I might be considered a bit nuts but despite being almost overworked with television shoots and rehearsals for a touring musical, I decided to compete in three different categories at the Swedish Championships in Magic, at the Stockholm City Theater in September 2023.
I won two of the categories! First Prize in the Close-up category Parlor Magic, First Prize in the Stage category General Magic, and to top it all, I got awarded most points in all the categories and also got the prestigious Grand Prix Stage award.
“What about the third category?”, you might wonder. Well, I also entered the Childrens magic category as FizzWizzPop, but decided to present the act in Swedish and accidentally went over the time limit. I might try again next year.
For the Close-up Parlor category, I entered with abbreviated version of the act I performed at the Magic Castle in Hollywood last year. A 20 minute act, condensed into 9 minutes.
For the Stage General Magic category, I started with the piece I performed at the Sweden’s Got Talent semi final, and then went into a completely new piece where a lot of flowers and umbrellas appear from nowhere. A way too new piece, neither the props nor my costume had been tried out properly, and just minutes before the audience was let in, when nothing worked, I almost broke down and considered skipping out of the competition. But my partner looked me in the eyes and said “Do it anyway! If you fail, fail as spectacular as possible. You will likely laugh about this in 3-4 years, and if you can laugh at it then, why not laugh at it now?” Somehow, that made me get my nerves in order, and when it was my turn, everything just fell into place.
Even though I managed to get through the new act mentally, there were a few technical errors, so I just assumed that the judges had marked me down, so I didn’t spend any time on figuring out when the awards ceremony would be, and was almost out the door and on my way home, when it started. Thank God I was slow in packing my stuff together, because I was properly shocked and surprised when my name was called out as the First Prize winner in both Close-up Parlor and Stage General Magic, and even moreso when I got the Grand Prix for Stage on top of it all. I still can’t believe it! Especially when considering how advanced and forward the Swedish magicians are. It was a very proud moment, and I was very happy!
For the complete list of winners and their scores, see the report at the Swedish Magic Archive.
Photos: Olav Holten