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Bernice Chan

Billy Hsueh’s favourite magic trick is the classic Think a Drink, for which the magician pours whatever drinks audience members request from a teapot.
Hsueh uses his special stainless steel teapot from Taiwan and some water to conjure up drinks such as citrus sunrise cocktails, pinot noir, rosé and piña coladas.
The 31-year-old’s take on the trick was so beguiling that he was one of the magicians to win a prestigious Invention Award at the 2025 Fism World Championship of Magic, held in Turin, Italy, in July.
The event, known as the “Olympics of magic”, is hosted every three years by the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques, one of the world’s most recognised magic organisations.
“To someone who’s not versed in magic, [the magic trick] will look the same, but to magicians, the way that I’m doing it is, in their minds, impossible, because I am basically taking all the old methods that everyone knows and disproving them and doing it in a brand new way,” he says.

Previously, when a magician performed the Think a Drink trick, spectators were not invited to inspect the teapot or the glasses, let alone sample the drinks.
However, in recent years, magicians have made inspecting and sampling part of their routine, something made possible by secret compartments in the teapot or by having drink powder in the glasses.
But Hsueh pushed the trick further, which impressed the judges.
“To end it, I give away my teapot to the volunteer, which you don’t do as a magician, giving away your props. That also solidifies a different way that I’m doing it and that I am not lying to them. My version does not involve any trick teapots or trick glasses. Everything is as pure as it sounds and looks,” he says.
He competed against 31 other magicians in the Invention category and was the only Canadian among 160 competitors during the five-day event that also featured presentations and performances.

“[I like] the creativeness of [competing], coming up with new ideas, new ways to do stuff. My creative process is, I think about what my end goal is for what I want to do; I have no idea how I’m going to do it, but my adventure is figuring out how to get to that point, with the help of what I know, with the help of my friends,” he says.
Earlier this year, he performed the same trick in front of his idols, magician duo Penn & Teller, on their Fool Us TV show filmed in Las Vegas.
“I can tell you that they were impressed, they enjoyed my performance even though I didn’t fool them,” he says. He is contractually obliged not to explain further, which would also probably give away how he does his Think a Drink trick.
Hsueh enjoys travelling the world to compete and perform, mostly for private parties and events.


He is originally from Taipei, Taiwan, and immigrated to the Vancouver area with his mother when he was five years old. It was during a summer camp when he was 11 that he became enchanted by magic.
Hsueh and his camping group were taken to Granville Island, a food, drink and cultural hotspot in Vancouver with a magic shop geared towards kids.
“A guy at the counter showed me some magic tricks and I was like, ‘What? No way! That’s so cool!’ And then afterwards, I just begged my mom to take me back a lot,” he says.
After learning a few tricks, he joined the Vancouver Magic Circle, a club for amateur and professional magicians, at around 13 years old
Through this group, he met his first mentor, Steve Dickson, who took the teenager under his wing, teaching him how to perform, do sleights and create new tricks.

“I liked his performance style and just how laid back he was – his personality was very disarming – and the magic that he does,” Hsueh says of the magician, who suddenly died in 2020.
“I try to translate that into my own magic, like the performance style, just being nice, being charismatic, being approachable, and that’s where all of my belief with performing magic comes from.
“My magic is not my goal – it’s not to fool you. Well, yes, the magic that I do will fool you and make you go, ‘How the hell did that happen?’ [But] my goal is to make sure that you’re having as much fun as I am.”
Hsueh’s other mentor, Shawn Farquhar, came first in the card magic category at the Fism World Championship of Magic in 2009 – the last time a Canadian had won an award at the event before Hsueh.

How does Hsueh’s mother feel about him pursuing magic?
“Asian parents… that’s all I have to say,” he says, breaking out into laughter.
“She’s good with it now. She sees where I’m actually taking it, that it’s a thing, not just a hobby, and I have a backup.”
His other job is in the hospitality industry, making sure wedding banquets go smoothly and even mixing a few drinks at the bar thanks to his training in the culinary arts and degree in hospitality management.

Most recently, he appeared on a morning radio programme at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and performed a card trick live on the air, where the host was asked to pick a card from the stack of playing cards.
Then Hsueh told the host to check the magician’s Instagram account, where, 15 minutes earlier, the magician had already posted a selfie in the radio station with the chosen card tucked in his jacket breast pocket.


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Billy Hsueh with his Fism Invention Award. Photo: Billy Hsueh

Hsueh celebrates winning an Invention Award at Fism Italy 2025. Photo: Billy Hsueh

Hsueh became enchanted with magic when he was 11. Photo: Billy Hsueh

Hsueh says his main goal is to ensure the audience is having as much fun as he is. Photo: Billy Hsueh

Earlier this year, Hsueh performed his magic on a morning radio programme for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Photo: Billy Hsueh

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Entertainment

The Taiwan-born Canadian magician talks about his 2025 Fism World Championship of Magic win and performing for his idols Penn & Teller


The Taiwan-born Canadian magician talks about his 2025 Fism World Championship of Magic win and performing for his idols Penn & Teller.


Canada

He won at the ‘Olympics of magic’ and impressed Penn & Teller. Meet Vancouver’s Billy Hsueh

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The Taiwan-born Canadian magician talks about his 2025 Fism World Championship of Magic win and performing for his idols Penn & Teller

The Taiwan-born Canadian magician talks about his 2025 Fism World Championship of Magic win and performing for his idols Penn & Teller