Lisa Siregar

Yudi makes his living selling magic supplies and his own book of instructions around the city. He performs tricks to attract customers and demonstrate how they can perform the tricks themselves. (Photo: Yudhi Sukma Wijaya, JG)

Making Magic Happen

Located on the footpath outside the Jatinegara train station in East Jakarta, among the other street vendors vying for space in the area, sits Yudi with his collection of unlikely items. The most eye-catching is a colorful wig attached to a bright pink, glittery eye mask. Next to the wig there is a Death figurine, packs of playing cards and a photo of Deddy Corbuzier, the well-known Indonesian magician. Photocopied A4 pages stapled together, what Yudi calls his “magic book,” sit nearby.

Yudi, 50, has only been selling magic tricks for a year. He says that he used to work as a mechanic in an electrical repair shop but changed jobs when he spotted an opportunity selling magic tricks after RCTI television station started airing a talent show for magicians, titled “The Master.”

“Ever since ‘The Master’ began showing, magic street stalls have popped up everywhere,” he said. His was the first such stall outside Jatinegara station, but two other vendors have since set up shop. Competition between the vendors is not unfriendly, however, and they sometimes exchange tricks with each other, Yudi said.

“What sets me apart from my competitors is that I do my own tricks to persuade people to buy,” he said.

Yudi does not present himself as a magician. Wearing corduroy pants and a T-shirt, with a circular pendant hanging from his neck and rings on one hand, his face is clean-shaven, with no show makeup or facial hair. He is happy to demonstrate tricks for potential customers but does not see himself as an entertainer.

“There are two kinds of magic, one is just simple tricks, the other requires more skill,” he said. “I chose tricks because they’re easy and practical.”

Yudi buys his supplies from magic shops at Senen market, the Cililitan grocery center and Jatinegara market, and sets up his stall in a different place each day. He lives in Citayam, on the border of Bogor and Depok, and moves between those satellite cities and Jakarta. Crowded locations near schools, mosques and train stations are his preferred location.

“On Friday, around the time of the noon prayers, I open my stall somewhere near a mosque, such as Sunda Kelapa or Cut Meutia in Menteng,” he said.

He displays his wares — playing cards, fake thumbs, spoons for bending and the like — on a red velvet-covered desk.

The first item Yudi suggests any customer should buy is his hand-written magic book. Costing Rp 10,000 ($1), it has instructions on how to perform all the magic tricks he knows. He is careful not to let his secrets slip for free.

“The thing with doing this on the street is you have to show the tricks to your customers privately, otherwise other people will find how to do them without buying the book,” he said.

Card tricks, Yudi said, are the easiest to learn. Other easy tricks are making a coin or handkerchief disappear.

His playing cards have different price tags, depending on what tricks they can be used for. The simplest decks cost Rp 15,000 and can be used for only two tricks.

To demonstrate their use, he holds a deck of cards with their reverse side facing forward. “Show that you have different cards,” he said, and riffled through the deck, showing rapid glimpses of clubs, hearts, diamonds and spades. Turning the same deck around, he performed the exact same action but this time only the red suits could be seen. The secret to the trick, as revealed in his book, is that the cards in the deck are not of uniform size but have two different lengths and thicknesses, affecting which can be seen when flicked through quickly.

That quality also explains the second trick he showed, in which he asked someone to divide the pile of cards in two, and pick the top card from the lower deck. He then turned over the top card on the other deck to show a perfect match.

The most expensive cards Yudi sells are Rp 70,000 a pack and appear to change all the red cards in the deck to black.

Yudi’s customers are mostly adults, although he said students love to watch him perform. They rarely buy anything, however. “One of my loyal customers is an old man who likes tricks to amuse his grandchildren.”

Because he moves his stall from place to place, Yudi puts his phone number on his book so customers who are interested in learning more tricks in person can call him and arrange a time and place to meet.

He works from 9 a.m. until dusk every day, and can earn about Rp 100,000 on a good day.

Most of his tricks, he said, are easy to learn. He has never formally trained to perform magic tricks, learning by watching magic shows on television or magicians in person.

“I only do it to attract buyers,” he said.

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