Bound And Gagged!

.:252/365: The Leodini Blog:.

Leodini’s blog is always an excellent read not just because it talks about magic in general, but mainly because the advice and insights his blog provides has been consistently helpful and useful.

I’ve been reading his blog for at least a couple of years, and the advice you get from his blog is unbelievable. You will never be at a loss for great ideas, cool things to do and to ponder upon. Also, despite clearly being against wanton exposure by other magicians, he doesn’t hesitate to explain the workings of a given magic trick every now and then if it allows him to make a more important point.

I’ve sung Leodini’s praises enough times for you to know that this man is really someone worth listening to. Don’t let his deceptively good looks fool you: there’s a lot going on underneath the veneer that he allows people to see, only if they look hard enough.

Project 365 blogging, magic, magikel, project 365 2010

.:250/365: Mallusionist:.

More of a wink and a nudge to the magic community than a genuine magic blog, Mallusionist.com combines two of the most annoying things to most magicians on earth: the hype machine of Ellusionist and wanton magic exposure. In doing so, the site creates a very humorous mix of pseudo-magic and self-referential comedy.

The fact that some people are silly enough to take the material seriously is another cause for sheer hilarity on its own altogether, and I still cannot believe how many people take the site on face value. If only for the sheer hilarious nature of the site, as well as the self-awareness the parody treats itself with, I’m definitely a huge fan of Mallusionist.

Project 365 blogging, magic, magikel, project 365 2010

.:249/365: Nate Marx:.

Nate Marx is a magician and a mentalist hailing from General Santos. One of the few people insane enough to consider me a mentor of sorts, his passion for magic is unrivalled, and it shows in his writing, and his desire to better himself both as a performer, and as a contemporary, working with other performers along the way, even merely through online correspondence.

While it would certainly be a great honor to be onstage with Nate one of these days, I think it’s more than enough of an honor that he has regarded me as one of the luminaries of the local mentalism scene, but really, this kid has everything he needs to make it big. His new blog has excellent ideas, but if you could find his old one, the way he writes there just really impresses me. It’s a rarity in the local magic world for us to find someone this eloquent, so having someone like Nate becoming an online ambassador for Philippine magic is a definite plus in my book.

Do check his blog out, and say “hi” to him for me. Tell him I sent you.

Project 365 blogging, magic, magikel, project 365 2010

.:240/365: Leodini:.

One of the trinity among mentalists in the country, a comedic genius, also a very active presence for magic online, and a dead ringer for Nur Misuari, the great Leodini attracts quite a crowd wherever he goes by sheer strength of personality and a look nobody could ever forget.

It’s a bit sad that I rarely cross paths with the Great Leodini, because I couldn’t quite tell him often enough how excellent his blog happens to be, as it is an excellent resource for magicians looking to improve their craft. The site is chock full of tips, ideas, and even funny anecdotes, all designed to push magicians into stepping up and becoming better performers overall.

The one time I’ve managed to really observe Leodini in action wasn’t even at one of his many shows. Instead, I caught him during a particular series of lectures about performances for the benefit of The Story Circle, and he discussed how to mix comedy with magic without inadvertently putting down magic along the way. Oh, if only we managed to get Bearwin Meily to sit in on that particular lecture, but that’s wishful thinking on our end.

Nonetheless, despite my lack of exposure to his performances, I have more than a few laymen friends who swear by him. Aileen Apolo, the recent birthday celebrant lady who took the video above, told me how entertaining and exciting Leodini was, and how nobody expected him to be so good because they let his looks fool them, which, in my opinion, should be a great compliment to the man, because it only means that the persona he projects onstage is one that is built upon breaking stereotypes or expectations.

I can’t get into his career in much detail, mainly because all the necessary biographical information can be found here. Nonetheless, I have to mention how important Leodini’s contributions to magic are, not only in being a community leader, having been the president of the IMC; but also in being a very audible voice for the Filipino magicians in the online community. What I try to do in terms of encyclopaedic knowledge about magic, he has been doing for practical applications of magic. Let’s not forget the fact that he also has quite a lot of facts and figures about magic over the many years he has been maintaining his blog as well, and my project lasts for all of only 365 days before I wind down my churning out of magic-related articles.

Personally, I enjoy his very different scripts for mentalism. The way he mixes comedy and mentalism works for him so well because of the character he has successfully mastered to a tee. Whether or not this is a mere extension of the real Leodini, the onstage Leodini’s stage presence and charisma never fails to make people chuckle at every joke and gesture that he makes, all the while casually and deliberately building to a stunning finish, as he catches his audience unawares.

If only for his being a great voice and ambassador for the Philippines in the online world long before I even so much as thought of going professional in magic, Leodini would certainly earn my greatest respect. The fact that he is also a multi-awarded performer who is more than willing to share his wealth of knowledge and experience for the betterment of Philippine (and even international) magic just puts him at a level that very few magicians, Filipino or otherwise, can ever hope to achieve.

In fact, he reminds me of a younger Aldo Colombini. If you’ve seen Aldo during his younger years, they have very similar hair, and even to this day, Aldo is still incredibly funny but his magic is so good that’s not the first thing that comes to mind about him.

Anyways, his blog will be featured again sometime next month here, when we get to “Recommended Reading” month. Still, go ahead and get a leg up on checking out his blog, because there’s just so much useful stuff to find there.

I know you may not know me much, sir Leodini, but I was, and always will be, a huge fan of your work and more so your writing.

Project 365 blogging, magic, magikel, mentalism, philippines, project 365 2010

.:The Philippine Blog Awards 2009 Not-So-Megapost:.

Lemme start with my quick thank-you video…

It was a crazy night, but it was still a night to remember. As I donned my white Dutch cap and stepped into PETA Theater where our show, Bound And Gagged, will be held on October 23, it was good to run into old friends like Karen and Maro, as we talked about everything from doing a Kanye West ad nauseam to the possibility of having another Bitter Ocampo writing about not winning the award (but not caring that he or she didn’t, no siree…) yet again.

Thing is, while I was nominated for the Top 10 Best Blog Posts Of The Year, I certainly didn’t expect to win at all. I still believe that my best post ever was The Rick Astley Megapost, but as luck would have it, my nominated post turned out to be rather… intriguing.

This year’s theme was “One Blogging Nation”, and as I saw a Jose Rizal analogue talking to an Andres Bonifacio analogue (Both, I believe, played by Vince Golangco.), I realized how much I see my post in the hilarious video clip. Still, did that tell me I had a shot at winning? Hades, no. With amazing writers like DJ and even the crew of TNL, I felt like a gnat surrounded by giants.

But lo and behold, when they started awarding the Top 10 posts, I was the first one they called onstage, and I was stunned. So I went up onstage, and I was still wide-eyed and I could hear the heckler’s section, composed of myself, Maro, Ade, and Noelle, and they were delivering their ribs at me audibly from the back. I didn’t care. I was just gobsmacked, and for the rest of the night, I was clutching that trophy like it was never going out of style.

I’d like to also congratulate sir Jim Paredes for winning, as well as fellow rusher, the Professional Heckler for winning. I’d mention Aileen, Noemi, Janette, as well, but if I went on, I’d end up congratulating everyone who won. Maro won a couple of awards, too, and of course, he got the much-coveted Commentary blog award, among other things. Ade went home empty-handed, hence his rather bitter post.

Mica was a big winner that night, though, as she won the blogger’s choice award, and well-deservedly so. See the picture here courtesy of Fritz.

Maro, Mica, and I are winners. Ade is not. Neener neener neener…

In all seriousness though, I’d like to thank Ian Uy, whose post, abrasive thought it may have been, inspired me to come up with my first Lost Gems post.

Sometimes, it’s the tough questions that makes you look really long and hard at yourself, and from there, you manage to draw out the truest, purest, most well thought-out response. Yeah, the post was a bit humorous and all, but it did get its point across rather well.

Ian, I have but one last rejoinder to you…

You said in your post that Koreans have something to be proud of, while in contrast, you find it difficult to find anything to be proud of in this country, with all the corruption, lack of discipline, and apathy that mires the Philippines. It’s difficult, to say the least, and it’s certainly a bit bleak at times, perhaps even hopeless in some other cases.

In light of the Ondoy and Pepeng tragedies, and the everyday heroes that rose through the ashes to help each other, despite all the politicking, despite all the looting and racketeering, think upon those who chose to rise above all of that pettiness and just genuinely help others just because it’s a good thing to do.

I hope, dear Ian, that in the aftermath of these storms, you finally found a reason to be proud to be a Filipino. I know I did.

Thanks for giving me a chance to look deeply into the core of my psyche and find in myself why I’m proud to be a Filipino, no matter what idiotic government we may be under, or whatever latest international brouhaha we commit faux pas after faux pas in. When push comes to shove, the Filipino can.

One blogging nation. Now, more than ever, I believe this to be true.

But darn, I still think the Rick Astley post should’ve won.

News and Updates, Personal Commentary blogging, gratitude, philippine blog awards

It was my first week with Nuffnang, and each day, I found myself doing something after work hours. I’m hoping this doesn’t become a trend for me. Heh.

Anyways, lemme get some of the unimportant stuff out of the way…

The Cat Killer: He needs help, not ridicule.

Ted Failon: Innocent until proven guilty, gais. Tell that to the cops, too.

.:Wednesday, 15 April, 2009:.

I ended up hanging out with Jen and Eloisa while watching the Bloomfields. Not much there, since we kinda thought this was going to be their last show there for a while. Imagine our surprise when it turned out that wasn’t the case. Arbet hath fooled us. Boooo!!!

.:Thursday, 16 April, 2009:.

Was I going to check out Silly People’s Improv Theater, or go to Route 196 instead to catch Chillitees, The Ronnies, Sugarfree, Itchyworms, Radioactive Sago Project, and the Bagetsafoniks? Well, it wasn’t an easy decision, but being able to hang out with one of my closest online buddies, Ms. Sarah Cada, was the hand that tipped the scales.

So I went, and had the time of my life, to say the least. The bands were all awesome, each one giving us something to really get excited about, from the oldies but goodies courtesy of the Ronnies, to the insanely hot performance by the Chillitees, to “Mariposa” from Sugarfree, a superb live performance of “Freak Out Baby” by Itchyworms, the unparalleled sounds of Radioactive Sago Project, and the sheer energy of Bagetsafoniks, it was quite an entertaining night, to say the least.

So I had a celebrity picture phail that night, though, because I approached this guy and asked for his picture, thinking he was Lourd, the leadsinger for Radioactive Sago Project…

At least, he was nice enough to have a pic with me…

It must’ve been pretty dark though, because that was not sir Lourd. The minute I saw him perform during “Freak Out Baby”, I realized my hilarious mistake. Sarah was laughing her head off at me, and I was thinking how nice that guy must’ve been if he posed for a picture and he wasn’t even a celebrity or something.

Thankfully, for the more knowledgeable among us, that guy was sir Lourd’s brother, and he was the bassist of the band, so it was all good.

Now, after Radioactive Sago Project performed, though, I mustered up the courage to approach sir Lourd, but luck was on my side because he was with Mr. Jugs Jugueta of the Itchyworms. I asked them for a picture, and I was surprised when Jugs told me he would do it if I bent the fork.

I had to stop for a while there because I had no idea how he knew that I do that stuff.

Turns out, his girlfriend, Andy, was my co-host during the Oktoberfest Bloggers’ Party at Mall of Asia last year, and she saw me perform. This only occurred to me after they already left, but whaddaheck, I performed anyways, and sir Lourd’s reactions were priceless. He was almost freaking out!

After I performed, they obliged me with a picture, but it was clear they wanted to know how I did it…

Halp! My idols are threatening me with bodily harm!

After Bagetsafonik’s set, I left for home, and was more than pleased with how I spent my money that night. I even got to talk to one of the members of Project 2, and he’s interested in performing for “Bound And Gagged” this October… hee!

.:Friday, 17 April, 2009:.

As a way to end the week for us, I ended up watching T2 with my co-workers from Nuffnang this night. I won’t review it anymore, but it was scary enough and I don’t regret watching it. It was also a great opportunity to bond with my co-workers. They were awesome people.

After they had late dinner at Gerry’s Grill near Banchetto (I only had bottomless sago-gulaman.), I ended up hanging out with blogger/plurker friends at Banchetto where we talked about people who should come out of the closet, the Bebigerls, the Ted Failon issue, some fail tidbits in blogging and otherwise, and a ton of other stuff.

Speaking of fail, lookie here… the PGB has been mentioned. But I digress.

It was great meeting these people, to be honest. There was great food (Ate a pound worth of burgers.), great company, and it was just so funny talking about how Helga is jousting with this plurker named Eric(a), who thinks calling someone “no longer virgin” counts an insult. Lol. Weird.

Days like these, I long for the 2006 era where blogging events were few and far in between, and everyone who went had something worthwhile to say about an event… sigh.

.:Saturday, 18 April, 2009:.

I had quite an interesting gig last Saturday in Marquinton, as I performed two very awesome sets that resulted in quite a lot of good reactions from the audiences who were thrilled to no end with the stuff we pulled off. I did magic, I did comedy, I did mentalism, and I was very happy that I really had a crowd that appreciated my stuff.

After that, I headed off to Conspiracy Bar to watch Stanley Chi, Mike Unson, and the rest of the Comedy Cartel for a night of awesome comedy from the best luminaries in point of view observational style comedy. Stanley’s new jokes referencing his recent life experiences were really awesome, and Mike just went off for over an hour with his best material, simply flooring all of us with his sheer genius and comedy. Some new guys, Richie and Ryan, namely, were also amazing revelations. I’m extremely glad to have run into them, and to even share a few conversations after their performances for the night. It was definitely an enlightening experience.

I’m proud to be friends with the people of Comedy Cartel. Stanley Chi’s come a long way, in particular. He’s definitely kept at it and improved his craft at an impressive and consistent rate.

And by the way, they’re going to be performing again this Thursday at Mag:Net Cafe Bonifacio High Street. That should be a load of fun. Maybe you guys should drop by.

.:Sunday, 19 April, 2009:.

It was a family day, since my mom is home from Thailand for until tomorrow. Awesome times!

News and Updates blogging, comedy, comedy cartel, family, friends, magic, music, plurkfiesta, randomicity