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:

Review of Michael Close's "The Paradigm Shift" Volumes One and Two

From the March 15th post "The Paradigm Shift Volumes One and Two" by Jamy Ian Swiss at Magicana:

Michael Close has in his lifetime in show business, worked extensively as both a professional magician and a professional musician (he plays piano). At one time a professional restaurant worker in his native Indiana, Michael was mentored by legendary sleight-of-hand maestro (and jazz radio program host) Harry Riser, whose own two closest mentors were no less than Charlie Miller and Dai Vernon. The late Mr. Riser has also long been named as mentor to Johnny Thompson; despite their closeness in age, it was Riser who helped guide Thompson toward the kind of magic that would eventually lead to his becoming the legendary master he is considered today.  In other words, Mr. Close is part of a lengthy and honored continuum of great magicians, a line he has done great justice to by continuing to contribute in creative and generous manner for future generations. He has not missed the true lessons of his mentors.

Read more.

From Michael Close's Facebook page:

Win a copy of "Morton the Magician and his Magnificent Magic Show"

Earlier today you read a guest post reporting on Sheldon Casavant's book "Morton the Magician and his Magnificent Magic Show."  Now you can win a copy for yourself!

Sheldon is generously offering our readers a chance to win a copy of his wonderful book "Morton the Magician and his Magnificent Magic Show."  Read below for details.

Watch Behind the Scenes of "Morton the Magician" on Sheldon's YouTube channel:




CONTEST:

I have been offered a copy of "Morton the Magician and his Magnificent Magic Show" by Sheldon Casavant to give away to my readers.

I will be holding a random draw to determine the winner.  (There will be one winner.)  The draw results will be posted Saturday, October the 3rd.

To enter:

1. Log into the RaffleCopter widget below, using Facebook or a valid e-mail address.
2. Mandatory: Leave a comment in the widget, letting us know the name the first magic book you remember reading.  (You do not need to be a magician to enter the contest.  The book could be Harry Potter.)
3. Optional: For an additional entry, use the RaffleCopter widget to send this message to your Twitter followers:
   "Enter by Oct 2 to win a copy of "Morton the Magician" by @SheldonCasavant via @canadasmagic
   http://canadasmagic.blogspot.com/2015/09/win-copy-of-morton-magician-and-his.html"
4. If you win, you must be willing to provide your full name and shipping information for me to share with Sheldon.

The fine print:

1. To participate in the contest, you must be 18 years of age or older.
2. Limit of one mandatory entry and one optional entry per person.
3. This giveaway is open to Canadian residents excluding residents of Quebec.
4. This giveaway is void where prohibited by law.
5. If you experience difficulties leaving a comment, you may e-mail it to me for posting.  (I am not responsible if your e-mail is misdirected or gets stuck in my Spam folder.)
6. You must be able to use the prize as offered.  (No cash value will be offered.)
7. The odds of winning depend on how many people enter the contest.
8. The contest closes Friday, October the 2nd at 11:59pm ET.

With thanks to Sheldon for generously making this prize available to you!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

[Guest post] Report on "Morton the Magician and his Magnificent Magic Show"

I was generously provided a copy of "Morton the Magician and his Magnificent Magic Show." This book, which was shortlisted for an Alberta Children’s Literature Award, is intended for young readers. With that in mind, I found a youthful reader who agreed to read and give me their feedback on the book.  

(For more on "Morton the Magician and his Magnificent Magic Show" skip to the bottom of the post.)


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

--

My thoughts on Sheldon Casavant's book "Morton the Magician and his Magnificent Magic Show."

• This is a good picture book for parents to read to their kids.
• I really like the drawings, they're very nice.
• Morton is someone that children can relate to.
• I like that there are two tricks in the book that you can do by yourself. 
• It's funny that the rabbit is the announcer.
• If I were younger, it would make me want to try doing magic tricks.
• Parents, if your child under 6 years old likes magic or wants to be a magician, this is the perfect book for them!

Favourite things:

• I like the words in the air before Morton's show, letting us know what's going on inside his head.
• The story tells us we can be anything we want to be if we just put our minds to it.

In conclusion:

• It's a fun story!

--

Thank you Kidlet for guest posting at Canada's Magic!


Watch Behind the Scenes of "Morton the Magician" on Sheldon's YouTube channel:

Conjuring arts Summer reading program

From the Conjuring Arts:

Our Summer reading program is back!

This year in addition to the FREE book of the week we are now giving huge discounts each week on a select number of books! These discounted books will change each week so order now if you want to take advantage of the bargain.

This year we start week one with the FREE download of Maskelyne's Book of Magic by Jasper Maskelyne. Enjoy it.

Read more and download books.

[With appreciation to James Alan for letting me know.]

Free books from The Conjuring Arts Research Center

From Mahdi Gilbert's Twtiter feed:

More free books from @conjuringarts http://t.co/GnFDhghBiS Happy New Year!
— Mahdi Gilbert (@mahdigilbert) January 1, 2015

[Guest post] Watching the Magic Unfold

The following is a guest post from Erin Thomas, author of "Forcing the Ace,"

Erin talks about Sorcerers Safari, early memories of magic, magic at Canada's Wonderland (Paul Pacific or Jeff Pinsky, perhaps?) and more.

Today's the last day to enter to win your copy of Forcing the Ace!

--

Having already written a few times about the awesomeness that is Sorcerers Safari Magic Camp in Ontario, and rejoiced in the similarities between magicians and writers (introverts unite!), I think it’s time to try a different tack. Today I want to share some of my memories of watching magic and enjoying it. Because really, that’s what it’s all about.

As it turns out, magic is probably one of the first things I ever saw clearly. I was eight or nine years old when my parents took my brother and I to see David Copperfield in Toronto. We sat up in the balcony, looking down on a big, brightly lit stage. I kept squinting and turning away, complaining that my eyes hurt. Acting on a hunch, Dad handed me his glasses. Wow! Whaddya know… there was a person down on that big stage! And he was doing really cool stuff.

Sadly, I remember the fact of the show more than the details, although there was one memorable moment when he walked through a giant wall onstage. Wikipedia tells me that his Great Wall of China effect was in 1986, a couple years later, so I might be confused, but this is how I remember it. That, and him reaching into a tiny bottle and pulling out a rainbow-coloured scarf that seemed to go on forever.

I do remember the sharp, sudden realization that the world was a place with edges, and that details existed more than an arms’ length away. My world got bigger that night. And if you could pick one thing to be your first sight through corrective lenses, a magic show is a pretty decent option.

I know I saw other magicians over the years. There would have been shows at day camps and birthday parties, magicians on stages at town carnivals, Canada’s Wonderland, the Mediaeval Faire. And I would have watched and clapped, laughed and been astonished. These are all vague impressions, though.

There was that “Circus” in the McQuay family’s backyard—a show put on by the neighbourhood kids for parents lined up in lawn chairs. I remember Piper’s acrobatics, and I think some kind of “lion act” featuring Katie the Airedale. The tightrope was a skipping rope stretched across the grass, and we took turns balancing across it. Of course there was a magic act, courtesy of one of those boxed kids with plastic cup-and-balls pieces and a disappearing chamber as tall as a Barbie doll. None of us ended up pursuing magic as a calling, so I suspect it might have been the sort of act that comes from reading the directions five minutes before the show, but watching, I still thought it was cool. Even the possibility of things disappearing and reappearing was enough for me.

I watched magic shows when I was researching the book. My favourite, of course, was the final performance at Magic Camp. I brought my husband and my daughter along, to see the kids I had talked with earlier in the week perform. I LOVED that. It wasn’t always the most polished magic, but it was sincere.

Unfortunately, my husband and daughter haven’t been bitten by the magic bug the way I was. They don’t always want to go see the shows. But I dragged them along to a Christopher Tracy’s family magic show at a resort in Florida last winter, and we had a great time. My daughter was chosen as the first audience volunteer. He broke the rules in a fun way, instructing her to close her eyes while he made things “disappear” by tossing them behind a counter. He invited the whole audience in on his secret—this isn’t really magic, we’re here to have a good time—so that when he started in on the tricks that baffled us, we enjoyed it even more. We laughed, and my daughter felt special for having been part of the show.

We’re not done with magic, my family and I. I’m not done with it. I have no plans to become a magician (becoming a writer is more than enough work, thanks very much), but I sure do like being in the audience.

Sometime soon, maybe I’ll see you there.

~~~~

Thank you Erin, for guest posting at Canada's Magic!  Today's the last day to enter to win your copy of Forcing the Ace!

A Q&A with Erin Thomas

Author Erin Thomas kindly agreed to a brief Q&A about her latest book for the 11-14 set, "Forcing the Ace."  Read what Erin has to say about The Den, Magic Mike, Justin Flom, Sorcerers Safari and more!


1. Your book portrays magic very authentically.  How much time did you spend researching the magic community? 


First of all, thank you for the compliment! Of all the books I’ve written, this is probably the one I enjoyed researching the most. That’s lucky, because I had originally pitched a few different ideas to Sarah Harvey, the editor of the Limelights series at Orca. Most of them were for areas of the performing arts where I had at least a little bit of knowledge or experience. And then there was the magic idea. When that one turned out to be her favourite, I knew I was going to be doing a lot of research.

I spent months learning about magic. Many months. I initially met with a friend’s son, who happens to be a magician. He sent me to Browser’s Den magic shop in Toronto, and suggested that I get in touch with “Magic” Mike Segal, who runs a week-long summer camp for young magicians. Both of those turned out to be incredible leads.

I read instructional books about magic and watched a ton of videos and television specials, including those “magic’s secrets revealed” types of shows. I learned how a lot of magic effects are created, but I don’t kid myself that it’s the same thing as being able to actually create the effects—that would take hours upon hours upon hours of practice. I did fumble around with cards a little bit… enough to gain a healthy respect for how hard it is. I also attended a workshop that Justin Flom presented at Browser’s Den and met some of the magicians there.

The best research opportunity was the visit to camp when you and I met, Nicole. It was incredible to have the opportunity to speak to so many young magicians in person and learn what they feel is most important about the art. That was relatively late in my writing timeline, and I remember wishing I could re-imagine the whole book after that. I made some adjustments to the storyline I had, and decided that I’m probably not done writing about magicians—there are so many more stories to tell.

2. How does the performance art of magic differ from any of the other performance arts that you know about?  How is it the same?


I think one thing that makes magic special is that it rewards a certain kind of suspension of disbelief. When you see a play or a ballet, you know that you are watching a show unfold… you’re conscious of the artifice. With magic, that’s still the case—we all know that chairs can’t float and cards don’t change colour—but I think there’s a tiny voice inside saying, “Maybe.” The magician and the viewer agree together to pretend that the laws of physics can be suspended, just for a little while. At least, that’s how I prefer to watch magic performed.

Another thing that makes magic special is that it can be enjoyed on so many levels. There’s the element of wonder and the feeling that the world might have possibilities in it beyond the everyday—that’s the first level. On the second level, it’s a puzzle to be solved, if you enjoy that sort of thing. I don’t think I’d want to try too hard to solve it, but sometimes that can be fun. And even when you know how an effect is performed, the third level of enjoyment kicks in, which is just the pure pleasure of watching someone do something well.

Of course, all the performance arts have some things in common. What strikes me most is the extreme amount of dedication and focus required. Even a short performance requires countless hours of learning and practice, whether you’re playing the piano or making one disappear.

3. What were the three biggest surprises to you, about the magic community?


I was most surprised by how welcoming and forthcoming everyone was. There were magicians I reached out to via email, and some I met in person. Nearly without fail, they were all warm, polite, supportive and extremely helpful. Seriously, falling-over-backwards helpful. I wasn’t kidding about wanting to write more about magicians; there just wasn’t room in one small book to use all the story possibilities that people opened up for me, or to do credit to the amount of help they offered. Maybe because of the secrecy associated with the craft, I had expected to meet with more resistance, but that wasn’t the case at all.

One thing I found interesting was the overlap between magic and other crafts. I hadn’t thought of it, but a magician needs to master stagecraft the way an actor does—voice projection, bearing, even character creation. It’s funny, but I never thought about a magician putting on a “persona” for an act. To me as an audience member, they simply were the way they were. It’s silly in retrospect. And then, of course, there’s the storytelling aspect—a performance can be like a short story, in a lot of ways. Some of the best short stories show a character in a moment of change, and create that change for the reader. A magician creates that change moment in the audience. That takes planning, and a rigorous editing process. I got a glimpse at that editing process when I sat in on a performance workshop at the Sorcerers Safari camp.

The third surprise reveals more about my ignorance going into this, I think. I really had no idea that some of the people I met were “big deals” in the magic community until after the fact. They didn’t act like it—they were just these lovely, friendly, down-to-earth people, happy to talk about magic. It was kind of like meeting Margaret Atwood in a bookstore and asking her for reading recommendations without having any idea who she is. I hope I didn’t annoy anybody too much.

4. How did you learn about magic being used for physical rehabilitation?  Did you know there's a Toronto based organization, Magicana, that runs a program like that at a children's rehabilitation hospital?


Oh, yikes. I don’t remember who told me about that initially, and I don’t see it in my project notebook right now. I do remember that as soon as I heard about magic being used this way, I loved the idea, and wanted to include it in the book somehow—I thought it was absolutely the perfect thing for someone struggling to re-learn motor skills. I’ve known some people involved in terrible accidents, and so I know how long the road back can be. This just struck me as a wonderful, positive aspect of the magic community, and I wanted to make it part of the story.

I didn’t know about Magicana, but I researched other organizations that run similar programs. It’s wonderful that there’s one right in Toronto.

5. Currently, magic is strongly male dominated.  I was surprised to see so many magical females represented in your book.  Was that a conscious decision?  If so, why?

It was a conscious decision. I wanted to admit in the book that magic is male dominated, but still present some female magicians as characters, to show that to readers as a possibility. I didn’t have room for a huge cast, so the balance probably comes out more female because of that. Partly, it was in response to the fact that Zoe’s backstory, the way she comes to magic, is a bit tragic and atypical. Because of that, I didn’t want hers to be the only ‘female’ story in the book. I gave Donna a more conventional magic backstory—her father was a magician. “Magic families” were something else I learned about by talking to magicians, and I love the idea of the craft being something shared between a parent and a child. Jack and Donna end up on rocky ground later in life, but magic remains their connection point.

6. Is there anything else you'd like our readers to know?  (About you, your research, your books, the limelight series, as examples.)

Mostly just that I enjoyed learning more about the magical community, and I’d like to thank everyone who helped, especially the Sorcerers Safari group. Magicians are a fascinating bunch.

Overall, I think the Limelights books do a great job of providing a behind-the-scenes look at the different arts, so I’d recommend them to anyone who’s curious about what goes on backstage. 

Thank you Erin for your candid insight into the writing process!



A reminder to enter today to win your copy of Forcing the Ace!

[Guest post] Report on Forcing the Ace

I previously mentioned that I enjoyed Erin Thomas new novel, "Forcing the Ace," from the Orca Limelights series.  However, I'm not the target audience (the book is intended for children ages 11 to 14).  With that in mind, I found a young reader who agreed to read and give me their feedback on the book.

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

--

My thoughts on  "Forcing the Ace" by Erin Thomas:

• It was a really good book!
• The synopsis at the back of the book really makes you want to read the book.
• I wish it was longer.
• Some chapters made me want to stop reading and practise magic or learn card tricks.

Favourite things:

• Everyone (boys and girls) can relate to the characters.
• Kids know what it's like to try and get their parents' permission to do things they want to do while trying to keep up with school.
• The accident wasn't as bad as it could have been.
• Injuries were common ground for the two main characters.
• The girl at the hospital with the shaved teddy bear.
• The boy and the girl have to figure out how to work together.
• The book teaches the reader how to deal with difficult people.
• How the main characters ended their routine.
• The line about the advantage of being a female magician.

What I learned:

• Magic can help with physiotherapy.
• Being in a hospital can be boring.
• When you're performing and you make a mistake, it may be hard but you can recover.
• Having fun and connecting with an audience (including things like stage presence and showmanship) can be just as important as technique.

In conclusion:

• It was a really good book!
• I want to read the rest of the Orca Limelights series!

 ~~~~

Enter today to win your copy of Forcing the Ace!


Thank you Kidlet for guest posting at Canada's Magic!

Win a copy of Forcing the Ace

The contest is now closed. The winner was announced at "Winner of Forcing the Ace."

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that a Canadian book had recently been published with a dedication that read, in part, "To the kids at magic camp".

You may remember that a little over a year ago, writer Erin Thomas visited Sorcerers Safari Magic and Performance Camp.  She was doing research for her recently published novel, "Forcing the Ace."

I was generously provided a copy of the book to read.  Read it I did -- all in one night!  Although the book is intended for children ages 11 to 14, I really enjoyed it.  (Say what you will about my smarts or reading ability!)

Here's the teaser from the back cover:

Sometimes the real magic happens offstage.
Alex wants to enter the Silver Stage magic competition, but he needs a sponsor. Jack, a veteran card wizard, is willing to take on the role, but only if Alex agrees to team up with Zoe, another young magician—and Alex’s rival. Working with Jack and sharing the spotlight with Zoe, Alex comes to see that there are other ways to be a magician besides competing—and that magic is about entertaining people, not fooling them. 

I am impressed with the ease with which Erin writes about the technical aspects of performing.  She mentions Tarbell and Erdnase.  There's a nicely placed Vernon quote.  References to Copperfield, Blaine and Neil Patrick Harris made me smile.  The idea that magic can be used to help with physical rehabilitation (much like Magicana's My Magic Hands program at Holland Bloorview), is a nice addition to the story.  Some adult magicians could stand to learn one of the performance lessons realized in the novel.

It's not all hard work and sleights for the characters either.  There's plenty of pre-teen and teenage drama to keep readers entertained.  The bits that are specific to magic, are fairly accurate.

My favourite line in the book is one in which I'm paraphrased.  Five hundred points* to the first person who can identify that line.

If there's a young reader in your life who likes magic, this would make a nice gift.  (Or perhaps a giveaway to audience members or birthday children.)

Pick-up a copy to see what magic shop influenced Erin, or to see the fictional novel helped along by so many Canadian magicians.  On the Acknowledgments page Erin mentions, among others:  Tom Ogden, Dana M, Jeff Pinsky, Jen and "Magic" Mike Segal, Lee Asher, Shawn Farquhar, Aaron Fisher, Justin Flom, Bobby Motta, Dan Wiebe, Ali Shelley, Alex Seaman, Chris Mayhew, Rosemary Reid, Quinton, Phil, C.J., Griffin, Charles, Ben, Tyler, Mike, Johnah and Phil H.


CONTEST:

I have been offered a copy of the book, "Forcing the Ace," from the Orca Limelights series (an ongoing series of performing arts novels),  to give away to my readers.  The winner will receive a hard copy or an e-version of the book (winner's choice).

I will be holding a random draw to determine the winner.  (There will be one winner.)  The draw results will be posted Wednesday, November the 19th, 2014.

To enter:

1. Leave a comment on this post, with a piece of advice you'd give to a a young person starting out in a performance art.  (You do not need to be a magician to enter the contest.)(Your piece of advice could simply be, "don't stop!")
    
2. Leave your name, along with a way that I may contact you (e-mail address, phone number, website, Twitter handle etc.) so that I can notify you if you win.
     
3. If you win, you must be willing to provide your full name and contact information for me to share with Orca Book publishers.

The fine print:

1. To participate in the contest, you must be 18 years of age or older.
     
2. One entry per person.
     
3. This giveaway is open to Canadian residents.  (This contest adheres to the Quebec Sweepstakes Laws dated Nov-01-2014.)
     
4. This giveaway is void where prohibited by law.
     
5. If you experience difficulties leaving a comment, you may e-mail it to me for posting.  (I am not responsible if your e-mail is misdirected or gets stuck in my Spam folder.)
     
6. You must be able to use the book as offered.  (No cash value will be offered.)
     
7. The odds of winning depend on how many people enter the contest.
     
8. Contest closes Tuesday, November the 18th at 11:59pm EST.

With thanks to Amy Collins from Orca Book Publishers for generously making this book available to you!


--
*  To borrow a phrase from Drew Carey in "Whose Line Is It Anyway?", the points don't matter.

The Confabulist by Steven Galloway

From the Vancouver Sun:

With his new novel The Confabulist, Vancouver writer Steven Galloway effortlessly blends history and fiction into a thrilling narrative that is as irresistible as it is subtly complex.

It’s difficult to go wrong when you start with legendary escape artist Harry Houdini. While he does spend some time with Houdini’s career on the stage, Galloway builds The Confabulist around Houdini’s crusade against the bogus spiritualists in vogue in the 1910s and 1920s, debunking their claims of communication with the dead and crippling the elaborate confidence games they developed around seances and visitations.

The story centres, however, around Martin Strauss, who claims, in the introduction to the book, “What no one knows, save for myself and one other person who likely died long ago, is that I didn’t just kill Harry Houdini. I killed him twice.” 

Read more.

[via iTricks]

Review: Reading Writing

From Wayne Kawamoto:

Reading Writing teaches an entire system of analyzing handwriting. It will take some memorization and you’ll have to sharpen your skills at recognizing the subtle differences, but there are single sleight of hand moves that take far longer to master.

What’s great about this book is that it offers a gateway into the possibilities of combining handwriting analysis with mentalism and magic. The book explains mentalism “experiments”  regarding: determining favorites, lie detection, a prediction, a book test, matching writing to a person and more. There are also angles on classics such as ambitious card.

I have studied books on the topic and I wish that Ariel Frailich’s “Reading Writing” had been around earlier. This is the book that I would have wanted as a start. I recommend this one and I’ll sign to it.

Read more.

Free sample of “Finding The Funny”

From Playing Big Magic:

Download your free sample of one of the feature chapters of the book “Finding The Funny”. This chapter discusses techniques to get the most out of audience volunteers and building a strong connection with your audience for maximum, and highly entertaining, results. All I ask is that you help spread the good word about this freebie. Share the link on your favourite social media to get instant access to the PDF download. Thanks!

Read more and download your sample!
 

Thanks Ryan!

Magic in Mind: free eBook

From Vanishing Magic:

I have spent the last three years working on Magic in Mind, which is my gift to all magicians, young and old, who care deeply about magic. I set out to assemble some of the most important, influential, and helpful essays on magic ever written, and make them available to all serious students of magic for free. Coming in at over 500 pages, Magic in Mind is finally ready.

List of contributors to Magic in Mind: (spot the Canadian)
Tommy Wonder
Charles Reynolds
Simon Aronson
Paul Harris
John Carney
Jamy Ian Swiss
Dariel Fitzke
Peter Samelson
Derren Brown
Michael Close
Pit Hartling
Eugene Burger
S.H. Sharpe
René Lavand
Robert-Houdin
Henning Nelms
Juan Tamariz
Rick Johnsson
Tom Stone
Darwin Ortiz
Milt Kort
Arturo de Ascanio
David Regal
Doug Conn
Ken Weber
David Kaye
Roberto Giobbi
Eberhard Riese
Brian Brushwood
Teller
Whit Haydn
Max Maven
John Nevil Maskelyne

Read more and download book.

[via James Alan]

Rob Testa reviews Ninety Nine Fabrications

From iTunes:

Powerful stuff man.

Read more.
 

Don't believe him? Read "Ninety-Nine Fabrications Vol. I The Collected Reports of the P. Howard Lyons Ring of the International Brotherhood of Magicians" for yourself.

Definitely the weirdest thing I've ever published... but so proud bit.ly/S3uJM2 #Ring99 w/ @doc_sammy
— James Alan (@james_alan) January 1, 2013

And our insane (literally) #Ring99 download is now also available on #Kobo: bit.ly/VupVMf
— James Alan (@james_alan) January 2, 2013

John McLachlan's new e-book

From the Ring 17 newsletter:

Lybrary.com has recently released a new eBook filled with stand up (no table) coin material from Toronto performers. The 112 page PDF includes twenty-five routines and sleights dealing exclusively with coins. Written by JohnMcLachlan, it includes contributions from:  

• James Alan
• Luis Castro
• Ariel Frailich
• Mysterion the Mind Reader
• David Peck and
• Phil Pivnick  

Read more.

Ryan Pilling: Finding The Funny

From Mystified Live:

In what has been one of the most talked about episodes in the short history of this podcast, Magician and Improv Comedian Ryan Pilling joined us for one of our more hysterical episodes. While he was here Ryan talked about his career as an improv comedian / magician and how he was currently working on a new show, which debuted shortly after his appearance. We are happy to report that Ryan now has a brand new book out titled Finding The Funny: A Professional Entertainer's Guide To Improvisation, Ad-Libs And Audience Interaction. (How's that for a mouthful?) The book serves as a how-to for those looking to add a little humor to their act be it comedy, magic, juggling or anything in between. The book covers it all from when to improvise all the way to how to practice and work with your audience. This book is a must have if you are an entertainer.

Read more.
 

You can learn more about Finding The Funny at Playing Big Magic.

Jeff Pinsky interviews Mark Lewis

Jeff Pinsky just posted his interview with Mark Lewis under the "Conversations" section of The Browser’s Den of Magic website.  Mark discusses “The Lives of a Showman” and more! 
 
To watch, visit BrowsersDen.ca or view the first part on YouTube below:

Sherwood Park News: Author shortlisted for Alberta literary award

From the Sherwood Park News:

... Sheldon Casavant's first book, Morton the Magician and His Magnificent Magic Show, has been shortlisted for the Alberta Literary Awards.

"It's been great just to have that feeling that it's at that level of professionalism and respect within the industry, because I'm coming at it as being a magician as a profession," Casavant said.

Read more.

Article about 'Morton the Magician' in today's Sherwood Park News:... http://fb.me/PqH4ZRkdless than a minute ago via Facebook Favorite Retweet ReplySheldon Casavant
SheldonCasavant

Msgr. Vincent Foy: "A Cut Above"

From Sharing Wonder:

 Magicana is delighted to announce the release of our latest publication, "A Cut Above."

"A Cut Above" is a joyful exploration of one-handed cuts created or documented by Msgr. Vincent Foy, a pioneer of the modern movement of card flourishes. His contributions on this subject that appeared initially in The Linking Ring and in Bertram on Sleight of Hand, inspired a new generation of finger-flingers.

Msgr. Foy, who is 95-years young, revisits his notes to give us 100 one-handed glorious cuts, most of his own invention. Read more.