The audience was on the edge of their seats. Will he manage to escape from the confines of the sealed box? Earlier during the programme, he had requested a member of the audience to tie him up in a sack and lock him in the box.
The audience did not have to wait on tenterhooks for long though. He soon emerged from the back of the auditorium, leaving the audience dumbfounded.
But wait, there’s someone in the box. To the audience’s surprise, it’s his wife. He can also make a car disappear on the count of three, cut a body in half without harming the person, levitate a woman…
Welcome to the magical world of P.M Mithra, winner of several prestigious awards, including the Merlyn Award. For him, magic is no longer about pulling a coin from behind the ear or pulling a rabbit out of a hat.
“When I was young, I was fascinated by street magic. I was in class six when I decided I wanted to learn this art. I got the chance when I met Krishnan Kutti Nayar. I learnt the art of magic from him,” says Mithra, who holds P.C. Sorcar and David Copperfield as his idols.
With a team of 25 artistes, including his wife, son and daughter, he travels around the world. He performs around 600 shows in a year in India and other countries. The magician is back in Chennai after 10 years and finds “the audience really supportive’’.
While his job may seem like a walk in the park, handling people can be tough. “People wonder if I am performing black magic or if I possess supernatural powers when I am on stage. There are instances of people coming up and asking me to ‘magic’ them a job, money or bring back their loved one from the dead. Such situations are tough to handle,” says Mithra, who began his stage performances in 1982. Constant practice is the secret to his success.
He adds: “There are times when tricks fail on stage. Presence of mind helps me cover it up. Once, I was performing a fire escape act at Thoothukudi and my calculation was off; I hurt myself. It was nothing major though.”
For aspiring magicians, he says: “There are many opportunities available out there, one just needs to be dedicated. When I asked P.C Sorcar for advice, he told me to keep practising. That is my message as well.”
Mithra will be performing at Krishna Gana Sabha, T. Nagar, until May 31. The show is at 7.15 p.m. on weekdays. There are two shows on weekends: 4.15 p.m. and 7.15 p.m.
