Congratulations on a job well done Vitaly!
Learn more about Vitaly at his website EveningOfWonders.com
A quick reminder that Billy Hsueh's episode will air April 4 and Robin Sheikh's episode will air April 11.
From the March 29th upload "Can VITALY fool Penn & Teller for the THIRD time?!" on Vitaly Beckman's YouTube channel:
Congratulations on a job well done Clark!
Learn more about Ottawa based Clark at his website
ClarkPayne.com.
A quick reminder that Vitaly Beckman will be on Fool Us
March 28, and Billy Hsueh's episode will air April 4.
From the March 15th upload "Clark Payne This and That - Penn and Teller Fool Us: Season 11" on Clarkc Payne's YouTube channel:
Good luck to all facing this year's CGT judges: Howie Mandel, Shania Twain, Katherine Ryan, and Kardinal Offishall!
Who'd we miss?
(Our sources tell us that not all of the acts listed below will make it to air.)
From the March 4th
media release:
BRITISH COLUMBIA
- BLAKE ALEONG – Burnaby
ONTARIO
- BEN KAHAN – Toronto
- CARSON AND TAYLOR – Toronto
- THE SECRET – Toronto
QUEBEC
- ALEX BOYER – Montréal
- LUC LANGEVIN – Montréal
- MONTREAL TRIO – Montréal
- NICOLAS TARDIF – Trois-Riviéres
ALBERTA
- LUCY DARLING – Calgary
ABROAD
- STEFANO BRONZATO – Magic, Italy
Have a read of the excellent interview in One Ahead, where Chris talks about the new online demonstration category in FISM 2025 and the future of magic in general.
From the February 27th article "This Is Totally New For FISM" by Tobias Hudson in One Ahead:
The process involved much brainstorming to understand what the online shift would look like, and Ramsay credits FISM organiser Walter Rolfo for being receptive to the idea.
But the question naturally follows: Does an online FISM category translate to higher levels of attendance, and more importantly, a longer-term desire to upkeep and cultivate the event for future generations?
Ramsay believes this can only happen if changes are made to the fundamental structure of the event:
From the February 24th Instagram post by Chris Ramsay:
Counting down the days! ⏳ In just 20 weeks, I’ll be in Turin, Italy, as part of the FISM Italy 2025 cast!
From the February 19th upload "Lost In The Shuffle: The Origin of Playing Cards & a Murder Mystery" at the
Bond On Cinema YouTube Channel:
From the February 20th Instagram post by Bond on Cinema:
From the February 19th article "Meet Connie Boyd" at Bold Journey Magazine:
Resilience should be my middle name! I’ve built a successful entertainment career, only to be knocked flat to start again from scratch – FIVE times. I must really love my work, because I cannot give up, I don’t know how, but after every setback, I’ve always pulled up my socks and bulldozed forward.
My first love was dance, and at age seventeen I won a full scholarship to train with the National Ballet of Canada.
From the February 20th Facebook post by Magical Women with Connie Boyd:
Previously shared on Facebook on February 20.
Updated February 12th to add:
Learn more about the
CBC Ideas Podcast
about Henry Box Brown at the bottom of the post.
[with thanks to Jeff Evason for letting us know!]
From the February 4th article "How Henry Box Brown escaped slavery in a box and became a subversive magician" by Lisa Godfrey in the CBC:
Henry Box Brown eventually returned to the United States, more than a decade after abolition in 1865. He brought his second wife and children, who joined him onstage, and sang with him.
He made his home base in Canada: briefly in London, Ontario, and then settling in Toronto. It was here, Cutter discovered, that he died and was buried in 1897.
Three Toronto residents — history advocates Coralina Lemos, Adam Wynne, and Pancheta Barnett — recently worked together to have a laneway named for him, behind a house he lived in on Bright Street in the Corktown neighbourhood east of downtown.
From the February 3rd CBC Listen Ideas episode "The Amazing Henry Box Brown: From Fugitive Slave to Ingenious Entertainer" with Nahlah Ayed:
Enslaved in 1840s Virginia, Henry Brown has himself nailed into a postal crate and mailed to a free state. But that’s less than half his story. In freedom, he becomes Henry Box Brown, and uses his escape box as the basis for a subversive magic act that sees him tour the stages of the UK and Canada — his final home.
Read more and listen to the podcast.
From the February 5th article "From magic school to master illusions: Matt Gore’s mind-bending tale" by Brittany Caffet at CJME:
Gore, a skilled magician who has captivated audiences around the world with his mind-bending illusions and performances, knows that his profession is often met with curiosity, wonder, and a healthy dose of skepticism.
He sees magic as more than just a performance, but a chance to offer people a brief escape from the stress of their everyday lives.
“Everyone’s got stuff going on in their life. Everyone’s got problems. But for a moment, we’re going to forget about all that and just enjoy a moment together,” Gore explained. “After the show, you can go back and you can pick up that weight that you once had, but it feels so freeing just to just be like, ‘How is that possible?!’ That’s the power of magic.”
You may recall we previously posted that the McGill University Office for Science and Society (OSS) was the 2024 recipient of the James Randi Educational Foundation award.
Congratulations Joe for your appointment as a Member of the Order of Canada!
From the January 28th post "How magic sparked Joe Schwarcz’s passion for science" on The Current with Matt Galloway:
Joe Schwarcz has made it his life's work to debunk misinformation and snake oil salespeople in the scientific world. Now, the director of the McGill Office for Science and Society has been named to the Order of Canada.
Listen to the 13 minute segment.
From the December 18th article "Quebec doctors Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Joe Schwarcz appointed to Order of Canada" by Rachel Lau at CTV News:
He hosts the longest-running radio show on CJAD 800 on chemistry, writes a weekly column and has authored best-selling books, educating people about true, evidence-based science and promoting critical thinking.
Read more.
[via Peter Mennie]
From the January 27th article "Brilliant Brent dazzles at Innisfail's 2025 Family Literacy Festival" by Johnnie Bachusky in The Albertan:
But it was this year’s featured guest, Calgary’s ‘Brilliant Brent’ Smith, who was the showstopper, and fully interactive with his audience, especially children.
He was in town to offer those gathered for the event a magical touch with his very own ‘Books are Brilliant’ Literacy Magic Show.
“I knew he was going to be a different sort of magic,” said Ramsay. “This was shown by his first trick when he opened up a page and wrote the word bowling ball and then drew a bowling ball, and when the book opened up a bowling ball appeared and fell onto the floor to everybody's shock.
Magicians Only is available everywhere including Apple, Spotify, and YouTube!
Steve started with a two part piece on Oswald Williams.
From the January 15th Instagram post by Steve Valentine:
In case you missed it! Here is the Podcast! 😍🤪
Two episodes up already, new ones every Monday... yikes!
From the October 29th upload at the APTN News YouTube channel:
Métis magician Chanelle Munroe stopped by the APTN News studio to show off some of her hair-raising magic tricks.
David Peck interviews Shawn Farquhar about
Lost in the Shuffle. Listen at Toronto Threads.
Didn't make it to the premiere at the Toronto Hot Docs screening of the film? Don't worry, it's coming to a theatre near you! (Including Vancouver and Toronto later this month.) Check the Lost in the Shuffle website for details.
Read our check-in with Shawn about Lost in the Shuffle from May 2023.
From the July 20th Facebook post by Shawn Farquhar:
A childhood dream came true today.
Thank you to the amazing team at Genii Magazine, and especially to Dustin Stinett, Elizabeth Kaufman, Peggy Donmoyer, and Richard Kaufman.
From the April 18th article "Magician to teach some tricks of the trade at Red Deer museum" by Lana Michelin in the Red Deer Advocate:
On April 27 at the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery, Key will be teaching magic tricks to anyone who registers (ages 5 and up). The two workshops, each an hour long, are designed to “unlock magical potential,” not only by teaching these skills, but by using the lessons to build self-confidence, public speaking and fine motor skills.
“Magic is a great mechanism to improve your core competency,”says Key. He feels it’s one thing to show somebody a trick, it’s another to present it with the flair of a street performer, while telling a story to build interest.
His fascination with “magic” began at age five, after he got a Halloween-themed kit for his birthday.
 |
Shawn Farquhar and Michael Vincent at The Magic Circle |
If you don't want to leave your tickets to chance, you can purchase them
directly at the
Hot Docs
website.
There will be a random draw for two (2) tickets to the film.
To enter:
With thanks to the Hot Docs Film Festival for generously making these tickets available to you!
 |
Shawn Farquhar performing an original routine created for the documentary |
The following is a guest post from an author who wishes to be known as The Magic Demon.
--
CANADIANS FEATURED IN THE APRIL 2024 ISSUE OF "GENII"
Exclusive to Canada's Magic
by The Magic Demon
In the current April 2024 issue of "Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine", one of Canada's best known magicians, Bill Abbott, rates an almost half page review of his most recent (fourth) appearance at The Magic Castle in Los Angeles. Shawn McMaster's column, "Knights at the Magic Castle", includes a great action photo of Bill receiving what appears to be an enthusiastic round of applause mid-performance. McMaster details Bill's act which when read certainly sounds like both Bill and his audience had an enjoyable time.
In her regular news column "The Eye", Vanessa Armstrong has a feature item on "The Magic Word" podcast with Scott Wells, who recently interviewed Murray SawChuck about his spate of on-line exposures. While making his own position against such exposure clear, Wells feels he has at least tried to offer a platform for both sides of this controversial and divisive issue.
Finally, in his editorial "Genii Speaks", editor Richard Kaufman offers an unambiguous personal endorsement for the craftsmanship of Roy Kueppers, now residing in Las Vegas. Kueppers' "cornucopia of coins gimmicked in a fantastical variety of ways" clearly delights Kaufman who concludes his editorial this month simply: "If you need a gimmicked coin, he [Roy]'s your guy". Also noteworthy, Roy has taken out a two page ad (the first time he has ever done so I believe) which includes an impressive testimonial from David Copperfield about Roy's latest "Statue Vanish" trick.
Genii is available by subscription, as a digital or printed-on-paper publication, as well as through your local magic dealer such as The Browser's Den of Magic in Toronto. The author paid for their own copy.
- The Magic Demon
Thank you The Magic Demon for guest posting at Canada's Magic!
Updated March 26 to add:
Additional details at Hot Docs.
From the March 17th Instagram post by Hot Docs:
Pick a card, any card!
Enter the magical world of magician Shawn Farquhar (@magichampion) as he simultaneously devises a new magic trick and delves into medieval murder cold cases in @LostInTheShuffleMovie.
Seen through the eyes of some of the world’s best sleight-of-hand artists, LOST IN THE SHUFFLE is a loving look at how playing cards has become synonymous with magic and the mysteries hidden in their art.
This magical film will have its world premiere at #HotDocs24 as part of the Special Presentations program.
Congratulations Ben!
From the March 11th article "Canadian Ben Proudfoot wins Oscar for best short doc" in CBC News:
Halifax's Ben Proudfoot won his second career Academy Award on Sunday for co-directing the documentary short The Last Repair Shop, about volunteers who fix school-issued instruments in L.A. He hopes the win will 'help the millions of young people ... who just want to play music.'
From the March 10th Instagram post by Ben Proudfoot:
Good luck to all!
Who'd we miss?
From the March 5th media release:
ALBERTA
JEFF NEWMAN – Magic Act, Calgary
NOVA SCOTIA
VINCENZO RAVINA – Magic Act, Halifax
ONTARIO
ALEXANDRA - Stunt, St. Catherines
CARSON & TAYLOR – Magic Act, Toronto
EKATERINA – Magic Act, Barrie
MARK CLEARVIEW – Magic Act, Toronto
MARK LEWIS – Magic Act, Toronto
QUEBEC
BAO HOANG – Magic Act, Montreal
THE AMAZING TODSKY – Magic Act, Montreal
SASKATCHEWAN
MITCHELL HRYCAN – Magic Act, Saskatoon
ABROAD
NICOLAS RIBS – Magic Act, Lyon, France
