Cyril Takayama experiences life with extreme sports
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/xin/20090720/ten-516-cyril-takayama-experiences-life-3c1b9bc.html
Honored as the pioneer of street magic, Cyril Takayama may be entertaining the world with illusions, but the entertainer describes himself to be just a normal person, who enjoys the simplicity of life and always welcoming challenges.
Cyril has brought much joy and laughter on the streets of Japan, and through the Internet, he entertains the citizens of the world. As an entertainer, he also likes surfing the Web. "I look at what the latest fashion is and the latest fads all over the world. My friends entertain me, I love eating, I love going out, I love experiencing new adventures, going to different cities, shopping. I'm human, just like you and everyone else."
In Singapore for the first time, Cyril brings news of his first collaboration with international media company, AXN, creating his first TV special outside Japan. He will be extending his magic out of Japan onto other Asian streets to entertain a greater audience. When asked if there are particular places that he has already plans of, Cyril expressed that he is usually inspired by the surrounding and works his creative juices on the spot.
He said, "I enjoy experience different cultures and lifestyles. They give me inspiration for my magic."
At the press conference in Singapore, his charisma and confidence was felt the moment he made his appearance. In fact, Cyril had an unpleasant and difficult childhood, which is apparently a taboo topic.
According to reports, Cyril, of Ryukyuan and French descent, was born and raised in Hollywood, California. His father is a native Ryukyuan from the Okinawa prefecture, and his mother is Moroccan- French, both of whom were beauticians. At age 15, he was expelled from school; at 16, he dropped out and angered his father, who later sent him to live with a relative in Okinawa, Japan. In transit at Tokyo, Cyril never boarded the plane again, and started busking along the streets of Shinjuku.
His interest in magic started at six when his parents brought him to Las Vegas, where a magician awed him by levitating a woman and cutting himself in half. At 12, he entered the junior program at the Magic Castle in Hollywood. Cyril later performed for the first time in front of people during his junior high school days.
In Shinjuku, he attempted to contact Japanese magic circles but was viewed as an outsider. At 17, Cyril met a rich Japanese businessman who saw his talent and employed him to perform at his hotel for four to five days a week. For two years, he was also a wedding- and party-performer.
Cyril later set up his own stage magic show, and was also given the opportunity to take part in magic gatherings and competitions. In 1994, he was awarded a top prize by magic's international governing body, the International Brotherhood of Magicians. In 2001, he and his partner Jane won a Golden Lion Award at Siegfried and Roy's World Magic Seminar in Las Vegas. In 2007, he won first place in the Best Magician Category of the Magic Woods Awards.
With these, 36-year-old Cyril seemed to have lived past a century. Despite his turbulent childhood, the current Cyril is full of aspirations and ambitious about life.
Magic has empowered him with opportunities to travel the world, experience and enjoy life, and extreme sports form part of this experience for the magician as he jumped off the world's highest commercial bungee platform thrills at Macau Tower. "I felt very much alive. It took nearly 10 seconds to go all the way down. Can you imagine free-falling for 10 seconds? And I hear that bungee jumping is scarier than skydiving, because you can see concrete coming right to your face. It was scariest when I first jumped, but when I rebounded, I just wanted to do it all over again."
Through magic, Cyril has made the most of his life and in doing so, delighted countless around the world.