Pritam Patra is a popular Indian magician, known to most people as Magician Torque. In a very short span of time, Pritam has mastered the art of bewildering his audience and made a mark in the field of magic - leaving his onlookers spellbound by his art.
Born in Sunabeda, an industrial town in the state of Odisha, Pritam grew up at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Township. There, he completed his schooling from Vyomayana Samstha Vidyalaya (VSV) before moving to Kota, Rajasthan for higher secondary education in science stream. After cracking the Indian Institute of Technology’s Joint Entrance Examination (IIT JEE), he took up Electronics and Electrical Engineering at IIT Guwahati.
At a very young age, Pritam developed an interest in the field of magic. The more magic shows he saw, the more his interest in becoming a magician grew.
“I have always been into magic and loved it from a very young age. When I was in the 6th standard, I used to watch magic shows on television and get astonished by their sleight of hands. I started watching a lot of local magic shows and buying books that teach magic tricks. I even resourced magic books by internationally acclaimed magicians from abroad,” Pritam told G Plus about his introduction to the world of magic.
Pritam soon got engrossed in learning new tricks and performing them in school for his friends. Back then, he used to mostly perform card tricks. He then started watching David Blaine’s magic shows on television and liked his style of presentation. But instead copying someone else’s style, Pritam decided to create his own style and master the art of presenting magic with sheer perfection.
Pritam started exploring the field more trying to create his own tricks and thus Garrett Thomas and Justin Miller, two of the finest magicians and magic creators, became his idols. He started following them regularly, taking inspiration from them. His focus now lies on creating and routining of magic.
Recalling the initial hiccups and the challenges along his way, Pritam said, “At first when I started learning basic moves, it took a lot of effort to perfect the moves. But once you know the basic of all the moves, things start to get simpler.”
“You can read all you want and watch all the magic shows you want to, but mastering the tricks needs practice and performances in front of an audience. I credit my finesse in performance to the fact that I used to perform for IITians who have a habit of inspecting things and trying to apply reverse engineering into everything. Performing for them was a challenge and in trying to convince and fool them with my magic, I got better with my sleight of hands,” said Pritam.
While still studying at IIT, Pritam started performing professionally at a local restaurant called Shanghai Salsa. He has since performed at multiple eateries of the city including Shahi Darbaar, Hotel Palacio, Terra Mayaa, Corner Cafe and 11th Avenue. He has also performed at Alcheringa (IIT Guwahati), Pyrokinesis (Assam Engineering College), Rongali festival and various private gigs.
Talking about the magic scene in Guwahati, Pritam informed G Plus, “There are very few magicians in this part of the country. When I started performing in 2016, the audience didn’t used to reciprocate; while most thought that I was performing some ‘jaadu’, very few actually understood “magic as an art.” But the scenario has changed drastically in the past couple of years. With an increase in the number of magic shows being performed in the city, people have become more aware of the art form.
While there are various kinds of magic, Pritam prefers performing table hopping magic, close up magic and street magic, which he says are much more difficult than stage magic.
His shows consist of card tricks, bending of coins, challenging the force of gravity, and solving the Rubik’s cube within seconds amongst various other modern day techniques.
Pritam wishes to continue his magical journey for as long as he lives. He aims to keep amazing people and show them something that is truly unexplainable. He wants to spread joy and ignite the wonder that lives within all of us.