Welcoming a new Friend: Gordon Precious

Welcoming our newest Friend, Gordon Precious!

Bitten by the magic bug over 90 years ago, Gordon is an absolute gentleman in every sense of the word.  He is consistently positive, welcoming, and encouraging.  I first met Gordon through Ring 17 over 20 years ago.  He's younger at heart than many in my generation. 

You likely know Gordon's signature Vanishing Birdcage effect.  But did you know that he also holds the World Record for the oldest heliskier?

For a deeper dive into Gordon's extraordinary life, have a listen to episode 161 of Discourse in Magic. 

Thank you Gordon, for befriending Canada's Magic!  We look forward to celebrating your 97th birthday next month!

 

Help Chris Ramsay set a Guinness World Record! #BigTrickTokChallenge

From the April 23rd Tweet by truTV:

#BigTrickTokChallenge pic.twitter.com/0WozqMifAS

— Canada's Magic (@canadasmagic) April 28, 2021

Steve Valentine's offering free Magic On The Go content!

From the April 27th Facebook post by Steve Valentine:

Hi all, so proud to have hit this milestone, so I’m doing a freebie. If you love magic or know someone who does, this might be for you 🙂

Here’s the blurb!

LOVE MAGIC? Steve Valentine is giving it all away!

Actor and multi-award winning magician Steve Valentine is celebrating adding the  600th VIDEO to  his incredible online magic site, MAGIC ON THE GO, and Steve wants to share some of the videos WITH YOU, for FREE.  

Just go to this link stevevalentine.com/magic  and sign up for ACCESS to FREE Magic On The Go content. You’ll be happy you did 🙂

Cheers!

 

 

 

 

Discourse in Magic and Shezam podcast crossover (Jonah Babins and Kayla Drescher)

ICYMI:

• Kayla is hosting the Online Wonder Gala virtual convention this weekend, April 30 - May 2nd
• Jonah and Ben are hosting three more Unconventional.Fun virtual conventions May 29th & 30th, August 28th & 29th, and November 27th & 28th
  

 

From the April 27th Instagram post by Discourse in Magic: 

In this episode, we are teaming up with Kayla Drescher (@magicinheels) for a crossover episode of Discourse in Magic and @shezampod! In it we talk about producing magic podcasts, hosting virtual conventions, and the challenges facing the magic community today.⁠

 

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[Guest post] Thirteen tips for supporting your closest brick and mortar magic shop

 

 

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

 

 --

  

THE MAGIC DEMON'S TOP THIRTEEN TIPS FOR SUPPORTING YOUR CLOSEST BRICK & MORTAR MAGIC SHOP

Whether in person, by curbside pick up or via Canada Post, you can...

1. Buy something for yourself. Do so as often as you can.
   
   
2. Buy something for a friend.
   
   
   
3. Buy something for someone you know who is struggling.
   
   
   
4. Buy something for your favourite nephew, niece or cousin.
   
   Or somebody else's favourite nephew, niece or cousin.
   
   
5. Get together with magic friends and make a group purchase which you can buy or pick up in one lot and then safely distribute yourself.
   
   
   
6. Tell your family and friends to give you their gift certificate for your birthday.
   
   
7. Buy gift certificates for yourself, and for friends and family on their birthdays.
   
   
8. Go to their website every week or so and check on their latest stock to see what is new and you might like to buy.
   
   
   
9. Go to their website often and check on all their stock to see what you've missed and might like to buy.
   
   
10. Check out Murphy's Magic site and special order something from your local brick & mortar.
    
    
11. If in doubt what to buy, buy a book! If buying a book, buy another one.
    
    
12. Check out and buy any special downloads or lessons available on their website.
    
    
    
13. When you buy something let them know how much you appreciate them.
    
    

Don't wait.

Start today!

Use them or lose them.
 

Canada would be a whole lot less magical without our remaining brick & mortar shops!

 ~~~~

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

Majinx: Virtually impossible 2.0 [April 30]

From the April 19th Facebook post by Majinx:

LET's DO SOMETHING IMPOSSIBLE TOGETHER!
Our NEW SHOW premiers on APRIL 30th at 7:00 p.m. EST
MAJINX's VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE SHOW 2.0    
Come and check out the latest magical additions to our exciting virtual show.    For more info and tickets, visit our website at https://www.majinx.com/virtually-impossible

 

 

 

 

Anthony Lindan / Scoop McCoy lecture - free - [April 27]

From the April 21st Facebook post by Anthony Lindan:

Thank you for all the birthday wishes. Much appreciated!
FREE MAGIC LECTURE INVITE
An invite to all my magician friends to attend my free magic lecture. I will be presenting about 10 ideas and presentations I have developed for virtual shows for family and corporate audiences
Date: Tuesday April 27, 2021
Time: 7 PM - 8:30 PM Eastern Time
Link to register in advance for this lecture:
 
Read more and register.

 

 

 

Phil Matlin on the Joel Matlin Entrepreneur Show

From the April 18th episode of Joel Matlin Entrepreneur Show:

Perfect Magic: How the Entrepreneurial Magic Started

On today's episode, Joel chats with Phil Matlin, co-founder of Perfect Magic, a magic shop for new and seasoned magicians alike. Phil shares about the inception of his business, his music career and the challenges encountered along the way, as well as cogent advice for those within the magician realm.

Secret Show VII

From the April 13th Facebook post by Graemazing Reed: 

So this. But don't tell people. Shh.

This might feature Ryan Joyce and Scott Boyd it might not?

Tickets aren't available here: https://bit.ly/2QoxQT5

Thank you to our April 2021 friends!

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!

 --

Thank you to John Harrison, Richard Lyn, Joan Caesar, Ian Crawford, Matt DiSero, Gwyn Auger, Doug Hunt, John Smithman, Richard Hough, Robin Dawes, Eric Bedard, Loran, Peter Mennie, and David Johnson 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.

 

 

Big Trick Energy live Facebook show [April 22]

Watch the show live over at Chris Ramsay's Facebook page.

 

From the April 20th Facebook post by Wes Barker:

 

 

From the truTV Twitter feed:

Holy sh*t! We’re hosting a live magic show on @chrisramsay52's Facebook on Thursday at 5pm ET with the cast of our new show #BigTrickEnergy. Head to Chris' FB to find out how you can get a chance to be part of the live. pic.twitter.com/vGhpdXRjYn

— truTV (@truTV) April 19, 2021

 

 

And then there were two … (brick and mortar magic shops)

Just over a year ago we all put our heads down and did what needed to be done.  

While we were hunkered down, a big shift happened in the Canadian magic community.

We’re down to TWO dedicated brick and mortar magic shops.

• The Vanishing Rabbit went online only last May.
• Perfect Magic went online only late last year.
• Last month, Magie Spectram announced their intentions go operate online only.

From the October 1st, 2014 post “Why bother with a magic shop?” written by Evelyn Matlin wrote at the Perfect Magic blog:

It’s so easy to look up  what you want on line, find the cheapest price and order.  I can’t say that I blame anyone for doing that. But there may be a cost to the saving of money, especially in magic.

Click through to read Evelyn's thoughts on the matter.

A comment from the 2013/08/29 post "Goodbye to Morrissey Magic -- the end of an era in Toronto"

...travelling magician (travelling light) from British Columbia stuck for a surprise gig in Barrie last summer and Dan really got me out of a jam. He was a great guy...asked what I had for a budget (tight budget since I wasn't getting paid!) and set me up with great stage sized stuff that made my show a success...customer service like that doesn't exist on some internet site ...

Don't have brick and mortar shop in your area? Consider supporting one through their online shops. (I direct your attention to one of our sponsors The Browser's Den of Magic in Ontario, and to Clownin’ Around in BC.)

Over the past ten years roughly 85% of all brick and mortar magic shops in the world have closed.

We need to think about how we can support the two remaining brick and mortar shops in Canada, Browser's Den of Magic & Clownin’ Around.

Thank you Jeff at The Browser's Den of Magic, and Quincy at  Clownin’ Around, for your fabulous brick and mortar shops!

A Reddit AMA with Vitaly Beckman

From the April 15 Instagram post by VitalyEveningofWonders:

Join me for Reddit's Ask Me Anything! Wed, Apr 28 @ 10am PST / 1pm EST
http://reddit.com/r/IamA

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Vitaly Beckman (@vitalyeveningofwonders)

 

Mark Clearview's "Try This at Home" with NYC mixologist Melissa Brooke

From the April 11th Facebook post by Mark Clearview:

TRY THIS AT HOME is an interactive virtual magic show happening on April 24th and 25th at 7:00pm EST. Featuring NYC mixologist Melissa Brooke! Come learn how to make cocktails and magic!

Pay what you can tickets at: www.markclearview.com/trythisathome

 

 

 

Connie Boyd interviews Renée-Claude Auclair

From the April 15th video at the Magical Women with Connie Boyd YouTube channel: 

Renée-Claude Auclair is the Canadian Association of Magic (CAM) current President, she is also the current President of the Quebec 2022 FISM World Championships and the Co-Organiser of FISM which will be held in Canada July 25-30, 2022.   This will be the FIRST time, ever, that FISM (Federation International Society of Magicians) also known as "the World Championships of Magic" will be held in North America.

In this talk Renée reveals her story and the strategy to win the bid for FISM and how her determination and the work-ethic she developed as a Canadian world-class diving team member served her well in the quest to secure the prestigious event in Canada.  We hope you will enjoy Renée's talk as much as we did. Be sure to subscribe & to hit the notifications bell so you will know when Renée's second talk is uploaded.

Blackpool Magic Virtual Convention [April 18]

Updated April 19th to add:

• Screenshots from the event added to the bottom of the post.
  

 

From the March 29th Facebook post by Blackpool Magic Convention:

Blackpool Magic - Virtual Convention - LIVE

In these unpredictable times, The Blackpool Magicians Club proudly presents a unique event from a locked down Winter Gardens as a way of thanks for your continued support.

This is a FREE event.

Starring:

• John Archer
• Ben Hart
• Ali cook
• Brendan Rodrigues  
• Marc Oberon
• Romany
• R Paul Wilson
• Phil Hitchcock
• Sam Hurst
• Graeme Shaw
• Noah Kelly
• John Kimmons
• Gary Dunn

Plus Special Guests

18th April - 6pm GMT
Only on Facebook Live

 

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Canadas Magic (@canadasmagicdotcom)

 

 

Big Trick Energy (Ramsay, Leclerc, Barker, and Boyer) on Ellen

After the reading the newspaper articles about Alex and Wes, we share with you the video of team Big Trick Energy on Ellen!

(How many Canadian magicians have appeared on Ellen?  Shawn Farquhar, Shin Lim (2, 3) ...)

From the April 15th video "Magicians Stun Ellen with Their ‘Big Trick Energy’" on TheEllenShow YouTube channel:

Wes Barker in the Cloverdale Reporter

From the April 15th article "VIDEO: On ‘Ellen,’ former City of Surrey employee works magic with new ‘Big Trick Energy’ gang -- A decade ago, Wes Barker quit his job with the city to do magic professionally" by Tom Zillich in the Cloverdale Reporter:

Barker honed his magic skills while working for the city in his early 20s, between time spent studying business administration at university.

“I did lots of jobs for them – water meters, watermains, weedeating on the roads and drainage,” he said during an interview in 2014. “You take your lunch breaks in your truck, because there’s nowhere to go and everyone just packs a lunch, and you have your half-hour lunch and two 10-minute coffees. So there’s 50 minutes a day where you’re just sitting in your truck with nothing to do, so I just brought books with me, on magic, and on my breaks I’d practise magic tricks. Every partner I had thought it was hilarious that I had this library of books in the truck, and during every break I’d pull out cards, coins and whatnot. Kind of weird.”

Read more and watch video.

Alex Boyer in the CBC (and Big Trick Energy on Ellen)

ICYMI, Alex, Chris Ramsay, Eric Leclerc, and Wes Barker will be appearing on Ellen later today! (April 15th).  Read our interview with the Big Trick Energy cast.

 

From the April 7th article "De Gatineau à la télé américaine : le rêve éveillé du magicien Alex Boyer" by Catherine Morasse at the CBC as translated by Google:

When Alex Boyer speaks, one word keeps coming up: intense . Like those days that are perfectly settled, and like the illusions and stunts of Big Trick Energy .

"We always had ambulances on the set, because we were still doing pretty intense stunts . Sometimes we put our lives on the line, and sometimes it was just funny. But it was a lot, a lot of energy, a lot of work, a lot of creation. And we had the best team in the world: I couldn't have asked for better than that," recognizes the one who grew up and still lives in the Aylmer area.
 

Read more.

A peek behind the curtain with Big Trick Energy
https://t.co/HjcwIuaWtI
@bigtrickenergy @truTV @chrisramsay52 @LeclericShow @StuntMagician @AlexBoyerMagic pic.twitter.com/rCn5Bfc63j

— Canada's Magic (@canadasmagic) April 8, 2021

Thank you to our April 2021 sponsors!

This is a reminder that our sponsors also have bills to pay and mouths to feed.  If you have the means, please support them by making a purchase. 

If you would like to show your support for our sponsors, but have no immediate need for their products, consider purchasing a gift certificate which you can put to use (or not) at a later time.

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 - Get PR help from a Life Membership Award winner of the Canadian Public Relations Society,
• Evelyn & Phil Matlin, owners of Perfect Magic,
• Jeff Pinsky, owner of The Browser's Den of Magic,
• Michael Close, author of the new Paradigm Shift ebooks, the Workers series and others,
• Ty Reveen - catch him on his Fall tour, and 
• Brent Smith, owner of The Vanishing Rabbit Magic Shop!

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.

Broken wand: Harry Robert Herbert

Our sincere condolences to Harry's family and friends.

 

From the Wallace Funeral Home:

Harry was a hard working man who was never idle. He was a true craftsman and jewellery maker. He owned and operated The Magic Lantern Gift Shop with his wife and love of his life, Anne. He was an internationally known magician, a tailor, a member of the historical society, a member of the Sussex Silverados and a very proud and active member of the Penobsquis Baptist Church. He loved to lead Bible Study and teach Sunday School. It was never odd to see him out and about or stopping to talk to someone.

Harry will live on in the hearts of his children:Richard Herbert and his wife Eva, Steven Herbert and Karen Herbert; his stepchildren: Kevin Demas and Christie Demas all of British Columbia; as well as several gradnchildren and great grandchildren.

Mr Harry Robert Herbert of Kingston, formerly of Penobsquis passed away at the Sussex Health Centre on April 6, 2021 at the age of 88.

Read more.

[via the Magic Circle of St John]

Late Night with Ben and Jonah [April 25]

From the April 11th Instagram Post by the Toronto Magic Company:

Late Night with Ben and Jonah takes everything you love about late night tv and combines it with a highly interactive virtual magic show… Toronto Magic Company style.

You can expect fun, special guests, outrageous segments, and a whole lot of magic.

Plus this time, it's not just Ben and Jonah. We're bringing on two special guests to share incredible magic of their own to blow your mind: One of Boston's finest up and coming entertainers - Colin Robinson, and AMA award winner, and Penn and Teller Fooler, Suzanne! 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Toronto Magic Company (@torontomagiccompany)

 

 

 

Darcy Oake in the season finale of Hudson and Rex (and interview with Franz Harary)

Updated April 10th to add:

• screen shots of Darcy's appearance added to the end of the Hudson and Rex segment.
  

 

Darcy is guest starring on the season finale of Hudson and Rex, next Tuesday at 9pm EST on CityTV! 

(At the bottom of the post is Franz Harary Talking Magic with Darcy Oake.  They talk about touring Canada, Britain’s Got Talent and his 200 million viewers, The Illusionists on Broadway and oh yes, performing for Queen Elisabeth. )

From the April 7th Facebook post by Darcy Oake:

[with thanks to Peter Mennie for the tip!]

Screen shots of @DarcyOake in the season finale of @hudsonandrex from the preview at the end of the penultimate episode of the season.

[With thanks to @petermennie] pic.twitter.com/hzsJMypshg

— Canada's Magic (@canadasmagic) April 10, 2021

 

 

From the February 16th Facebook post by Darcy Oake:

 

A peek behind the curtain with Big Trick Energy

 

In October we reported that Chris Ramsay, Eric Leclerc, Wes Barker, and Alex Boyer created a show called Big Trick Energy that is scheduled to air on April 22nd on truTV in the US.

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Enrico de la Vega (@ricodlv)

The Universe knocked (for real) last week, offering us the chance to interview these newly minted "bad boys of magic" and find out more about their show.  We happily accepted.

It's a prank show where everyone's a magician - what could go wrong? Big Trick Energy is coming to truTV on April 22nd, don't miss it! pic.twitter.com/PhVrfZm4OO

— truTV (@truTV) April 7, 2021

Tell us about a memorable prank that didn't make it to air.
 
Eric: I convinced Wes' wife to have a Boudoir sexy photoshoot with me in a hotel room months before filming, with a professional photographer and the network deemed it a little too risqué because they didn't know our characters yet, they didn’t know how good friends we are. 
 
So it’s going to be up on my YouTube channel.    

The show is unscripted.  Can you give an example of things that turned out better than you hoped?

Chris: Definitely the thrift shop.  That was probably right down the last thing and we surprised you guys so bad he fell on his a$$! That was like the opposite of where the trick was going to go originally so it's just beautiful like all the minds working together and then you come up with something that no one wrote down on a piece of paper the night before.

Eric: This show is unscripted but there’s also pranks. So we're having secret meetings, secret production calls with producers and show runners where maybe one or two people aren’t involved because to we’re there to prank them.

Chris: It might be three versus one, one pranking three, one pranking two, two people pranking two other people and this  constant secrecy going around.  A lot of us are blind to that actively because we want to make the show good.  So, I'll be at table they’ll go “Chris, can you leave?”  And I’m like, “got it.” 

[SPOILER ALERT (but you may have seen it already on social)]

Eric:  A perfect example was in the show in the first season in episode one they crushed my BMW, my car, my baby, and I knew something was up but I had no idea that they brought my car down and crushed it in front of me. It was really something that I had no idea so that synergy is very interesting amongst friends, y’know to hide stuff like that.  

What unique talent or skill did everyone bring to the project?
 
Chris:  Wes is a massive jack of all trades. He learned everything so quickly he has all these crazy abilities that we're still finding out about because he keeps them secret and he practices in the dark and then all the sudden he'll show up and be an amazing axe thrower or a ride a unicycle or something. He’s got a lot of hobbies. 
 
I love putting Eric in the worst situations and watching him get out of them cuz that's his skill, it really is, he can get out of any situation flawlessly and turn it around.
 
Alex doing all the music.  All the animals actually.  We found out, there’s something we didn’t know, Alex does all the animal magic [in the show].  If you look at all the trailers and stuff you keep seeing Alex with animals and it doesn't appear that much in the show but they used all of it. So Alex is now the professional animal wrangler!
 
Wes:  And Chris talks a lot.  I don't know if you noticed.

 

 

What were the more challenging parts of the project?

Alex:  I really thought by the end of the season one we’re not going to be friends anymore because it’s hard to be with same people all the time and riffing and being like  “I like that.  I don’t like that. Who’s going to do this trick?”  But it brought us closer. 

 
Chris: I think obviously, the pandemic has been challenging to shoot through but besides all that we were in a bit of a time crunch too. We had a couple months of production leading up to this, but when you're in a position to create these magic tricks, we need professional builders, we need locations, we need all these things. With the pandemic happening nothing was super accessible. We had to really think on our feet for a lot of those things. So a lot of late-night meetings staying up till four in the morning, finalizing what we're doing the next day showing up at 7 a.m. call time. So the difficult part was really creating all of that ‘cause there is a lot of magic in the show. 

 

 

There’s a ton of magic and we wanted to make it all original. Not out of the box tricks.  We wanted to make this show as original as we could. 

That was the most challenging part.

 

Eric: We really had to rely on our bag of tricks…

Chris:  … and also on our magic consultants. We had Daniel Garcia, Enrico de la Vega, Marcus Eddie, and we also had Blake Vogt helping us out.  So we had the best, arguably The Best magic team did on the planet.  We could not have done it without them. Period.  The show would not be possible without those guys. One hundred percent are they took it on their backs and you know so like really us as a group putting our minds together every single day, every single minute, to go into the show.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Chris Ramsay 🇨🇦 (@chrisramsay52)

  
 
What's the origin story of how the four of you came together?

Chris: Mainly through magic conventions.  These two [Alex and Eric] have known each other because they grew up in the same place, Eric kind of took Alex under his wing a long time ago and taught him a lot of magic and business stuff.  Then we kind of all met at a magic convention. You know how magic conventions go, most people just hang out at the bar like once you're done watching the shows, going to dealers room. You go to the bar and then you find each other and we found that we really clicked.  We have the same sense of humour, we didn't get offended by each other just you know digging in each other and stuff like that so we became instant best friends.

Wes: Eric was the common thread at the beginning. I think he was holding it all together a little bit.

Eric: Wes and I worked on a show called Trick’d in 2015, Wes was a consultant on the show, we became best friends.

Chris:  Me and Wes did Wizard Wars around the same time and were in the studio together.

Who are their non-magical inspirations?

Wes:   I’m totally inspired by the world of stand up comedy just I love the world of stand up so that's that's where I get all inspiration from and then I'm a huge like Jim Carrey fan my whole life so I always try to think of that when I’m on camera and be more physical.
 
Eric: Steve Carell.  
 
Alex:  For me it’s the world of music, like the bands and stuff how they work together. 

You’ve all be YouTubing / magicianing on TV for many, many years.  How have you changed or evolved?

Eric:  I mean when I started YouTubing it was 10 years ago I did this project [Editor's note: Eric's referring to his Project 365], I did a video every day and I didn't know what audiences want I just wanted to do this for myself and now these guys are much better at it than me nowadays and much more successful at.  It's a big thing to listen to your audience, right?


Chris: But I also think it’s up to people in the entertainment industry and in magic to teach that audience where magic is going and what's happening.  Always catering to an audience can be a detriment because in you’re stagnant. You know if you give me analytics and numbers I look at them.  Then you think, forget all that.  We’ve got a vision, we think this is right, we think this is the way to go, let's see if they'll follow us instead of us following what they want. I really believe that it's up to people to push the boundaries and no matter what entertainment field you're in. Respectfully, magic on TV in the past 20 years... David Blaine changed the game up in 96, but since then I would say only probably Michael Carbonaro has done something totally different. Other than that it's reiterations of the same show over and over and over and over and over. But it took those guys for us to realize that something needs to change. 

Without them we wouldn't have come up with these crazy ideas and this crazy outlook we have today with magic. We're really trying to change it up with a vision we have for magic.

 

The first promo for #BigTrickEnergy on @truTV 🤪 pic.twitter.com/yt80P22EGi

— Chris Ramsay (@chrisramsay52) March 23, 2021

Thank you Chris, Eric, Wes, and Alex for making the time to answer our questions.  We hope it comes to Canada soon! 

Catch Big Trick Energy on April 22nd on truTV in the US!

Hidden Wonders - virtual experience [April 17]

Updated April 19 to add:

• Screenshots from the event added to the bottom of the post.
  

 

There's also a 5pm PST show time!

 

From the March 31st Hidden Wonders Facebook post:

We're hosting an evening Hidden Wonders Experience starting at 7Pm on Saturday, April 17th.  Come have some fun...

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A post shared by Canadas Magic (@canadasmagicdotcom)