Coin into glass with a big surprise ・ コイン・ツー・グラスの動画

This is Hiroshi Kato, the owner of our magic bar, doing a "coin to glass" magic trick with a twist (at the appropriately named magic bar "Twister"). A big surprise variation on a classic trick. He put it up on Facebook himself in his "Today' magic" series, but he asked me to put it on YouTube too, so here it is.

うちのマジックバーのオーナーの加藤寛氏がコインマジックをやっている動画だ。コインがグラスに入るが最後のオチが不思議だよね。札幌のマジックバー「トリックバーツイスター」で。加藤氏がやっている「今日のマジック」シリーズで自分でFacebookにアップしたがYouTubeにもアップして欲しいって僕に言った。

Yearly magic duel

Every year at the university staff "new year party", a professor who is learning magic finds me and asks me to show him some magic. This is a lot of fun, and it happened in 2013 and in 2012, as reported on this blog. It happened this year too, and I wrote about it on my other blog.

毎年、北大の情報科学研究科のスタッフの新年会で、マジックを勉強している先生とマジックのやり合いになる。結構楽しい、ｗ。2013年の新年会でも、2012年の新年会でもやった。今年の新年会の話は僕の別のブログで書いた。

Visiting American magician

William Rader the mentalist, and me

A few weeks ago, I got a Facebook friend request from someone I did not know. Quickly checking his profile, I learned that he was a magician so I figured that was why he wanted to connect. He then sent me a message saying: "I am going to Japan! Can we meet up?" Since I live in Sapporo and most people that come to "Japan" go to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, or some of the famous places in the south, I was a bit surprised. A few messages later, I learned that he was going to stay in Sapporo for three weeks or so, because his wife is from Sapporo and they would be here to visit relatives over the New Year.

何週間前に、フェイスブックでメッセージが来た。知らない人から「友達になって下さい」。プロフィールを見たら、マジシャンだったからそういう話とかしたいかなと思った。その後もメッセージで「日本に行くから会おう！」って。大体、日本の来る人が東京や京都に行くから、札幌に来ないんじゃないと思っていたが何回かメッセージをしたら、実は札幌に3週間くらい泊まると言っていた。奥さんが札幌出身なので、年越しは札幌の家族と。

Me, doing a Christmas magic show at Bottom Cafe

He said that he had been in Sapporo before, but that he had not managed to find any magic to watch at that time. This time, they had found my blog. When I told him there are at least six magic bars in Sapporo (and many many more in Tokyo etc.) he was very surprised.

前にも札幌に来たことがあるがその時にマジックの関係のことが何も見つからなかったそうだ。今回、僕のブログを見つけたから連絡とってくれた。札幌にマジックバー6つもあるよと言ったら、かなり驚かれた。

The university magic club performers of this years Christmas show

This time, his timing was very good and there were many other things related to magic to see too. He came to our magic bar (Magic Bar Twister) when I was working, and we went to the other magic bar in our chain (Trick Bar Twister) together too. He also came to see my Christmas Magic Show at Bottom Cafe, and he came to see the Hokudai Kijutsu Kenkyuukai (the university magic club) at the Christmas show. We also went together to the magic bar Hey Pola and to Cocktail Bar Harada and saw lots of magic there too.

今回のタイミングも良かった。マジックバー以外のマジックのイベントも色々あった。僕が出ていた日に彼がうちのマジックバー（マジックバーツイスター）にきてくれたし、一緒にもう一店舗（トリックバーツイスター）にも行ったし、僕がボトムカフェでやったクリスマスマジックショーも見に来てくれたし、北大の奇術研究会（部活のサークル）のクリスマスショーも見に来てくれたし、一緒にマジックバーヘイ・ポーラに行ったし、一緒にカクテルバー原田でマジックを見せて貰ったし、今回マジック沢山見れたね。

Hey Pola (magician Nihei)

Once we went out for soup curry (a Sapporo specialty) and discussed magic for a few hours too. He showed me a lot of things that he does when he performs, and I showed some things that I had not done when he saw me in the magic bar.

2人でスープカレー（札幌の名物）を食べに行って、マジックの話を何時間したこともあった。彼がアメリカでやるマジックを色々見せてくれたし、僕がマジックバーでやらなかったネタ何個かを見せたし。

The fluent in English magician Harada in Cocktail Bar Harada

He was very nice, and it was interesting to talk to someone from abroad about magic. I learned magic in Sapporo, and though I talk to my Sapporo friends about magic it was very interesting to hear what is "hot" in the U.S. now etc. I also got some gifts; American playing cards of different types. So blogging does pay off sometimes.

面白い人だった。海外の人とマジックの話をするのも面白かった。僕が札幌に来てからマジックを勉強し始めたので、海外ではやっているマジックとか、知らない。札幌のマジシャン友達とマジックの話をするが、海外の人とそういう話をするのがほとんどない（1回スウェーデンに帰っていた時にマジックバーストックホルムで会ったマジシャンと話したことがある）。プレゼントでアメリカのトランプを貰ったし。やっぱりブログをしたら、いいこともあるんだね。

Presents (and a heating pack the post office gave me for buying stamps)

Cocktail Bar Harada again ・ 2回目のカクテルバー原田

An incredible number of cards signed by different people covered the walls and ceilings.

Yesterday I went to Cocktail Bar Harada again. I was there two years ago with a Japanese friend, and this time I was there with an American magician who was visiting Sapporo. Cocktail Bar Harada is a regular bar, but if you ask, Mr. Harada is happy to show you magic. That this is a normal bar means that the selection of drinks is much much more varied than any magic bar I have ever been to. There are also many customers there who are not interested in magic.

昨日またカクテルバー原田に行った。二年前に日本人の友達と行った。今回は札幌に遊びに来ていたアメリカ人のマジシャンと行った。カクテルバー原田は普通のバー（マジックバーではない）が「マジック観たい」と言ったら原田さんがマジックを見せてくれる。普通のバーなので、マジックバーよりお酒の種類が凄いんだ。マジックに全く興味のないお客さんも沢山来るみたい。

More magic looking things

Mr. Harada speaks English were well. He started learning English when he was very young because his father thought that would be good, and he lived for a while in Canada. Since my American friend does not speak that much Japanese, it was nice to have someone show us magic (and talk about other things) in English for a change, so I did not have to translate.

原田さんの英語が凄いきれいだ。英語が大事だとお父さんが思っているから、小さい頃から英語を勉強していたそうだ。カナダにも住んだことがある。アメリカ人の友達は日本語あまり話せないので、今回英語でマジックを見せて貰って（英語で話をしてもらって）、通訳しなくても大丈夫だったから結構楽だった。

The very nice looking bar counter

We got to see quite a lot of magic, and some examples include: a puzzle where you add more and more pieces but the size of the complete puzzle somehow stays the same, a trick that started out as coin bending but in the end a cigarette lighter was bent, some mystifying card sandwich effects, a card trick where a burnt joker was restored to prime condition but the signed card that my friend was holding in his hands became burnt instead, and a surprising card reveal where the selected card was named by the coffee patterns in the bottom of the cup which Mr. Harada had been drinking coffee from throughout the performance.

色々なマジックを見せて貰った。例えば：ジグソーパズルにピースを何回か足しても、パズルの大きさが変わらない・コイン曲げに見えると思ったら、ライターが曲がった・カードのサンドイッチ・炙ったジョーカーが元に戻ったが友達がずっと持っていたサインカードが炙られた・選んだカードのマークと数字が原田さんがずっとコーヒーを飲んでいたマグカップの中の余ったコーヒーに不思議に書いてあった。

Mr Harada with his close up mat

We also talked a lot about magic, magic clubs, living in America or Canada, and much more. We had a great time, and the drinks were very good. The bar is also very cheap compared to magic bars, since the charge is much less.

マジックが終わってから長くマジックの話とかもしていた。アメリカに住む話とかカナダに住む話とか、有名なマジシャンの話とか、色々面白い話があった。飲み物も美味しかったし、マジックバーではないから、チャージが安いし、今回も良かった。

Me and Mr Harada

On a side note, Mr Harada also teaches magic to people. One of his students is a professor at the university where I work, and we sometimes meet in the cafeteria or the secretaries' office etc. We also meet at the computer science department's New Year party every year, and every year he asks me to show him some magic, and he shows me some things he has learned since last year. The same day we went to Cocktail Bar Harada we also had the staff New Year party, so I had to do some magic there and we talked a bit about Mr Harada there too.

ちょっとだけ関係ある話もある。原田さんはマジック教室もやっている。習っている人の中では、北大の先生もいる。たまに学食や事務でその先生に会う。毎年のスタッフの新年会で会うし。新年会で、毎年「何か見せて」と言われるし、その先生にマジック見せて貰うし。今年もそうだった。今年の新年会はカクテルバー原田に行く日だったので、行く1時間前にも原田さんの話もしていた。

Magic Bar Review: Hey Pola ・ マジックバーレビュー：ヘイ・ポーラ

On 2014-01-06 I went to the magic bar "Hey Pola" in Sapporo together with an American magician who was visiting Sapporo over the New Year and had found my blog. Hey Pola is the bar of Tsugutomo Nihei, and he has been running this bar for 17 years. When we were told this, my American friend said: "What, he started running this place when he was 15?!" It turns out that Nihei is 43 years old, but he looks a LOT younger, haha.

2014年1月6日にヘイ・ポーラというマジックバーに行ってみた。札幌（すすきの）にある。アメリカ人のマジシャンが僕のブログを見つけて、札幌にお正月の遊びの旅行のために札幌に来た時に連絡とってくれたから、2人でヘイ・ポーラに行った。二瓶二大さんが今17年間営業している店なんだ。17年間って聞いて「え？15歳からやっているってこと？」とアメリカ人の友達が言い出した。43歳の二瓶さんがもっともっと若く見える（笑）。

When we came in, there was a group of three Japanese men there already. We all sat at the counter and watched Nihei's performance together. We got to see a handkerchief fly around the bar and then come back, some mentalism/lie detector things with a large wooden cube with different colors, magic with coins moving around and disappearing from the spectator's hand (ending up inside a glass), magic with bills (1000 yen became 10,000 yen), card magic to the soundtrack of Top Gun, and signed cards ending up inside an unopened PET-bottle of water, and more.

入った時にサラリーマン3人がカウンターに座っていた。隣にお邪魔して、5人で二瓶さんのマジックを観た。店の奥に飛んで、戻ってきたハンカチ・サイコロを使ったメンタリズム（嘘発見器）・コインマジック（お客さんの手の中からグラスに瞬間移動）・お札（1000円が10000円になった）・トップ・ガンの音楽に合わせたカードマジック・新品のペットボトルにサインカードが入る、いろいろなマジックを見せて貰った。

Lots of funny gags were sprinkled throughout the show, and one that I liked in particular was that he claimed his stage name was "Mr. Nande", written with the Chinese characters for "south" and "hand". This happens to sound exactly like the expression for "Why?" which is used in Japanese when you see something unexplainable. He also explained that like the hostess bars (there are lots of hostess bars in the same district) nearby, they had a "request fee" system. If you request a specific hostess (instead of getting one randomly assigned) there is often a "request fee". So if you requested a specific magician (though there was only one there, so you would get him no matter what), they would charge you 5000 yen. So any time anyone said "nande!?" in surprise, they counted up one more on the request fee charge, which was quite funny. One guy had a bill for 25,000 yen when he was leaving (which, as it turns out, he did not actually have to pay since it was just a joke).

ギャグネタも多かった。僕の一番好きなギャグは、「私の芸名は『南手』なんだ」と説明されて、「ナンデ？！」と言ったら、指名料金5000円取られるって。隣のサラリーマンが何回も「何で？」って言ってしまったから、帰る時に2万5000円のチャージもついていた（笑）。結局「冗談だよ」と言われて、払わなくて大丈夫だったけど。

Hey Pola also uses music and sound in a fun and interesting way. When the first card trick was about to start, Nihei put on RayBan sunglasses and started blasting the soundtrack of Top Gun. The spectator was asked to pick a card and look hard and remember it. He also had to touch it with his index finger to "lock on". The card was returned, the deck was shuffled, and then the "locked on" finger was used to find the card over and over again. There were many other magic routines done to music. I also loved the fake applause track that he would play after each routine was finished, haha.

ヘイ・ポーラで音楽とかの使い方もうまい。カードのマジックが始まる時に、パイロットのサングラスを掛けて、トップ・ガンの音楽を流し始めた。観客1人にカード一枚選んで貰って、指で「ロックオンして下さい」と指定した。その後、そのロックオンした指で、観客が何回も自分のカードを当てた。カード切ってからも。他の音楽に合わせたマジックもあった。僕の一番笑ったのが毎回マジック１つが終わったら、音声システムで拍手の音を流していた、ｗ。

The price we paid was 3500 yen for 90 minutes of "nomihoudai" (unlimited drinking), which is the standard price in Sapporo (prices in Sapporo are cheaper than Tokyo or Osaka in general). The bar is quite small but feels much roomier than it is. There are seats at the counter and some tables with sofas. There were lots of posters and paintings of Houdini on the walls. The selection of drinks was pretty standard, though there were some things that are not that common too, like a yogurt based cocktail.

90分の飲み放題で3500円だった。札幌にしたら、普通だ（札幌が基本的に東京や大阪より安い）。バーが割りと狭いが意外に広く感じる。カウンター席もボックス席もある。ハリー・フーディーニのポスターとかが飾ってあった。飲み物のメニューが普通だったかな？ヨーグルトのリキュールとか、ちょっと珍しいのもあった。

After the performance was over and the other customers left, we sat and talked to "Mr. Nande" for quite some time. He has been to America and talked to my American friend about the Magic Castle and various conventions etc.

終わってから、南手さんとマジックの話とかもした。アメリカ人の友達も二瓶さんもアメリカのマジック・キャッスルに行ったことがあるからそういう話とか、マジックのコンベンションの話とかをしていた。

All in all, it was a very nice performance. We were told they aimed at "fun" more than "amazing", especially since they (being a bar) get a lot of people who are very drunk. I also like funny magic more than I like amazing magic (though I like both), and there were many jokes I found very funny.

まとめようとしたら、楽しかった！面白いギャグとかの大好きな僕にとってすごく良かった。バーなので、やっぱり酔っ払いのお客さんとかも来るから「すごい！」というより「面白い！」のを目指しているそうだ。僕の好みにいいね。

Summary:
Location: A short walk from the subway (Sapporo, Japan)
Type of magic: Close up
Quality of magic: Good
Cost: 3500 yen
Interior: Nice
Staff: Very nice
Food & drinks: Drinks, the usual selection.
Overall impression: Very funny. Good use of music and sounds.

まとめ：
場所：地下鉄からちょっと歩く（札幌、すすきの）
マジックの種類：クルーズアップ
マジック：良い
値段：3500円
インテリア：きれい
スタッフ：面白い。優しい。
食べ物・飲み物：飲み物が普通な種類くらい
全体的な印象：面白かった！音楽とかの使い方が良かった。

Kame Hiroshi Live in Ario ・ 亀ひろしライブ＠札幌アリオ

Today when I was buying some new trousers I passed by a small stage in the Sapporo ARIO where Kame Hiroshi was doing some comedy on stage. I did not see much of the show (when I passed by most of it was already over), but he also did some magic. I saw him change silks and float a ball. He was quite funny.

今日アリオで買い物したら、亀ひろしのライブショーもあった。気付いた時にショーがもうほぼ終わっていたが僕が観た分でちょっとマジックもやっていた。シルクの色が変わったりしていたし、ボールが浮いていたし。面白かった。

Rabbit magic in Saitama

Here is a clip of me doing some magic with Tenyo sponge rabbits at New Years. I was visiting my brother and his wife who were in Saitama at her parents' place. One evening some friends of hers also showed up, and I was asked to do "the trick with the rabbits", haha. I also did some other magic, but this is the trick people like the most.

お正月に弟と弟の嫁が日本に来たので、皆で嫁さんの埼玉にある実家でお正月を過ごした。ある日、友達も何人か来たので、「マジックをやって」って言われた。「うさぎのやつ見たい！」って言われたから、テンヨーのスポンジのウサギを使ったマジックを見せた。他のマジックも色々やったが一番人気なのがこれだ。

Other than the rabbits, I also hammered a nail into my nose to psychically detect what card had been picked, used a small iPhone accessory to find other cards, did a "perfect match" magic trick for one of the girls, and had a signed card end up inside an unopened PET-bottle.

うさぎのマジックの他に、鼻に釘を刺して選んだカードをエスパ的に読み取ったし、アイフォーンのアクセサリを使ってカード当てをしたし、相性占いのマジックもやったし、サインカードが新品のペットボトルに入るマジックもやったし、色々見せた。