Chris Ramsay, green backed cards, and cardistry

A fabulous combination if I've ever heard one.  Don't believe me?  Have a look at this video he posted to Instagram last week:

View this post on Instagram

Just having fun. #cardistry // jacket: @fairplaybrand

A post shared by Chris Ramsay (@chrisramsay52) on Nov 14, 2019 at 5:32am PST

Darcy Oake's "BGT: The Champions" semi-final performance

A reminder that Darcy performs one night only at London’s Leicester Square Theatre on October 31st!

From the Britain's Got Talent YouTube channel, watch as Darcy Oake turns back time to honour his brother:


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From Darcy Oake's Twitter feed:

Darcy performs one night only at London’s @lsqtheatre on October 31st! Don’t miss this phenomenal night of magic! Tickets on sale now at https://t.co/1Ns9UiUNQT pic.twitter.com/U6iavBOqfg

— Darcy Oake (@DarcyOake) September 13, 2019

Toronto: The Sentimentalists Midtown Residency and AGT audition video

Updated at 8:15am to add:

• Catch The Sentimentalists on AGT Tuesday July 16th!  

Looking forward to learning more about this!  (AGT audition video is at the bottom of the post.)


From the The Sentimentalists Midtown Residency Facebook event:

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From the America's Got Talent YouTube channel:

Derek Selinger on Fool Us and Breakfast Television

Derek Selinger's performance of "The Deadly Gallows" from Penn and Teller Fool Us Season 6.



From the Magic Inspired YouTube channel:

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From the Breakfast Television Twitter feed:

Calgary illusionist @DerekSelinger shows off the tricks that got him a chance on @CWPennandTeller https://t.co/7qBRm9cO45 pic.twitter.com/UbunNHZ5KY

— Breakfast Television & CityNews Calgary (@BTCityNewsCGY) June 28, 2019

Congratulations to the 2018 Canadian Rising Star

The winners of Magicana's Allan Slaight awards will be announced every day this week, starting yesterday. Special congratulations to Carisa Hendrix for winning the Canadian Rising Star award!


From the Magicana Twitter feed:

Here's 1 of 5 #AllanSlaightAwards celebrating #excellenceinmagic The Canadian Rising Star award, acknowledges outstanding work by an emerging artist & comes with an iPad, & $5,000 from the Slaight Family Foundation. ... AND, it's @CarisaHendrix WATCH: https://t.co/EBWbKTAG8J pic.twitter.com/n2PWVxeapx

— Magicana (@sharingwonder) June 24, 2019

Winner of Cheap Tricks 2

Earlier this month, The Sentimentalists hosted a contest for inexpensive impromptu magic: Cheap Tricks 2.


One of the participants, James Alan, had this to say on his June 12th post on his blog:

I appeared alongside John Roldan, Jim Byrnes, Beyond Mental Borders, Jonah Babins, Harry Zimmerman, Jacqueline Swann and Shamus MacGregor. The contest was judged by Steffi Kay of the Sentimentalists, Ben Train, Rayn, and the previous champion Chris Westfall. (I was a judge on the first contest in 2017, but agreed to give up my spot to Chris.)

My set of constrains was that I had 3 hours to build an act using a budget of $5 with only material procured at a the nearby A&W. I also had to present in the theme of a XXX-rated Adult Film…. magic for grownups indeed. I’m so glad I forgot to invite my mother to watch. I’m more glad that magic elder statesman Mark Lewis was in the audience to witness me debasing the art of magic.

You can watch the winning NSFW performance on James Alan's YouTube channel.

Congratulations James!

Lee Asher's thoughts on the recent Cartamundi / USPCC deal

Skip to the bottom of this post to watch Lee's video.

ICYMI...

From the June 4th article "Cartamundi to acquire The United States Playing Card Company" from Cartamundi:

Turnhout, June 4, 2019 – The Belgian privately owned group Cartamundi has signed an agreement to buy The United States Playing Card Company (USPC) from its parent company Newell Brands. The acclaimed playing cards maker’s focus is on North America and Spain. Through this acquisition, Cartamundi continues to invest in the global entertainment market.

The United States Playing Card Company, owner of the iconic brands such as Bicycle®, Bee®, Hoyle® and Fournier®, is the global standard within the world of playing cards. The business employs over 350 people and has manufacturing facilities in the U.S. city of Erlanger (Kentucky) and the Spanish city of Vitoria (Álava). In 2018 USPC realized net sales of approximately 112 million US dollars.

Read more.

From Lee Asher's Twitter feed:

If you love #Playingcards, watch this video about my thoughts on the @CartamundiCards @bicyclecards merger. I promise it's worth your time, and I might change the way you feel about all of this. 😊https://t.co/QdEFmdEVNV pic.twitter.com/SnFK9OlUxp

— Lee Asher (@LeeAsherMagic) June 13, 2019

From Lee Asher's YouTube channel:

Billy Kidd in the Vegas News

From the June 4 article 'Women Are (Secretly) The Driving Force Behind Facebook’s “Making Magic”' in the Vegas News:

The last two episodes of Facebook’s Making Magic featured people you don’t often see in the magic industry: Women. Not only are women featured; their back-to-back episodes have been streamed more than those of their male counterparts.

This comes as no surprise to Making Magic guest Mistie Knight.

“People are excited to see women in major magic roles, not just the shadows,” Knight says. “For so long, it was assumed that women in magic were merely ‘lovely assistants’ providing eye candy. The truth is, in illusion shows women are often the ones doing the heavy lifting.”

Read more.

Making Magic Episode 4: Billy Kidd Defeats Duct Tape

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:

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:

The Evasons NBA halftime show

From The Evasons YouTube channel:

The Evasons Mentalist Duo - NBA halftime show Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors, April 4, 2019 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC. 

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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.

Aaron Matthews and Rosemary Reid: She Gets Me

Watch the music video for The Washboard Union's "She Gets Me" featuring Aaron Matthews and Rosemary Reid!

(How many Canadian magicians have been in professional music videos?  James Alan was in Summerworks Song, Ray Chance had a cameo in Shawn Desman's video for Stuck and JRDN's video for Like Magic.  And for honourable mention, from The Music Show.  I'm sure there are more though.  Send the deets my way!)



From The Washboard Union's YouTube channel:

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.

Derek Selinger performs in Magic Tricks with Ian

From Derek Selinger's YouTube channel, Magic Inspired:

Many years ago I had a young man named Ian attend some of my live magic shows. He bought posters and I even had a picture taken with him. That picture has hung on my wall ever since as a reminder of why I do what I do.

Ian's mom reached out to me to buy a new poster as his old one was falling apart. We of course got him that and more. In the discussion with Ian's mom we learned that Ian has some significant health challenges. Being a young man with Down Syndrome he is not eligible for heart transplants and so he has a rather arduous routine.

We decided to visit Ian's home and perform a show with magic tricks, including a box illusion, in his kitchen for his friends where the magician... was Ian. This is that story, and this is that show.

I hope meeting Ian encourages you as you face the challenges and opportunities in your life. Ian is one of the greatest magicians I have ever met. While he may not have the technical skill I have developed... he changes peoples worlds by his smile, enthusiasm and kindness. Welcome to "The Magic of Ian".

Video at the bottom of the post.


From Derek Selinger's Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

While on the road we stopped at a small town where my number one fan lives. Ian and I performed the very first “Magic of Ian and Derek” show in his dinning room for his friends, family, teachers and care workers. He was amazing and the whole thing was entirely magical. In tough times this reminds me why I do what I do! #magicinspired #magic #magician #touringmagician #magicallaround #inspired #motivated #grateful

A post shared by Derek Selinger (@derek_selinger) on Dec 7, 2018 at 11:02am PST

From Derek Selinger's YouTube channel, Magic Inspired:

Matt Johnson on World's Best and in Vanish

Congratulations to Matt Johnson on advancing on CBS' The World's Best and for recently being featured on the cover of Vanish Magazine!


From Brent Smith's Facebook page:




From Clive Court's Facebook page:




From Matt Johnson's Facebook page:



From Paul Romhany's Facebook page:

Peter Mennie unpacks his TV archive

From Peter Mennie's blog post "That’s a Lot of Magic!":

Way back when (about two years ago), I did a lot of television. Every month for 11 months, I had an appearance on a local TV chat show. I did two-three routines every time (that's 20-30 tricks) for nearly twenty years!

Over the next few months, here are some of the greatest hits - in no chronological order - and with apologies for the video quality of some of the segments.

Read more and watch video. [1 - Straight Ahead]

Peter's also posted:

• Television Magic Archives – Part 2 [2 - No Cards Required]
• Television Magic Archives – Part 3 [3 - Never Play with Matches]
• Television Magic Archives – Part 4 [4 - The Cards Know Everything] 
• Television Magic Archives – Part 5 [5 - A Dual Reality Card Trick]

Random thoughts from the Kayla Drescher lecture

I should start with congratulations to Kayla for keeping her energy up through the evening after having just completed a grueling 41 show run with the recent Champions of Magic tour!

• Hurray for Loblaws, Roots, and Canada Canadian Tire!
• And beer, ginger beer, and Brio!
• Colour changing bottle caps are very cool.
• How do you define magic, art, and craft?  (Definitely not the same way I used the term "arts and crafts" in my earlier report of the show!)
• Because ... science!
• And bar towels!
• Kayla gave Rosemary Reid a shout out for her video:
  (You may remember that Rosemary delighted us all with the first iteration of this speech which she shared at the 2017 Browser's Bash.)

• Chris Westfall made a memorable entrance.  (How many elastic bands do you wear on your wrists?)
• There was a mini Sorcerers Safari reunion with Rosemary Reid, Lee Asher, Chris Mayhew, Chris Westfall, and Jonah Babins!  (Which made Kidlet doubly regret the decision to not attend.)

  @MagicinHeelsKD Toronto lecture with @LeeAsherMagic @chrismayhews @jonahbabins & more! pic.twitter.com/S0b08IBkes

  — Rosemary Reid (@RosemaryReid) January 8, 2019

• Staff appreciation and lessons from street performers.
• Described a fabulous pseudo-controlled study on colours that increase tips! (Also pseudo-controlled for gender with surprising results.)
• Demonstrated a fabulous tip for bar magicians to increase probability of receiving a big tip.  (I wonder how one could design a study to see if that methodology gives the same % tip increase for a man using the technique as for a woman using the technique?)
• Something spontaneously happened at the 1 hour 15 minute mark that Kayla was totally expecting.  (I'm not entirely convinced that it wasn't just a case of a poorly worded question.)
• If you aren't already, subscribe to Shezam, the feminist podcast that hopes to make itself obsolete.  The podcast has great tips and strategies for young women starting out in magic (No pockets? No problems!)  Carisa Hendrix and Kayla also share entertaining anecdotes about performing and lots of pro-tips too!
• After the break, Kayla gave a fabulous hands-on lesson for colour changing bottle caps using a technique even I can master!
• Good times, good fun, good magic.
• Thank you Kayla!

Great turnout for a great lecture at the first @IBMring17 meeting of 2019! Thank you @MagicinHeelsKD

I hope you can finally get some well deserved rest! pic.twitter.com/g7keN6Dxlk

— Canada's Magic (@canadasmagic) January 8, 2019

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The Champions of Magic did 41 shows in 17 days in Toronto this holiday season! Well done!

A post shared by @ starvoxent on Jan 6, 2019 at 6:10pm PST