When the magician and his audience make magic together

Nikhil Raj, a 22-year-old magician from Bengaluru, is all set to take magic off stage to the audience in his act in the city. Speaking ahead of his performance this weekend, Nikhil talks about the quirky elements in the latest edition of his magic show, titled Mysticity, which will feature a melange of magic tricks. “I want to blend all the kinds of tricks together,” he says. While non-angle magic is something magicians often stay away from, since it threatens to reveal the tricks of the trade, it is this genre that Nikhil has taken a fancy to. He has drawn inspiration for the same from theatre doyen Bertolt Brecht to break the ‘fourth wall’ and make the act more inclusive. He has added a lot of theatrics in his show, including comedy routines, and all these elements aid in his endeavour of making magic accessible. “There will not be any elaborate costumes and stage sets. It will be a very casual show,” he says, adding, “I have no assistants on stage either. It is just me and the audience. I will be taking items from them to make magic happen in their hands.”