Showing posts with label Clive Court. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clive Court. Show all posts

07 December 2017

Need a little PR help?

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Happy belated birthday Clive!  Wishing you a wonderful retirement and excited to see this new chapter of your life unfold!

From Clive Court's Facebook page:

I have decided to pack away my gags and trickery---and hang up my wand. I will focus my future efforts on lobbying to improve Canadian television and offering a limited, no-cost publicity service to Canadian magicians, visual entertainers, and maybe a couple of international athletes. Just a small group.

05 August 2017

YouTube: Spotlight Canada

From the CBC:
​YouTube is putting a bigger bet on its most successful Canadian creators with a channel dedicated to promoting local talent.

The video streaming platform unveiled "Spotlight Canada" on Monday, a curated page that highlights some of the nation's standout videos. It's the first time a country has been singled out with its own curated content section.

The debut of the page features a selection of past viral hits, including astronaut Chris Hadfield's collaboration with the Barenaked Ladies from space, the Tragically Hip performing Bobcaygeon in Kingston, Ont., last summer, and a selection of trending music videos from Canadian artists.

Read more.



From Clive Court's Facebook page:

06 September 2016

[Guest post] Can Canada's top mentalists fool Penn and Teller?

The following is a guest post from Clive Court.

-- 
MEET THE EVASONS---THEY READ A LOT OF MINDS IN WASHINGTON, D.C. BUT CAN THEY FOOL PENN AND TELLER?

TORONTO,Ont--(Sept.1)   The Evasons are a Toronto couple who make a good living reading the minds of corporate and political leaders on the U.S. East Coast.

On Wednesday, Sept.7, at 8pm.ET, they will challenge the famous Las Vegas magical duo on Penn and Teller:Fool Us! the popular primetime series on the the CW Network.

Recognized as one of the world's top mentalism acts, The Evasons appear to be part of an emerging trend which is bringing more magical and visual entertainers to primetime TV audiences in the United States.

Network TV series like NBC's America's Got Talent, CW's Masters of Illusion, and Penn and Teller:Fool Us! are introducing a greater number of magical and visual entertainers to North American viewers.  This, in turn, has meant more exposure for Canadian magicians.

Why is this?  Because Canadian magical entertainers are ranked among the best in the world by other nations. The Evasons are known worldwide for their second-sight act where a blindfolded Tessa describes in intimate detail the personal items held up by members of the audience.

Although based in Toronto and Annapolis, Maryland (just outside Washington,DC) Jeff and Tessa are in demand around the world as entertainers for major corporate and international conventions.

Born in Toronto, Jeff met Tessa in the early 80s while hosting a fashion show where she was a model. Tessa was working part-time while studying at Ryerson University. They have been together since 1983.



--

                                 
For further information, photos and video:  Please go to www.evasons.com.

NB.  A great example of a Canadian magician appearing on a US network primetime show was Winnipeg's Darcy Oake introducing guest artists from The Illusionists (on Broadway) on the August 31 edition of America's Got Talent.  Among the other Canadian magicians appearing on US primetime TV this summer were: Shawn Farquhar, Murray SawChuck, and Vitaly Beckman (from Vancouver); Mahdi Gilbert, Neil Croswell, Ryan Joyce, and Matt DiSero (from Toronto); and world-champion magician, Greg Frewin, from Niagara Falls.


~~~~

Thank you Clive for guest posting at Canada's Magic!

25 July 2016

Does magic have a future on Canadian television?

Of importance, in the last paragraph of Clive's message, he states:
"I want to encourage Canadian magicians who appear on international tv shows to produce an 8-minute video for showing to the people who will be meeting across Canada during the next year to discuss the future of Canadian television. It is our opportunity to change the lousy management of our entertainment resources....particularly television."


From Clive Court's Facebook page:

  A note to subscribers: the content of this post is embedded from another website and is not available to preview. To view the content of the post, please visit http://CanadasMagic.blogspot.com. Some of the embedded code may be visible in this notification.

02 May 2016

Brainstorming presentation in support of magic as a cultural institution

If you have ideas or feedback for Clive, I encourage you to post them on his Facebook page.  If you don't have a Facebook account, you're welcome to leave a comment on this post.

From Clive Court's Facebook page:
Next year Canada celebrates its 150th Anniversary and the government intends to get us hyped on our own culture with a variety of activities and events. And one of those activities across will be hearings about the future of our cultural institutions including, film, theatre, radio, television, publishing, and the internet . I am interested in putting together a visual presentation (video) for use at various hearings. As I see it at the moment, the video(s) will feature Canada's world champion magicians and others who have appeared on major TV shows around the world. For example, clips of Shawn Farquhar on Penn and Teller, Greg Frewin in The World's Greatest Magic. or Richard Forget on Le Plus Grand Cabaret du Monde. Each clip would be followed by each magician explaining how he/she is able to make a living in Canada by touring around the world and appearing on international TV specials, etc. Suggestions?





25 April 2016

The Department of Canadian Heritage Questionnaire

From the Globe and Mail:
Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly says the main goals of her office’s review of Canadian content rules and regulations, announced Sat., April 22, 2016, are to foster creation of Canadian content and increase the international audience for Canadian creators.

Read more.

From Clive Court's Facebook page:
Attention All Canadian Entertainers! Our new government is asking for YOUR views on how they can change the system to develop more Canadian content they can sell around the world to strengthen our currently weak entertainment infrastructure. This is REAL and they do pay attention to what you say. If you don't respond---they spend more time listening to the lobbyists (who do not always have your interests at heart!). DO NOT IGNORE THIS OPPORTUNITY. (PS> No BS...just give them the real facts and examples about how you make a living in Canada. So they can put the right questions to TV network bosses, and industry lobbyists).



From The Department of Canadian Heritage:
In summer 2016, the Minister of Canadian Heritage will lead public, stakeholder and online consultations on Strengthening Canadian Content Creation, Discovery and Export in a Digital World. We invite you, as Canadians and stakeholders, to help us establish the scope of these consultations by answering the questions below. Your answers will be used to better define the themes and questions that will be used to guide the consultations.
 
The questionnaire will be available until May 20, 2016.
 
The questionnaire will take 10 to 30 minutes, depending on your answers.
 
Participation in this questionnaire is voluntary, the anonymity of respondents will be respected and all responses will be kept strictly confidential. Questions are asked for information gathering purposes only and will not be used to identify respondents. To this end, please avoid directly identifying yourself or your organization in any typed answers. All information collected will be handled in accordance with the Privacy Act.


Read more and complete survey.




11 November 2015

Calling all Canadian magicians!

From Clive Court's Facebook page  (originally posted on September 6):
Calling All Canadian magicians! Can you come up with an act, routine or illusion/effect that could be used to mark/celebrate Canada's 150th Birthday? If so you should video it really soon because following the election on October 19, a new Minister of Canadian Heritage will be appointed to look after the planning of the celebrations. The "60s people" they hire to produce the shows will call on the usual selection of singers and musicians across the country. So, as they will be spending your tax dollars...you deserve fair consideration. So I urge Canada's magicians---and all visual entertainers---to pitch the Department of Heritage's "150th Birthday Celebrations" office with your best "patriotic" material. Make them painfully aware that Canada has a really wide range of talented performers not just singers and musicians. They will be finalizing the plans during the next session of Parliament for budget approval October 2016. And money will be distributed across the country to help local celebrations---so be aware of local committees being formed.


12 January 2015

Darcy Oake's Prairie tour

From Clive Court's Facebook page:


19 December 2014

Update from Clive Court about the Darcy Oake ITV Christmas special

From Clive Court's Facebook page:


17 December 2014

Darcy Oake touring in Canada

From Clive Court's Facebook page:




Also from Clive:






14 September 2014

Clive Court to introduce Les Beaux Frères

From Clive Court's Facebook page:



09 September 2014

Clive Court asks "who is the Best Magician on Canadian TV?"

From Clive Court's Facebook page:


12 July 2014

Clive Court, Life Member of the Canadian Public Relations Society

Congratulations Clive!

From the Canadian Public Relations Society:
Clive Court began his PR career in London’s Fleet Street as assistant to the Publicity manager of a major daily newspaper. He was responsible for the promotion of the Children’s I-SPY Book series which was recently revived in the UK. In the late 50s, he also launched the famous Michelin Travel Guides into the UK market. He soon moved to television and was responsible for the launching promotion of Get Ahead which eventually became known as Dragon’s Den (or Shark Tank in the US). Before leaving the UK in 1962, Clive worked for Granada Television on the promotion of Coronation Street during its first year of production.

Read more.

23 November 2012

Welcoming a new patron: The Fun-da-Mentalist!


Welcome to our newest sponsor, Clive Court, The Fun-da-Mentalist!

Clive's impressive career has taken him from England to Australia, New Zealand, the United States and lucky for us, Canada!  Some notable professional highlights include:
  • Performed in London's West End as a teenager.
  • "One of the best known magicians on Australian television." -- TV Week
  • Wrote and cast "A History of Mystery," the first hour-long TV magic special produced in Australasia.
  • Produced the TV magic special, "The Vanishing Art," shown on PBS.
  • Approached by Gene Gordon, to give his first lecture in Buffalo.
  • Developed the concept of the Canadian Telefilm Broadcast Fund.
  • Helped to develop Canada's first degree program in Public Relations.
  • Recently reinstated into the Magic Circle.

Currently, Clive performs as The Fun-da-Mentalist, "a cabaret entertainer who specializes in demonstrations of mind-bending magical experiences."

If you haven't already, read Clive's full biography.  It is fascinating!  (It may be that Clive is responsible for my introduction to Monty Python's Flying Circus via PBS.)

Thank you Clive, The Fun-da-Mentalist, for your tireless efforts towards the improvement of Canadian Television and your sponsorship of this website!