Magician Ibuki appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) on March 11th. The 25-year-old was the first Japanese to win the grand prize at the FISM world magic competition held last July. He is an unusual magician who also works as a company employee.
His start in magic dates back to when he was in the second grade of elementary school. A magician came to a Boy Scout Christmas party. He was fascinated by the magic and was given a playing card as a gift on his way home, which sparked his passion for magic. He searched for a school with a magic club and went on to a technical college. He studied mechanical engineering, including the structure of airplanes and space satellites. He worked part-time as a demonstrator in the magic goods section of a department store. "I thought it was such a wonderful job; I could show people the magic I liked, make them happy, and get paid for it," he recalls.
He works as a magician in a team of three. "I'm the one who comes up with the tricks and the tricks and the gimmicks," he says. A magician named Setona is in charge of the direction and structure. They've been friends since middle school and high school, and he says, "We've always had the same passion and sense for magic, so we became good friends right away." A magician named HISA is in charge of planning and running the magic shows as his manager. "He called out to me at a magic contest about two or three years ago, and we met," he reveals.
He says the good thing about magic is that "you're free to use anything, or even nothing." "I love creating magic tricks, so I can create something original that makes the audience happy. I like that about it," he says. Before the world championships, he would wake up at around 4am, practice for two hours, go to work, come home, practice for another two hours, and go to sleep, repeating this routine.
There are times in his daily life when he wonders if it is an occupational hazard. "Whatever I see, I want to use it in some kind of magic trick. I always think, 'This product looks like it would be really easy to make disappear (with magic),' or when I go shopping, I look at all sorts of things and think, 'This could be used in a magic trick.'" One of his goals is to have his own magic theater. "I would like to be able to see magic tricks with the same feeling as going to the movies."
