Young magician wows the south
A budding magician and musician wants the south to stand up and take note of his talents.
BASSONIA – The image of a successful doctor or accountant is what coloured Sizwe’s grandmother’s thoughts as she travelled to KwaZulu Natal to fetch him as a baby to come grow up with her in Johannesburg.
Little did she anticipate that her young grandson would, in his early years, fall in love with the idea of one day being a famous magician.
Sizwe Mthabela is now 20 years old and stays with his grandmother in Bassonia, south of Johannesburg, where he spends a great deal of his time perfecting his skills as a budding semi-professional magician.
His stage name is TshisaWow and his speciality moves reportedly are performing his rap music with a floating microphone and making a half burnt piece of paper magically reappear as a whole piece. He has even posted a minute long video demonstration of his skills on YouTube.
Sizwe said he fell in love with the art of performing magic tricks at the tender age of 10 years old after he saw his first ever magic trick performance at a shopping mall. He also writes and performs his own hip hop music and dreams of one day making it big.
“I met a magician at The Glen Shopping Centre and I was fascinated by his moves. I approached him that day and since then, he has been teaching me a few tricks. He’s been a good teacher to me and sometimes also helps me with my music,” said Sizwe.
Originally from Bergville in KwaZulu Natal, TshisaWow says that his family don’t really understand his fascination with magic, as in those parts, magic is considered to be witchcraft or black magic.
“My family doesn’t understand why I want to be a magician, because to them it’s just black magic, but I’m still very passionate about my craft,” says TshisaWow. “I combine my art in my shows when I perform, I make the microphone float in the air and then rap for the audience because that move is always the ice-breaker. I always have to‘feel’ the audience first and then something just takes over, it feeds on the attention and interest of the crowd.”
Both TshisaWow’s parents sadly passed away when he was young, but he believes that they are proud of him wherever they are. He is left with his grandmother and two sisters.
Having performed at a number of schools and shopping malls around the south, he says his biggest goal currently is to get as much recognition as he possibly can in the south and soon in the whole country.
