24 August 2017

ET Canada: Property Brothers talk acting and magic

From ET Canada:
“I went to Vancouver to pursue that, and I was taking acting courses, networking and doing all the things I had to do to make sure that I was being seen,” he continues. “In the end, that experience was really important because it created the buzz for our first auditions, which got us on TV and made it worth it.”

Jonathan, on the other hand, was pursuing his dream of being a magician, but a miscreant crushed that hope. His props and equipment were stolen, effectively putting the twin out of business. Nevertheless, he learned an important lesson that day.

Read more and watch videos.

23 August 2017

For those of you going through magic camp withdrawal

Some of you out there may feel like there's someplace you should be, or should have been a week or so ago.  You may have an inexplicable need to find your way to Haliburton, Ontario.  Or you could just be experiencing the emptiness of Sorcerers Safari magic camp withdrawal.

For you, I present Camp TV 2.  The last of the Sorcerers Safari videos.  This one, created by Chris Mayhew, has highlights from last summer (2016) as well as previous years.


Watch Camp TV 2 on the Sorcerers Safari YouTube channel:

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I think there's something in my eye ...



22 August 2017

Penn Jillette apologizes to the people of Newfoundland

Penn Jillette's grandfather came from the Conception Bay North area of Newfoundland.


From the CBC:
"I apologize to people of my favorite place, Newfoundland, and my family for screwing up on Real Time," he tweeted. "May I apologize without apologizing or mitigating to the people of Newfoundland. I was wrong. Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong."
Read more.

21 August 2017

Magic at the 2017 CNE

See Majinx, from The Ex:
In the last century Canada has produced several award winning magicians including Doug Henning, The Amazing Randy, Dia Vernon and even Kreskin.   Master magicians Professor Wick and Beatrix Beckoncall aka, MAJINX, will reintroduce these icons of magic to a new generation of audience while showcasing some of the incredible feats of wonder that made them famous.  Spectacular illusions and thrilling escapes make for an entertaining and educational experience for the whole family.

Now come and watch the wonders of MAJINX as they dazzle your senses with impossible feats of illusion with their new show MAJINX's Tribute to the Magic of Canada!

Read more.



See Double Vision, from The Ex:
Identical twins and magicians, Double Vision will wow and amaze you with their one-of-a-kind magic show! For the past twenty seven years Double Vision has performed across North America with special appearances for the Prime Minister at his official residence in Ottawa, the Magic Castle, in the heart of Hollywood, California and at numerous corporate events.

Packed with comedy, magic, illusions and sleight of hand, Double Vision is sure to delight visitors at Busker's Corner Daily at the CNE. Come on out and become a part of Twinstory!
 
Read more.




20 August 2017

Murray Hatfield in The Georgia Straight

From The Georgia Straight:
Murray Hatfield’s career trajectory was set back at his childhood home in Calgary, when he saw a 13-year-old magician perform at his younger brother’s birthday party.

“Well, I’m in my 50s now, and I still haven’t had a real job,” the Victoria-based magician tells the Straight over the phone.

Starting this week, Hatfield is producing and performing in Unbelievable! A Magical Experience, with nightly shows at the PNE’s Pacific Coliseum. He’ll be joined on-stage by colleagues Chipper Lowell, Shawn Farquhar, and Danny Cole—as well as his wife, Teresa, Hatfield’s on-stage partner and creative collaborator.

Read more.

[via The Magic Demon]

19 August 2017

McCord Museum mentioned in Blouin Artinfo

From Blouin Artinfo:
“Illusions – The Art of Magic” an exhibition featuring the art of illusions is on view at McCord Museum, Québec.

The selection of works on display features magic show posters not exhibited before. These posters date back to the 1880s till 1930s. The exhibit consists of 71 chromolithographs and wood engravings few of them in large formats and highlights some of the most popular faces of the period such as Herrmann, Kellar, Chung Ling Soo, Thurston, and Houdini. The exhibit draws from the Allan Slaight Collection, acquired by the museum in 2015.  ‘Illusions – The Art of Magic’ looks at the Golden Age of Magic by creating an immersive and spell binding environment through sights, sounds, and colors.

Read more.

18 August 2017

Camilo Dominguez at the Edmonton Fringe Festival

From the CBC:
Magician Camilo Dominguez travelled from Vancouver to perform in his second Edmonton Fringe Festival.

His magic show debuts on Saturday in Venue 8, the Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre. It's called "The Art of Magic."

He'll do card tricks with a camera and projector so that everyone in the audience can see, and then move on to bigger illusions like making things fly.

"It's a show where I do most of the old illusions that the magicians used to do. It's the kind of magic that I grew up watching so I'm going to pay a tribute to the old magicians in my show," said Dominguez.

Read more and watch video.

17 August 2017

Owen Sound: Now with Michael Weber

Earlier this summer, we shared the news about a workshop retreat Michael Close is hosting with special guest Jason England.  Those in attendance at "Magic Theory, or Magic Fact? Let's Find Out." earlier this week at the Browser's Den of Magic heard Michael hint that he was hoping to add another special guest to the roster.

It's official!


From Michael Close's Twitter feed:



From Michael Close:
You are cordially invited to join Michael Close and Jason England on October 17-20, 2017, for a unique workshop in the beautiful cottage country of northern Ontario (Owen Sound, ON). You’ll be away from the physical and mental noise of the city, but you won’t be roughing it; the accommodations are luxurious.

You’ll fly into Toronto on Monday, October 16, Tuesday morning you'll be bused to beautiful Owen Sound, ON where you will spend most of Tuesday, all day Wednesday, and all day Thursday talking magic and receiving personalized instruction from two of the most knowledgeable magicians on the planet. You'll return to your hotel in Toronto on Friday, and fly home on Saturday.

Read more and register!

16 August 2017

Winnipeg: Piff the Magic Dragon

Thursday Aug 17th - Sunday Aug 20th

From Piff the Magic Dragon's Facebook page:

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15 August 2017

Random thoughts from "Magic Theory, or Magic Fact? Let's Find Out."

Updated August 16 to add:


You may remember that I had the good fortune of spending time with Michael Close at Sorcerers Safari.  (I even snagged a mini-interview with him.)  I was always thoroughly impressed with the wisdom he shared with his advanced card classes. 

When I heard Michael was lecturing locally, I knew I had to make it if I could.


From the Canada's Magic Twitter feed:



Sunday night, the stars aligned and I was able to attend "Magic Theory, or Magic Fact? Let's Find Out."


Also from the Canada's Magic Twitter feed:


Among other things, during the lecture Michael discussed:
  • theory's place in performance arts (with wonderful music analogies)
  • his wonderfully complete definition of magic
  • how to find (and cure) trouble spots in performance
  • the importance of emotion and intellect
  • the importance scripting
  • assumptions that laymen make
  • control, repose, and chaos
  • "The Big Lie"


We got to see some magic too!  Of note, he performed "Red Blue Mama Fooler" and then pointed out The Big Problem and how he fixed it.  I was also delighted with a yet to be published routine from his upcoming eBook "Paradigm Shift."

Attendees were provided a discount code for MichaelClose.com which includes The Workers series, and Closely Guarded Secrets.  We were also tipped to the great sale price of Magic in the Real World.  (And if you didn't already know, there's this little thing called "Magic In Mind" that you can get for free at Vanishing Inc, which includes an essay from Michael as well as 32 other highly regarded professionals.)

If you haven't seen the announcement, Michael is hosting a workshop with Jason England and Michael Weber (and perhaps an additional mystery guest) in October.  Only eight spots remain.

Bottom line, as with Phil Matlin's report from a 2014 lecture by Michael, I was very impressed!

Far out Magic Dude.

Read Michael's thoughts about his lecture.

The last Tweet from Canada's Magic Twitter feed:











14 August 2017

CBC interview with Matt DiSero

An interview from August 2016, where Matt thinks he said something that upset a listener.


From the CBC:
For Matt DiSero, the magic came first—and then the comedy followed.

His uncle was a sword-swallower and fire-breather who first introduced him to magic. Matt credits performing in comedy clubs with the help he needed to hone his funny magic act.

Read more and listen to interview.

13 August 2017

Canadians remember Eugene Burger

From Perfect Magic:
Eugene Burger was special, as a magician and as a person. The first and most important memory I have of him was when he came to Montreal to lecture for Magie Montréal. It was many years ago and I was not that into magic at the time, but I went to the lecture to help Phil and Vim Vermeys with registration, etc.  and stayed of course for the lecture.

Anyone at that lecture learned valuable lessons. I don’t rememberphil-eugene-and-tom one trick that he did. It wasn’t about the tricks, it was about performing. Every word was well thought out and had a reason for being there. His jokes were not to get a laugh, which they got, but as he explained, when you laugh you close your eyes for a second and that’s all the time he needed to do what he had to do in front of your eyes.

Read more.


From Derek Selinger's Facebook page:



From Lawrence Larouche's Facebook page:




From Ben Train's Facebook page:



From the Facebook page for Michael Close:



From Shawn Farquhar's Facebook page:




Visit the Eugene Burger Memorial Page, McBride Magic & Mystery School on Facebook.


12 August 2017

BC: Reveen's Autumn 2017 tour

From the Facebook page of Reveen The Legend Continues:

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11 August 2017

Mahdi Gilbert to be interviewed at Living Maths

From the Twitter feed of Living Maths:
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10 August 2017

The Sentimentalists with Darren and Mo

Check out footage of The Sentimentalists' recent Magic Castle performance at the bottom of this post.


From the Facebook page of 98.1 CHFI:

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From Facebook page of the Sentimentalists:





09 August 2017

Broken wand: Eugene Burger

While not Canadian, many of us were lucky to see Eugene during his visits to Canada.  (Most recently for me at this year's Browser's Bash.  Thanks for making that happen Jeff!)

I'm grateful to have seen Eugene perform a number of times.

Rest well.


From the International Brotherhood of Magicians Facebook page:

The Evasons at the Magic Castle June 2017

From YouTube:

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08 August 2017

Victoria: 3 of clubs 2017

From the 3 of Clubs Convention:
October 27-29

Special guests:

Paul Romhany
Paul Romhany got his start in his native New Zealand, earning his degree in music from Auckland University. A piano certificate from London’s Royal College of Music followed, but Paul’s passion remained in theatre. Soon he was travelling the globe performing to universal acclaim and recognition with such awards as Entertainer of the Year in his home country and International Gold Medal Magic Champion in 2004.


Matt Marcy
Matt Marcy has spent the last 15 years performing around the world as a comedy-magician and emcee. With over 3,000 shows under his belt, he’s entertained everyone from Hollywood celebrities to CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies to royalty. Matt has made a name for himself by combining his unique style, quick wit, and completely original magic and illusion, and is a regular entertainer for corporate and private events, as well as for clubs, theaters, hotels, casinos, colleges, and cruise ships. He is also a favorite at the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood, having performed over 1,000 shows at the exclusive magicians’ clubhouse. Matt is the creator and performer of the acclaimed theater show “Disillusioned: Confessions of a Serial Magician.” As one reviewer put it, “Matt is one of the most original comedy magicians I have ever seen. His performance is nuanced, goofy, broad, full of humor on multiple levels, and his magic is baffling to the point of swearing off drink forever.”


Suzanne The Magician
Audiences all over the country have been falling in love with Suzanne since 1985. She resides in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota and can be see locally there at Mad Jack’s Sports Cafe in Brooklyn Park and Vadnais Heights and at Birch’s Restaurant and Bar in Long Lake.

Her engaging style makes the audience an essential participant in her performance. Other respected professional magicians have called her “flawless” and “amazing”. She is a favorite at Hollywood’s famous Magic Castle and was awarded Close Up Magician of the Year for 2010 by The Academy of Magical Arts. Her specialty is close-up magic for corporate and private events.


Read more and register!






06 August 2017

Celeste Evans in the news

From the Globe and Mail, CTV News, and the Toronto Star, by Sandra Szklarski:
Canadian magician Celeste Evans, a headstrong entertainer whose trailblazing career took her around the world during an era that largely discouraged such female independence, has died.

The B.C.-born illusionist was largely self-taught and loved to perform, despite facing huge hurdles in an industry dominated by men, said her daughter Evanna Brening from her home in North Carolina.

Ms. Brening said her mother died of old age on July 25 in Charlotte, N.C. She was 85.

“She was completely something different,” said the 47-year-old Ms. Brening, who joined her mother onstage once she learned to juggle at the age of 7.

“When we would go to the conventions, we would tell the young kids: ‘Find your niche, don’t be somebody else, find out who you are and create a character around that.’ And that’s what my mother did, she created a character around what God gave her.”

Read more.


From iTricks in 2013:
One of the most successful women magicians in history, Celeste spent the 1960s touring around the world literally performing for royalty. Now retired, she was good enough to talk to iTricks in this two part interview.

In many ways, 1957 was the break out year for Celeste Evans. In February, Hugard’s Magic Monthly carried two important mentions of her. First, her recent appearance on the television show Circus Time was discussed. It was not her first TV show, nor would it be her last, and the recap speaks positively of her finale with silks and birds. More importantly, though, is the coverage of the SAM Parent Assembly show on the 15th, which she opened. “Celeste Evans opened the show with her sexy sorcery” the report starts, describing her as an “attractive, personable brunette” who showed “solid skill.” Again, the highlight of her performance was her finale. “She whipped off her skirt for a flashy finish in a tight-fitting costume with stockings and long gloves standing out via black light. Silk juggling and colored dove productions brought her a solid hand.

Read more.


Via iTricks, on YouTube, an interview from approximately 10 years ago:






Via iTricks, on YouTube, Celeste on "To Tell the Truth":