Thirawat Kongnugul waves his hands and a single ball replicates and becomes four. Next, with another dramatic flourish, he makes one thimble multiply into five, then quickly reverses the effect.
Thirawat Kongnugul won a second prize in the US.
What started out as a mother's concern for her irredeemably impish seven-year-old morphed into a passion that enables the boy to dazzle with stunning sleights of hand. A child who could never sit still, Thirawat was sent by his mother to study magic _ not the kind practised by Merlin, but close. Now 13, he can make difficult tricks look effortless _ as if anybody could do them. But, of course, few of us could, for Thirawat is one of the most promising young magicians at work in the country today, with a long list of awards won after years of taking part in international competitions.
Thirawat's stage name is Smart Magic _ fitting, really, since "Smart" is the nickname the lad's had since birth. Studying the art of performing magic since he was seven at the International Academy of Magic, the boy has polished his skills and gone on to snatch trophies at contest all around the world, in the US, India, Hong Kong and South Korea as well as closer to home in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. His latest triumph took place this past July in the US state of Arizona where he competed against a host of rivals from other countries to win second place in the International Brotherhood of Magic's Stage Contest, losing out only to a 17-year-old _ the highest age in the contest's youth category which admits children as young as seven.
His other prized possession is the Merlin Award _ equivalent to an Oscar in the world of magicians _ which he netted in 2011, becoming only the second child in the world to ever receive this trophy.
While it is certainly unconventional for a juvenile to be jet-setting around the world, performing in public, it's not unusual for those who wish to reach the highest rung on the ladder of magic. It is a route that promising young magicians are encouraged to follow in order to make a name for themselves. But Smart is still very much like other boys his age and says the reason he most likes going to these overseas competitions is that he gets to miss school.
''It's also good to exchange knowledge with people from other countries to see what they're up to.'' Then he giggles, guiltily, before adding, ''And go on holiday.''
Smart's first public appearance abroad took place in Kuala Lumpur when he was only eight. At the time he did not even having a routine of his own worked out or any clear idea of what he was going to do on stage. He tagged along on the trip to Malaysia with a group of classmates supervised by a teacher, making his first trip to a foreign country without the company of either of his parents. He didn't pick up an award on that occasion, but he clearly had unusual self-confidence even by that stage, for this is the advice he gives to other trophy-hunters: ''If you want to go compete, just go. Even if the competition is really big and you're unsure of yourself, it's still good to get some experience.''
While the short show he put on for Life on the little stage at his school seemed seamless, it wasn't particularly spectacular or spell-binding. Nevertheless, being able to make one thimble turn into five, then reverse the process _ along with changing its colour from white to all sorts of other bright hues _ is no easy feat. It is termed a ''skill'' act and only those who are truly accomplished can perform such movements flawlessly, concealing the extra objects in a way that no member of an audience can follow.
''Only a certain group of people understand what I'm doing,'' Smart explains. ''I usually perform skill acts and use cards. What I do with the cards is actually really hard to do, but to normal people it seems really normal. They want to see birds, canes, fires, rainbows and effects, so I need to think of different performances for different audiences; one for people outside the magic industry, another for insiders. Usually, only people who know how to perform magic appreciate skill acts and know how much I have trained to be able to do them.''
Recalling what it was like when he first started out, he says: ''The hardest thing for me back then was trying to master the duplicating-ball trick. You need to hold balls between your outstretched fingers and that really hurts.
''But to be good, you just need to practise a lot. It's just like any sport, like badminton for instance. I used to practise [at the International Academy of Magic] from when the mall [where the academy is located] opened until it closed. Before I went to America, my record was practising for eight hours straight.''
Like other boys, Smart has hobbies _ he enjoys playing soccer, basketball and swimming _ but unlike most of his peers he can also earn quite large sums of money for someone his age. He receives between 8,000 and 15,000 baht per performance when he entertains at events for which his teacher, Mamada (Sombat Chitmankongkul), proprietor of the International Academy of Magic, is asked to provide entertainment. The fees come in useful, Smart says, for covering transport costs to events and for buying new equipment.
''There are always new tricks to learn,'' he explains. ''Magicians from Taiwan, Korea and Japan are always coming up with new stuff and it's always fun.''
While magic is still pretty much a hobby for Smart, he dreams of some day becoming a dara (star). ''My friends at school never stop nagging me, asking me how how I do various tricks,'' he says. ''They point to pens and chairs all the time and tell me to make them vanish. Or sometimes they yell out that they know exactly where I have hidden something and I just play along, pretending that they're correct, even though they're not.''
Being a true professional, Smart would never dream of revealing his secrets. He says he has acquired much more composure and greater powers of concentration since he started learning this craft.
''I used to get super-tense while performing because some people would stand on the left- or right-hand-side of the stage just watching me, trying to catch me making a mistake. Because watching a performer from certain angles can reveal how certain tricks are done. I'd even stop to wave these people away, which would disrupt my performance. But now I just focus on the people in front of me.
''Nowadays, I don't worry about them; I just worry about creating illusions to dazzle the people in front of me.''
