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| Sunday, 7 March 2004 |
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Victor Khoo : The Wizard Of Showbiz by Farah Macan Markar International Entertainer, Emcee, Games Host, Comedian, Ventriloquist, Illusionist, Impressionist and Magician, this funky haired guy with the dark shades, is non other than Victor Khoo. Hailing from Singapore, this "Wizard Of Showbiz" as he calls himself was here in Sri Lanka a couple of weeks ago, performing for the Hilton Golden Key Club on the night of the 24th of February and for the Lady Hilton Club on the afternoon of the 25th of February. Having a tete-a-tete with Victor, he speaks of his shows, his childhood, his rise into international fame and of course his magic. With over 30 years of professional experience as an entertainer, Khoo has performed over 3600 hours of live shows, breaking language barriers, discarding cultural differences and performing for all ages. He has performed in countries all over the world (with the exception of Russia) from his home country Singapore, to Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, South Africa, England, Dubai and far into the land of showbiz itself the United States. His favourite entertaining destination, is none other than Las Vegas. While his shows are usually accompanied by a bevy of vibrant dancers and singers, complimented with high-tech lighting and special effects, Victor also does simple solo performances, with the assistance of his music director Raj, as was seen in the Hilton Colombo recently. Victor first came to Sri Lanka 15 years ago to perform for the Hilton and has been in and out of the island ever since. He has hosted the Miss Tourism Sri Lanka as well as other corporate events. Having toured Kandy, Anuradhapura and down south during his previous visits to Sri Lanka, Khoo has a love for our beaches. Of the Sri Lankan audience he says they are spontaneous, jovial and fun, especially the women. "The women of Sri Lanka have a big sense of humour and become very active in the show" says Khoo. Khoo had his first taste of showbiz at the age of seven, singing with his brothers in a trio known as "The Singing Khoo" and winning every singing contest that they competed in. At the age of fifteen, he went semi-professional as a magician, ventriloquist and comedian, to earn extra pocket allowances. He turned into a full-time professional entertainer 25 years ago, as well as becoming an accomplished Radio and TV Personality disc-jockeying top 40 programmes and hosting "live" talk shows. In 1984 he set up Victor Khoo Productions to produce and manage his shows. Today the company provides all the necessary talent, technical and equipment support for his performances all over the world. As the demand for his performances began to increase, he set up Image Entertainment, Magic Media and Toria Communication. Having a love for movies, in 1998 he set up River Films to produce movies, its first being a full length English Film entitled "Tiger's Whip" which he personally produced and directed. Khoo enjoys watching classic and epic films and his favourite among the lot is "Gone With The Wind". Khoo inherits his talent as a ventriloquist from his father. When his father passed away, he gave Khoo his doll, which became Victor's first puppet. Today Victor has a variety of puppets from adults to children. At times he uses just one, but he finds it more exciting when he uses two. "It is like having a double personality. It's not just about speaking in different voices for each puppet. It's about giving them each character, different characters, which is quite challenging". Says Khoo the real joy of ventriloquism comes not from just throwing one's voice and making a puppet talk, but giving the puppet life and making the audience believe in it. "It's about using your talent and imagination to create magic. The magic of making an inanimate figure animate". From doing illusions such as making a person disappear to impersonating famous figures such as Elvis and Charlie Chaplin, singing, making jokes and keeping the show going, Victor loves his job, which he describes as his "Passion", his "Life" and his "Soul". "My job is entertaining and I love it. It's been apart of my life for so long. I don't do it for the money. Money is important, but being in showbiz it is more important to enjoy what your doing, for only then do you give it your best and the audience enjoy it too". Lastly Khoo says, doing a show, the most important aspect is balancing everything so that the audience enjoy it without being offended, especially if it be a multi cultural audience. At the same time he says it is vital to add the local flavour to it. "For example" says Khoo "if I'm doing Elvis in Sri Lanka, I will make it a Sri Lankan Elvis. If I'm doing it in Australia, it will have to be an Australian Elvis. There is also the little things like picking up on a few local words and accents of each country and infusing it into the show. It is these which breakdown the barriers of alienation and bring performer and spectator closer together". |
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