Shortest magician stands tall in Dubai

Dubai - Magician Charlie uses his 116cm height to be the special one out in the crowd.

In a vibrant city like Dubai, which thrives on tourism, entertainment and celebrations, it is quite natural that magic shows and magicians are aplenty.
The shortest among them, 'Magician Charlie', has been standing tall in the industry for several years. He makes use of his skills as well as his 'limitation' to be the odd one out in the crowd.
At 116cm, he is a crowd puller even without doing anything. There's hardly any passerby who doesn't throw a second glance at this short man. And that has been a blessing in disguise for Charlie ever since he tried his hand at the entertainment industry.
The 32-year-old, whose real name is Vinod, told Khaleej Times that he first joined a mimicry group when he was doing his intermediate course in his hometown in the south Indian state of Kerala.
There was no looking back after that. "I was employed at Veega Land, a popular theme park in Kerala, to do some shows there. The elephant show was very popular and people used to call me Pappu pappaan (the mahout)."
His physique also got him offers to appear on the silver screen. "I have acted in small roles in about 10 Malayalam movies including hit ones like Athbudha Dweepu, Vellinakshathram and Mampazhakkaalam."
But life changed for the better only after he got a chance to fly down to the UAE. First, he worked for an event management company for about four years.
But the company closed down and Charlie had to look for another job. "I thought a lot about how I would survive ... Then I decided to do all that I had learned from that company all by myself."
By then, he had learned a little bit about magic and organising parties. He worked hard and learned more magic numbers and started his own shows. To make the shows more interesting, he also started doing games, face painting and DJ-ing for kids.
"I'm always a wonder to the kids here. They have so many doubts about my size. They love my small stature, my magic and games."
How Vinod became 'Charlie'
During the initial years, Vinod used to appear in the costume of Charlie Chaplin and people started calling him Magician Charlie. "I felt that was a more marketable name and I kept that as my professional name, though I don't dress up like Chaplin any more in my shows," he said.
Today, Charlie is the owner of an event management company called Al Asra and has his hands full with shows and events. He has become a familiar face at corporate events, birthday and wedding parties and other functions in the UAE.
Better life with better half
His personal life also changed for the better when his better half, Siji, found her real love in this short man after she watched a couple of his shows that he did while on vacation in Kerala four years ago.
"It is difficult for some people to believe that ours was a love marriage," Charlie said with a giggle. The couple has been blessed with a girl child, Shikha, who is two years old now.
Charlie scaled a new height in life in recent months. Today, he is in the driver's seat not just in his company and family, but literally, too. He is the proud holder of a Dubai driving licence.
"I had never even dreamt that I will be able to driver a car, that too here in Dubai. But, I was inspired and I felt I could also do it after I saw reports of a short woman driving a car fitted with additional accessories that make them adaptable for people like us."
While many discouraged him after he failed in his initial driving tests, Charlie was determined to prove his mettle. "I got through after the eighth test. I spent a lot of money also for that. But life has changed a lot after I started driving. Now, I don't have to depend on others to go anywhere and I do all the running around for arranging our shows by myself."
Though he is confident to drive at 120kmph, Charlie said he has some difficulties while reversing and parking the car. "It would have been great if RTA (Roads and Transport Authority) issues a disabled person's parking permits for me, too. But, somehow they don't seem to consider me as a disabled person though I learned driving in and am still driving a car fitted with disabled-friendly accessories."
Charlie said dwarfism doesn't run in his family and his restricted growth and 50 per cent physical disability had been medically certified by the state medical board in Kerala.
- sajila@khaleejtimes.com

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