Robert Mark represents Denmark at the World Championships of Magic 2012

Entertainment, General, Magic, Magical beer show, The art of magic

Tryllekunstner Robert Mark

Magician Robert Mark is going to the World Championships

Denmark is represented at the World Championships of Magic 2012

Is it possible to tap beer from a man’s stomach? Yes, if your name is Robert Mark, you are a Danish magician and you have spent two years preparing a magical beer show to be presented to 3,000 fellow magicians from all over the world. The occasion is the World Championships of Magic, held on 9–14 July in Blackpool, England.

“It is a big thing to perform in front of so many colleagues, but also a huge challenge, as your colleagues are the most critical audience you can get,” says Robert Mark. He is a professional magician and is competing for the first time at the World Championships of Magic, organised by FISM (Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques), the world’s largest magic organisation with over 50,000 members from 50 different countries.

Magician Robert Mark – competing with the world elite

The World Championships of Magic have existed since 1948 and are held every three years. The last time was in 2009 in Beijing, where the Danish magician Henning Nielsen, alias Cheff Magic, took part. He came third in the Comedy Magic category, which is the category magician Robert Mark is entering. Cheff Magic is also taking part this year, but in the Parlour Magic category. “I am up against some of the world’s very best magicians. So applause from the audience after the show is almost prize enough for me,” says magician Robert with a smile, although he makes no secret of the fact that the dream is a place among the top three in his category. That increases the chance of being spotted by one of the many talent scouts who are ready with million-kroner contracts for the most skilled magicians.

A show with plenty of beer and magic

When magician Robert Mark goes on stage on 9 July, the audience can look forward to a big show with plenty of beer, humour and magic, centred on a drunken waiter. Although the show lasts only 6–8 minutes, it takes a whole hour to set up, and months have gone into intense preparation ahead of the show. “The biggest challenge has clearly been that I have to play the role of a waiter and not say anything during the show. And then, of course, to hit a shared global sense of humour,” says Robert Mark, explaining that it is not unusual for the organisers to drop the curtain early if the mood in the hall is negative. That is why he has prepared down to the smallest detail, with help from a professional actor, a director, the two Pierrots from Bakken, Tivoli Friheden and a long list of his fellow magicians.

“I am very grateful for the support and backing I experience among my colleagues, who are also my competitors. But as there are only 30–50 professional magicians in Denmark, we are good at backing each other up and sharing our specialist knowledge, also with colleagues outside Denmark. For example, the winner of FISM 2006 in Close-Up Magic, the American Rick Merrill, mentioned Rune Klan in his acceptance speech for having inspired him to the winning act, which was a combination of coin and marker-pen magic. Rune is not just a skilled comedian but also one of the world’s best coin magicians,” explains Robert Mark.

A boyhood dream comes true

Ever since Robert Mark, at the age of 13, met the magician and current director of Cirkus Baldoni, Rene Mønster, he has lived and breathed magic. “Rene introduced me to the world of magic and to Magisk Cirkel, which is Denmark’s largest magic society. He is a big part of the reason why, in a couple of weeks, I can pack up all my equipment and try to squeeze it into my old BMW as I head for Blackpool to live out my boyhood dream of standing on a huge stage and performing magic for thousands of people,” concludes a very excited magician Robert Mark. Whether he can also make the butterflies in his stomach disappear before then, the story does not say.

Magician Robert Mark:

Phone: +45 22 32 19 52 · info@robertmark.dk · robertmark.dk · www.fismwcm2012.com