Continued from
Part 1
where we learned about Load-In, the Technical Run, The Run, and Pre-show activities.
A Week in the Life of Champions (of Magic) -- part 2 of 3
The Show - Champions of Magic: Holiday Spectacular
I have
seen five iterations of Champions of Magic including their 2018 Toronto
debut. Fernando Velasco, Richard Young and Sam Strange (as Young &
Strange) were part of the 2018 cast. Only three carryovers from that
show remain.
A quick reminder of our earlier Mail as Medicine request for Katie Hunt. If you have the time, Katie and Doug would both benefit from hearing from their friends!
Yesterday, we ventured to the Aki Studio
in Toronto.
This was our first visit to this theatre which is located in the
Daniels Spectrum
building. According to the Aki Studio website, they are fully
accessible for both patrons and performers.
The theatre is a cozy space, with a capacity of 120 seats (with raked
seating). The seating goes about 6 rows deep. Every seat has a
great view of the action and Keith has cameras setup to make the small
details clearly visible to all. There are seats reserved in the front
row, for audience members who have accessibility issues.
The theatre is air-conditioned (very welcome with the current heat wave).
The show is approximately an hour in length, with no intermissions.
Pre-show:
Keithis Fringe veteran. (He mentioned that this was his 60th (!!) Fringe festival.) He hosts a pre-show segment designed to make the
audience feel at ease. In it he discusses:
audience participation and
what to do if you don't feel comfortable volunteering (this is the
first time we can remember a performer proactively giving
the audience a method by which they can decline volunteering), and
what it means to be in his 'relaxed performance' show (sensory friendly,
house-lights on the majority of the time, in and out privileges, etc).
It's also worth noting that Keith made this showing a Pay What You
Can performance, in the hopes of making live shows more accessible to everyone.
On with the show:
In a theatre this size, you get a good view from every seat.
(Especially with the camera's Keith has setup.)
The show was nearly, if not completely sold out.
As Keith mentioned in his interview, 110% Wizard is a brand new show.
Without giving too much away, the show did involve gift bags, money, cards, cell phone (audience supplied), luggage tags, water fowl, drinks, and family photos (his).
There is plenty of audience participation. By our count there were well over dozen volunteers (including one not even at the show)!
The show is very family friendly and kept the children in the audience engaged.
Keith shared with us, what is was like working his first ever cruise contract earlier this year. He punctuated his tales with effects that directly related to his experiences.
If you've seen one of Keith's shows, you'll know that he's an expert
at making lemonade out of the lemons he is dealt. We're happy to that
he continues to do so in 110% Wizard!
"110% Wizard"
is a very refreshing lemonade!
Don't just take our word for it, read what the press at the Orlando Fringe had
to say about this show:
From the May 13th article "Orlando Fringe 2026 review: ‘110% Wizard’" by Seth Kubersky at
Orlando Weekly: If you have any doubts that Orlando Fringe changes lives, look no
further than illusionist Keith Brown. A fixture of the Festival for over a
decade, Brown landed an agent as a result of his 2024 show here, and is now an
in-demand guest artist aboard Norwegian and Virgin cruise ships. Read more.
From the May 15th article "2026 Orlando Fringe Review: 110% Wizard" by Jimbo Wood at
Orlando Shine: Brown, a familiar face to Orlando Fringe audiences and a three-time
Critic’s Choice winner for Best Magic Show, returns with what he jokingly
describes as the “same wizard, now 10% better.” The framing device for this
year’s show centers around a cruise ship residency thrown into chaos after an
airline loses the costumes and props intended for the run. Read more.
For more information about the Toronto Fringe, visit
FringeToronto.com
This was our first visit to this theatre which is located in the
Artscape Youngplace. According to the Youngplace website, they are "Fully accessible by
Ontario standards."
The internet suggested parking in the area was scarce (roughly Dundas
St. West and Ossington) so we braved the TTC. The Ossington 63 south
takes you to within a 4 minute walk of the theatre.
As James revealed in his
June 5th interview with us, the theatre is a cozy space, with a capacity of 46 seats (with raked
seating). Every seat has a great view of the action. There are seats
reserved in the front row, for audience members who have accessibility
issues.
The theatre is air-conditioned (very welcome with the current heat wave).
The show is approximately an hour in length, with no intermissions.
On with the show:
In a theatre this size, you get a good view from every seat. The
closer you sit, however, the greater the astonishment!
As teased in his interview, Mysteries and Lies is completely different from any of James'
other shows we've had the pleasure to attend.
Much to our dismay, there was no wine bottle nor were there citrus-y 'arts
and crafts.'
Without giving too much away, the show did involve glassware, coins, cards,
cups, balls, jewellery, envelopes, and a condiment.
There was plenty of audience participation. Four lucky audience
members were able to sit at the table with James, scoring better-than-front
row seating. (It should be noted that consent was obtained, and no one
was forced to sit at the table.) In addition to those four, another
seven or eight people from the audience contributed to the uniqueness of the
show.
The show touched on history, astronomy, astrology, biology, physics, and pop
culture. There was even a
Browser's Den of Magic
Easter egg, if you were paying attention. (This was possibly unique to
opening night.)
While we have seen more than our share of Cups and Balls routines, we have
never seen anything quite like the one in this show!
Last week we saw a sneak peek of James performing one of the card effects,
and we had no idea how he did it. At the show we were sitting roughly
4.5 metres (~15 feet) away and are no closer to determining the
method.
James performed excellent sleight of hand with a wide variety of
objects. This was so much more than a 'card magic' show. (But
the card magic in it, is excellent!)
"Mysteries and Lies" is our favourite James Alan production to date!
Disclosure: We were guests at this show. The opinions expressed above
are entirely our own. We did not receive compensation for the writing or the
publishing of this article.
Don't just take our word for it, read what Teena in Toronto had to say about
it in her
June 30th Instagram post.
For more information about the Toronto Fringe, visit
FringeToronto.com
