30 April 2019

Programmation du 9e Festival de magie de Québec

Scroll to the bottom of the post for  a pro-tip from Loran, regarding the conference of Eberhard Riese, author of the book “Foundations - The Art of Stage Magic."

A great video to get you in the spirit of the 9th edition of the Festival de magie de Québec coming up May 2nd to 5th!  It is full of reminders of some of the extraordinary promotions from previous years.  (I don't remember seeing the gag at 1:06 before.  What fun!)

If you're attending, please share the event's social media hashtag so that we can all follow along!


From the YouTube channel of Le Soleil, le quotidien de Quebec:







The top 5 posts in April 2019

There were 45+ posts at Canada's Magic this month.  (Can you tell it was a live-blogging month?)  Here are the 5 most viewed posts in the past 30 days:


5. London: Magic at the Marienbad - A monthly event with a different line-up every month!
4. Chris Ramsay and Xavier Caffrey in the National Post - Nice to see magic in the main stream press.
3. Browser's Magic Bash 2019 recap  - Another fabulous event in the books!
2. Video: Shawn Farquhar Fool Us REVEALED - The people want to know!

and the most viewed post this month  ...






1. Toronto: The Carnival of Wonders - This sounded like quite the event!

29 April 2019

Rounding the Western rings in May 2019

Confirm details about dates and locations by visiting each club's website.



CityClubEvent(s)
Calgary, ABRing 66 (Calgary Magic Circle, Les Brocklesby Ring)- Club meeting.
Edmonton, ABEdmonton Magic Club- N/A
Winnipeg, MBThe Magic Club of Winnipeg- N/A
Fraser Valley, BCIBM Ring 387 (Fraser Valley Magic Circle, Celeste Evans Ring)- General meeting
- Originality competition
Vancouver, BCRing 92 (Vancouver Magic Circle)- N/A
Vancouver, BCSAM 95  (Carl Hemeon Assembly)- N/A
Victoria, BCRing 183 (Victoria Magic Circle)  - Eric Bedard lecture
- BBQ and garage sale
- Mirth and Magic


Please leave a comment or e-mail me about corrections or omissions.



Rounding the Central rings in May 2019

Confirm details about dates and locations by visiting each club's website.



Montreal, QCRing 62 (20th Century Ring)- N/A.
Hamilton, ONRing 49 (The Doug Henning Magic Wand Club)- Members' choice.
London, ONRing 265 (London Magician's Guild)- Coin magic.
Kitchener, ONRing 235 (The Caesar Hat & Wand Magic Circle)- Eric Jones lecture.
Ottawa, ONRing 151 (Ottawa Society of Magicians)- Mentalism and 4F debrief.
Ottawa, ONOttawa / Gatineau magicians- N/A
Toronto, ONRing 17 (Sid Lorraine Hat and Rabbit Club)- Pepe Lirrojo presents Panpharos


Please leave a comment or email me about corrections or omissions.

Rounding the Eastern rings in May 2019

Confirm details about dates and locations by visiting each club's website.



Halifax, NSRing 316 (Conjourer's Court) - Visit their Facebook page
St. John, NBMagic Circle of St. John- Packs small, plays big.


Please leave a comment or email me about corrections or omissions.

27 April 2019

Toronto: Sword and Sorcery school

From the Edritch Theatre:
Eldritch Theatre’s First Ever
Sword and Sorcery Summer School
a summer camp for nerds and geeks

Monday, July 15th to Friday, July 19th 2019
Ages 9 to 14
The Red Sandcastle Theatre, 922 Queen Street East

Read more and register.



From the Edritch Theatre Twitter feed:



26 April 2019

Toronto: Ariel Frailich book signing

From the Browser's Den newsletter:
SATURDAY, MAY 4 AT 2PM - ARIEL FRAILICH BOOK SIGNING: Ariel Frailich  has just released his newest book 'Sub Rosa'. It is hardcover and 170 pages. It covers a wide variety of magic & mentalism effects for stage & close-up based on an easy to master utility move. Mr. Frailich will be at Browser's Den from 2:00pm to 5:00pm to sign the book.

Please CLICK HERE for full details on the book.

PLUS...Mr. Frailich will be giving away a FREE prop with each book sale that has a use with an effect in his new book. ($45.00)

Read more.


A recent review gave Sub Rosa 5 stars!


From the I Saw That! Exclusive Magic Facebook page:

25 April 2019

Toronto: Cheap Tricks 2

From the Revival Bar:
Tuesday June 11

We are back with the most ridiculously fun magic show of the year. Its CHEAP TRICKS 2.

Imagine an performer shows up to their gig but their props don;t. This is the premise of the show. All participants are given a small budget, location to buy and have to come with 10 mins of amazing material on the fly for the audience.

Ten of Toronto;s leading magicians go head to head in this contest with only ONE winner. With a special guest appearance by The Sentimentalists and surprise guests.

Judged by
  • Ben Train (Toronto Magic Company)
  • Steffi Kay (Fooler of Penn and Teller)
  • Chris Westfall (Cheap Tricks winner year one)
  • and a secret judge TBA

Revival Nightclub is a 19+ venue. Content may offend, Doors 8pm show 8:30pm tickets $advance / $30 door.

Presented by Mysterion.
Read more and buy tickets.




From the Facebook page of James Alan:

24 April 2019

Edmonton: Magic Monthly

From the Grindstone Theatre:
APRIL 25

A monthly magic showcase hosted by the incredible Ron Pearson! Join Ron and his new magical guests on the fourth Thursday of each month as they amaze the audience with new tricks and comedy entertainment. You are guaranteed to laugh, gasp and cheer as magicians from Edmonton and around the world take to The Grindstone Stage.

Read more and buy tickets.

23 April 2019

Ryan Joyce on the Darren Walters podcast

From Ryan Joyce's Facebook post:

A note to subscribers: the content of this post is embedded from another website and is not available to preview. To view the content of the post, please visit http://CanadasMagic.blogspot.com. Some of the embedded code may be visible in this notification.


22 April 2019

Gwyn Auger on Illusionary

From Yeats Magic Co's Facebook post:

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21 April 2019

Sleightly Sketchy: Unclear on the concept

Another in an occasional series of sleightly sketchy thoughts.

Sleightly Sketchy: Unclear on the concept

20 April 2019

The Evasons NBA halftime show

From The Evasons YouTube channel:
The Evasons Mentalist Duo - NBA halftime show Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors, April 4, 2019 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC. 
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18 April 2019

Milton: Vegas style illusion show

From Eventbrite:
WE ARE BACK AT CHAMPS WITH MILTON’S LARGEST ILLUSION SHOW!!!

COME SEE US LIVE MAY 3rd!

Tickets are $20 online for reserved seating or can be purchased at the door!

For video and pictures visit :

Www.magicdan.ca

DO NOT MISS THIS!



Read more and buy tickets.

17 April 2019

Shin Lim's LIMitless tour

From Colin Cloud's Twitter feed:
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16 April 2019

Browser's Magic Bash 2019 recap

Updated on April 19th to add: 
  •  An assortment of phone camera, at a distance, dark room, intended to be viewed on a small screen, photos can be viewed in this Facebook album.

Browser's Bash logo  
I'm delighted I was able to live-Tweet and live-blog the 2019 Browser's Magic Bash last Saturday!  

I enjoyed catching up with the friends I've made at previous Bashes (hi Cooper) and making new friends too (I'm looking at you Don and Wil).

Here's the traditional consolidation of the posts and Tweets. (For the complete list of Tweets and photos check out this Twitter link to Tweets tagged with #BrowsersBash2019 or #BrowsersBash.) 

It's a very long post.  Click "read more" below to view it.

I hope you all had as much fun as I did!



15 April 2019

Chilliwack: Shawn Farquhar's Cabaret of Wonders XV

Catch Shawn Farquhar's Cabaret of Wonders on April 19th.

From Shawn Farquhar's Facebook page: A note to subscribers: the content of this post is embedded from another website and is not available to preview. To view the content of the post, please visit http://CanadasMagic.blogspot.com. Some of the embedded code may be visible in this notification.

14 April 2019

Toronto: The Carnival of Wonders

With Jim Byrnes, James Alan, James Harrison, Bella Eurta, Dick Joiner, and Chris Campbell!


From Eventbrite:
The CARNIVAL is coming to town!
The Toronto Magic Company has partnered with the Super Wonder Gallery to bring you The Carnival of Wonders - a show experience unlike anything we've ever done before. For one night only we're transforming the our space into a carnival, complete with games, prizes, delicious carnival treats, interactive exhibits, and not one but TWO amazing shows!


Part I The Family Circus8:00-10:00pm

Fun for audiences of all ages!

Join Ringmaster Dick Joiner for the incredible Family Circus show, featuring jugglers, magicians, and jaw-dropping sideshow performers while you check out all the exibits. All attendees will get loot bags on the way in with chips for game play and food, as well as some fun surprises.


Part II The Midnight Carnival (Recomended for 16+)10:30pm -12:30am

Send the kids to bed - it's time to get a little wild. Con games, fortune telling, and incredible "freak" acts take the stage to show you things you won't believe can happen. Attendees of the Midnight Carnival will also get loot bags on the way in with chips for game play and food, as well as some additional fun surprises!

Tickets are $20 per time slot, or $30 for the the whole evening of fun (the Evening Package comes with enough chips and credits for an entire evening of fun!).
Read more and buy tickets.


13 April 2019

 

Final bows with:

- Ryan Brown

- Jacque Swan

- James Harrison

- RJ Steele

- Mark Correia

- Paul Richards

- Garrett Thomas

- Ted and Marion Outerbridge

- Suzanne

- Chris Capehart

 


Stage show with:

- Ted & Marion Outerbridge

- Suzanne

- Chris Capehart!

Jeff P and John T with announcements:

- In the spirit of thinking of others we are donating on behalf of all you Bashers, $500.00 to the Hospital for Sick Kids Foundation.
   [ SickKidsFoundation.com ]

 

- Thank you to:

   - All of you kind folks who bought tickets have made this Bash possible again.

   - The Bash volunteers: Ahmed, Jon Sy, Roxanne Talbot, Nicole Lee, Cathy, Eric Simmatis, John Cardella, John Michalson, Lisa Close, Ava Close, Luiz Castro, John Morgan, Greg Hobor, Cam Dix, Mike Segal, Sandra Estrien, and Annie Pinsky.

   - Jeff Hinchliffe for (among many other things) making sure all of the talent is behind the stage at the right times.

   - Special thanks to John Talbot who somehow comes up with the time to help us put this day together.

   - Sincere appreciation to Ahmed our stage manager, and his two assistants Jon Sy and Luiz Castro!

   - Of course a thanks to the staff at the Montecassino!

   - Standing ovation for emcee Dick Joiner for making the day so much fun!

Jeff H with announcements:

- If you have questions for the guys who did the free mini classes at lunch, walk up and ask.

- At Wij's table there are knowledgeable guys who can answer questions. Danny Hamill, Al Grose, Morgan Pierce, Richard Lyn, Anthony Lindan, and Buck MacLeod.

- You may have seen his cameos on Penn and Teller's recent Fool Us Day episode. Michael Close is here too!

- Lots of knowledge in the room! Walk around and talk and listen.

- Reminder of the Jason Ladayne lecture at the Browser's Den on Wednesday, April 17

 

Mark Correia came in from New York to comically entertain!

[ MarkCorreia.ca ]

Fabulous Time Of Day for The Outerbridge lecture!

[ OuterbridgeMagic.com ]

 


John Talbot just announced more lucky winners!



 Afternoon show with:

- Jacque Swan

- Pickpocket James Harrison
   [ PickpocketMagic.com ]

- Paul Richards
   [ PaulRichards.com ]

- 2017 Len Cooper Memorial Award recipient, R.J. Steele

- Garrett Thomas to close the show!
   [ GTmagic.com ]

 



Garrett Thomas with the second half of last year's lecture. (And same volunteer as last year!)

[ GTmagic.com ]

 

Wonderful mini performance by The Outerbridges.

[ OuterbridgeMagic.com ]

 

Announcements from Jeff P:

- A big thank you to: Robert & Scott Presswood, Andrew Woo, Jonah Babins, Chris Bruce, Chris Westfall, my longest magic friend Wij, David Barrett, and the infamous Charlie McBurney, for offering today's mini-classes

- Thanks to David Grosfield for being the day's official photographer
   [  facebook.com/david.grosfield ]

- Thank you to Elliot and the EJ Entertainment team for running the AV and tech.
   [ EJEntertainment.net ]

- Shout-out to attendee Joan Caesar, founder of the Canadian Association of Magicians and past International president of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

- Pleased and honoured that Bernice Cooper and her son Jack have joined us this year.  A big round of applause for Bernice Cooper her family and for the memory of the late Len Cooper.

- Jeff's cousins from Montreal are here!  Welcome!

- Great to see Bobby Motta here today! 
   [ BobbyMotta.com ]

Announcements from Lisa Close:

- Over $1,000 of magic prizes to give away today!  Congratulations to the first five lucky winners.

- Mini Classes during the lunch break offered by:

   - Robert & Scott Presswood on Children's Magic
   [ Presswood.com ]

   - David Barrett on Biddle Count Procedures

   - Chris Bruce on False Shuffles and Classic Force
   [ ChrisBruce.ca ]

   - Andrew Woo on Creating Memorable Magic
   [  magicalwoo.weebly.com ]

   - Charlie McBurney on Crimps & Key Cards

   - Chis Westfall on Routining Your Magic
   [ ChrisWestfallMagic.com ]

   - Wij on Card Fundamentals
   [  magicWij.com ]

   - Jonah Babins on Any Card at Any Number
   [  JonahBabins.com ]

 



Fabulous performance by the "legen… wait for it… dary" Chris Capehart!
[https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-capehart-958b39a7 ]


Second lecturer: The AMA's 2010 Close Up Magician of the year and Penn & Teller Fooler, Suzanne!
   [ SuzMagic.com ]


First lecturer: self-described as "the most successful creator of magic that nobody has heard of" --  Paul Richards!   

[ PaulRichards.com ]


With bonus tips about children, crayons, marriage, and ham sandwiches.






Performance by Ryan Brown to kick things off.

[ www.facebook.com/magicryanbrown ]

 

Traditional playing of the video footage of Len Cooper, founder of the Browser's Den of Magic.

[www.browsersden.com ]

 

Started up with Jeff P, John T, and Jeff H:

- Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the 2019 Browser's Magic Bash -- Bash #5!

- Welcome back Dick Joiner as Bash emcee extraordinaire!  [DickJoiner.com ]



Rise and shine.

It's Browser's Bash day!

See you there.


12 April 2019

#BrowsersBash 2019 social media

Browser's Bash logo  
Saturday is the "Browser's Bash," an all day convention hosted by the Browser's Den of Magic!

Like last year, and technology willing, I will be doing some combination of live-Tweeting and live-blogging of the event.  Apologies in advance for clogging your feeds.  To follow my Twitter account, you can use the web or use the Twitter widget on the right side of this page, under the "Selected Anniversaries" feature.  I'll also be putting a big Twitter widget of my feed between the blog title and  the posts.

If you're at the event and using social media, I encourage you to add the hashtag "#BrowsersBash" to your Tweets.  From a web browser you can have a look at all Tweets containing

I look forward to seeing many of you on Saturday!




11 April 2019

Bill Abbott at the House of Cards

From the House of Cards Twitter feed:
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10 April 2019

Billy Kidd in Topic Stories, Liberty Magic, and Super$tition

A reminder that Super$tition runs April 11- 21 in Edmonton.


From Billy Kidd's Twitter feed:











09 April 2019

Bill Peterson in the Amherst News

From the March 26th article "Sackville magician wows audiences throughout Maritimes" by Katie Tower in the Amherst News:
It’s powerful and mind blowing, the kind of experience you have to see to believe. And if you’ve met Bill Peterson and have seen him in action, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Peterson draws you in with his jaw-dropping, get-your-heart-racing, can’t-quite-wrap-your-head-around-it magic that you will be telling your friends about for weeks – and which will probably stay with you a lifetime.

He is the type of magician who will likely turn even the harshest skeptic into a believer by the time he’s done.

Card tricks are always a hit with the crowds, particularly for Bill Peterson’s walk-around or table-to-table magic he performs at special events, such as this wine show.
Card tricks are always a hit with the crowds, particularly for Bill Peterson’s walk-around or table-to-table magic he performs at special events, such as this wine show.
No, there’s no rabbits being pulled out of hats, no smoke and mirrors, and no birds up his sleeve. Peterson simply wows by bringing the audience into the magic, to make them feel it themselves and become part of the experience.

Magic for him is an art, one which he says creates a “positive permanent memory” for those who witness it. And that’s exactly why he loves what he does.

“It’s the pleasure of giving that gift of joy and excitement to others that makes it so much fun,” he says.
~~
Peterson will be bringing his magic to the Vogue Theatre stage in Sackville on May 11, where he will put on a show featuring mind reading, teleporting, mentalism, illusion and card tricks.



Read more.

08 April 2019

Montreal: David Stone Lecture

From the Montreal Magic Jam:
Monday April 22nd

[Note that this lecture will be in French, but David will do explanations in English as necessary]

After the amazing success of The Xperience Lecture tour in 2012 with over 183 lectures in 19 countries, the crazy David Stone is back!

This new lecture will provide exclusively strong magic tricks with cards, coins, and varied objects for close-up conditions just as pen, bottles, glasses…

For those who already know David, no need to say the lecture will be a real show with dozens of gags and ideas you will use for your own performances. Among the brand new tricks you will discover :
  •     Mirage : Learn how to Visually and slowly make a deck of cards vanish !
  •     Zenith : The « Card on the ceiling » effect completely revisited, safer and easier than the classic version. Finally you will get David secret version of this classic effect, a version he kept for his own performances for years. A masterpiece of close up magic !
  •     A new gimmick as powerful as «The Tool » that will allow you to perform dozen of tricks completely different. A new weapon for the close up magician who want to refresh his repertoire.

And much more ! Over 14 new effects and routines tested on real audience and ready to amaze your own spectators. David will also talk and explain how he performs in close up situation on stage for audience as large as 2.000 spectators and how to deal with this kind of situations.

Read more and buy tickets.

07 April 2019

Toronto: Jason Ladanye lecture

From the Browser's Den newsletter:
We are very pleased to let you know that on Wednesday, April 17th at 7pm Jason Ladanye will be giving a lecture here at the shop!

A world class sleight of hand expert and student of Darwin Ortiz, Jason will be performing and teaching some of his pet card routines.

Read more and buy tickets.

06 April 2019

Chris Ramsay and Xavier Caffrey in the National Post

From the April 4th article "How young magicians are learning to cast a spell on a modern audience" by Alex Wong in the National Post:
A professional magician, Caffrey immigrated from Lebanon to Canada at the age of 15. While other high-school students loitered in back alleys and caused headaches for nearby convenience-store owners, Caffrey hung out at the library, reading English books and learning the language. If he couldn’t pronounce a word on the page, he would scamper over to the nearest librarian for a quick lesson. “Once I get into something,” Caffrey says. “I have to do it all the time.”

~~~~

One person who seems to have surveyed this new landscape accurately is Chris Ramsay. A practicing magician for over a decade, Ramsay started by working for magic companies, helping them create tricks that are teased over social media, then sold — at prices that range from $5 to thousands of dollars — with full explanations on how they work to other magicians for use in their acts. While managing the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts for these businesses, Ramsay had an epiphany: He could use social media himself as a direct channel to a potential audience. By sharing his work online, he could skip the middleman and be the owner of his content. And so, Ramsay created and began posting to his own YouTube channel.

Read more.

05 April 2019

Ryan Joyce in the Barrie Advance

From the March 24th article "Magician Ryan Joyce raising money for Children’s Wish Foundation in Barrie" by Chris Simon in the Barrie Advance:
Ryan Joyce is poised to walk through walls — and other objects — for the Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada.

The well-known Canadian magician brings his family-friendly magic and mentalism act to St. Joan of Arc Catholic High School in Barrie April 13. This benefit show will raise money for the foundation’s Ontario chapter.

“The foundation helps bring smiles to many boys and girls with life-threatening illnesses, by making their greatest wish come true,” show spokesperson Patricia Ferreira said.

This event includes a performance by Spring Action Trampoline Show acrobats.

Read more.

04 April 2019

Thank you to our April 2019 Friends!

Thank you to John Harrison, Richard Lyn, Joan Caesar, The Outerbridges, Ian Crawford, Owen Anderson, Ryan Pilling, Matt DiSero, and James Renoire 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 April 2019 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:

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.








Toronto: Free magic club

From the Browser's Den of Magic Facebook page:
Our next FREE MAGIC CLUB meeting is this Saturday, April 6 at 'Browser's Den' (2:30 to 5:30pm). All welcome.

And the 'Bash' is only a week and a half away. We have a very small handful of tickets left.

For those who would like to join us tickets may be purchased online at: https://www.browsersden.com/bash

Thanks for you continued support!



03 April 2019

Nashville: Carisa Hendrix at the House of Cards

Astounding performances by Lucy Darling at House of Cards April 8 - 14.


From the House of Cards Twitter feed:
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02 April 2019

London: Magic at the Marienbad

From The Amazing Corbin:
This event happens the first Friday of every month with a different comedian and magician combo each time. Magicians who wish to perform should contact me and free tickets are provided to magicians who share a bit of close up strolling magic during the cocktail hour. (Headliner magicians get paid) Hope to see you there!


From Captain Corbin's Facebook page:
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01 April 2019

April Fool Us Day 2019

From CBS Local:
APRIL FOOLS! — The world-famous team of Penn & Teller prank Chris Hardwick (“Talking Dead”) by turning him into an amazing, world-class magician as they send him to the streets of Vegas to bedazzle the crowds. Original airdate: Monday, April 1st, 2019 @ 9pm


Card throwing in the 2024 Olympics?

From the February 27th article "These Are the New Sports We May See at the 2024 Summer Olympics" by Jenny McCoy in Self:
As mentioned, three of the five proposed sports—skateboarding, surfing, and climbing—are already on the program for Tokyo, which means the IOC already has a solid understanding of the factors that would make the sports good Olympic contenders, like their global popularity, how competitions are run, venue requirements, and so on. Break dancing, though not on the list for Tokyo, was part of the 2018 youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, so it’s also already well-known to the IOC, explains McConnell. Card throwing, is well, the wild card of the 2024 games.

Read more.