MAGIC TIMES [front
page item]
(U.S.A) 23-02-04 (MEIR YEDID)
‘Impossible sounding magic’.
THE TIMES: SATURDAY
TIMES MAGAZINE [3-page profile]
(U.K.) 21-11-98 (LISA BRINKWORTH)
’Used to use his sleight of hand to broker billion-dollar deals... the
mystical cardmeister...a contemporary Pied Piper. He maintains an independent
streak even in the world of magic, where he is not known for fraternising
with star magicians. Unlike the Copperfields of the magic world, aladin isn't
aiming to be a high-profile entertainer- despite being named International
Magician of the Year in 1991 and winner of the 1997 Golden Turban Award from
the Magic Academy of Bangalore, in India…[the site for] a week-long magic
event he produced and compered…in which 800 international magicians took
part. It was broadcast to more than a billion viewers…the biggest event
in the history of magic."I respond to how people are feeling. I don't
just perform tricks for them’.
THE SUNDAY TIMES:
THE CULTURE [centre-spread]
(U.K.) 10-7-99 (TIM MARSH)
'... extraordinary magician and artist... Forget the hype and tired stereotypes,
this is new British art at its most provocative'.
THE EVENING STANDARD:
GOING OUT [cover feature]
(London) 2-9-99
'Don't look for the Ricky Jay brand of con-man tricks here: aladin is a master
of sleight of hand...exuberant, gasp-inducing'.
TIME OUT
(London) 1-8-99
'virtuoso magic and visual poetry'
THE ILLUSTRATED
LONDON NEWS [2 pages]
Summer 16-7-01 (GERALDINE BEDELL)
'Normally, I don't care for magic … but there is something very engaging
and unshowy about aladin … I am not made to feel like a foil, still less
a fool, but rather a participant… I [am] enchanted, but at a loss to
know what he's done… Magic, for him, is about mystery, rather than power…"My
use of magic is not to accentuate differences … Good magic is about high-quality
exchange, not about power"'.
WHITECHAPEL ART
GALLERY
(London) July 1999.
‘Part literal and metaphorical travelogue, part lecture-demonstration,
part street-magic, part astonishing legerdemain, prestidigitation and sleight-of-hand’.
INSTITUTE OF
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
(London) September 1999.
’From the oldest tradition in magic … theatrical poetry’.
INDIA WEEKLY
[full-page feature]
(India and International)10-9-99
'Master of magic..amongst many other things, a magician, live artist and producer/director..Born
in Washington D.C....he was brought up 'everywhere', speaks English, French
and Bengali, has worked with street gangs and been an academic, journal editor
and government adviser. And this is just a small sample of the man's achievements.'
HARI KUNZRU (writer/host)
on 'THE LOUNGE', SKY/DOT TV [guest]
(U.K.)12-10-99
'You sometimes hear about people with several strands in their life - but
aladin has an entire hammock! One of them is being one of the world's greatest
magicians'
OXFORD STUDENT
[3-page feature]
(U.K.)19-2-04 (TAMARA COHEN)
‘Opening an aladin's cave. Charmed by aladin: merchant banker, gangland
mentor and acclaimed magician.
aladin asks me to think of a card. I count the cards I am holding and there
are 51. He carefully retrieves the ten of diamonds from the previously empty
card-box; smiling at my reaction.
You probably haven't heard of aladin. He's an acclaimed, award-winning magician
but likes to keep a low public profile. True, he has performed all over the
world from Bombay to Las Vegas, featured in documentaries from National Geographic
to the BBC, and wowed the crowds as inaugural act at the Ministry of Sound.
Yet despite countless offers, he has largely eschewed mainstream publicity.
"I've got an idea, pick another card, no don't let me see it, and now
put it back." I do as requested. "Now get your mobile phone and
ring mine." An image of my card is flashing on the screen on his mobile
phone. This is surreal.
aladin does not see his magic as a spectacle but more of a conversation: "I
don't perform tricks as such, and I never rehearse, my magic is different
for everyone, I respond to how they are feeling. It's about engagement, not
about pure entertainment, it’s about creating a moment."
I was instructed to bring a paperback along to our meeting. aladin grabs my
notebook, writes something on it and puts it on the floor. I am then told
to open the book - at an even-numbered page - and read the first line. I pick
up my neglected notebook from the floor. It has the word 'captain' written
on it. I hadn't even opened the book when it was written.
aladin wears his magician's robes to the Lord Mayor's Banquet and drinks in
the astonished reaction; he works with the homeless through magical feats
as well as professional advice. No audience is too humble, although he does
command four figures. The overlap is not always smooth: "I did some magic
for [his colleague] the Mayor once, you know; he mentioned a card, and discovered
straightaway that it was under the ashtray front of him." aladin pauses
enigmatically, "If I had to describe his reaction, discomfiture would
be the word. He wondered what else I knew! I offered to levitate him off the
ground but he declined." ’
TNT MAGAZINE
[feature]
(U.K.) 2-3-98 (ANA KERSHAW)
'More healer than magician. The Master of the Altered State. A man on a mission.
You may think you've seen magic before, but watching aladin perform is something
else altogether. Catch him while you can.'
THE ASIAN AGE
[feature]
(India + International) 7-1-99 (ABHIK SEN)
'Man with the magic lamp...packs in more in a minute than what you and I probably
manage to in a month...he sees more purpose in his magic than just entertainment.
While the likes of David Copperfield have turned magic into a spectacle, aladin
considers magic a "contemporary artform that thrives on reciprocity."...He
declines to see magic as a professional tool or to wrap his skills in mystique.
THE HINDUSTAN
TIMES [feature]
(India) 17-10-99 (Dr. Raminder Kaur)
'Stunning audiences with his creative shamanism...his magic is a spiritual
journey'.
THE DAILY STAR
[full-page feature]
(Bangladesh), 29-10-99
'It was a quarter past midnight. Among the anxious crowd were vendors andbeggars,
looking for a chance to earn some bucks. Suddenly, the man tookout a deck
of cards from his pocket and spread them out. It was magic. In the next fifteen
minutes or so, the show continued. He made a watch disappear from the wrist
of one of his companions, turned a candy from oneof the vendors into a two-taka
bill, so on and so forth. Soon, there were more inquisitive eyes joining in.
The language and social barriers seemed to have disappeared. "Turn this
chocolate bar into taka," said one. Requests started pouring in. The
kids wanted more magic. It was already quarter to one. He and his companions
had to go, leaving behind a bunch of awestruck teenagers. They were wondering
who the magician was, the man who had turned a mundane night into one that
they would never forget. It was Aladin. Not with the magic lamp but with the
golden hands. One of us queried, "Are you psychic?" "No,"
said Aladin. "I'm a magician." ’
RICHARD BLACKWOOD
(entertainer/presenter)
@Institute for Contemporary Arts (ICA), 26-10-00
'David Blaine did some magic for me just the other day; but aladin?! …man;
he's at a whole different level! He's unbelievable; just incredible. This
is as good as it gets.'
ZADIE SMITH
(author/writer)
@ Soho (London), 6-12-01
‘He’s the BEST!’
WYNTON MARSALIS
(jazz musician) @ Barbican Centre, 10-2-01
'He's got to be the best in the world.'
ALUN PALMER
(Features Editor, Daily Mirror)
@London, 22-02-02
‘I did an expose of David Blaine’s tricks once in the Mirror –
and that’s all they are: tricks. But aladin does your head in. If he
had lived in the Middle Ages they’d have burnt him at the stake as a
witch!’
also featured
on: 'Midweek with Libby Purves' on BBC Radio 4, 'Outlook' on
BBC World Service Radio, 'Metropol' on BBC TV [live with the Secretary of
State for Culture], ‘Running for Freedom’ on National Geographic
TV [aladin was the subject of this major documentary, which has been nominated
for international television awards].
