Wikipedia

Ning Cai (writer)

Ning Cai (Chinese: 蔡嬣; pinyin: Cài Níng; born 16 October 1982)[1] is a magician and a Singapore Literature Prize-nominated author.

Ning Cai
蔡嬣
Ning Cai at her MisDirection book launch at Books Kinokuniya on 19 April 2018
Born
Cai Ning

(1982-10-16) 16 October 1982 (age 42)
Singapore
NationalitySingaporean
Other namesMagic Babe Ning
Mind Magic Mistress
EducationMSc in Creative Writing
Alma materNgee Ann Polytechnic
RMIT University
University of Edinburgh
Occupation(s)Writer, Entrepreneur, Magician, Model
Years active2006-present
Known forSouth East Asia's first professional female magician
Notable work
  • Adventures of 2 Girls (2012) - With Pamela Ho
  • Who Is Magic Babe Ning? (2015)
  • Game of Thoughts: Understanding Creativity Through Mind Games (2016) - with John Teo
  • Magicienne: A Novel (2016) - With Don Bosco
  • The Savant Trilogy (2018-22)
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2014)​
Chinese name
Chinese蔡嬣
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinCài Níng
Websiteningthing.com
In this Chinese name, the family name is Cai.

Overview

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Cai is best recognized for her illusionist/escapologist stage character Magic Babe Ning and was named by Channel News Asia as Southeast Asia's first professional female magician. Cai has been credited with popularizing magic in Singapore.[2]

In October 2014, Cai announced her retirement from performing as Magic Babe Ning to focus on her writing career. Her 2016 Singapore Literature Prize nominated autobiography Who Is Magic Babe Ning? was published soon after. She made a brief return to magic as the Mind Magic Mistress in 2017.[3]

Education

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Cai was born in Singapore on 16 October 1982. She is the eldest of three sisters. She studied at Methodist Girls School and competed in the Australian in the Australian Mathematics Competition of 1997.[4]

She attended Ngee Ann Polytechnic, where she studied a diploma in Film,Sound and Video, as she intended to work as a television producer and writer. NAP inducted Cai into their inaugural Hall of Fame in 2011, along with fellow graduates of the School of Film Media Studies, DJs Jamie Yeo and Justin Ang, one half of The Muttons.[4]

Career in magic

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Cai gained recognition for the magic tricks that she honed after watching David Copperfield and Princess Tenko from the age of 5.[4] In 2006, she joined a local magic competition and was placed second runner up. This win fuelled her desire to become a full-time professional performer.

Cai was acknowledged as "Singapore’s only professional female magician"[5] by publications including The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao, The New Paper, My Paper, Mediacorp Channel 8 News and Lianhe Wanbao.[6][5][7][8] She disliked being typecast as the typical female who only performed magic with silks, flowers or rabbits, so she incorporated fire-eating, samurai swords, fire balls and weapons in her shows. She also started an online magic shop, The Little Magic Shop.

In October 2014, after 10 years performing around the world, Cai announced that she would be retiring from her work as stage character Magic Babe Ning.[9] She cited her upcoming wedding and her desire to focus on writing as reasons for her retirement.[10]

Writing career

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Ning Cai promoting her new book Misdirection at Neo Kinokuniya Singapore on 19 April 2018

Cai collaborated with her longtime friend and mentor, John Teo, president of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (Singapore) in creating an activity book Game of Thoughts: Understanding Creativity Through Mind Games, which comprised a series of 'brain teasers, puzzles conundrums, thought experiments and writing exercises'.[11]

In 2016 she collaborated with Don Bosco in writing Magicienne, a novel featuring a young protagonist who has been described as a "younger version of Magic Babe".[12][13]

In April 2018, Cai launched the first book of her young adult trilogy.[14] Titled Misdirection, the first volume of the Savant Trilogy, it follows a parkour champion who awakes from a three-year coma and discovers that her family has been murdered by a killer still at large. Cai's original manuscript had been long-listed for the Epigram Books Fiction Prize in 2016 and was subsequently reworked. The book spent six consecutive weeks on The Straits Times bestsellers list.[15][16][17] Manipulation and Metamorphosis followed in 2021 and 2022.[18][19]

Cai received an MSc in Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland[20] in November 2019[21]

Literary influences

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Cai has cited Neil Gaiman, Terry Moore, and Elizabeth Watasin as influences.[4]

Other projects

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Ning Cai giving a lecture at Methodist Girls' School on 26 Jun 2018.

Cai has served as the creative director of Mighty Magic Lab, a kids edutainment company which focuses on empowering the creativity and confidence of children through magic, as well as delivering educational shows.[22]

In 2015, Cai organized a local book hunt called #SG50books50days, an initiative to generate interest in reading books by local authors. Over the course of 50 days, she left 50 books from various authors at 50 different locations, to which she left clues via social media. Books published by local authors such as Neil Humphreys were among those found by those who managed to solve the clues.[23]

She is also a committee member of the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisation’s women’s register.[24]

Bibliography

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  • Adventures of 2 Girls (Marshall Cavendish, 2012) - With Pamela Ho
  • Who Is Magic Babe Ning? (Marshall Cavendish, 2015) - Foreword by Neil Gaiman
  • Game of Thoughts: Understanding Creativity Through Mind Games (Marshall Cavendish, 2016) - with John Teo
  • Magicienne: A Novel (Marshall Cavendish, 2016) - With Don Bosco
  • Misdirection: Book One of The Savant Trilogy (Epigram Books, 2018)
  • Manipulation: Book Two of the Savant Trilogy (Epigram Books, 2021)
  • Metamorphosis: Book Three of the Savant Trilogy (Epigram Books, 2022)

References

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  1. ^ Singapore, Daily (10 July 2009). "Singapore Daily".
  2. ^ The New Paper (9 October 2010). ""Magic casts spell on S'poreans"". The New paper.
  3. ^ Today Online website
  4. ^ a b c d Cai, Ning (2014). Who is Magic Babe Ning. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish. ISBN 9789814561266.
  5. ^ a b "Singapore's Only Professional Female Magician". Lianhe Zaobao. 14 October 2007.
  6. ^ "The Sum of All Illusions". Current Events Issue. September 2008.
  7. ^ "The Bag Page". The Straits Times Urban. 12 September 2008.
  8. ^ "Trick with Treats". The Straits Times LIFE!. 12 September 2008.
  9. ^ "Final disappearing act from illusionist Magic Babe Ning". AsiaOne. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  10. ^ "Magic Babe Ning: No more magic". TODAYonline. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  11. ^ Kinokuniya website
  12. ^ Books, Super Cool (28 September 2016). "Ning Cai's Magicienne: What it takes to truly write a YA novel from the heart". Medium. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  13. ^ "Magicienne". Marshall Cavendish.
  14. ^ Paper, The New (10 April 2018). "Magician Ning Cai set to release first book in new young adult trilogy".
  15. ^ "Misdirection (Book One of The Savant Trilogy)". Epigram. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  16. ^ "Straits Times Bestsellers". The Straits Times. 24 April 2018.
  17. ^ "Straits Times Bestsellers". The Straits Times. 29 May 2018.
  18. ^ GoodReads website
  19. ^ Barnes & Noble website
  20. ^ "Your Heart is the Best GPS: Writing for Self-Healing & Creative Personal Development". Peatix. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  21. ^ "Ning Cai | University of Edinburgh - Academia.edu". edinburgh.academia.edu. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  22. ^ "Home | Mighty Magic Lab". mightymagiclab.com. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  23. ^ "Writer Ning Cai aims to give away 50 books around S'pore by year's end". TODAYonline. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  24. ^ GoodReads website

See also

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