“I figured I had a shot at winning a medal, but never expected it to be gold!” Tsai explains his nerves before the award ceremony: “When I didn’t hear my name for bronze or silver, I got scared… I thought, ‘Oh no! Does that mean I didn’t win anything?’”

Ticket to the big time

Although the origins of magic are not clear, the earliest historical records date back more than 4000 years to Ancient Egypt.

In Asia today, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea boast the highest standards of magic performances. While Japan already has a well-established magic industry, South Korea tends to nurture magicians within performing arts troupes, resulting in a consistent level of quality and frequent accolades. The standard of performance in Taiwan is much more mixed, yet the country still produces some outstanding talent.

During the past two years, Alec Tsai managed to work his way around the Asian competitive circuit, winning silver at the 2015 Bu­­san International Magic Festival in the close-up category; bronze in the same category at the 2016 TMA Magic Convention in Taiwan; and then gold at the UGM Magic Convention in Japan.

“Competing is like working your way up a ladder. It’s a gradual growth process,” says Tsai. Indeed, if Tsai has his sights set on becoming world number one, his success in Japan is an important milestone.

The UGM Magic Conven­tion, founded in 1984, takes place annually in Nagoya, and attracts top competitors from around the world. Tsai explains how the competition is a springboard for promising magicians. South Korean Lee Eun-­gyeol and Taiwanese Lu Chen, now both internationally celebrated magicians, were the respective gold and silver medal recipients at the UGM competition in 2001. Horret Wu, champion of the FISM World Championships in Italy, calls a UGM gold “your ticket to the big time.”

A trio of Taiwanese magicians at the 2016 World Championship of Magic. From left to right: Alec Tsai, Mike Chao, and Horret Wu. (courtesy of Alec Tsai)

Close-up act

Unlike the stage-based performances by the great illusionist David Copperfield—such as when he flies across the Grand Canyon, walks through the Great Wall of China, or makes the Statue of Liberty disappear—Alec Tsai specializes in the particularly demanding category of close-up magic, with everything taking place on a table in close proximity to his audience.

For close-up magicians, playing cards and coins are the most common props. 

Suppose a pack of cards has been randomly shuffled, with some cards facing the wrong way. “Anything is possible,” says Tsai. “I can still get the cards to all face the same way.” He says that, with a tap of his fingertips, he could also present them arranged by suit, or in numerical order.

Another routine involves a coin that keeps disappearing and then reappearing: first it appears under his lapel, then next to his microphone, all just a few feet in front of his audience. 

Tsai explains that it takes at least three years to reach his level of technical prowess. “The threshold for coin routines is even higher. The spectator is focusing on a single object, which makes it more difficult to work your way around their consciousness.”

Of course, the routines that won Tsai his UGM gold are far more complex. However, he is reluctant to share too many details, for fear of impeding his future competitive performances. “I’m into ‘mystical’ illusions, so the less I divulge the better,” he says.

Tsai’s “Marking Sticker” act features stickers placed on playing cards. He somehow makes the playing cards transform themselves into whatever is written on the stickers.

Though many magic routines may seem impressive in terms of smooth delivery and technique, it usually only takes insiders a few seconds to figure out how an illusion works. But Tsai’s tricks left even the experts scratching their heads. “That means I got them thinking the way I want,” says Tsai mysteriously.

Horret Wu, who previously starred as a guest magician at the UGM Magic Convention, explains that what makes Tsai’s illusions stand out is their innovativeness and uniqueness, as well as the fact that Tsai is a very steady performer—a combination Wu says is hard to find.

This April, Alec Tsai performed at the invitation-only FFFF magic convention in Buffalo, New York. (courtesy of Alec Tsai)

Surgeon first, magician second

Tsai has seven years of magic practice under his belt, but explains that this was acquired “in stages.” For example, although he joined the Tai­pei Medical University magic club, he says he was unable to fully commit because of his studies. After qualifying as a physician, he worked on his acts on and off, but it is only in the past two years that he has started to focus on competitions.

Tsai says that his family is supportive of his hobby—on the condition that his “proper job” comes first. In this vein, Tsai emphasizes that he is a “professional” physician, but only an “amateur” magician.

Compared to many other specialisms, plastic surgery is a relatively flexible field. Tsai is very positive about his work: “You could say that helping my patients to become more complete or better themselves is, to some extent, a kind of magic.”

Even so, Tsai draws a clear line between his profession and his hobby. He never performs magic to his patients, who have no idea that their doctor is even a magician. “It just wouldn’t make sense!” Tsai exclaims.

Work and magic take up most of Tsai’s time. After leaving his clinic, he can be found practicing his routines or thinking up new ones. For Tsai, as well as being a hobby, magic is also a way of unwinding. “I feel very relaxed when I practice magic,” he says.

Tsai explains that magical illusions are constructed from well-honed technique and complex cognitive elements, with both aspects holding equal importance. However, he also says that technical competence depends on nothing more than practice. “There’s no such thing as a gift for it. You just need to practice. Anyone can do it!” he says in earnest.   

Tsai emphasizes that, for the cognitive side of magic, the fundamental principle for creating jaw-dropping magic tricks is to escape common logic and employ a variety of different methods.

Tsai rejects the notion that there are any set rules to constructing an illusion. Sometimes the move comes first, or sometimes it comes later, after the main theme of the routine has been introduced. Tsai likes to observe things in their normal state, come up with a logical explanation, and then deconstruct this logic into separate rungs. He then removes some of those rungs to make way for his trick, before linking everything back together.

Alec Tsai is a perfectionist both in his profession as a plastic surgeon and in his hobby as a magician.

Next stop: The world

Rising star Tsai says that, rather than categorizing magic as some kind of variety-show act, it is more apt to view it as “innovation-fueled genius.”

Indeed, Tsai is proud of his sideline magician status, something evident from the FFFF badge on his lapel during our interview. The badge was given to him this April at the Obie’s FFFF Convention. The convention, which calls itself “the most prestigious gathering of close-up magicians in the world,” operates by invitation only, with roughly 200 magicians attending from around the world each year. “Being invited to take part was a real honor!” Tsai gushes.    

Tsai’s ultimate goal is to make his mark at the 2018 FISM World Championships in Bu­san. However, he will first need to qualify at FISM Asia in Japan next November.

The FISM World Championships of Magic—nicknamed the “Magic Olympics”—take place every three years and are generally considered to be the world’s top magic competition. Only two Taiwanese magicians have ever claimed medals at the event, namely Horret Wu, who won first prize in the close-up cards category in 2015, and Red Tsai, who came joint third in the micromagic category in 2012. “You’re only world champion when you’ve won at FISM!” Tsai says expectantly.

For Tsai, the attraction of magical illusions lies not in technique, but in the intellectual challenge. He is eager to keep refining his art, and to make a name for Taiwanese magicians on the international stage.

Alec Tsai is the first Taiwanese to win gold at Japan’s UGM Magic Convention.

The first Taiwanese to win gold at Japan’s UGM Magic Convention, Alec Tsai received his award from judge Hiro Sakai. (photo courtesy of Kei Izumi)

Flawless technique and complex cognitive elements are both vital to a successful illusion.

Flawless technique and complex cognitive elements are both vital to a successful illusion.