Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine April 2018 | Page 660

K
e ston Ricky Rodriguez is a 28
year old who lives in Trinidad
and Tobago, the home of the
Steel pan.
Kess can be described as a shy, quiet young
man when in public, but naturally very loud,
happy and full of life when in the company of
his friends and family. Like most, he takes great
pleasure in simply going to the movies, eating
out and other social activities considered the
norm for people his age. But, something makes
him different from the norm - and that thing is,
magic! He is best known as Kess The Illusionist,
performing magic for over 13 years and the only
illusionist of his kind in the Caribbean region.
At the age of 2, Kess saw the movie, Aladdin and
not long after that he knew he wanted to be as
magical as the Genie. As the years progressed,
the idea germinated and he loved it even more.
One day, magically, his school invited a local
magician ''Dr Abracadabra'' to perform and at
moment Kess knew, irrevocably, that was the
career for him.
He performed magic in front of a large crowd for
the very first time on March 25th, 2010. It was at
a local restaurant, ''Aura'' which he remembers
distinctly for two life-changing reasons. First, it
was his debut magic concert and secondly, at
that very show, is where he met his wife - she
was in the audience.
With David Copperfield, Dan Sperry and Hans
Klok as his idols, Kess performs every type
of magic possible - sleight of hand, grand
illusions and mostly Animal Magic. At his shows
everyone comes out to see who/what Kess will
cause to “appear” - magically materialize, out
of “nowhere”. That’s one of the more exciting
aspects of his concerts. He works mainly with