Magician Ishamudin performing his "Great Indian Rope Trick" at the CD Goenka World Schoolin Delhi.                                                       

Photo: Kent W. Dahl©

More about Magic Can Wait

Hunting for street magic

- and finding rope

and school magic

By Kent W. Dahl

I went to India to look for traditional Indian street performers.

Although celebrated for its long history in the West, Indian street performers were not easily found in India. Some Indians were even annoyed to learn, that I wanted to pursue, in their minds, such a lowly subject.

»Why don't you write about our IT-sector and our car Industry,« they asked me.

Outdone by television programs and social media the thousands year old Indian street art is getting rare. The police see street performers as an inconvenience, and a law now ban artists from using animals in their performances. Consequently relatively few traditional artists perform on the street these days.

Magician Ishamudin

Following one of many leads I found an Indian actor, who led me to a community of street performers in Delhi. Here I was introduced to the traditional street magician Ishamudin Khan. He was an Indian gypsy born into a long line of magicians going back several hundred years. As is the custom in his tribe, Ishamudin's father had taught Ishamudin the secrets of the tribes magic. Just like Ishamudin's father was taught by his father. Together they roamed the villages of India, when Ishamudin was a young boy.

Not an ordinary magician

However, Ishamudin turned out to be no ordinary street magician. In his otherwise modest home he had a video player, where he showed me several tv-programs of himself with famous international magicians. In one British tv-program he was selected among the 50 best magicians in the world.

The Great Indian Rope Trick

It turned out that Ishamudin had realized the magic performance of a 2000 year old Indian legend called the Great Indian Rope Trick. Over time many people confessed to have seen the trick in India, but nobody could prove it. To put an end to the matter, the English Club of Magicians in London offered prize money to the person, who could perform the Great Indian Rope Trick. This was in 1934. Nobody could do it.

That is until Ishamudin performed the Great Indian Rope Trick during a magic convention in India  in 1997.

Traditional Indian Street magic

The feat not only send him touring around the world performing his Great Indian Rope Trick. It also revived interest in his traditional Indian street magic abroad.

Going to school

It was, however, another side of Ishamudin that made me interested in making a documentary film about him. Like many other performers in the colony he had a big family: To girls and four sons. All of them outgoing, fun and cleaver children. The many mouths to feed did not facilitate Ishamudin's already strained economy.

However, contrary to many other gypsy street performers Ishamudin was sending his children to school.

Traditionally Indian performing gypsies do not send their children to school. One reason being that the children are an important element in the traditional street performance. This might also have led to a general attitude among performing gypsies, that sending their children to school has no benefit.

Also the girls

Also Ishamudin's to daughters went to the nearby school. A revolutionary break with gypsy traditions, where women traditionally tend to house chores at home.

Job hunting

Like many other Indians I met, Ishamudin asked me to find job possibilities for him in Japan. Due to his progressive mindset my wife and I decided to help him. Through our acquaintance, Mr. Matsuzaki, we were introduced to circus promotor Mikio Oshima. He took an interest in my story and Ishamudin's art. However, he had one professional condition before bringing Ishamudin to Japan.

»I want to see a video of what he can do,« Oshima insisted.

Gods for good luck

I conveyed this message to Ishamudin. A week later I received a parcel, which I handed over to Oshima. It contained no video, but several newspaper articles about Ishamudin in various languages not understandable for Oshima. In the parcel was also several photos of Indian Gods - for good luck.

Not convinced, but never the less intrigued, Oshima decided to join me on a trip to Delhi to check out Ishamudin's skills.

I decided to make a documentary film.

All rights reserved: Kent W. Dahl - Eyefishmedia.com