mind Heist yet? That’s right, people from all over the world can witness the groundbreaking event being broadcast free online.  For the various timing at different time zones, as well as, full event details, click here.

And! If YOU want YOUR MIND to be read by us in this historic event, click here now to participate. Fill in the online form and we may just contact you 😉 Spread the word about it!

Celebrating 5 years: ‘Magic Babe’ Ning & J C Sum’s limited edition Pentad Deck!

2 years in the making, our exclusive “Pentad Deck” is now here! These cards are on a limited edition run & will not be reprinted once they’re sold out. International magic supplier, Murphys Magic, carries them so you can easily order your “Pentad Deck” from your favorite magic shop!

Alternatively, you may also purchase your cards directly from us at Magic Boutique; we do autographs upon requests 🙂 Click on the link for more details!

These Gemaco® casino quality poker-sized cards are printed in the U.S.A. on fine European paper stock and features regular faces. Each “Pentad Deck” also includes an extra blank-face card. The deck is encased in an all-silver tuck case with a clear front window that shows off the full color playing card back design.

Special kudos to our Japan-based manga artist Eldred, photographer Bernard Sim & graphic designer Matt for their input too! 🙂

J C & I are super thrilled that our limited edition “Pentad Decks” are simply flying off the shelves and according to Murphys Magic, more than a hundred sets of our “Pentad Decks” were sold just overnight. Woot!!!

As you may have read, “Pentad” is the classical Greek Pythagorean term used for the quantity of five and also refers to a period of five years. So our “Pentad Deck” basically commemorates our half-decade of J C & yours truly’s magical partnership. However, there’s more to it…

I personally love the deeper meaning of “Pentad” and when time allows, do read this interesting essay, which gives a brief insight on Pythagoras and the mystery of numbers. The “Pentad” is a powerful symbol with a rich history. It was used by mysterious Greek cults of old, as well as, the earlier Christians to represent the 5 sacred wounds of Jesus Christ (his hands, feet and side).

Righty, I should stop all this geeky babble… but history and mythology simply fascinates! Anyway, thank you so much for your support all these years. More to come because…….

Tomorrow we will officially announce our 9th mega illusion! Stay tuned to this blog & http://www.facebook.com/jcsum.magicbabening