Last weekend was Pasarbella’s soft launch and I was very excited to be invited to perform my magic for the launch. I was excited for two reasons, the first reason was that I am always excited about sharing my magic and the second reason was that I love farmers’ market! I remember fondly of my exchange semester in America and travelling to the different states and their farmers’ market. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to be able to re-experience the joys of fresh food and vibrancy in Pasarbella.

Fresh Seafood in a Portland Farmers’ Market, Oregon

And I was not disappointed at all. The stalls in Pasarbella had very fresh seafood, pastries and food.

Opening of Pasarbella, Singapore

Upon entry, I was greeted by the fresh aroma of the sea. The seafood was huge and looks really fresh. They had a wide selection of fresh prawns, oysters, fish and crabs. Simply delightful!

Seafood at Pasarbella

My role at the soft launch of Pasarbella was to add to the vibrancy and buzz of the market. As such, I recommended sets of Interactive Roving Magic with Street Theatre shows interspersed throughout the day. I specifically declined doing a stage show because it would demand too much of the public’s attention and time. And it was my stand that the highlight should really be the stalls.

Interacting with the families and friends of Pasarbella

As you can tell, I also made several changes to my usual attire. Given the context, I decided to “dress down” so that I would fit into the Farmer’s Market theme. I added some accessories and quirky colours in my attire to make me stand out, without making me look out of place. In contrast, wearing a suit and a tie would make me stand out, but look out of place in this event. With that said, I have to put a disclaimer that there is nothing inherently interesting with a magician who dresses in bright flashy clown colours. If he fails to deliver good magic, no amount of coloured polka dots would make the audiences want to stay to continue watching him.

Crowd starting to gather behind

The curious crowd gathered to see what was behind the “oooo-s and ahhhh-s” during my performance. Having noticed a pattern in crowd formation in my performing experience, I anticipated this to happen. That was why I strongly recommended Street Theatre to be featured so that I could perform to a larger group curious audiences and satisfy their curiousity through a good performance.

Performing for the family crowd at Pasarbella

To add a personal touch to the show, I deliberately used the produce from the stalls. As you can see in the next picture, I produced a rock melon and 2 tangerines from a stall called Tangy Tangerines and the onion and lemon from a stall called Sg Organic. I also gave out balloons from my good friends, Brenda and Pearlyn’s stall: Party Blasters. This not only entertained the public, but also “educated” them and made them aware of what Pasarbella had to offer. Since it was cogent with the magic, I gave these stalls a shout-out and a quick pitch in the performance.

Making fresh produce appear!

I resumed my roving magic after the Street Theatre set and I was very privileged to perform for the brilliant mind of the Pasarbella, Mr Clovis Lim. Clovis was featured on several publications about the concept and creation of Pasarbella. He is truly a young entrepreneur who dares to take an idea and push it into realization.

Performing to Clovis Lim and friends

Very much like the conception of Meta Illusions’ Street Theatre show (which was inspired by street shows in America and Europe, not seen in Singapore), Pasarbella was conceived from other global markets. And prior to Pasarbella, there weren’t any “farmers’ market” in Singapore. I take my hat off to Clovis and team in being brave and bringing this first-of-its-kind idea into life in Singapore.

I did several Street Theatre shows during the launch on each day. Given the wideness of the place, I alternated my shows between both ends of the market to maximize visibility and engagement of the public.

There were a lot more children in the audience in the West side of the market because of Party Blaster’s bouncy castle but it did not affect the show as it was specially designed to engage children and adults, without having to be too kiddish nor clownish. This is the strength of a well designed show that aims to provide fun and magic, instead of aiming to “cater to kids” or “cater to adults”.

Audience participation and anticipation

All in all, it was a super fun experience performing at Pasarbella and reliving the sights and sounds of a farmer’s market. I am really glad that I was able to add buzz, colour and energy to the event making it fun for children, adults and families in general.

Signing off,

Alexander Yuen