AS magicians increasingly become part of mainstream entertainment, illusionist JC Sum thinks that street magic reality TV shows will have a limited run.

The 31-year-old magician, who prefers to be known by his stage name, had his own segment on Top Fun, one of Jack Neo's Channel 8 variety shows, last year.

He said: 'More kids are doing this street magic now. I see a shift where audiences will want something spectacular.'

He thinks that audiences are ready to see grand illusions which David Copperfield made famous 20 years ago, like walking through the Great Wall of China and making the Statue of Liberty disappear.

Which is why JC is creating his own mega illusion this Saturday at a yet-to-be-revealed location.

All he would say is that it will be around the Central Business District.

DISAPPEARING ACT

He will perform what he calls The Impossible Teleportation Mega Illusion as part of The Straits Times - Part Of My Life event.

He will attempt to teleport himself from the street and reappear on the rooftop of a 50-storey building.

He hopes to do this with 5,000 audience members watching him.

Details of the location will be revealed closer to the date on his website www.conceptmagic.biz.

It will cost about $80,000 to pull off the trick.

JC has been in the magic business since he was a teenager.

He set up his company Concept Magic while he was majoring in English and Sociology at the National University of Singapore where he was already plying his trade at corporate events.

JC wants to take the business to a sophisticated level for an adult audience - especially in Asia where the demand's growing.

'Asians want to see their own magicians performing rather than a foreigner,' he said.