Filipino Magic: Illusionist Kent Oliver Estrada

By: Jesse Boga

Illusionist and proud Davaoeño Kent Oliver Estrada has a lot of tricks even if he’s not wearing sleeves. In fact, shape shifting may be one of his fortes.

Here’s why: before he journeyed into the world of magic, he grew up in Davao City, Philippines and spent his high school days in Holy Cross of Davao. He studied radiology technology in Davao Doctor’s College and passed the board. He was then a radiology technologist in the day, and an aspiring magician in his spare time, practicing close up magic and constantly drawing inspiration from the card tricks he learned from his uncle in his childhood.

It would seem that there’s nothing about his day jobs that would connect him to the world of magic. Unless he sees daily objects and occurrences as magic, which he does.

When we sat down with him earlier this week (with close up magician Ody Sto. Domingo), he shared that he finds inspiration in everything. This brought him to have a strong passion for magic tricks, which led him to actually cruise around the world as a performer!

Kent Oliver Estrada

Kent Oliver Estrada and Ody Sto. Domingo

In 2007, he worked in a ship which cruised in the Carribean, in Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. Apparently, one of the best things about being a magician is traveling—almost close to teleporting to places here and there. He has performed in Iran, Dubai, Spain, La Valleta Malta, France, Rome, Germany, Italy, Greece, Civitavecchia, Hongkong, China, India, United Kingdom London, Taiwan, Japan, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt and Brazil.

He is currently a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians Ring 328 in the US.

He dreams of performing in Las Vegas someday. And when he does, we’re sure we’ll be seeing more of him in Davao too!

In this article, we share snippets of our short chitchat. After which, he and Ody showed us some tricks: bending a coin, playing with cards, and multiplying money. And yes, we want to learn the last one.

On difficult audiences

Kent shares that hecklers are inevitable. They will always be everywhere. He arms himself with what he calls his “outs” that he uses to turn the tables on them. “This preserves the continuity in my close up magic,” he says. He confesses he’s lucky to have experienced none in on stage magic.

What lesson about life did you learn from magic?

“There’s magic in people,” Kent shares. “There’s always something different about meeting new people and making them happy.”

What’s a magician’s workout routine?

“Magicians rehearse a lot.” That’s what Kent emphasized. His upcoming show has been rehearsed for the past two months!

What’s so magical about Davao City, Philippines?

“Family. Friends. The laid-back and peaceful lifestyle.”

Tell us about your long hair and your facial hair.

“I’ve always wanted to portray a certain character for myself,” he says. He wears the kind of look that will exude mystery and thrill for the audience. “Just like a vampire,” Kent says.

This February, Kent performed a show titled The Illusionist in CAP Auditorium, Davao City, Philippines with a bunch of top magic performers joining him.

He shares that there were about five sets of magic performances, each consisting of about eight illusions. The audience were treated to a spontaneous show with no dull moments. There were choreographed manipulative acts, illusions that baffled everyone with the impossible, audience participation, and family-safe humor that’s sure to bring out the kid in everyone.