Holding a small red notebook in his left hand, Vitaly Beckman flips it open to show that the pages inside are all blank.
Next, he uncaps a black felt pen and neatly draws a leaf on the top page. Putting the pen in his breast pocket, he then opens his right hand to show it's empty, then deftly waves it over the page to reveal that the drawing has suddenly turned into a real leaf, which he then pulls off the paper.
It's a seemingly simple trick, yet the illusion is effective, making the viewer wonder, "how does he do that?"
Since he first saw David Copperfield on TV at age 15, Beckman has had a passion for magic and illusion, and since that age he has worked on developing his own particular style of performance.
"I come up with original magic that's never been done before and everything in my live show today - I do things which you can't see anywhere else," he says.
Beckman's performances range from a simple melting rubber band trick to object levitation and paintbrushes that paint by themselves, and his particular specialty: switching people's driver's licence photos. In one effect, Beckman even makes a car in a photo drive out of the shot. Another audience favourite is an illusion that involves a photo of leaves and a butterfly in a magazine that come to life. Originally from the former Soviet Union, the self-taught Beckman spent his childhood in Belarus, and his adolescence in Israel. For the past two years he's been living in Burnaby and makes his living doing corporate and theatre shows in the Lower Mainland and around the world.
He says he doesn't like to copy what others have done, not because he cannot replicate their effects, but because he wants to inspire his audience with a different kind of show.
There are no white rabbits in top hats or women being sawn in half on stage.
"For me, magic is a symbol for the fact that our dreams and our visions can come true," he says.
"Whatever seems impossible is not necessarily so. I think that's what magic is really all about. Sometimes it can be inspiring when someone sees something impossible become possible right in front of his eyes. He might think, 'What I thought was impossible to achieve in my life, my goals, my dreams, maybe they are attainable.'"
Learning to perform his many illusions has taken time, but Beckman says he'll never stop adding to his repertoire and challenging himself to take his magic to the next level.
"It's like asking if it's difficult to learn music," he says of his craft. "You can know how a piano works, but it doesn't mean you can create music with it."
This summer, he is on tour in Israel, but he'll be back in Burnaby in the fall to resume his local performance schedule.
Sharing his ideas and passion for magic is what Beckman says drives him to keep coming up with fresh challenges for himself and new ways of making his audience view the world.
"I love what I do, and if I can bring anything (new) for other people then it's fantastic," he says.
For a schedule of Beckman's upcoming shows, visit www.sensationofmagic.com or www.eveningofwonders.com.
