Guest host Gill Deacon speaks with the multi-talented Hendrix as she
prepares for a performance at Just for Laughs Montreal. She talks about
finding a community of magicians in Calgary, breaking into the
male-dominated field of magic, and the unlikely journey from sideshows and
circus stages to the Guinness World Records and the legendary Magic Castle
in Hollywood.
Listen to David Peck interview James in the June 19th podcast "Truth, Technology & the Art of Deception" episode 634 of Face2Face, where "They talk about creativity, philosophical issues surrounding truth, illusion and lived experience and explore the intersection of magic, AI, and technology and how their performance challenges perceptions of reality."
From the June 3rd post "Fringe Five 2026" from Stage Door Dialogues: There are forty-five seats per performance. And we decided to take advantage of that intimacy to get up close and personal with the audience. Inspired by magicians from Spain and Argentina, we have members of the audience on stage the entire show. They make the magic happen as much as I do. We’re giving up a lot of control and a lot of certainty. It also means each show will be different and anything can happen. Read more.
From the June 18th post "Toronto Fringe Festival 2026" by YoungW: We’re interested in building work that crosses boundaries: theatre, mystery, storytelling, magic, literature, and old-fashioned showmanship. We want to make live events that feel rare – the kind of thing you had to be there for. Read more.
From the May 13th article "Orlando Fringe 2026 review: ‘110% Wizard’" by Seth Kubersky at
Orlando Weekly: If you have any doubts that Orlando Fringe changes lives, look
no further than illusionist Keith Brown. A fixture of the Festival for
over a decade, Brown landed an agent as a result of his 2024 show here,
and is now an in-demand guest artist aboard Norwegian and Virgin cruise
ships. Read more.
From the May 15th article "2026 Orlando Fringe Review: 110% Wizard" by Jimbo Wood at
Orlando Shine: Brown, a familiar face to Orlando Fringe audiences and a
three-time Critic’s Choice winner for Best Magic Show, returns with what
he jokingly describes as the “same wizard, now 10% better.” The framing
device for this year’s show centers around a cruise ship residency
thrown into chaos after an airline loses the costumes and props intended
for the run. Read more.
So with these challenges in mind and wanting to adhere to Prof. Edwin Dawes’ motto (“Collect, Collate, Communicate!”) we want to share video from the collection on a regular a basis. Our working title for the series is “The Good, The Bad and the… You Decide”.
We want to begin with this recording of Lewis Ganson. This is a short excerpt where he performs “The Diminishing Cards.” (Please note this clip has no audio.)
Continuing our series of “The Good, The Bad and the… You Decide” we are pleased to share two clips from Arthur Buckley. (If you missed the previous release featuring Lewis Ganson, consider stopping there first.)
Gabriella Lester, is no different. A touring magician, a Magic Castle
headliner, and a Penn & Teller Fool Us alum, she joined the four
Horsemen of Lionsgate's Now You See Me LIVE for its 2025 Sydney Opera House
premiere. Her social channels alone are now pulling roughly 100 million
views a month.
Attendees at the TED2026 conference had a unique opportunity beyond the signature talks that share paradigm-shifting ideas and the chance to interact with some of the world’s brightest and most influential thinkers. Thanks to Shawn Farquhar and a select group of five additional magicians, they were able to experience wonder even beyond the typical awe-inspiring experience TED is known for.
“We sent him over the script and Taylor and I were like, ‘Oh, there’s no way
he’s going to sign on to this,’” Pinch said.
But Hadfield agreed
“and we were off to the races,” he said.
“We thought this is
going to be our love letter to Sarnia,” he said. “And it just so happened to
work out the new judge this year is Katherine Ryan, who I actually went to
high school with.”
Ryan was a student in the year ahead of Pinch
at Northern Collegiate and they had some banter that didn’t make the final
edit, including a line where he said, “I remember you from high school . . .
where just like now, you were there judging me and I’m on stage doing my
silly comedy.”
Ryan is “so, so funny, like impossibly funny,”
Pinch said. “Where people would normally have one joke, she has 10 at the
ready.”
And Hadfield was a “real professional” and “nailed it,”
he said.
“If he has any aspirations to be a magician, I think he
may have something,” Pinch said. “He’s definitely got a future.”
“I can still remember the streamers coming out of his mouth, and the rabbit
coming out of his hat,” Ian said reflecting on watching a magic show at his
pre-school when he was three years old. “I made the decision then that I
would be a magician!”
Like so many record breakers before him,
Ian found his love for his respective talent early in his youth and luckily
for him, he had a solid support system around him that fostered his
enjoyment of magic and interest in learning. For instance, his father
learned some tricks to amuse Ian and his sibling and was able to convince
his brother to give him some funds for his first magic kit, a Fisher Price
one. Notably, Ian’s early skillset came in handy when it came to his
fulfilling future with Guinness World Records, as his earliest tricks were
mostly in the colourful-tied-ribbon trick subset and these very tricks were
used in some of his record-breaking stunts.
A new season of @familyfeudcanada is back this winter on @cbc and the free CBC Gem streaming service, and airs 4 nights a week - Monday through Thursday at 7:30pm. Our episode will air on April 7th 🥳
He's been buried alive, trapped in ice and suspended in the air while sealed
inside a box for 44 days. But in his new series,Do Not Attempt, Blaine is the one who's left speechless as he
travels the globe taking in extraordinary feats by some of the world's
greatest masters.
"It's an amazing chance to highlight these performers or these experts,"
Blaine tellsQ's Tom Powerin an interview. "Being able to meet the most incredible
people that have worked for thousands of hours on these skills that are, to
me, as close to magic as it gets because they've put the invisible work in —
the countless thousands of hours to be able to do this thing that shouldn't
be possible."
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.
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:
