Magic school transforms lives on Austria tour

Four young magicians from Cape Town, South Africa, are touring Austria with their show, Magic of Africa. ORF reported that the performers appeared at the community hall in Fieberbrunn on Monday evening, presenting a mix of magic, music, movement and juggling.

The show was well received by the audience in the Kitzbühel district. “You cannot stop being amazed,” one visitor said. Another praised the colourful performance and the chance to see the world brought to the small town.

Skills for life

The four performers come from the College of Magic in Cape Town, a school founded in 1980. Children and teenagers learn magic there, but the art is mainly a means to a broader goal. The programme also develops self-confidence, discipline, concentration, creativity and teamwork.

The project is supported by the organisation Jugend Eine Welt and the Magischer Ring Austria, the Austrian umbrella organisation for magicians.

The programme is aimed in particular at young people from townships and socially disadvantaged backgrounds in Cape Town. “The College of Magic gives young people hope and motivates them to pursue education alongside magic. It is not just a magic school, but a school for life,” said Sinethemba Bawuti, who teaches there.

“Magic saved me”

Sinalo Mtwana, 19, can confirm that from personal experience. Mtwana, who comes from Khayelitsha, a large township in Cape Town, also performed in Fieberbrunn.

“Magic really saved me,” he said. “Where I live, there is a high crime rate and a lot of drugs. Even small children come into contact with them. I locked myself in my room and practised magic tricks. That meant I was not outside very much and did not get drawn into those circles. Unfortunately, my friends were not so lucky.”

“When I started doing magic, I realised that my life had more to offer and that my background did not define my life,” Mtwana said.

From shy child to performer

Sibabalwe Khwezi, 17, said he used to be “the shy one”. “Through the college, I grew. Today I am no longer afraid of people; I can communicate,” he said.

He said those skills would also help with his plans for the future. “I want to become a lawyer. Magic helped me develop. Now I have the energy and courage to become a lawyer.”

Khwezi said he was particularly impressed by Austrian audiences. “In South Africa it is great, but here the audiences are even more powerful and energetic,” he said.

Lithemba Mti, 18, also trained at the College of Magic. She prefers performing close to the audience, which she said she barely notices during the show. “I just go on stage and enjoy it,” she said. When the lights came on after the Fieberbrunn performance and the performers went into the audience, she thought: “Wow, there really are a lot of people here.”

Mti said the college had taught her self-esteem, self-confidence and how to stand in front of large groups. She also noticed a difference between South Africa and Austria. “In South Africa, many people believe magic is witchcraft. Here, people know that it is an art.”

“Believe in yourselves”

Bawuti, who was once a student at the college and is now a teacher there, hosted the programme in Fieberbrunn. “It is wonderful to work with young children and see them become stars. I am proud of our team because you can see the seeds that were planted,” he said.

He thanked Austrian audiences for their support and offered them a message: “Believe in yourselves and remember that anything is possible. Nobody would have thought that our schoolchildren would one day stand here.”

Showing Africa differently

Hanno Rhomberg, president of the Magischer Ring Austria, said he wanted the tour to present Africa in a different way. He has attended magic conventions around the world but had never seen people from Africa perform on stage, despite Africa being the world’s second-largest continent. “Africa is in the shadows when it comes to positive things, and we wanted to make that visible,” Rhomberg said.