marcel oudejans, in the press - clippings

8/9/2019 Marcel Oudejans, In The Press - Clippings

1/6

THURSDAY, MARCH 8 2012

MIRTH AND MISDIRECTION

More than justslcig tly sk illedSLEIGHT OF MOUTH. D,rectedby Jason D elplanque. W ith arcelO ud eja ns . Obz Cafe T h atr ,O bs rvatory at 8pm. S how s run onMa ch 9, 13, 22 and 29. AS RIOSTARK re viewsTHERE'S a bent spoon in my hand-bag. J. Y fri nd' fork ooks ilk apeacock' tail. Before th show,thesewere Just your ordinary dom tickitchen tools. Really they w r e oM ician and com ian aroeludejan uses hi nimble fing rs,aided and abett d by ln motor-mouth and crackling ense ofhumour, for hapeshifting purpose ,among other distractions.eeing how a fork bend upand outwards und r your nose 1qual parts di turbing andmesm rising.ome peopL might rememberOudeian a the ma ician atfadame Zmgara', where heworked for three years.Th se days he runs his own howand he call himself an "infotain r",which means h con ey his eli nts'm ssag s in a fun, personal andengaging manner using magic, com-edy and howmanship.r those who have not been tothe Obz Cafe Theatre, it's a 10 elyw mb-like v nu that seats only 40people, which m ans you're practi-call rtting on Oudeians' la .Thi quite important becayou're probably going to try and out-wit, out tare and out mart hitrickery.Th probl m is, between all hisfast-talklng and his swift fmg rs,you know you are being duped, nomatter how hard yo u stare or how

MOTORMOUTH:Magic ian Ma rcel Oude jans .

It's an evening ofdeceptions, bellylaughter and lotsof surprised gaspshard your brain tri to untangl thillusions and deception before you- you just can't figure it out.The only solution 15 to let your-self be taken over by the magic.

f

Things disappear and reap ar else-where with a twist.Drinking traw are me longand need1 s are consumed. Oude-jan calls audi nee members p toconspire in hi trickery.They are refi rred to as " olun-tee ". but everybody knows thatyou can't say no when you are urn-moned, und a blinding spotlIght,by somebody who's used to ettinhis own way in fran of anaudi nee.Oft n peop e claim to hate beingcalled on tage but on the ni ghtpeopl jack-knifed out of their seatsto be part of the actionTo his credit, Oudejans is prettygentl on stage, using his volunteersmo like partner .KG Mokgadi opened for Oude-jans on the night w saw the howand had u in titches with his dead-pan exp ion and dry humour.Dalin Oliver will open for Oude-jans tomorrow and Barry Varkel onMarch 13. The remaining openingacts are till to be conflrmed.Ja on Delplanque, who co-founded the improvi ation skillsorganisation Improv ape Town,directs the show.It's an ev ning of deceptions,illusions, lots of urprised gaspsand belly laughter.After slaving away at work, it's agreat wa to laugh your lf closer tothe weekend.

As a little bonus, Obz Cafi' ru ns apizza special on Thursday nights.And they do really good, kinny andcrispy pizza.Strictly no under-ISs. Tickets are R5Q. 7b book, callWebtickets at 086 1 22 559 8, or eeunouuoebtickets.co.za


2/6

"."." " _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .., .

CorporatemagicThrough magic he makes your event or functiona complete success, making it an opportunityto connect, ~augh, relax and have funPROFESSIO ALclose-up magicianand corporate entertainer. That showlarcel Oudejan from South Africadescribes himself on his website.Through magic he makes your eventor function a complete success, mak-ing It an op ortunity to connect,laugh, relax and ha e fun."In India you can connec t magicwith entertainment. But in SouthAfrica, fun alone won't work. Indiahas a great heritage of magic. But inmy place you won't find street mag-

ic. The only traditional element wecan claim .s perhap the tradinonalhealers," says 26-year-oldMarcel, whohas been performing magic profes-sionally for the last 0 years."My show i a combo-of mind,magic and interac ion:' he ay ,He picked up the interest in mag-ic from his mother 1argo vhen hewas very mall."She showed me a trick \ here 'OUcut a string and then join it.When Iasked her to teach me, he told me tolearn it from magic books. nIookmore interest and started doing mag.icfor friends and family and lat-er turned prof sional" heays.It is interesting to notethat there are just 10 full-time professional magiciansthat he knows in hi place. "Iam a practical magician. Youcan sayIdobu ines magic,'Marcel say . 'There 'as a timewhen he used to ~'O with anIT company five days a weekand do magic sho ixnightsa week.As his webs' e says, he guar-antees a succes fUl and un-forgettable event each andevery time he orks.Marcel "ill perform at.Senate Ha on Fridayevening. "Iam notused to performing fora huge crowd. Iamlooking forward to it,"he says.

- E x p r e s s F e a t u re s


3/6

Meet th e Star

M arcel Oudejan sAs one of he few lui ' 'me profess ional

magi ' ns n S outh Africa. MalCelO u d e ; a n s isconsistently requested to perform forCorp


4/6

February 2 0 , 2 0 1 0 G Dhangouts 7Marcel's in lovewith a mountain'A n d I 'v e d is co v e re d a c o c o o n - l i k e b a th w h e re y o u f lo a t a ro u n d in t h e d a rk '

BIANCACOLEMAN

N TOP of the microwave Inmy kitchen is what was oncea fork, its tines twisted andmangled, its handle bent back oni tsel f. This was the work of MaroclOudcjans, a speciaJlst in the field ofmind-blowing, jaw-dropping. up .close-and-personal magic.But whil my llttle world wasrocked by Oudejans's amazingsleight of hand tha t nlgbt we met atMadame Zingaro, he says be Imore than "just" a magician; he Isan "enthused '!nfotalncr' providinga tailor-made performance, a Cormof corporate entertainment com-blned wi th inspi rational speakingthat generates a posi tive long-last-ing m ge of self-empow rment",A member of thc ProfessionalSpeakers Association of SouthernAfrica and possessing an under-standing of sustainable businesspractices, sales and marketingOudejans Is as at ease with presen-tanon ,corporate events and train-Ingseminars as he iswith a deck ofcams and a handful of soonee balls.He was the only African Invitedto, and awarded by, the interna-tional magic convention Vtsmayam2008InIndia and he was recognisedas one of the world' s leading "cor'porate magicians" at an invitat ion-only confcrence In Los Angeles."I 've worked in the hospita li tyindust ry since Iwas 15,so i rs prob-ably no wonder that I'm a big fan ofea ting out," says Oudejan .'" love finding these UttIeone-ofa-kind places around cape Townthat g ive amazing service and food,typically wbere the staff either ownpart of the place or they've beenaround solong i t' s l ike they own theplace."My favourite s re staurants areJoe Fish in Pinelands (they havesuperb seafood), Greek InMowbray( the halva ice-cream is divine), and

VlEW:MaIceI Oudejans and family ettjoy v I s I t I r . : the _ MemorIal .P IC T U R E: J E FfR E Y A B R A H A M S

TRUTH.coffeecult (for the best flatwhiles)."Although it's not a "one-of-a-k ind" restaurant . Oudelans and hiswife also enjoy eating at DoppioZero In Claremont with their 16 -month-old daughter;"Their breads are fantastic andreaIIv do make a wonderful aceom-panhnent to their exceUent food."Sometimes webuy Marcel's fro-zen Yoghurt on Ron-dcbosch Main Roadand sit at RhodesMemorial lookingout on to the city, orwe wa tch Dave Ferguson play at theAirst ream TrailerPark on top ofGranddaddy Hotelbecause my wifeand I can enjoy a colddrink while our daughter swaysand dances to Dave's uniquerhythms and beats."Even the busies t person needs totake some time out, and it doesn'tget more isolated than Oudejans 'smethod.

"I 've recently discovered thf lo ta tion tanks at Ubuntu WeUnCentre on Kloof Street," he says."Otherwise known as a 'sensorydeprivation tank', it's basicaUy acocoon-like bath f il led with warmsal t-saturated water , and you floatin pi tch darkness with no sound forabout 45minutes. Absolute bliss!"No one can disturb you and youfeel completely com-Cortable (unless youare claustrophobic,which I'm not) andyou alJow your bodyto ge t some rest andrelaxation. Ialwaysfeel so chi ll ed when, leave, I highly rec-ommend it."For Oudejans theCape Town deal-maker is fairly obvi-ous: "Wi thout a doubt.I 'm In love with the mountain - notIn the 'outdoorsy' hiking sort ofway, but I make a point of lookingat Itevery day," he says." I'm constan tly awestruck byi tsbeauty and the way that it bas a pro-found effect on us locals.

BEND I T UKE M a Ic eI 0UdejlIns will petIorm litTIne 01 IIKInd chaIIty 8V81L

"Just looking at Table Mountainmakes yo u stop and ref lect . . . whichmay explain our stereotypicaUyslow service," he adds with a smi le ."About the only dislike I have isthe lack of safe and easily accesst-ble public transport. If I weremayor and I could magica lly makeanything happen, I'd have a Lon-don-style subway and bus systemput in place immediately ... l believewe'd be so much better off withf ewer cars on the road."You know those Capetonianswho brag about the c ity whereverthey travel'! I'm defmitely one ofthose. Inmy work, I'm required todo a lot of travelling and whilthere a re many cities that I'd like tovisit aga ln, I can't imagine not liv-Inghere."Imee t a lot of tourists who saythat this I s the most beautiful c ityIn the world and most of them havemore travel experience than me, so

I 'm not about to doubt them." You c an s ee M a rc el OudejansInaction tonight at Threeof a Kindcha rity benefit ho ted by theUPl if tment Programme at GrandWest.He will be joined by two othertop magicians, Jacques Ie Sueur.the only person to steal (and return)former President Nelson Mandela'swrist-watch (twice), and Andrew"Magic Man" Eland.Establi hed six years ago, theUPliftment Programme has trainedmore than 50volunteer care clownswho enterta in about 3500 chi ldrenevery month. Operating across thecountry, the NPO visi ts children Inhospitals and hom .All proceeds raised tonight gotowards uplifting a further 500chilodren every month.Tickets cost RI30 and can bebought at www.theup.org.za or att he d oo n

lo ve f in di ng thesel i tt le one-of-a-k indplaces aroundCape Town tha1

iveamazingservice and food'
http://www.theup.org.za/http://www.theup.org.za/


5/6

Artists to take over the cityF e s t iv a l in v i1 e s y o u to k ic k o ff y o u r s h oe s , h e lp c r e a te w o r k s o f art o r g e t u p c lo s e a n d p e r s o n a l w it h a m a g ic ia n o r n o v e l is t

TAKETliE LEAP - As p 01of ttl. InffJnglN Cllyfestiv&l ttl bedwill ~ n v riou loaltions ' 01811.nd sundry to jump upon.

I = 11 colb(;e o(.oplnlons and1bJk1fl l l Hoods th onl nlahtum e . 11 I t" like


6/6

12 -nrtIer ~h.Jlsda ~rolua 16 006Mak ing agicwork

1h ha beenper] tjllillll~

Plnmind poww: Close-up m agid an M arcer O ud ejan s usesmind ove r matter - an d o th er s ec re t me th od s ( an d wor ds ) - tob en d th is f ork.pie want to II amazing thjn~ M It that 1.~4t1vily You FI todo a lot oflhlngs that mMI people don' To do a how (or 4 5 DUnute and you're sull gu rameed th t people ,'Wow, 'I$amaz.ing," xplalned Mar el,Throughout the impromptu petfi rmance snd interview.is Iwa)'5smiling.hi~pearfywhiIC.workin overtim ,nut It's nut iU5t fun and gam .He hastebe 011top rorrolnh ~ . tie n .eds (0keep hl udlence ssing and emertaJned.aid 1 rei: " You m ust have confiden'- not J U S t In WII)')'OUheha\c. b t confidence v.1thinyour lito know tyou dobest you can do,"You 1"'0h to h good cu to Iller service. EYe" Lfyo kDowyou u't de I III sor cone then g someone todo It."You have I have en e ofhumo r ' u e it's SQmuch ew he n y ou 'r dealingwllh people, e~pi II corporal . n outgoing person lhy- thi definitely makes difference

becau }'Ou hav 10go out and m et clients, yllu have 10be . 1 1 I i D .malcer"BeilIg a roll iIan s Iu rauve, sa d Mar'!. but very t:lfIht-knit pe Iown,"In CaIX'Town you have 3lUghquaiity performer, btx Il'..

mall lndu try and th r i~a lo of competition. InBlt~a."""iLrhln there' onl)' UIItl, ln C pc own I!really comes downtomarkeung and bustnes k.IHs I have 10 co Iperc with a u , .ha~ , been In hls bu n for while. BUI. if fun,"While the lnrcrvtew may be OVer nd tar el offtoamuse and. maz rh n x group or p ople he omthing remalns-jhe lone Ylluep of h art that Ma.rccl Rungcelling t I he beginning of the II I rview ... Itw 11 m Ituwben~le(

marcel oudejans, in the press - clippings

Documents