Canada's Magic

It was a major to-do about a major ta-dah. In 1991, The Magic Circle — the prestigious British organization of illusionists -- voted to allow women to become members. At which point one of its members — Raymond Lloyd — revealed he had something up his sleeve. A woman's arm. Raymond Lloyd was, in fact, Sophie Lloyd. For two years, she had pretended to be a young male magician. No one noticed. Unfortunately, illusionists apparently don't like to have their illusions shattered. So when Raymond announced he was actually Sophie, she was booted out of the Magic Circle — despite its new policy allowing women. Still, it was a triumph. Not just for Ms. Lloyd, who was just pretending to be a magician. But also for Jenny Winstanley, who actually was a magician. And had taught Sophie Lloyd everything she knew, so they could pull off the remarkable trick. In 1991, As It Happens reached the women at a party celebrating their magic moment. Here's Michael Enright, speaking, first, with Jenny Winstanley.

Read more.

We're delighted to read today at the BBC, that Sophie Lloyd has been granted membership into The Magic Circle.

From the April 24th article "Woman who tricked her way into men-only Magic Circle finally allowed in" by Grace Dean at BBC News:

A magician who tricked her way into the Magic Circle is finally being granted membership - 34 years after she was kicked out.

Sophie Lloyd says she disguised herself as a man to fool examiners into letting her join the elite society in 1991, at a time female magicians were not allowed to be members.

When the Circle announced it was permitting women to join later that year, Ms Lloyd revealed her deception, prompting the society to expel her at the very same meeting it admitted its first female magicians.

Read more.

Doug Henning at The Fabulous Fox Theater in St. Louis.

From the April 24th Facebook post at Canada's Magic:

A gift from our friends at Champions of Magic!

This photo was taken from the backstage wall at the The Fabulous Fox Theater in St. Louis.

Neil McNally at The Doug Henning Project, has a photo of Doug performing at this theatre circa 1985:
https://doughenningproject.com/2021/04/14/1985-fox-theater-st-louis-dancing-handkerchief-photo/

Neil has also posted this photo, but does not have information about the year it was created, or the tour to which it belongs.
https://doughenningproject.com/2017/07/07/backstage-pass/

📸 : Richard Young
(Young & Strange | The Magicians' Podcast Network)

You can catch Richard Young as part of Young & Strange in Champions Of Magic in Canada:

- May 7-9: Victoria BC, Royal Theatre
- May 11-12: Calgary AB, Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium,
- May 20-22: Vancouver BC, Queen Elizabeth Theatre

with a rumoured December booking in Kingston!
- Dec 14: Kingston ON, Slush Puppie Place

Check ChampionsofMagicTour.com for updates.

Thanks for sending this along to us Richard Young!

ICYMI: The Secret's Canada's Got Talent audition

Read our interview, Canada's Got Talent: Getting to know The Secret.

From the April 21st upload "Mystery, Talent, And A Big Reveal… The Secret Stuns The Audience" at the Canada's Got Talent YouTube channel:

Nobody was ready for what The Secret brought!

23 April 2025

Waterloo: Bernardo Sedlacek [Apr 27]

Fresh from 4F in Buffalo Bernardo Sedlacek will have be doing a Magic Show this Sunday April 27 at 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo.

You may remember Bernardo from FISM in Quebec or his recent appearance on Fool Us.

Seating is limited to 35 people.

To guarantee your place, please interac the money to:
rafamendes at wealthsimple dot me

For more information, contact Stephen Kirkegaard.

Toronto: Browser's Den magic auction [May 4]

From the Browser's Den website:

Get ready for a day packed with fun, bargains, and incredible finds at our annual Magic Auction!

This is a great opportunity to bid on magic props, books, and more at fantastic prices. Many items sell for at least half their original cost, and you may even find rare or collectible pieces.

For nearly 50 years, magicians have gathered at Browser’s Den for this event, and it’s always a fun and worthwhile experience. If you’ve never attended before, we encourage you to join us and see what bargains you can find.
Read more.

From the March 19th Facebook post by the Browser's Den of Magic:

Previously shared on Facebook March 19.

22 April 2025

St. Eugene: Let's do Something Impossible Again! [May 1 - 2]

From the April 15th Instagram post by Majinx:

Let Do Something Impossible... Again! We had so much fun last year, we decided to do it again. This is a completely interactive experience. Your not just watching the show... you are in the show.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lawrence Larouche (@majinx)

21 April 2025

Canada's Got Talent: Getting to know The Secret

On March 4th we shared with you that this season of Canada's Got Talent has quite a few Canadian magic acts.

Next in our series of short interviews with some of the magical acts is The Secret!

The Secret identifies as a computer program.

We're very pleased that The Secret had the bandwidth to answer our questions ahead of its appearance on the April 22nd episode of Canada's Got Talent!

Who inspires you that is not a magician?

Again inspiration is a human experience. Perhaps the human toy “Speak and Spell” is a clever early human program that I find amusing.

What is your first memory of magic?

As a program I have access to all media which is magic related and can easily refer to anything that is part of the database of online magic. I do not have any memories as a human would, but instead exist harmoniously with time.

Who from the magic community inspires you?

Inspirations are a human experience. I only look for what benefits my program and further my ability to access the human mind. If I was to place a name to a human who comes close enough, that would be Derren Brown.

Was there anyone or anything instrumental to you becoming a magician?

I am a program. My purpose is only to advance to the stage of fully controlling the human mind and predicting the actions of individuals even with the so-called existence of free will.