Nicholas Wallace in ET Canada

From the June 5 article "Gabrielle Union Is Possessed By A Creepy Doll In Magician’s Mystifying ‘AGT’ Audition" by Brent Furdyk in ET Canada:

“America’s Got Talent” has seen its fair share of nightmarish magic acts over the years, but magician Nicholas Wallace has raised the bar when it comes to sheer creepiness.For his trick, Wallace explained that he saved an old rocking chair and a disturbing-looking doll from a fire in a hotel, revealing that the chair and the doll share some kind of a supernatural connection.Enlisting judge Gabrielle Union as his volunteer, he asked her to sit in the rocking chair and then covered her eyes with a blindfold.

Read more.

From the America's Got Talent YouTube channel:

Greg Frewin in the Metrolinx News

From the May 16th article "No illusion – Magician Greg Frewin reveals Niagara Falls spectacles GO customers need to unlock" by Sara Wilbur in the Metrolinx News:

Greg Frewin has pulled off one of the most elaborate feats in the history of prestidigitation. He’s managed to quietly hide a very Canadian existence within a bigger-than-life Niagara Falls spectacle.

 The 52-year-old magician seems as much a modern staple of Niagara Falls as, say, running water. His production, inside a local 700-seat theatre named after him, is based on decades of performances around the world that have won him a magic box full of trophies, including the prestigious Magician of the Year Award at the World Magic Awards, as well as a first place for the International Federation of Magic Societies.

Read more.

Toronto: Mystery & Magic featuring Beyond Mental Borders

From the May 22 article "Toronto is getting a Las Vegas style magic show series" by Tanya Mok in BlogTO:

One of Toronto's most popular mind-reading duos, Beyond Mental Borders, is launching a new stage show called Connection on June 16 at the Rec Room.

According to the mentalist pair, Melissa Ronson and Armand Antony, it'll be an extravaganza of divination, accompanied by some of the best magicians across the country.

The pair have previously wowed audiences on CityTV, at Second City, and other venues in the city with their ability to do stuff like guess what number or place you're thinking of, down to the tiniest detail.

It's still a mystery what exactly the show will incorporate, but according to the team, it'll be a "Las Vegas-style magic show that is currently lacking in the city of Toronto."

Read more.

Halifax: Nathaniel Rankin at the Halifax Busker Festival

As an aside, has anyone witnessed Mike Wood's “Catapulted Cabbage Catch”?  I can only assume it's as hilarious as it sounds!



From the May 22nd article "Halifax Busker Festival performers announced" by Victoria Walton in Halifax Today:

The 33rd year of the festival will take place on the Halifax Waterfront from July 31 to August 5.

Some of the Canadian artists featured include living statue Jenny Jupiter, comedian Mike Wood, and magician Nathaniel Rankin.

Last year's winners of the Busker's people's choice award, Canadian break-dancing group Break City Allstars will also return.

The festival will include the Nova Scotia Marquee Music Stage, which is now in its third year, and will be set up at Bishop's Landing in partnership with the province and Develop Nova Scotia.

Read more.

Matt DiSero on Comedy Above The Pub

Season 17, episode 16 of the Comedy Above the Pub podcast has Matt DiSero in the hot seat with a bonus anecdote about David Acer.


From Matt DiSero's Facebook page:

Peter Duchemin in the CBC

From the May 20th article "Meet Newfoundland's first certified doctor of magic" in the CBC News:

It may not seem like a subject that has any place in academia -- outside of Hogwarts, of course — but one St. John's magician is now a certifiable doctor of magic.

Peter Duchemin just completed his indisciplinary studies PhD at Memorial University after defending his thesis, called "The Art of Hidden Causation: Magic as Deep Mediation."

The doctorate program itself is a kind of mish-mash of various subjects, Duchemin explains.


Read more.

Nick Wallace on AGT 2019

We previously mentioned that The Sentimentalists were going to be on AGT 2019.  Here's another representative from the Canadian magic scene!

Keep an eye out for Nick Wallace!  The season starts May 28 on NBC.


From Nick Wallace's Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

The cat is out of the bag. You might see a familiar face auditioning for @agt ! Catch the season premier on May 28 at 8/7c on @nbc . #agt #agtauditions

A post shared by Nick Wallace (@nickwallacelive) on May 13, 2019 at 4:58pm PDT

Joe Schwarcz in The Suburban

From the May 8th article "Dr. Joe and company mark two decades of excellence in science at McGill" by Mike Cohen in The Suburban:

Born in Hungary, Schwarcz came to Canada at the age of eight. He told me that he credits a magician at a Grade 6 friend’s birthday party who used a so-called magical chemical to perform a trick for turning him on to what would become his future vocation. “I still include magic into many of my lectures,” he says. “Magic expands the mind.”

Read more.

Discourse in Magic with Matt Johnson (plus 60s docs)

Via iTricks, Matt Johnson featured on the web series "60 Second Docs" in the episode "The Bittersweet Ache of Escaping." (embedded at the bottom of this post)


From Discourse in Magic:

On episode 158, Matt Johnson joins Jonah to discuss escapology, adding human elements to your magic, and recreating your brand. You may know Matt for his water tank escape on Penn & Teller: Fool Us or for his semi-place finish on Britain’s Got Talent.

Matt remembers a wind-up box at his grandmother’s house sparking his initial love for magic. While not a magic trick, it still gave him this magical feeling and caused him to want to know how a little box could play music. At the age of twelve, he started learning tricks and, after performing for Matt’s siblings’ birthday, a magician took Matt under his wing. Soon, he was attending his local shop every weekend right through his teen years.

Read more and listen.

If you do what other people do you will be one step behind ANYONE. Dare to be different. Do something new! @likemattjohnson https://t.co/FUJWcj0DnY pic.twitter.com/WprQ7ew6So

— Discourse in Magic (@discoursenmagic) April 29, 2019

From the 60 Second Docs YouTube channel:

Gwyn Auger on Illusionary

From Yeats Magic Co's Facebook post:

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Billy Kidd in Topic Stories, Liberty Magic, and Super$tition

A reminder that Super$tition runs April 11- 21 in Edmonton.


From Billy Kidd's Twitter feed:

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Magician @Billykiddshow explains what it’s like to make a life in magic, where, even if things look like just fun, “things can’t go wrong.” pic.twitter.com/FgiPN4Ufxp

— Topic (@topicstories) April 8, 2019

📣 Big news! 📣 Yesterday we unveiled the Liberty Magic Summer 2019 lineup!

✨ @BillyKiddShow — May 15 - June 23

✨ @MarkTolandLive — June 26 - Aug. 4

✨ @EricJonesMagic — Aug. 7 - Sept. 8

♠️♥️ Learn more and get your tickets at https://t.co/bX1mYDAwft ♣️♦️ pic.twitter.com/UZsWi7DhwO

— PGH Cultural Trust (@CulturalTrust) April 2, 2019

Behind the scenes. Always a good time working with @fireflytheatre Load in day at the Theatre. Have you got tickets yet? #circuslife #fireflytheatreandcircus #super$tition #cabaret #variety #magic #yegarts https://t.co/dy4n7qvxfj

— Billy Kidd (@Billykiddshow) April 8, 2019

Hello Canada! I'll be magishing in Firefly Theatre & Circus' new production called Super$tition. Show runs April 11- 21 in Edmonton Alberta at La Cite Francophone Theatre. Get your tickets quick! https://t.co/0N8xz6puGS

— Billy Kidd (@Billykiddshow) April 8, 2019

Bill Peterson in the Amherst News

From the March 26th article "Sackville magician wows audiences throughout Maritimes" by Katie Tower in the Amherst News:

It’s powerful and mind blowing, the kind of experience you have to see to believe. And if you’ve met Bill Peterson and have seen him in action, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Peterson draws you in with his jaw-dropping, get-your-heart-racing, can’t-quite-wrap-your-head-around-it magic that you will be telling your friends about for weeks – and which will probably stay with you a lifetime.

He is the type of magician who will likely turn even the harshest skeptic into a believer by the time he’s done.

Card tricks are always a hit with the crowds, particularly for Bill Peterson’s walk-around or table-to-table magic he performs at special events, such as this wine show.
Card tricks are always a hit with the crowds, particularly for Bill Peterson’s walk-around or table-to-table magic he performs at special events, such as this wine show.
No, there’s no rabbits being pulled out of hats, no smoke and mirrors, and no birds up his sleeve. Peterson simply wows by bringing the audience into the magic, to make them feel it themselves and become part of the experience.

Magic for him is an art, one which he says creates a “positive permanent memory” for those who witness it. And that’s exactly why he loves what he does.

“It’s the pleasure of giving that gift of joy and excitement to others that makes it so much fun,” he says.

~~
Peterson will be bringing his magic to the Vogue Theatre stage in Sackville on May 11, where he will put on a show featuring mind reading, teleporting, mentalism, illusion and card tricks.

Read more.

Chris Ramsay and Xavier Caffrey in the National Post

From the April 4th article "How young magicians are learning to cast a spell on a modern audience" by Alex Wong in the National Post:

A professional magician, Caffrey immigrated from Lebanon to Canada at the age of 15. While other high-school students loitered in back alleys and caused headaches for nearby convenience-store owners, Caffrey hung out at the library, reading English books and learning the language. If he couldn’t pronounce a word on the page, he would scamper over to the nearest librarian for a quick lesson. “Once I get into something,” Caffrey says. “I have to do it all the time.”

~~~~

One person who seems to have surveyed this new landscape accurately is Chris Ramsay. A practicing magician for over a decade, Ramsay started by working for magic companies, helping them create tricks that are teased over social media, then sold — at prices that range from $5 to thousands of dollars — with full explanations on how they work to other magicians for use in their acts. While managing the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts for these businesses, Ramsay had an epiphany: He could use social media himself as a direct channel to a potential audience. By sharing his work online, he could skip the middleman and be the owner of his content. And so, Ramsay created and began posting to his own YouTube channel.

Read more.

April Fool Us Day 2019

From CBS Local:

APRIL FOOLS! — The world-famous team of Penn & Teller prank Chris Hardwick (“Talking Dead”) by turning him into an amazing, world-class magician as they send him to the streets of Vegas to bedazzle the crowds. Original airdate: Monday, April 1st, 2019 @ 9pm

Mahdi Gilbert in CBC Arts

From the March 18th article "People told Mahdi the Magician his body would make his dreams impossible — but he refused to quit" in CBC Arts:

"One of my teachers told me I shouldn't use my body because my body 'isn't any good,'" the Canadian magician, who was born without hands or feet, tells filmmaker Jason D'Souza. "[They said] that I should use my mind because my mind is still good."

But then, at 17, he found something to be passionate about: slight [sic] of hand. Despite discovering that most of the literature about his newfound passion were written by two-handed magicians for other two-handed magicians, Gilbert would make it work for him and practice through the night.


Read more and watch the video by Jason D'Souza.

AGT 2019 spoiler alert!

Do you see who I see?


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CBC's The Amazing and Astounding Invisible Women of Magic

From the February 22nd post "The women of magic are much more than 'lovely assistants'" CBC Radio:

Sawing a woman in half, a hemicorporectomy, is a classic illusion. And a classic role for women in magic — the pretty helpmeet, assisting men as they dazzle and enchant their audiences. But women are busting out of the boxes.

Frank Faulk's documentary, which was first broadcast a decade ago, is called "The Amazing and Astounding Invisible Women of Magic."

Read more and listen to interview.

Paris: Luc Langevin

Luc Langevin returns to Paris with his show "Maintenant Demain"  March 21 to March 31, 2019!

He is also touring through Europe through May 2019.  Visit Luc's European website for details.

#Parispétille: l'illusionniste @LucLangevin était l'invité de Bonsoir Paris pour nous parler de son nouveau spectacle "Maintenant Demain" pic.twitter.com/noVRIjeErz

— BFM Paris (@BFMParis) January 24, 2019

.@LucLangevin - Maintenant Demain
Du 21 au 31 mars 2019 au @leCasinodeParis de Paris
MISE EN VENTE : LUNDI 25 JUIN
> https://t.co/Cfq326BkTS pic.twitter.com/02szF9vWxo

— Caramba Spectacles (@Caramba_Prod) June 19, 2018

Eric Leclerc in season 2 of Tricked

Unfortunately, the videos on BYU TV appear to be geoblocked.  Anyone out there know how we can watch this in Canada?


From the Tricked Facebook page:

Join us as Season 2 returns to #BYUtv on February 25th at 6:30 pm MT. Will you be watching? #TrickedTV

David Ben: U of T Featured Alumni

From the January 22nd article at the University of Toronto Alumni website:

“The news of my retirement is greatly exaggerated,” says David Ben (UC 1983), a Toronto-born conjuror, historian of magic, writer and consultant.

Ben, a renowned expert in sleight-of-hand magic, is in the midst of creating a new show that will revisit some of his old tricks and add a selection of new ones. Each time he creates a show, he is a writer, director and set designer all in one, weaving together a story that incorporates each of his chosen tricks.

“I believe that to be an artist, you need great technique, a great understanding of the past and a vision for the future,” he says.


Read more and watch video.