'I usually perform in markets and in private drawing rooms. Parlour acts are very popular in the West because I weave funny stories around my tricks,' Marrax said.

'Modern magic is fusion of fun and therapy. I often hammer nails into my head for my street shows like the Indian fakirs. It cures depression,' says the aging wizard, who will perform his vanishing tricks at the Chandni Chowk market and the New Delhi railway station.

'I also want to talk to Indian street magicians,' he said.

'We may not be able to make an elephant vanish like Indian master P.C. Sorcar does because Germany does not have elephants, but we often make cars vanish on Germany's streets,' Marrax, a resident of Stuttgart, laughed.

Alexander Sofalvi, an amateur magician, says Stuttgart is Germany's magic town with more than 50 resident magicians. 'It is also the country's most popular hobby,' he said.

Andy Haussler, a leading mental magician, said: 'Name any date and I will tell you the day,' he said.

'Sep 4, 1948?' asked magician Ashok from the Indian Brotherhood of Magicians who was present at the conclave.

'Saturday,' replied Haussler. The Indian magician confirmed it saying 'it was his birthday'.

Then there are Uri Geller and Timo Marc.

Marc, a visual magician and abstractionist, fuses art and television with magic. 'Two of my shows, Crazy Shadow Act and Blue Visions, are famous across the world.

'I paint my dreams, mostly butterflies, on the television screen. After some time they start moving on the screen and eventually fly out of it. It is a bit of illusion, visual abstraction and manipulation - and a great stress-buster,' Marc said.

(Madhusree Chatterjee can be contacted at madhu.c@ians.in)