Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Slit mouthed woman doing some magic in Ropossa


On my way back after doing a magic show as the "kuchi sake onna" ("slit mouthed woman" urban legend monster), I stopped by Ropossa. The mama of Ropossa had requested that I stop by when in this costume. I ended up doing some table magic for some other guests there. It was a lot of fun.

口裂け女の仮装でマジックショーをやってから、ロポッサというマジックスナックにもちょっと寄った。ママが口裂け女の仮装どうしても見たいって言っていたから。他のお客さんにテーブルマジックを見せることにもなった。楽しかった。

Magic show at the El Mango Halloween Party


The first of November, there was another Halloween party and did another magic show. Again dressed as the "kuchi sake onna" ("slit mouthed woman" urban legend monster).  The party came with lots of good food, and many different performances. Apart from my magic, there was Latin dancing, Kung-Fu stunt action fighting, singing by imitating famous people, hip-hop dancing, and salsa dancing.

11月1日にもハロウィンパーティーがあった。またマジックショーをやった。また口裂け女の仮装でやった。パーティーでは色々な食べ物もあったし、他のパフォーマンスも色々あった。サルサダンス・ヒップホップダンス・物真似・カンフーアクションパフォーマンス、色々あった。

For a Halloween party, the number of people with funny costumes was quite low. There was a costume competition, and I voted for a Marilyn Monroe girl. In the end, I won the costume competition and got a massage cushion.

ハロウィンパーティーだったが仮装の人がそんなにいなかった。仮装コンクールもあって、僕が優勝した。僕のがマリリンモンローの仮装に1票。


When I was preparing for my performance, one of the dancers from a previous performance came into the only back stage room. She took a look at me and asked: "You are not really a woman right?" and then asked me to leave the room. She wanted to change out of her performance costume and into her Halloween costume. I wanted to prepare for my performance, since I was the next person to go on stage, but I figured I was pretty much done and gave her the room.

裏で僕のパフォーマンスの準備をしたら、別のパフォーマンス組の女の人1人が入ってきて、僕の方を見た。「本当は女の人ではないよね?出て行って貰えませんか?」と言われた。パフォーマンスの衣装からハロウィンのコスチュームに着替えたかった。次のパフォーマンスが僕だったから、もうちょっと準備したかったが準備がほぼ終わっていたから部屋を譲った。


She also noticed that not only am I not a woman, I am also not Japanese. She asked where I am from, and when I said that I am from Sweden she started speaking Swedish to me. When we spoke more later, she said that she went to a Swedish high school for one year. She speaks quite well, but with a very strong southern Sweden dialect. That she speaks with a much better southern Swedish accent than I could possibly manage (despite me being quite good a Swedish in general :-) is pretty funny when she looks very non-Swedish.

女の人ではないのもばれたし、日本人でもないのもばれたから「何人?」と聞かれた。スウェーデン人だと言ったら、スウェーデン語で色々言われた。ビックリ。後でもっと話したら、高校1年間スウェーデンの高校に行っていたそうだ。スウェーデン語がきれいだが南スウェーデンの方言が強い。日本人がその方言できれいに喋るのがうけるなぁ。

The always popular "signed card into unopened (sealed) PET bottle". The girl who signed the card remembered (and recognized me without being dressed as a girl!) me when I ran into her at a Christmas party two months later.

She also turned out to work at the same university that I work at. We now have lunch together once per week (except when I am travelling, which recently is like all the time).

そして、もうちょっと話したら、職場一緒!僕の出張がない時に(最近出張しかないけど)週1回くらい北大で一緒に昼ご飯を食べる。

Two people who can speak Swedish

My magic show went fine. People laughed when they were supposed to etc. I had some problems with walking in my very high heeled spike heel shoes (they are size XXL but much too small for me, since it is Japanese girl size XXL). People thought that was funny, so that was still good, I guess. It was also pretty funny when a photo of me kept appearing in one magic trick, but no one could recognize who it was since I was dressed as a woman on stage. I learned that it is annoyingly difficult to carry your magic props around with you when in women's clothing, since apparently women do not use pockets...

僕のマジックショーが無事に終わった。皆笑ってくれた。まあまあ高いスパイクヒールで歩くのがちょっと難しかったというか痛かった。XXLを買ったがそれでもかなり小さい。女の子の足がめっちゃ小さいんだね。苦しんでいる姿も、皆笑ってくれたから、結果良かった。他に面白くなったのは、僕の顔の写真が何回も出てくるマジックで、「この人誰?」と皆なった。僕の素顔を知っている人がいなくて、口裂け女のメイクで全然分からなかったみたい、笑。勉強になったのは、女の人がポケットを使わないんだね。服にポケットが1つもなかった。マジック道具を持って歩くのが大変だった。

Kung-Fu action stunt fighting

Magic bar Surprise


After doing some work in Kawasaki, I also had time to stop by the Magic Bar Surprise in Akasaka (Tokyo). There were four magicians there, three that I had seen there before, and a girl who I had never seen before. They all showed me magic.

川崎の研究の打ち合わせの後、東京に泊まることになったからマジックバーサプライズにも行けた。マジシャンが4人もいた。3人は前にも見たことがあったが見たことのない女の子もいた。4人ともマジックを見せてくれた。

First, the magician Izumi showed me her deck of cards that was hand drawn by kids with crayons, which then turned into a normal deck of cards. The hand drawn cards were cuter, though, haha. She did some more card magic, and then she did some magic with a ring and a rope.

最初にマジックを見せてくれたマジシャンがマジシャンイズミだった。子供がクレヨンで描いたトランプを出して、本物(普通)のトランプに変わった。子供が描いたトランプの方が可愛かったけど、笑。他のカードマジックも色々やったし、ロープと輪っかのマジックも見せてくれたし。

Next, the magician Akimoto, who I have met several times and who is also one of the few people connected to me on Google+ that actually updates anything there (actually, he is one of the few people connected to me on Google+ period, haha), showed me more magic. He did magic with different coins, with three green balls, and with cards. He has a very good second deal.

次は秋本というマジシャンが色々見せてくれた。前にも何回か会っている。Google+で繋がっているし。Google+で友達になっている人の中の一番アップしている人かも。まぁ、繋がっている人があまりいないし、誰もアップしないし…今回コインマジックも小さなボールを使ったマジックもカードマジックも見せてくれた。毎回思うんだけど、セカンドディールがきれいなんだよね。

Then the magician Suzumu came and showed me magic. He did a cup and balls routine, the traditional coins and ring trick where the coins travel, some magic with a string and the ring, and then various card tricks.

3人目のマジシャンがマジシャン進夢が来た。カップ&ボール・コインと指輪・指輪とロープ・カードのマジックを見せてくれた。

Finally, Ryusei Kamiguchi also did some magic requested by the other guests sitting next to me at the counter. He is always funny, and this time he was crazier or in a higher gear than normal, haha. He did a funny card to forehead routine, and had a "marked card" where the marking (drawn with a sharpie) moved around on the card. He did many other card tricks too.

最後に上口龍生も、カウンタの隣のお客さんのリクエストで、マジックを披露した。いつも面白いが普段よりもテンションが高かった。カード・トゥー・額とか、マッキーで書いたマークがカードの裏で動いたとか、色々なカードマジックを見せてくれた。

Toto's Bar


I had to go on a quick trip to Kawasaki, which is close to Tokyo, and I found an hour or so to stop by Toto's bar and see some magic. There are two very cute owls there now. I also noticed that they had changed the color of the Toto's bar playing cards they have in the bar. Their logo is green, so they have started printing their playing cards in green now. Toto's bar is always great, and this time was no exception.

仕事で川崎に行くことがあって、東京で1泊した。ちょっとだけ「都々's Bar」に顔を出す時間もとれた。最近、フクロウ2羽いる。可愛い。他に、都々's Barトランプが今緑色のなっている。都々's Barのロゴが緑色なので、トランプも緑色にしたそうだ。都々's Barがいつも凄く楽しい。今回もそうだった。


Magic show at a Halloween Party at cafe An Be


One of my friends has a "senpai" working in a restaurant/cafe/bar called Cafe An Be. My friend has done magic shows there many times, and when asked to do a show at their Halloween party, he asked me if I could help out, since he was running out of material. I said sure, and we ended up doing a half hour show together.

マジシャン友達の先輩が「Cafe An Be」という店で働いている。友達が何回もそこでマジックショーをやってきた。ハロウィンパーティーでまたマジックやって欲しいって言われた時に、僕に「一緒にやる?」と聞いた。ネタがもうない感じだった。僕が「やりたい!」と言ったから、2人で30分くらいのショーをやった。


Before our time to go on stage, we waited around in the back for quite some time. We got some very nice food to eat, though, so that was fine. Before us, there was also a group of women performing poppy versions of anime songs and other music. They were very nice.

ステージにあがる前に結構待っていた。待っている間、美味しい食べ物を貰った。うちのショーの前にアニソングとかをやってくれた女性のバンドもパフォーマンスした。良かった。


We did our magic show by first me doing one magic trick, then my friend doing one, then me again, and so on. This worked really well, and was a pretty good way to split up the work and to get some good variety into the show (we did not have time to rehearse any routines to do together).

マジックのショーは、僕が1ネタをやって、友達が1ネタをやって又僕、みたいなやり取りにした。結構良かった。キャラの違いがあって、2人でやった方が良かった。2人で一緒にやるネタの練習時間がなかったから、簡単なやり取りくらいしか出来なかったが結果良かった。

I had been told that the audience would be mostly drunk grownups but it was in fact mostly families with children. I have a lot of material that works well with kids, but had not brought very much of that. I did have some things that work great with kids, though. When I ask kids to help me out on stage, usually there are lots of volunteers. This time, there were none, haha. Probably because I was dressed up as the "kuchi sake onna" (the "slit mouthed woman", a Japanese urban legend monster that kills children with her scissors).

行く前に、酔っ払いの大人が多いと言われたが当日に来ていた人が子供連れの家族が多かった。子供にうけるマジックをいっぱい持っているが持って行ったマジックの中はそんなになかった。子供うけが良いネタを何個かがあったけど。普段「手伝ってくれる人がいる?」と子供に聞いたら、やりたい子供がいっぱいいる。今回は誰もいなかった、笑。僕が口裂け女の仮装していたから、皆怖がっていたみたい。

In the subway

Our show was appreciated. People laughed a lot, and afterwards people came up and wanted to take photos with me. One woman came up to me and said that she had thought I was actually a woman up until I started speaking, haha.

マジックショーが好評だった。皆笑ってくれた。終わってから、一緒に写真撮りたい人もいたし、「喋る前に本当に女だと思った」と言ったおばさんもいた、笑。

On the way back to the magic bar where we then were to do more magic, we met one of my friends in the subway. She thought it was strange to ride the subway dressed the way I was.

地下鉄でマジックバーに戻る時に、たまたま僕の友達に会った。よくその格好で地下鉄に乗れたねと言われた。

Magic at a Bridal company party


After the Halloween magic show, I immediately left for Tokyo to meet people from Sweden who were visiting. After a few intensive days in Tokyo, I flew back to Sapporo, went straight to work, and left from work straight for a party with people working in the bridal business.

ハロウィンのマジックショーの次の日にスウェーデンから知り合いが東京に来たので、僕が札幌から東京に会いに行った。忙しいが楽しい東京の2日間の後、飛行機に乗って直接職場に行った。職場から直接ブライダル系の会社の集まりの宴会に行った。

A woman I know works with finding entertainers for weddings. She connects people organizing their weddings with people playing the violin etc. Sometimes people ask for a magician, and then she sometimes asks me if I have time to perform at a wedding or two.

知っている女の人が結婚式などに生演奏の人とかを紹介する仕事をしている。たまに「マジシャン紹介できますか?」と聞かれる。そういう時にたまに僕にどこかの結婚式に出れる?と僕に聞いてくる時がある。

At the party, lots of people in her business were gathering, so she wanted me to come and do some magic for the rest of them, in the hope that they might ask her (or recommend people getting married to ask her) for a magician.

その宴会で、ブライダル的な仕事の人がいっぱい集まっていたから、皆にマジックを見せたら、マジシャンのリクエストが増えるかもしれないから無料でやって欲しいと言われた。趣味でやっているから面白い相手なら無料でも全然やる。

I walked around the tables and did the tricks that I often do at weddings, and people were very impressed. I also saw the boss of one of the biggest bridal companies there, and we had met once before. I did a magic show at a wedding were the groom was one of his relatives, so he was sitting at one of the head tables. I was asked to do something special at his table this time, so I ended up putting a card that he had signed inside an unopened (sealed) PET bottle. He seemed very impressed with that (and the sponge rabbits trick I do).

テーブルを回って、結婚式でよくやるマジックを見せた。大きなブライダルの会社の社長(?)も来ていた。前に結婚式でマジックをやった時に、その社長に会ったことがある。新郎さんが親戚だったみたい。今回、社長のテーブルで特別なマジックやって欲しいと言われたから、結局サインして貰ったカードを新品のペットボトルに入れた。うけが良かった。まぁ、いつもやっているスポンジのウサギのマジックもう相変わらずうけた。

Magic show at H's Cafe


In recent years, Halloween has become more and more popular in Japan. People celebrate Halloween by dressing up in mostly cute or sexy costumes and having parties. I was asked to do a magic show at a place called H's cafe, where I quite often have dinner (they have excellent hamburgers), at their Halloween party.


最近日本でもハロウィンが流行ってきた。日本では可愛いコスチュームでパーティーするだけだけどね。H's Cafeというバーのハロウィンパーティーでマジックショーをやった。ハンバーガーがうまい店で、よく行く。


I dressed up as a zombie, since that means you can still have pockets to carry your magic props around with you. I got 30 minutes or so to do a show in front of all the people at the party. People seemed to enjoy it, though it was difficult to tell the facial expressions of most people.


ゾンビの仮装して、マジックをしに行った。ゾンビだったら、ポケットがあるコスチュームなので、マジック道具とか持って行きやすい。30分くらい皆の前でマジックショーをやった。うけたと思うが表情が分かり辛い人が多かった、笑。


There was also a costume competition at the party and I got second place there.

コスチュームコンクールもあった。2位になって、賞を貰った。

Costume competition winners
My prize