Yesterday, we ventured to the Sweet Action Theatre in Toronto.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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:
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In a theatre this size, you get a good view from every seat. The
closer you sit, however, the greater the astonishment!
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As teased in his interview, Mysteries and Lies is completely different from any of James'
other shows we've had the pleasure to attend.
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Much to our dismay, there was no wine bottle nor were there citrus-y 'arts
and crafts.'
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Without giving too much away, the show did involve glassware, coins, cards,
cups, balls, jewellery, envelopes, and a condiment.
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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.
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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.)
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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!
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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.
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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 James Alan, visit his website at
JamesAlan.ca and follow him on
Facebook
and
Instagram.
From the
July 1st Instagram post by Canada's Magic
(photos taken with permission):
Thank you to our 
