Jade The Magician

Jade, one of the world's top female magicians, chatted with Digital Journal about her career in the magic scene. She also touches upon the gender differences in the art of magic.

She took the male-dominated world of magic by storm in 1990, when she became the first female magician to win the International Brotherhood of Magicians' prestigious Gold Medal of Magic, which is awarded only a handful of times in the competition's lengthy history.Throughout her career, Jade has earned multiple awards for her performances in the United States and abroad, which include the Mandrake Award from France as well as the 'Female Magician of the Year' award from the International Magicians Society in Las Vegas; moreover, her stunning performance for the Royal Family of Monaco at the Princess Grace Theater was one of her many career highlights.Jade is fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and English, and she has delighted audiences in numerous appearances on international and American television, which include the 'Penn and Teller: Fool Us' show on the CW Network. Her impressive list of corporate clients include Sony, Sun Microsystems, Apple Computer and Google.Regarding her plans for the future, Jade said, 'A whole lot of magicians are putting together their own shows and they are doing it in their hometowns. I'm realizing that I would actually appreciate spending more time here than getting on a plane to do a one-night show and then fly back. I would like to stay in one place and have a gig here, and my regular-running show. That's the plan.'Jade continued, 'I think it's a tough business to get into, but once you get your foot in the door, I suppose you can do it for longer. Although I have to say that as a woman magician, I don't know how long it will last. How much can people judge you on the way you look and your youth and vitality? There's always an advantage to a man being a performer, that can grow old and look distinguished. For some reason, when a woman gets old, it's not acceptable.'On the evolution of her magic routines, which involved the inclusion of her changing quickly and tying her thumbs up, she said, 'I remember for the longest time I had just my Chinese act in early 1990. I won the gold medal and I was asked to do a tour in Canada, and they needed 20 minutes of material, and that's where the quick change and the thumb tie came about. The Chinese act is all silent and there are maybe nine different effects in the 7.5 minutes of that routine, so I had to break out of my character, and I had to speak and interact with the audience.'Regarding the key to longevity in the magic scene, Jade noted that it is essential for one to always come up with new material. 'Come up with something different that people haven't seen,' she said.When asked how she balances a family with a professional career in magic, she said, 'It's very hard, and when the kids were born, I basically kept quiet, since they were young. Now the kids are older, my son is in middle school and my daughter is going to go to high school next year. They are older now and more free, so that's why I want to have a show in my own town, since I can keep my eye on them.'Jade defined success as 'The opportunity to continue doing what I love, which is performing. Also, to have my family. It's always a balancing act: a family and a job. If I could have a good balance on both, I could find bliss.'For more information on female magician Jade, check out her official website and on Facebook.