Canada's Magic: 2016-08

31 August 2016

30 August 2016

Eric Leclerc in YTV's "Tricked"

We previously mentioned Eric's kids' show MathXplosion. Now he's in another show set to air next month!

Watch the promo on YouTube below.

From TV, eh?:

YTV is making magic this fall with the debut of the new Canadian original series, Tricked (20 x 30). Produced for YTV by Force Four Entertainment, and hosted by veteran magician Eric Leclerc, Tricked baffles unsuspecting people with magic, sleight-of-hand, and super sneaky pranks. The series premieres on Monday, September 5 at 7:30 pm ET/PT and will air Monday to Thursday on YTV.

In each episode of Tricked, Eric goes undercover to pull well-crafted pranks on unsuspecting people, all caught on tape by hidden cameras. Well-known from his popular YouTube videos, which have garnered more than 10 million views worldwide, Eric performs illusions, misdirection and mind-reading tricks that will leave viewers in awe and disbelief day after day.

More magical content will be uploaded on YTV.com and YTVGo featuring tricks of the trade and tutorials on how to prank family and friends with magic that can be done at home. Also available online are videos revealing secrets from Tricked’s “Magic Camp,” where Eric and the magic team taught kids tricks using household items, which they then performed on camera.

Read more.

Watch the promo on YouTube:

29 August 2016

Surrey fire destroys Mandrake the Magician's former house

With thanks to The Magic Demon for sending this news along.

From the CBC:

A Surrey, B.C. home that was destroyed by fire was the former home of Leon Mandrake or 'Mandrake the Magician,' a local performer known around the world for his magic, illusions and stunts.

Leon Mandrake, or "Mandrake the Magician", was a famous entertainer in the vaudeville-era and beyond. He died in Surrey, B.C. in 1993. (CBC Archives)

Mandrake owned the house on the corner of Grosvenor Road and Kindersley Drive before his death in 1993.

Surrey city council considered giving heritage status to the old home — an idea first brought before council in 2008, according to city documents.

Read more.

From the Vancouver Sun:

The cause of the fire is under investigation. The roof collapsed and the extent of the damage will probably challenge inspectors, Woznikoski said.

The one-storey house once belonged to Leon Giglio, better known as Leon Mandrake and then Mandrake the Magician for his feats of hypnotism, mind reading and escapes.

Read more.

28 August 2016

You're special! Or are you?

From the post "You Aren't Special" at Discourse in Magic:

Picture this

For the first time ever I signed up to go to magic camp! I stepped on the bus, looked around and saw about 90 other people that were also magicians just like me.

That was the first time that I realized that I wasn’t special.

Not only were they all just as much magicians as I was, but they were even doing the same goddamn tricks! How did that happen? I didn’t learn magic with them, I thought I did my own thing. But all of a sudden we were all doing the same goddamn tricks???!! And performing them in pretty similar ways.

Read more.

27 August 2016

Ty Reveen's 2016 tour of Alberta and Saskatchewan

From the Facebook page of Reveen The Legend Continues:

26 August 2016

[Guest post] "Unbelievable" Review

A reminder that the show runs at the PNE August 20 – September 5, 2016 (Closed Monday August 22 and 29).

The following is a guest post from an author who wishes to be known as The Magic Demon.

--

"Unbelievable: A magical experience"

A ninety minute large scale magical extravaganza, nightly at 7:30 pm, free with admission to the PNE, Vancouver.

In a word, "Wow".

This is big time illusion-based magic at its best.

Playing to capacity crowds, "Unbelievable" combines fast paced magic with modern rock concert visuals and music to create a memorable evening's entertainment well worth the cost of admission to the PNE.

I loved that they began with pre-show screenings of some of the greats from the past - Sorcar, Cardini, etc - all in glorious b&w - while the audience filed in.

How to review such an awesome celebration of magic and illusion? I can't. It was just too much to absorb. But here are a few thoughts I somehow managed to jot down:

American Matt Marcy's understated humour and impressive close up magic (seen on the big screen) should earn him an honorary Canadian citizenship.
Marty Putz - undoubtably the hardest working funny man in all of showbusiness. And the most beloved by children of all ages.
Juliana Chen's performance - sheer visual poetry. Beautiful, enchanting, mysterious. This is Art.
Scott Pepper - definitely the contemporary reincarnation of Houdini's daredevil anything-can-happen spirit.
Murray Hatfield and Teresa - the most accomplished, most polished, most energetic all around magical performers.

If you are anywhere near Vancouver this summer run (do not walk) to the PNE and catch "Unbelievable" before it disappears forever as the PNE ends for another summer.

The Magic Demon

~~~~

Thank you The Magic Demon for guest posting at Canada's Magic!

25 August 2016

Knowlton: Outerbridge Clockwork Mysteries

From the Outerbridge Clockwork Mysteries Facebook event:

24 August 2016

Toronto: There's magic at the 2016 CNE

From The Ex:

Daniel Steep's Agri-Magic (only until August 24th)

The Incredible Magic Of Professor Wick

The Sentimentalists

Read more.

23 August 2016

Toronto: BuskerFest 2016

BuskerFest runs September 2-5.

From Toronto Buskerfest, magical performers include:

Bella Magic (You may know her from "Chris Westfall Magic and the Porcelain Princess.")
Magic Man
Max T. Oz
Ran'd Shine

22 August 2016

Matt DiSero on "Penn and Teller Fool Us" Season 3

More Canadians representing on US TV!

From Matt DiSero's YouTube channel:

21 August 2016

[Guest post] "Can A Magician Be Too Skillful?"

The following is a guest post from an author who wishes to be known as The Magic Demon.

--

"Can A Magician Be Too Skillful?" A fan of magic blogs about it

One of my favourite non-magic bloggers has just written an interesting post about magic.

You may agree or disagree with him but he always writes about chosen subjects with wit, insight and a heavy dose of humanity.

Why mention him here? Well, here's a born-and-raised Torontonian (although he's lived and worked in LA for many decades). Guess we can still claim him as one of ours even if he has U.S. papers. He wrote/produced some great comedy television shows (although he is now long retired) - many of which you might remember. And his thoughts on magic (from the POV of a non-magician) are worthy of reflection by all of us.

His question: Can a magician be too skillful?

To read more, check out the always thoughtful blog of Earl Pomerantz and read his post of Monday, August 8th, 2016. You'll find it here:

http://earlpomerantz.blogspot.ca/2016/08/beyond-magic.html

And who knows? Maybe like me you'll find his blog a very pleasant daily must-read habit. Even when he's not writing about magic.

The Magic Demon

~~~~

Thank you The Magic Demon for guest posting at Canada's Magic!

20 August 2016

Review: Sheldon Casavant's "Ta Da!" in the Edmonton Journal

"Ta Da!" got a 5 / 5 rating!

From the Edmonton Journal:

Sometimes you come across a show so magical you have to drag the whole family to see it. This is just such a show. Pack up granny, round up the kids and run, don’t walk, to see Ta Da!

Morton loves magic. Morton the magician loves practising magic, and he loves performing magic. The young man practsces [sic] at home when he should be studying. He flings his wand around and tries out all of the staples of a beginner magician: card tricks, the broken rings and even the old ‘fire your talking stuffed rabbit across the room into a covered box.’

His mother reminds him again he should be studying, but Morton is a boy, and boys will be boys. It’s the big talent show at school that is occupying our hero’s thoughts, keeping him up at night when he should be sleeping. He is kept up by doubt and fear, emotions we can all relate to.

Read more.

19 August 2016

Toronto: Shigeo Futagawa lecture

From the Browser's Den of Magic:

Sunday September 25th, 2016

If you've never heard of him before, that's OK.

A close-up legend in his own country, for decades, Futagawa has energized Japan with his creativity, ingenuity, and love for sleight of hand. Japanese magic enthusiasts from all over flock to Yokohama, just to meet and session with him.

Furthermore, Futagawa has spent quality time with a multitude of phenomenal western magicians like Dai Vernon, Larry Jennings, Slydini, Max Maven, Geoff Latta, Michael Weber, David Roth, etc. when they came to visit Japan.

Now it's our turn to spend time with Futagawa. And yet, we don't have to travel fifteen hours across the ocean to do so. For the first time ever, Futagawa is coming to Canada.

Accordingly, Futagawa plans to travel around by train visiting Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal sharing his magic with us -- all while soaking up our culture. Opportunities like this don't come along often.

Attend his informative talk on coins, cards, and close-up, and you're guaranteed to enjoy yourself. By the end, you'll walk out of the Shigeo Futagawa lecture with new ideas, be refreshed on old ones and filled with memories of meeting a guy that you'd normally need to travel thousands of kilometers to see.

"A true East meets West! When I spend time with Futagawa, I always learn something new." - Lee Asher (Close-up magic aficionado)

Read more and buy tickets.

18 August 2016

John Kaplan in the Vancouver Metro News

The last set of courses runs Aug. 22-26.

From Metro News:

If your kids have an aptitude for making household objects vanish without a trace, causing money to magically disappear, and seeing the wonder in every day life, this month's summer magic camps may be for your family.

Just don't call them "tricks," warned Richmond "master magician" John Kaplan, a 37-year veteran of the craft who is offering two day camps next week through Douglas Park Community Centre, his last of a series this summer.

"Trick has a negative connotation," he said. "It can also be a verb: I tricked you. But the point is not to trick or fool the audience, but to give them a feeling of wonder."

Read more.

[via The Magic Demon]

17 August 2016

Toronto: "Cheap Tricks" impromptu magic competition

From Chris Mysterion's Facebook page:

7 magicians. One goal. Create the best routine on a budget in less then an hour to showtime. Inspired by real world "...
Posted by Chris Mysterion on Wednesday, 3 August 2016

16 August 2016

Peter Mennie answers the question: "Why are you a magician?

From Abrakidabra:

This night there was only one possible helper nearby so I approached. She was really shy and wouldn’t give me her name. Her sister did and after a bit of conversation I was able to get her up front. She didn’t want to sit on the stool initially but with my help, she got comfortable. She is 4.

As you saw, this routine is a bit animated and sometimes young helpers won’t open up and relax to have fun. this was my worry here because she was REALLY shy.

Read more.

15 August 2016

Toronto: Magic, mystery, and mayhem

From James Alan's Facebook page:

I'll be part of a special one-night only show Saturday, August 20 at the The Social Capital Theatre with the hilariously...
Posted by James Alan on Thursday, 4 August 2016

14 August 2016

Review: Paul Romhany's "Dream Prediction Elite"

From Olympic Reviews:

It’s the usual confabulation performance of a dream - you first place an envelope down with a prediction clearly visible in the window section. The participant selects a destination, an amount of money and a travelling companion. You write these down in a notepad, which is shown around. The selling point of this effect is that you open the envelope and the piece of paper seen through the window falls out on to your hand, and the participant opens it and reads it. I’m really not sure why we don’t have more variations of performance in these, it always seems to be a dream, but this is a good one.

Oh, and you perform this entirely solo, and it’s instant reset.

More discussion below…

Read more.

13 August 2016

Matt Disero will be on "Penn and Teller Fool Us" Season 3

From Matt Disero's Facebook page:

FINALLY ! I can say that on Aug 17th I'll be performing on Penn and Teller's TV show Fool US, on the CW Network. Shot...
Posted by Matt Disero on Tuesday, 2 August 2016

12 August 2016

Kitchener-Waterloo: Keith Brown at momondays

From the Twitter feed of MomondaysKW:

KEITH BROWN - Half-Time Show entertainer at #momondaysKW - Aug 15, 2016. Get tickets now https://t.co/RSTqyYz2Os pic.twitter.com/NFcxsDoAZb
— MomondaysKW (@momondaysKW) August 1, 2016

11 August 2016

Ron Martin's Pokemon Go magic!

From Ron Martin's Facebook page:

Ron Martin visits Gage Park in Brampton and performs some amazing magic the Pokemon Go! Pokemon Go Magic! Check it out for yourself.
Posted by Ron Martin on Monday, 25 July 2016

And the second installment from Ron's Facebook page:

The second in the series of Pokemon Go magic in Brampton Gage park.
Posted by Ron Martin on Saturday, 30 July 2016

10 August 2016

From Perfect Magic: Phil Matlin vs Julius Caesar

From Perfect Magic:

If you’ve been to the Perfect Magic Facebook site, then you know that Phil has a few gigs playing piano for the Cote St. Luc Library on the first Tuesday of the summer months. A piano had been donated to Cote St Luc and it went to Rembrandt Park and was inaugurated by none other than Oliver Jones. The media was there, as well as the politicians and it was a big deal.

The first Tuesday of June came along. We had our plans but nature had other plans. There was a storm the night before and the tarpaulin didn’t do its job and the piano was ruined. But in the tradition of show business, the show went on. Some folks from the library came to our condo and carried down Phil’s electric keyboard and speaker and whatever else and he played. It was not his best show, a little trouble with equipment, and whatnot, but people came over after and said they enjoyed it thoroughly. The other day in the elevator, a lady said to Phil, “You’re the piano player. It was so wonderful.” and he said “If you enjoyed it I’ll be there again this Tuesday.”

Read more.

09 August 2016

Camrose: Reveen at the Camrose Resort Casino

From the Facebook page of Reveen The Legend Continues:

• Sept. 23 (Friday) Camrose AB - Camrose Resort Casino Buy Tickets Now! http://www.camroseresortcasino.com/entertainment/upcoming-events/item/425-reveen
Posted by Reveen The Legend Continues on Tuesday, 26 July 2016

08 August 2016

Grimsby: Incredibrent at the Grimsby Library

From Grimsby Library's Twitter feed:

@IncrediBrent Comedy & Magic Show will be @GrimsbyLibrary in August! FREE | Drop-in https://t.co/Ygo5dOlYX3 pic.twitter.com/4IrZRkfT9m
— Grimsby Library (@GrimsbyLibrary) July 27, 2016

07 August 2016

Paul Romhany in the PQB News

From the PQB News:

After travelling to more than 120 countries around the world, Paul Romhany has decided Qualicum Beach is where he wants to settle down with his wife and son.

Romhany, who is originally from New Zealand, has spent the past 25 years travelling around the world as a magician and Charlie Chaplin impersonator.

It was when he was eight years old that Romhany said he saw a Charlie Chaplin movie — and he was hooked.

“It’s all I’ve ever really done,” Romhany said of his professional career. “I jokingly say that I wasted the first eight years of my life.”

Read more.

[via iTricks]

06 August 2016

Toronto: David Ben in "Hocus Pocus"

Edited September 27th to add:

From Magicana's website: "Receive a 10% discount for shows from December 10 to 21 by entering the code MAGIC10 (near the top right corner of the Buy Tickets page)."

Show dates from December 10 - 31, 2016.

From Magicana:

Spoken word, cinema, sleight-of-hand; the old, the new, the beautiful and the mysterious: it's all Hocus Pocus.

World-renowned magician David Ben returns to Soulpepper's Family Festival with his ever-evolving exploration of spellbinding illusion and wonder. Ancient mysteries with modern twists for all ages performed in an intimate salon-like setting.

Read more and buy tickets.

05 August 2016

Toronto: August 2016 free magic club meeting

From the Browser's Den of Magic Facebook group:

Just a short and friendly reminder that our (free) Magic Club meets this Saturday, August 6 at Browser's Den.

We meet from 2:30 to 5:30pm. All interested in talking about magic are welcome.

04 August 2016

Lee Asher in the Daily Herald

From the Daily Herald:

"There are thousands of us, my friend, worldwide," says Lee Asher, 40, president of 52 Plus Joker (52PlusJoker.org), the playing-card collectors club coming to the Hyatt Regency Schaumburg Oct. 20-22 for the group's Annual Playing Card Collectors Convention. "We're kind of the Comic-Con for playing cards."

While euchre is believed to have led to the addition of the joker to modern decks, to collectors, cards are so much more than finding a decent euchre deck.

"Most every world event that's ever happened since the dawn of time has been documented on a playing card," says Asher, a professional magician from Toronto. "If you can think of something that happened, it's probably on a playing card."

Read more.

03 August 2016

Edmonton: There's magic at the 2016 fringe

The 35th Annual Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival: August 11-21, 2016.

From Fringe Theatre:

Ta Da!
Morton is a young boy who has always dreamed of being a magician. With the school talent show fast approaching, Morton needs to gain confidence in order to share his magic with an audience for the first time. A charming blend of mask, magic and theatre for all ages!

by: Casavant Productions
www.mortonthemagician.com

Murder at the Magic Emporium
Who killed Henning Lee?! Crack the case at this family-friendly whodunit where magic meets mystery. Venture off-Whyte and step into the most unique BYOV of the festival: the Magic Emporium! Join Henning Lee (Magician Kent Wong) and a cast of characters for a night you won’t soon forget. [Free parking]

by: RJK ENTERTAINMENT SERVICES
magicemporium.ca

6 Quick Dick Tricks: A Dirk Darrow Investigation
“BEST OF FEST: PATRON’S PICK” Edmonton Fringe 2015 ALL NEW! Mind-reading! Shakespeare! Time travel! Join Australia’s favourite comedy psychic detective as he pursues a killer in satirical film-noir mentalist style. From the creator of 2 Ruby Knockers… ★★★★&1/2 “An excellent show.” -Edmonton Journal ★★★★&1/2 “Amazing” -Edmonton Sun

by: Tim Motley
www.dirkdarrow.com

Read more and buy tickets.

02 August 2016

Thank you to our August 2016 Friends!

Thank you to John Smithman, John Harrison, Richard Lyn and Joan Caesar for being Friends of Canada's Magic!

It's good to have friends like you.

You too can Be Our Friend for only $20 per year!

Donations of any size are always welcome.

Thank you to our August 2016 sponsors!

Thank you to our sponsors for their generous support.

This site would not be possible without their backing.

We're grateful to have the support of:

Clive Court - The Fun-da-Mentalist,
Evelyn & Phil Matlin, owners of Perfect Magic and
Jeff Pinsky, owner of The Browser's Den of Magic

The next time you see them, let them know you saw their sponsorship here!

For more information about purchasing Sponsored Posts or about our Platinum, Gold, or Silver level sponsorships, please visit our Sponsorship page.

Or you can Be Our Friend for only $20 per year!

Donations of any size are always welcome.

01 August 2016

Calgary: David Merry at The Laugh Shop

From the Twitter feed of The Laugh Shop Calgary:

@davidmerry headlines Aug 4-6! Thur $12.95, Fri/Sat $19.95 8pm nightly. https://t.co/koV60M0iVR #yyc #yyccomedy pic.twitter.com/IWwtZYm0PZ
— Laugh Shop Calgary (@LaughShopYYC) July 31, 2016

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