Well jet lag is a glorious thing and it was up bright & breezy for an 8:30 am start for the stage contest after 4 hours sleep. Traveling across time zones is always fun.

In other news - the dear lady at x-ray security no longer deems me to be a terrorist threat, so was only subjected to a cursory inspection this morning.

15 competitors made up the first batch of contestants - and overall stage magic is in serious trouble with a very average standard. I cringe to think what a lay person must think of us magicians after watching some of the performances.

Brief reviews of each act below：

1 - Mayuko - Japan - General Magic
School girl outfit (sorry - but I had images of a Japanese Britney Spears going through my head) The act featured tea， ball and card manipulation along with a quick change to an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ costume - Average

2 - Ernesto - Italy - General Magic
Parasols, parasols and more parasols. Whoever thought that umbrellas were the domain of the East was very wrong. Personal highlight - ‘parasol from pants’ - complete with dance moves What self-respecting man prances about with jumbo parasols ？

3 - Jae Hoon Lim - Korea - General Magic
From the cookie cutter Korean mold， the act got off to a powerful start with thumping soundtrack and some slick dove work Energy levels quickly dropped during the ball manipulation sequence ending with a now compulsory dove cage vanish. However good the technical skill is， why must they all be the same ？

4 - Liu Mingya - China - Manipulation
A traditional Chinese warrior with doves and cards as well as a bizarre new trend sweeping FISM - egg manipulation and egg juggling And let’s not forget the zombie dove Doves fly by themselves so why would we need to make them float ？

5 - Artyon Shchukin - Russia - General Magic
Russia is 20 years behind the rest of the world with canes doves and 80’s tuxedo （ or considering some of the other acts， lots of countries share a similar fate ） Ball and card manipulation， feather from pants and a vanishing bird cage Thrilling

6 - Cheffmagic - Denmark - General Magic
The first act where some may have been tempted to reach for the red light As the name suggests - a　gimmicky cooking act （ eggs again ！）with cheap sound effects overload The performer looked horribly uncomfortable on stage It had novelty value - but not much else

7 - Jorge Luengo - Spain - Mentalism
Mentalism is seldom a popular category at FISM Jorge was at pains to ask for an English speaking assistant - but alas his non-English speaking volunteer stole the show requiring a replacement mid-way through Three random numbers are added up and the volunteer assumes the role of mind-reader guessing the result I much prefer the mentalist being the one with the special powers

8 - Jeff Lee - Chinese Taipei - General Magic
CD manipulation combined with TV screen interaction （ think shades of Timo Marc and Marco Tempest ）For what is supposed to be a ’high tech‘ act - CDs are no longer exactly cutting edge

9 - Martino - Greece - General Magic
Back we go on a time warp：tuxedo， cape and Yanni music Fire wallet， coin manipulation and a performer who is a picture of discomfort with his stone-cold expression Let‘s not forget the giant poker chip from jacket production

10 - Hugues Protat - France - Manipulation
A zany， beggar-style character performing miser’s dream，coin productions ，money spring flowers and gold chain appearances Mediocre act - but a beautiful glitter snowstorm explosion at the end which the magicians loved

11 - Sami Matoshi
CANCELLED

12 - Zhang Caho - China - Manipulation
A traditional Chinese grandfather character with money manipulation， silks， balls， bills and fans A very strong costume change but weak ending

13 - Hyun-Joon Kim - Korea - Manipulation
Cookie cutter excellence from Korea High powered card manipulation， colour changes et al Lots of confetti， billiard balls and more As expected， smooth and polished

14 - Latko - Argentina - General magic
The act opens with the sound of a bike crashing with Latko on stage in biker leathers He proceeds to assemble the bike on stage - appearing handle bars， lamps， wheels etc He ends with a bike helmet production and much expectation that the newly assembled bike will drive off It’s not to be though - instead， we turn off the stage lights， and the bike moves forward by a metre with its headlamp on in the dark Not exactly magical Anti-climatic at best

15 - Serge Fergini - Russia - Manipulation
Serge was plagued by a false start amidst a technical hitch that saw the act delayed However， the wait wasn‘t worth it as the act was below standard Boring ball and card manipulation

16 - Bo Wen - China Stage Illusions
The final stage act for the day Bo Wen presented a large stage set complete with backdrop and a cast of 10+ Dressed in traditional garb ( yes, there’s that word again) he produced fish, vanished fish, made a girl appear in a fish tank and ended with an escape from a water tank complete with fake crocodiles (if only they were real!) and obligatory re-appearance from the back of the hall

And so ends the stage acts for day two Off next to the Close-up auditorium where I hope to still get a seat (the venue seats 300 and there are 2500+ delegates mmmmmmmm)

Read all of the reporting as we get it Direct from China by clicking here

Craig Mitchell has allowed us to duplicate his reports from the Genii Forum