Vancouver: The Magic Max Show [May 31]

From the April 22nd Facebook post by Alex Zander:

 

 

 

Previously shared on Facebook April 22.

 

 

 

 

 

Toronto: Mentalism Pro-Panel [May 22]

From the May 17th Sid Lorraine Hat and Rabbit Club Newsletter:

Date: Thursday, May 22, 2025
Time: 7:30 PM
Location: Agricola Lutheran Church, Toronto

A fun and engaging night of insight, inspiration, and intrigue as our panelists pull back their approach to magic, Mentalism and their approach to the craft.

Special Guests:

Mysterion – Internationally known mentalist.

• A true showman with a flair for the strange and surreal, Mysterion has captivated audiences around the world with his bold and theatrical brand of mentalism. Mysterion has appeared on stages from Las Vegas to America’s Got Talent. Blending vintage charm with a modern twist, Mysterion brings a unique perspective to the world and always rooted in character, creativity, and the unexpected.
  
  
  

Ryan Edwards – Award-winning mentalist and creator of original mind-reading effects

• With a sharp mind and a passion for pushing boundaries, Ryan Edwards is a celebrated mentalist, creator, and consultant known for his innovative approach to psychological magic. His work has been featured on international stages and television, and his original effects are used by magicians and mentalists around the globe.
  
  
  

Ron Guttman – Longtime Ring 17-member, performer and thinker.

• Known for his thoughtful presentations and deep psychological insights, Ron's performances blend intuition, suggestion, and storytelling into powerful moments of connection and wonder. Ron has a quiet charisma that leaves a lasting impression.

Hosted by our own Ian Crawford – Mentalist, Hat and Rabbit Club member, and passionate host for the evening.

 

 

 

 

ICYMI: Steve Valentine interviews Bill Abbott

Watch part 1 and part 2 in the embedded YouTube videos below or listen to them on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!

 

From the May 6 upload "Magicians Only - Episode Eighteen - BAM Bill Abbott Magic - Pt 1" at Steve Valentine's YouTube channel:

VIDEO EPISODE!

Magicians Only is sponsored by the fabulous MagicOnTheGo.com

 

 

 

From the May 12 upload "Magicians Only - Episode Nineteen - BAM! Part 2" at Steve Valentine's YouTube channel:

Bill Abbott has a secret… and in part two of this two part interview… he tells all…

Magicians Only is sponsored by the fabulous MagicOnTheGo.com

 

 

Previously shared on Facebook May 13.

 

 

 

Victoria: Mirth and Magic [May 24]

Tickets and more information at the Victoria Magic Circle.

 

From the May 11th Facebook post by the Victoria Magic Circle:

May 24th at the Berwick Royal Oak's theatre, some of BC's top magicians are competing for your votes for the funniest magician!

 

 

Previously shared on Facebook May 12.

 

 

 

 

 

Galt and Hamilton: Graeme Reed and Ryan Edwards [May 24 & 26]

Tickets:

• Misdirection, Magic, & Mindreading with Graeme and Ryan May 24 at Eventbrite 
• Magic Night with Graeme May 26 at Eventbrite
  

 

From the May 8th Facebook post by Ryan Edwards:

 

 

 

From the May 8th Facebook post by Graeme Reed:

 

 

 

Santa Monica: Mystify Magic Show [May 24]

With Gabriella Lester!  Tickets at TicketSpice.

 

 

From the April 9th Facebook post by Lean Orleans:

 

 

 

 

 

Kamloops: Magic meets science [May 22]

Tickets at Eventbrite.

 

From the April 3 Facebook post by BIG Little Science Centre:

It's official — the next BIG Night Out is on the calendar, and you don't want to miss it! Join us for an entertaining evening as the captivating Clinton W. Gray blends the mesmerizing worlds of magic and science in a unique performance.
Thursday, 22 May 

 

 

Previously shared on Facebook April 5.

 

 

 

Halifax: Halifax Magic Club Showcase [May 16]

From the May 2nd Instagram post by The Bus Stop Theatre:

Come see Halifax’s finest professional and hobby magicians amaze, bewilder and surprise you. The magicians of the Halifax Magic Club will perform incredible magic, mentalism, and more.

Bring your friends and family and make sure to get here early to grab a seat. Children are allowed to attend although the magic is not targeted at the young ones. 

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Bus Stop Theatre Co-op (@busstoptheatre)

 

 

Welcoming a new Friend: Sonny Patel

Welcoming our newest Friend, Sonny Patel (Gambit)!

We first had the pleasure of meeting Sonny at one of the early Browser's Den of Magic's Bashes!  Based in Toronto, Sonny performs under the name Gambit.

Gambit has performed magic for 20+ years in 11 countries. He regularly performs for corporate events, family functions, and comedy clubs throughout the GTA. Gambit has performed for corporations such as Google, CIBC, Shoppers Drug Mart, etc. He's performed 300+ children’s magic shows for community centres, colleges, daycares, high schools, universities, and YMCAs.

Sonny has volunteered in the Jane Finch Community for over half a decade as a homework club tutor. He has also mentored a young aspiring magician as part of the Passion2Purpose project in Scarborough. He still shares his passion for learning with the next generation through his kids magic of science shows– his message to the Youth is “Believe in the impossible. Believe in yourself.” Now he provides free resume advice and job seeking strategy to young professionals throughout the GTA.

Additionally,  Sonny works with artists, entertainers, influencers, inventors, and startups as an Intellectual Property (IP) consultant. He provides strategy advice to protect inventions, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. Sonny works with clients to identify and enforce their IP rights in order to maximize their profits.


On April 11, Limitless Ivan interviewed Sonny.  From Apple podcasts: 

Sonny shares his unique journey from a multicultural upbringing in Toronto to embracing magic as a career. From studying engineering in India to practising law, and eventually pursuing his passion for magic, Sonny’s story is a powerful reflection of embracing transformation and believing in the impossible.

Read more and listen. 

To learn more about Sonny visit his website at GambitMagician.com and follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

To learn more about Intellectual Property Rights Strategy Consulting, visit his website at IPRinfo.ca

Thank you Sonny, for befriending Canada's Magic!   

 

 

 

Mississauga: Ronald MacDonald House fundraiser [Jun 5]

Featuring Rob Fishbaum, James Alan, and David Peck.  Tickets at Eventbrite.

 

From the April 15th blog post "Upcoming performance in Mississauga" at James Alan's blog:

I’ll be taking part in a special live show raising money for Ronald MacDonald House charities, alongside magicians David Peck and Rob Fishbaum. The performance is open to all ages.

 

From the April 15th Instagram post by Rob Fishbaum:

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Fish The Magish 🐠🎩 (@fishthemagish)

 

 

 

 

Rounding the Western rings in May 2025

Updated May 18th to add:

• Mirth and Magic (and comedy competition) hosted by the Victoria Magic Circle

 

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

City	Club	Event(s)
Calgary, AB	Ring 66 (Calgary Magic Circle, Les Brocklesby Ring)	- N/A.
Edmonton, AB	Edmonton Magic Club	- N/A.
Winnipeg, MB	The Magic Club of Winnipeg	- SYM.
Fraser Valley, BC	IBM Ring 387 (Fraser Valley Magic Circle, Celeste Evans Ring)	- Originality contest.
Vancouver, BC	Ring 92 (Vancouver Magic Circle)	- N/A.
Vancouver, BC	SAM 95  (Carl Hemeon Assembly)	- N/A.
Victoria, BC	Ring 183 (Victoria Magic Circle)	- Mirth and Magic

Please leave a comment to let us know about corrections or omissions.

 

 

 

 

 

Rounding the Central rings in May 2025

Updated May 18th to add:

• The Toronto Sid Lorraine Hat and Rabbit Club event as been changed to a Mentalist Pro-Panel discussion with Mysterion, Ryan Edwards, and Ron Guttman.

 

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

Montreal, QC	Montreal Magic Jam	- Eric Leclerc lecture - James Harrison lecture
Montreal, QC	Ring 62 (20th Century Ring)	- N/A.
Hamilton, ON	Ring 49 (The Doug Henning Magic Wand Club)	- London Ring Exchange
Hamilton / Burlington, ON	Hamilton Burlington Magic Society	- N/A.
London, ON	Ring 265 (London Magician's Guild)	- Magician Foolers.
Kitchener, ON	Ring 235 (KW Magic Society)	- N/A.
Ottawa, ON	Ring 151 (Ottawa Society of Magicians)	- N/A.
Ottawa, ON	Ottawa / Gatineau magicians	- N/A
Toronto, ON	Ring 17 (Sid Lorraine Hat and Rabbit Club)	- Club social. - Chris Congreave lecture. - Mentalism pro-panel.

Please leave a comment to let us know about corrections or omissions.

 

 

 

 

Rounding the Eastern rings in May 2025

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

Halifax, NS	Ring 316 (Conjourer's Court)	- Visit their Facebook page.  - Magic Club Showcase at The Bus Stop Theatre.
St. John, NB	Magic Circle of St. John	- Magic that begins with a production.

Please leave a comment to let us know about corrections or omissions.

 

 

 

 

 

Broken wand: Richard Olsen

We have many fond memories of spending time with Richard at Morrissey's Magic so many years ago.  He was always approachable, inviting, and a pleasure to see.  

We are also sad to report that Richard's wife, Florence, passed away in April.

Our sincere condolences to Florence and Richard's family and friends.     

From Arbor Memorial:

Richard Peter Olsen (1950-2025) passed away peacefully on February 21, 2025 at 12:23 p.m., surrounded by his family at the Lakeridge Health Ajax Pickering Hospital.

Read more.

 

[With thanks to Jeff Pinsky at The Browser's Den of Magic, for letting us know.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Calgary: Cabinet of Curiosities [May 21]

Tickets at MagicTickets.ca

 

From Lothar Malmberg's post at the Edmonton Magic Club Facebook group:

 

 

Previously shared on Facebook April 28.

 

 

Mission: FVMC General Meeting and Originality Contest [May 8]

From FVMC General Meeting and Originality Contest Facebook event: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harvey Station and Fredericton: Mystique & Magic [May 22 & Jun 4]

From the April 4th Facebook post by Nigel Harrison:

 

 

From Eventbrite:

Wednesday, June 4
Mystique & Magic @ Monarch
Ages 19+
MYSTIQUE - Nigel Harrison - Nothing is what it seems!

Read more and buy tickets.

 

 

[With thanks to Gwyn Auger for letting us know!]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Montreal: Lectures by Eric Leclerc [May 12] and James Harrison [May 18]

Tickets at the Montreal Magic Jam for Eric and James.   

Early bird pricing ends TODAY!

From the Montreal Magic Jam event Eric Leclerc Conférence:

Après avoir brillamment mystifié Penn & Teller et été la vedette d’une série sur Netflix, Éric Leclerc débarque à MONTRÉAL avec sa magie… et son chaos parfaitement dosé!

Ce magicien canadien survolté présente une toute nouvelle conférence pleine de matériel inédit, absurde, hilarant — et surtout, conçu pour fonctionner dans le monde réel.

Que vous présentiez de la magie devant des enfants ou des adultes, Éric a quelque chose de percutant à partager. Attendez-vous à des tours utilisant des pailles, des sous-vêtements, des desserts, des substances douteuses (rassurez-vous, tout est presque légal), et même le souffle humain!

Read more and buy tickets.

 

 

From the James Harrison Lecture: 

James Harrison is a pickpocket magician and security consultant who has turned his uncanny sleight-of-hand skills into a tool for awareness and defense. With a background in street magic and the art of misdirection, he now exposes the tricks of thieves by demonstrating live pickpocketing techniques at major security conferences, including NorthSec (Montreal), BSides (Florida), SecT (Sweden), and DefCon (Vegas) —where audiences watch in awe as wallets, phones, and even neckties vanish without a trace. His engaging talks blend entertainment with real-world security insights, teaching professionals how to spot and stop theft before it happens. Whether baffling crowds with his magic or arming them with anti-theft tactics, James proves that the best defense is knowing the thief’s playbook.

The Lecture will be two parts.

Read more and buy tickets.

 

 

 

Thank you to our personal sponsors for May 2025!

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, Doug Hunt, John Smithman, Loran, Peter Mennie, Noah Nogueira, Aaron Matthews, Cam Dix, and Ian Batterbury 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.

or

 

 

 

Benevolence of: Chris Ramsay

Longtime readers may remember that friend of the blog Dennis Schick (Assistant Editor of The Linking Ring magazine) used to run a series about the "Benevolence of Magic."

Before his passing in 2020, Dennis had documented the benevolent acts by the following Canadians:

• Magicana for My Magic Hands, Senior Sorcery [The Linking Ring (v92, #12)],
  
• the Tony Eng Youth Fund initiative [The Linking Ring (v92, #12)], 
• Marien Hopman and "Busking for Hunger" [Linking Ring (Vol 94, #2)],
• Mike D'Urzo fundraising for "Dental Volunteers for Israel" and volunteering at functions for children with developmental challenges [Linking Ring (Vol 94, #2)],
• Magic Mike Segal for benevolence born out of Sorcerers Safari Magic and Performance Camp [Linking Ring (Vol 94, #2)],
  
• Matt DiSero and David Peck in their effort to reduce the incidence of malaria via "Mosquitos Suck" [Linking Ring (Vol 94, #2)],
•  Jeff Christensen's Celebrate the Child Foundation [Linking Ring (v95,12)], and
• John Kaplan's Fundraising Magic program [Linking Ring (v95,12)]. 
  

It's time to build on Dennis' work.  This is the first of an irregular series titled "Benevolence of" with a focus on Chris Ramsay.  This series will focus on sustained fundraising efforts that span an extended period of time beyond a single show fundraiser.

 

From the May 2nd Facebook post by Chris Ramsay:

Thanks in part to our Youtube and Patreon Members on @area52investigations , we were able to send out over 300 puzzles to Veterans across the Province of Quebec.

Every few months, a portion of the membership revenue is put towards giving Canadian Veterans something to keep their minds busy and their spirits up. 

 

 

Good for you Chris!  Well done. 

 

 

Alexandra in the UK Edition of The Sun

Updated May 4th at 9am to add:

• a Facebook link to the performance (embedded at bottom of post). 
  
  
  

We previously posted about Alexandra's Britian's Got Talent audition.  Given that Lee Asher nominated Alexandra as an "Inspirational Canadian Magician" last December, it should come as no surprise that
Alexandra knocked it out of the park in her May 3rd appearance on the BGT semi-finals!

From the May 2rd article "Off the scale -- BGT fans go wild over ‘sexiest act ever’ as magician turns up the heat on ITV show and judge brands her ‘smoking hot’" by Jake Penkethman at The Sun - UK Edition:

"Simon Cowell even suggested that she could become Las Vegas' next big act." 

Read more and watch clip of performance.

[With thanks to Alex McAleer for tipping us to the article.]

 

 

From the May 3rd Instagram post by BGT:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Britain's Got Talent (@bgt)

 

 

From the May 3rd Facebook post at Britain's Got Talent: 

 

 

More Canadian entries in the FISM Online Magic World Championship

We previously posted Chris Pilsworth's (#49) and Alex Boyer's (#73) entries in the FISM Online Magic World Championship.

 

They are still posting videos, but we're pleased to share with you the entries from: Chris Mayhew, Eric Leclerc, and Vitaly Beckman! 

Who have we missed?

Fore more information visit:
https://www.fismitaly2025.com/online-magic/

 

 

From the April 28th Instagram post by the Online Magic World Championship:

#90 Chris Mayhew -- "Glow Time"  

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by World Championship of Online Magic (@onlinemagicworldchampionship)

 

Previously shared on Facebook April 28. 

 

 

From the April 28th Instagram post by the Online Magic World Championship:

#98 Eric Leclerc -- "A Magician’s mid-life Crisis"

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by World Championship of Online Magic (@onlinemagicworldchampionship)

 

Previously shared on Facebook April 28. 

 

 

 

From the April 30th Instagram post by the Online Magic World Championship:

#124 Vitaly Beckman -- "The World is Your Canvas... Create Your Masterpiece"  

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by World Championship of Online Magic (@onlinemagicworldchampionship)

 

 

Previously shared on Facebook April 30.

 

 

A reminder that Chris Ramsay and Ekaterina part of the the Online Magic jury for FISM 2025.

Listen to their interviews at the Online Magic World Championship Instagram account:

• Chris Ramsay part 1 and part 2
  
• Ekaterina 
  

 

 

 

 

Broken wand: Dennis "Bulldog" Chan

We were just informed of the recent passing of Dennis Chan.  Dennis was a member of the Vancouver Magic Circle. 

Our sincere condolences to Dennis' family and friends at this difficult time.   

 

From the May 1st Facebook post by Graham Kita:

 

 

 From the May 1st Facebook post by Clinton Gray:

 

 

 

 

 From the May 2nd Facebook post by Shawn Farquhar:  

 

Richmond Hill: Glenn Ottaway's 75th birthday party [May 25]

RSVP to Diana by May 16th (please RSVP if you wish to perform or if you plan to attend). 

 

From Diana:

🎩 You’re Invited! 🎉

Come celebrate a true legend of Canadian magic

Glenn Ottaway is turning 75 & we’re throwing a party he’ll never forget or possibly forgive us for.

📍 Jokers, Richmond Hill, Ontario (115 York Blvd. Unit # 9)
📅 Sunday, May 25th
🕡 Doors at 6:00 PM | Show at 7:30 PM

 RSVP by May the 16th please

We’re calling on all friends, performers, and fellow mischief-makers to help make this a night to remember. Whether you’ve shared a stage, a story, or a lunch with Glenn — you know this is going to be a blast.

Join us onstage and either dedicate a trick to Glenn (the more ridiculous or heartfelt, the better) or 🔥 roast him in your set (he can take it… probably)

Let’s honour Glenn in the only way that makes sense — with laughter, amazement, and a little gentle, but deliberate humiliation.

Spread the word to those who know and love the man, the myth, the legend.

RSVP by May the 16th if you’re in or just planning on attending— and let us know if you want to perform!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you to our May 2025 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 - Life Member, Canadian Public Relations Society,
• Jeff Pinsky, owner of The Browser's Den of Magic,
• Michael Close, author of the new Paradigm Shift ebooks, the Workers series and others,
• Toronto's IBM Ring 17, the Sid Lorraine Hat & Rabbit Club, and
• the Canadian Association of Magicians!

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

 

 

 

Sid Lorraine Hat & Rabbit Club 

 

 

 Canadian Association of Magicians 

 

 

 

 

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.

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