Introducing the inaugural Inspirational Canadian Magician Showcase!
Last month, we reached out to over a dozen magicians across Canada and
asked them to write two to four sentences about someone in the Canadian magic community who inspired them in 2023.
Over the next couple of weeks, we'll be hosting a showcase of the submissions, in no particular order.
We hope you enjoy!
2023 Inspirational Canadian Magician Showcase.
Note: This is not intended to be a comprehensive list of the inspirational things magicians are doing across Canada. Instead, think of it as highlighting a random sample of excellence at a single point in time.
I’ve been a musician for … wow … 45 years. I started out singing the hard rock that I loved from when I was a kid in the mid-70s. At some point, I started being drawn to great singers inside and outside of rock, and those singers still motivate me. Gino Vannelli, Daryl Hall, Mavis Staples, Paul Rogers, Sammy Hagar. There’s something transcendent about the sound of their voices and their emotional impact.
Fast-forwarding, I’d stopped singing for 15 years when suddenly I decided to start playing acoustic shows around Toronto. I just wanted to sing. I didn’t want to start another band or write songs. I just wanted to sing. After playing Soul covers in Toronto cafés and small clubs, mostly in Kensington & Parkdale, I decided to film a show to use as promotional material and booked a theatre. A day or two later, I called my old writing partner Dave Dunlop, and asked if we could try writing again. “Oh, by the way, Dave, I have a show in eight weeks and I need enough songs to fill the show”.
Over the next couple of years, we wrote a bunch of songs and I put together “Dan McLean Jr & Some Honey” with three really great backup singers. During lockdowns, we wrote a bunch more songs together online, and we drew on those two groups of songs for the album.
Verners says he was interested in travelling to Spain because the country is the “mecca of magic” in the world.
“The best magicians all live in Spain, and when you’re in Madrid there’s like 20 magic shows going on every evening and all of them are phenomenal,” he said.
“So I kind of wanted to dive into where the magic’s the best, where the competition’s the best, and stylistically it’s so different than what I do here in North America.”
Verners has performed in venues across the country and in the U.S., including in Las Vegas.
He says that while the stage in Spain may not have been the largest he’s performed in terms of seating, the show was certainly the highest-profile act he’s been involved with.
“Being on a ‘Got Talent’ stage comes with a whole whack of different challenges,” he said.
“You’re not in a showcase, you’re in a competition, and I find that very interesting because I haven’t competed as a magician since I was probably 16,” he said. “I haven’t been in that competitive mindset where people are all trying to get the same prize. and I find the pressure was definitely on.”
- what was instrumental to Piff becoming a magician -
magic-adjacent disciplines Piff's studied - his self-care practice is on
tour - about his 2023 show "2013 Piff" finds unbelievable, and -
when he got discouraged and think about quitting magic
Updated September 27th to add:
David Copperfield and John Lovick will be joining Penn & Teller, Shin Lim, Mac King, Mr. Piffles, and presumably Piff as part of the launch event!
The most pifftacular event of the year is coming! Clear your calendars now.
You will NOT want to miss this. So many epic surprises are planned,
including the unveiling of the single most incredible deluxe version of a book
you've ever seen. Secure your free spot: https://loom.ly/39bUbeg
Kindly note this will not be an auction. Rather all of the used magic will be spread throughout the front and back of the shop for your consideration.
Please bring in your used magic as soon as possible and no later than July 19. You do not have to provide us with a list. We will do an inventory of your used magic.
Co-written and co-directed by David Peck (along with Nathanael Draper (writer / director) and Suon Rottana (writer)), the documentary Broken Courage has its Canadian premier at the Oakville Film Festival tomorrow!
This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the Oakville Film Festival, taking place June 21st to 27th. With over 100 films screening across three theaters, including 5 Drive-In there will be lots of movies for people to go see. Today we welcomed Wendy Donnan, Executive Director of the Oakville Festivals of Film and Art, and David Peck, Director of the documentary, Broken Courage to share more about the documentary and movies.
Recipients of the AMA Performing Fellowship award are the performers who have made an impact on the art of magic. Cardini, a world-renowned magician, was the first to receive the award in 1968, followed by performers such as Jose Frakson, Richiardi Jr., and Marvyn & Carol Roy.
"It is a great honor to be the first magician of Chinese origin to receive the Performing Fellowship Award from the Academy of Magical Arts. This is not only a personal affirmation for me, but also for Chinese magicians," she told Xinhua Thursday night.
In his popular first-year foundations course, the Psychology of Magic, Dirk Bernhardt-Walther reveals the secrets behind magicians’ tricks as a way of teaching students about the human mind and the fallibility of perception. The associate professor of psychology draws on disappearing acts and other illusions to explain how magicians take advantage of human misjudgment and perceptual gaps to wow audiences. Here, he explains three of their techniques:
Canada’s Silver Playing Card Coins - Royal Canadian Mint - This fantastic set was released in 2008/09 and commemorated Canada's historical use of playing cards as currency. In New France, during the 17th and 18th centuries, legitimate coinage was in short supply periodically. Much to the dismay of the King of France, colonists began using playing cards as promissory notes to pay local merchants and sailors. These playing card notes were cashed out each time a new shipment of coins arrived from France. This simple solution made out of desperation would go on to become an important landmark in Canadian history.
