Whitehorse: John Kaplan's "AbracaDAZZLE"

From the May 24th article "Special Olympians return from P.E.I with plenty of hardware" by Chuck Tobin in the Whitehorse Daily Star:

To help raise money to cover the cost of last week’s trip to Charlottetown and the upcoming trip to Antigonish, Special Olympics Yukon is daring the curious.

For two nights – June 6,7 at Christ the King Elementary – the organization is presenting Abraca Dazzle, a magic show starring Canadian magician John Kaplan and his renowned family-friendly magic show.

Special Olympics Yukon will be sending a contingent of 31 to Antigonish, including 20 athletes and 11 coaches and mission staff. They’ll be competing in bocce, athletics, swimming, soccer and rhythmic gymnastics.

Read more.

David Peck interviews The Sentimentalists, Julie Eng, and Daniel Zuckerbrot

David Peck has previously interviewed many magicians on his Face 2 Face podcast.  Recently he's added The Sentimentalists (episode 362), as well as Julie Eng and Daniel Zuckerbrot (episode 373) to his growing list.


From Face 2 Face Live: The Sentimentalists – Episode 362

The Sentimentalists and I talk about skepticism, assumptions and religious belief, burlesque theatre, mentalism and magic, scientific headspace and what it means to be a collector of rare oddities.

Biography
World-renowned mentalist Mysterion partners with mentalist Steffi Kay to create a mind reading experience that is truly breathtaking. Steffi brings a grace, flair and elegance to the mentalism she practises and with her vintage look, approach and style you will feel transported back to Vaudeville to the golden age of magic.

Read more and listen to podcast.

From Face 2 Face Live: Daniel Zuckerbrot and Julie Eng on “The Science of Magic” – Episode 373

Julie Eng, Daniel Zuckerbot and David Peck talk about their new film The Science of Magic, change blindness, assumptions, subverting reality, free will, doubt and the problems of perception.

Synopsis
Magic has become the latest investigative tool for scientists exploring human cognition, neurobiology, and behaviour. Across Canada, the US and Europe, our film follows researchers who are bringing magicians’ tricks into the laboratory.  With impossible magic, amazing facts, and opportunities for viewers to participate in the magic, this extraordinary exploration peeks behind the curtain into a fascinating world where ancient magic meets modern science.

Canadian magician and executive director of the arts organization Magicana, Julie Eng not only mystifies us with magic, she also takes us to Montreal’s McGill University to meet Jay Olson. He is one of the scientists spearheading this novel and powerful approach to experimental psychology.  On the streets of Montreal Julie and Jay use card tricks to help us understand how magic can be used to explore human consciousness. But these simple tricks have given way to more elaborate experiments.

Read more and listen to podcast.

The Magic Word with Scott Wells

For those of you who don't already know, Scott Wells hosts a podcast for magicians.

Recently, he's published a few which may be of interest to you!

From "410 - Carisa Hendrix - Getting Uncomfortable" on The Magic Word Podcast:

Carisa Hendrix is a magician who is on the rise. Oh, also, she happens to be a woman. She is one of the new breed who I believe is one of the "Stars of Tomorrow" as she pursues her dreams on stage. Most young people I see today seem to be involved in close-up and entertaining small groups of people, but few true entertainers are comfortable on stage in front of a large audience. Carisa is one of that rare breed.

She suggests that we should step out of our comfort zone and try new things that stretch our boundaries and move into new, perhaps uncomfortable, areas that will make us better performers and people. She says that artists should practice "moving towards the place of greatest discomfort and just sitting in that space." She suggests that magicians should not be afraid to fail.

On another matter, there was quite a bit of controversy about her July 2017 cover on VANISH Magazine. She addresses it quite well and succinctly on her blog.

Read more and listen to podcast.

From "423: Neil McNally - The Doug Henning Project" on The Magic Word Podcast:

Neil McNally is a passionate man. He is most passionate about Doug Henning and he hosts a weekday blog called "The Doug Henning Project". Who could imagine that there would be that much to reveal about this iconic figure. We recently "hit a nerve" with the podcast #415 with Chip Romero as that episode was one of our most downloaded podcast. So, it was a natural thing to chat with the webmaster of "The Doug Henning Project" so those who are interested in Doug Henning could learn even more. Neil is not a performing magician though he is taking lessons at The Magic Castle. But his passion is history and collecting of Doug Henning. He is also producing a documentary on Doug Henning and will soon be crowd funding his project.

Read more and listen to podcast.

And one from the archives.

From "201 - Murray Sawchuck - Celebrity Magician" on The Magic Word Podcast:

Murray Sawchuck recently completed two and a half years at the Tropicana's Laugh Factory in Las Vegas. On December 20, 2014, he will begin a new afternoon show at Planet Hollywood's "Sincity Theater" along his wife, Chloe, and his partner, Lefty. Murray will add illusions to his comedy magic show plus bring in different aspects of his other appearances on television such as "Pawn Stars" and other shows.

During our conversation, Murray talked about his upcoming appearance on Hallmark's Home & Family morning talk show. After you have listened to the podcast, then be sure to come back to watch this video. The other two videos below are from a couple of his appearances on "America's Got Talent" (sic).

Read more and listen to podcast.

[With thanks to The Magic Demon for sending this along.]

New York City: Vitaly Beckman's "An Evening of Wonders"

From the May 4th article "Illusionist Vitaly Beckman Will Bring An Evening of Wonders Off-Broadway" by Andrew Gans on Playbill:

Vitaly Beckman, who stumped fellow magicians Penn & Teller on TV's Penn & Teller: Fool Us, will make his New York City performing debut next month.

Produced by Daryl Roth, Vitaly: An Evening of Wonders will begin previews June 13 prior to an official opening June 21 at the Westside Theatre (407 West 43rd Street, between Ninth and Tenth Avenues). The limited engagement is scheduled to run through September 30.

“Vitaly fooled us with his humor and amazing magic,” Penn & Teller said in a statement. “We are so proud he’s opening at the Westside Theatre where we first opened our show in New York over 30 years ago. He is an ingenious inventor, full of charming surprises.”

Read more.

The Thrillusionists: May 4th premier

Updated at 8am to add:

• Suspicion confirmed, Sorcerers Safari alumnus Brad Bond is one of the three stars in The Thrillusionists!
• From the April 27th article "Tricky Orillia teen set to make magical debut on CBC series" in Barrie Today:

  Brad Bond has been fascinated by trickery, sleight-of-hand and the mystery of illusions since he received a magic kit from his grandparents as a Christmas present when he was 10-years-old.
  
  But for him, this has never been child’s play. Bond, now 16, has approached the craft like a professional, painstakingly working on his technique, delivery and persona. That work has paid off.
  
  The Grade 10 Patrick Fogarty Catholic Secondary School student was one of three youths chosen – more than 1,000 auditioned from coast to coast – to host The Thrillusionists, a ground-breaking magic show set to make its debut next month.
  
  “It’s almost surreal,” Bond says of his new gig. “It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was very young.”

I have a sneaking suspicion that a Sorcerers Safari alumnus is one of the Thrillusionists!


From The Thrillusionists Facebook page:

The Thrillusionists will PREMIERE on CBCKIDS.CA and on-demand MAY 4TH 2018!!! Stay tuned to this page for news update, live appearances and more! Thanks for watching and have a magical day! Bought to you by CBC Kids & 5'7 Films

From the CBC:

The Thrillusionists explored the mystical and fascinating world of magic with kid magicians! Our team of three master magicians are guaranteed to blow your mind!

Watch as they travel the city of Toronto, gaining access to various VIP locations — backstage at concerts, professional sports arenas and amusement parks — and perform their trickery for celebrities!

The Thrillusionists is brought to you by television-magic masterminds who have worked with some of the biggest names in the industry, including Criss Angel, David Blaine, Dynamo and David Copperfield.

The Thrillusionists are two boys and one girl (ages 8-12). This is the first magic series that involves kid magicians performing “grown up” illusions, all to delight and entertain kids!

Read more.

Check out the Thrillusionists YouTube channel.

Fort Macleod: Ben Price's "Rabbit Stew"

From the April 18th article "Empress Theatre to host magic show" by admin in the Macleod Gazette Online:

The Empress Theatre Society plans to pull a rabbit out of its hat with a new fund-raiser on Saturday, April 28.

Magician Ben Price brings his new show Rabbit Stew to the Empress stage at 7:30 p.m.

Admission is by donation and proceeds from the show go to the Empress Theatre Society.

“My new show, Rabbit Stew, is set to hit the stages of festivals around Canada this summer and I thought what better place to premier the show than right close to home?” Price said.

Read more.

Matt Johnson's BGT audition

From the April 14th article "Who is Britain’s Got Talent’s daring escape artist Matt Johnson?" by Matthew Trask at Radio Times:

Matt’s career began in his hometown of Sheffield, where he cut his teeth as a street magician and illusionist.

In his 20-year-long career leading to the Britain’s Got Talent stage, he traversed the globe performing his unique style of illusion and his daring escapes to audiences around the world.

Matt auditioned with the same audacious trick for BGT in 2017. Unfortunately, the tank he was using broke leaving the stage flooded.

Read more.

From the Britian's Got Talent YouTube channel:

Reviews: Luc Langevin's "Now tomorrow"

From the April 12th article "Luc Langevin still spectacular" by Sandra Godin in le Journal de Quebec, translated by Google:

Amazement and incomprehension: two feelings that will invade you constantly during this second show of Luc Langevin, who concocted us ten new spectacular illusions, between telepathy, teleportation and levitation.

The public remained speechless after the illusionist had teleported a spectator locked in a safe, at the end of the first media of Now tomorrow , which was held Thursday at Albert-Rousseau Hall. It was just before he levitated up the stage.

The master of illusion retains its title with numbers that combine mathematics, science, technology, projections and optical illusions, at the end as fascinating as each other.

Read more.  Read original.

From the April 13th article "Luc Langevin: The magic of illusions" by Virginie Landry in Journal Metro, translated by Google:

"Everyone knows that magic does not exist." It is on this statement that Luc Langevin begins his new book, The science of illusion , in which he decrypts his art through scientific concepts. But we have a hard time believing that there is not an ounce of magic in what he does ...

"In my wildest dreams, I was hoping to go there, but I did not expect to get there in such a short time," says the magician, who is celebrating his 10-year career this year. In the last decade, Luc Langevin has animated As Magic , At the Limits of Illusion , Defying Magic , as well as several specials with local artists and documentaries. He also put on his first indoor show and released three board games. Phew. "When I look at all this, I think I was productive!" He laughs. (And he wants us to believe that there is no magic in there? Anyway ...)

In 2018, question of being as busy as in recent years, the magician launches a second show indoors, Now tomorrow , and a first book. The purpose of this book? "I wanted to lift the veil on some physical phenomena that I use. I found that these methods or phenomena were almost more interesting than the tricks I make with them. "In doing so, Luc Langevin wanted to give magic its nobility so that people understand that" it's not just clowning. to entertain children "is an art.

Read more.  Read original.

From the April 13th article "Luc Langevin: believe in the impossible" by Sandra Godin in le Soleil, translated by Google:

In the Tomorrow Today program, Luc Langevin notes that his way of practicing his job as a "creator of illusions" has changed since his first show: "My scientific knowledge still inspires my illusions, but I learned that to reach the the brain of the public, sometimes you have to go through the heart. "

And that's exactly what he's doing with this new show: his numbers are still as surprising and spectacular as they are ... human and sincere, and tell a story. Including that of this extremely shy boy that was the little Luc Langevin, for whom magic was a lifesaver ...

And although the magical numbers of the illusionist are (of course) the nerve of the war of this evening staged by René-Richard Cyr, we must say that the success of the company is very much based on the likeable and endearing personality of Luc Langevin, and the constant dialogue he sets up with his audience.

Read more.  Read original.

I'll just leave this here

First, some backstory from Shawn Farquhar's December 9th Facebook post (emphasis mine):

A Letter to the Magic Community...

As Producers of Penn & Teller : Fool Us, our guiding principle is that the show is made "by magicians, for magicians." We have tried to provide a positive Prime Time outlet for magicians everywhere over the course of our 4 seasons on the air - and we've been lucky and successful enough to get an order for Season Five on the CW Network.

As always, our goal is to feature the best and brightest in the magic world, and as such, we'd like to respectfully invite you to submit a recording of a trick you perform that you believe would be good for our show. Highly original presentations and original tricks of all kinds are appreciated.

And here's a not so subtle reminder that my original effect "The Fools' Monte," was well received by (and dare I say fooled) Jeff McBride at the workshop he held at CAM in 2003. 


With that, I'll just leave you this Tweet from Teller:
A note to subscribers: the content of this post is embedded from another website and is not available to preview. To view the content of the post, please visit http://CanadasMagic.blogspot.com. Some of the embedded code may be visible in this notification.

The quality of the magic we're seeing on "Fool Us" is simply breathtaking. With more original effects, more methods we're never seen the like of (ut-oh), and more brilliant female magicians who are coming from all over the world..

— Teller (@MrTeller) March 10, 2018

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All kidding aside, April 2nd at 9pm PST the first annual April Fool Us Day Special will premiere!



From Shawn Farquhar's Facebook page:

Pauline Kong in the Peace Arch News

Also on the bill for the April 8 show in Richmond, are Oslen Chang, and Will Tsai.


From the March 26th article "Moonlighting as magician, Surrey nurse raises funds for hospital ICU" by Tom Zillich in the Peace Arch News:

On April 8, Kong is producing a Vegas-style event called “FATE 2: The Dance and Illusions of Oslen,” a benefit for the ICU department at the hospital where she works.

The goal is to raise $10,000 for the cause, and Kong said Monday that the show, which is set to play the 1,000-seat theatre at River Rock Casino Resort, is nearly sold-out. For event details, visit riverrock.com/event/fate-2-dance-illusions-oslen.

In a related effort, she launched a GoFundMe campaign, called “Magic Show for Surrey Hospital ICU,” with a goal of generating an additional $30,000. A video posted on the fundraising website dramatizes the time Kong landed in hospital as a six-year-old, and her memories of a nurse’s soothing, reassuring voice.

Read more.

Windsor: Piff the Magic Dragon

From the March 25th article "Q and A: Piff the Magic Dragon" by Dalson Chen in the Windsor Star:

Piff the Magic Dragon likes to point out that he’s not as famous as his older brother — Steve.

But the English-born magician with a spiky tail (John van der Put) isn’t hurting for work these days, having been featured to great response on Penn & Teller: Fool Us and America’s Got Talent.

Witness Piff’s deadpan humour and ironic illusions in person when he performs at Caesars Windsor on Friday, March 30.

Q. Dragons seem to be very popular now, what with Game of Thrones, Imagine Dragons, Dragons’ Den — have you noticed people giving you more respect?

A. Yeah, finally. It’s a good time to be a dragon. Before that, it was just about being shot in the face by a dwarf or a hobbit. But times have changed.

Read more.

Spidey to perform on “Showtime at the Apollo”

Tune in tomorrow to watch Spidey on “Showtime at the Apollo”!

From the “Showtime at the Apollo” press release:

Toronto, ON (March 27, 2018) - World-renowned Canadian Mentalist and Hypnotist sensation, Spidey will be performing on the American FOX primetime TV Series, “Showtime at the Apollo”, a one-hour talent competition hosted by Steve Harvey and Adrienne Houghton. Showcasing some of the most unforgettable talent on the legendary stage, Spidey will appear on the March 29 episode where he lands himself as a finalist in the competition. Recently named USA Mentalist of the Year 2017 by APCA, with a career spanning over a decade, Spidey has been able to captivate audiences with shows and tours across the globe, including performances on NETFLIX, NBC, Discovery, CW, Entertainment Tonight, SyFy, TruTV and many more.

Program highlighting Luc Langevin's 10-year career

From the March 9th article "Luc Langevin célèbre ses 10 ans de carrière" on Lien Multimedia as translated by Google:

A special show on Ici Radio-Canada Télé

Luc Langevin's journey in 10 years is phenomenal. Thanks to his hard work, his innovative vision, his charisma, his simplicity and his personal signature, he has become THE reference in magic in Quebec. Luke has set new standards in magic in the dusty and making it more accessible. This new special issue, which chronicles the milestones of the last ten years of Luc Langevin's career, is a magic fire that once again fascinates and entertains. The public will see in particular Luke in rehearsal behind the scenes of his new show as well as unpublished images of his performances on French television.

A special show will be presented on Ici Radio-Canada Télé, Thursday, May 3 at 20h, Sunday, March 25 22h50 and on ICI ARTV Monday, April 16 9pm.

Read more. En français.

Who are the top 10 Canadian magicians of all time?

Updated April 3rd at 6pm to add the following nominations:

• Celeste Evans and Reveen The Impossiblist (Reveen Sr.)

Updated March 31st at 9pm to add the following nominations:

• Greg Frewin and Mahdi Gilbert

Updated March 29 at 7am to add the following nominations:

• Billy Kidd, Carisa Hendrix, Joan Caesar, and Julie Eng

Updated March 24 at 10am to add the following nominations:

• Alain Choquette, David Drake, Mickey Hades, and Shin Lim

Updated March 23 at 9am add the following nominations:

• Bob Farmer, Carl Coultier, Francis Martineau, Gary Ouelette, Howard P. Lions, Mel Stover, Romaine, Roy Cotte, Tom Ransom, Tony Eng, Willis Kinney

Updated March 23 at 7am add the following overnight nominations:

• Additional submissions:  Bedros "Spidey" Akkelian, Bill Abbott, Bobby Motta, Dale Harney, Eric Leclerc, Johnny  Giordmaine, Juliana Chen, Leon Mandrake, Sid Lorraine, Stewart James, Ron Leonard, and Vincent C

Updated at 12:15pm to add:

• Additional submissions: Darcy Oake, Luc Langevin, Murray Hatfield, Ross Bertram, Tom Auburn

Updated at 10:15am to add:

• The following names have been submitted for consideration:  Chris Ramsay, Dai Vernon, David Acer, David Ben, Doug Henning, Gary Kurtz, James Randi, Jay Sankey, Martin Nash, Richard Sanders, Shawn Farquhar

Complete list of nominations received (alphabetical by first name):

1. Alain Choquette
2. Bedros "Spidey" Akkelian
3. Bill Abbott
4. Billy Kidd
5. Bob Farmer
6. Bobby Motta
7. Carisa Hendrix
8. Carl Coultier
9. Celeste Evans
10. Chris Ramsay
11. Dai Vernon
12. Dale Harney
    
13. Darcy Oake
14. David Acer 
15. David Ben
16. David Drake
17. Doug Henning
18. Francis Martineau
19. Eric Leclerc
    
20. Gary Kurtz
21. Gary Ouelette
22. Greg Frewin
23. Howard P. Lions
24. James Randi
25. Jay Sankey
26. Joan Caesar
27. Joel Machtinger
28. Johnny Giordmaine
29. Juliana Chen
30. Julie Eng
31. Leon Mandrake
    
32. Luc Langevin
33. Mahdi Gilbert
34. Martin Nash
35. Mel Stover
36. Mickey Hades
37. Murray Hatfield
38. Reveen The Impossiblist (Reveen Sr.)
39. Richard Sanders
40. Romaine
41. Ron Leonard
    
42. Ross Bertram
43. Roy Cotte
44. Shawn Farquhar 
45. Shin Lim
46. Sid Lorraine
47. Stewart James
48. Tom Auburn
49. Tom Ransom
50. Tony Eng
51. Vincent C
52. Willis Kinney

Devon Murphy recently posted the article, "Top Canadian Magicians and the Tricks That Made Them Famous," at the CBC website.  Devon lists seven outstanding magicians (Julie Eng, Dai Vernon,  Doug Henning, Billy Kidd, Mahdi Gilbert, Greg Frewin, and David Ben).  (Of note, two of the seven on that list are recipients of the "Editor's Choice Award" in the Canada's Magic "Readers' Choice Award" festivities.)

Devon's list got me wondering.

Who do you, dear readers, consider to be the top 10 Canadian magicians of all time?

For those of you who don't like to be influenced by the decisions of others, we're going to start with a clean slate and let you choose all ten!

Submit your nominations in the comment form below,* by 11:59PM EDT on Friday April 6th.  You may nominate as many Canadian magicians as you like.  (Number of nominations don't influence the vote.  If you see your choice(s) listed, please refrain from submitting duplicates.)  Voting will open shortly thereafter.  

What say you?  Who are your top (living or dead) Canadian magicians of all time?


--
* or email me.  I'll send a confirmation back to let you know I received your email.

Random thoughts about "The Science of Magic" on CBC's "The Nature of Things"

Updated at 9:30am to add links to: 

•  MORE TRICKERY FROM THE MAGICIANS FEATURED IN THE SCIENCE OF MAGIC from the CBC,
• WHAT MAGIC HAS TAUGHT US ABOUT HOW THE BRAIN WORKS from the CBC, and 
• The CBC promo page for The Science of Magic

"The Science of Magic" boasts an extraordinary list of participants, which include: Julie Eng, Ronald Rensink, Jay Olson, Gustav Kuhn, Anthony Barnhart, Amory Danek, Matthew Tompkins, Thomas Strandberg, Billy Kidd, Tom Stone, Thomas Fraps, Pit Hartling, and Juan Tamariz.

Had I known it was possible to do university level research involving the magician's force, mind-reading MRIs, or magic beans*, I may have reconsidered the focus of my post-secondary education.

I am, however, on the ball enough to jump at a chance to take an advance peek at (and ask questions about) "The Science of Magic," a documentary that examines these subjects and more!

Tune in to "The Science of Magic" on CBC’s "The Nature of Things" on Sunday, March 18, 2018 at 8PM (8:30 NT). The documentary will also be available to watch online at cbc.ca/natureofthings on Friday, March 16 from 5:00 pm EST.

When Donna and Daniel Zuckerbrot from Reel Time Images (who brought us  "Dai Vernon – The Spirit of Magic," "Max Maven: a fabulous monster," "The Houdini Code,"' and "Jeff McBride: a magickal life" among other titles) realized how much research was going on in the field of science and magic, they knew they had to investigate it further.
 

"You can see that the real question about our film 'The Science of Magic' isn’t why we wanted to make it, but rather, how could we not have?"
-- Donna Zuckerbrot

Julie Eng's reaction to being brought on board the project?

"I was thrilled. I have known the Zuckerbrots for many years and I am a big fan of their work."

  "The idea of using magic as a mechanism for study into how we think, and how we perceive the world is fascinating for me.  It was a huge honour to be asked to be the 'magical guide' for this film."

"Magicians don't have supernatural powers. Instead what they do is exploit very powerful and often very surprising limitations in human cognition."

-- Gustav Kuhn

In "The Science of Magic," the Zuckerbrots along with magical host Julie Eng, take us across Canada, the US, and Europe to visit with scientists using magic as an investigative tool in their exploration of cognition and behaviour.  (Pay close attention to catch cameos by Daniel Zuckerbrot, David Ben, and magic enthusiast Ari.)

The show is full of fascinating insights sure to capture the attention of those who like to be entertained by magic, those who perform magic, as well as those who are interested in psychology and behaviour.  There are even opportunities to participate in on air magic tricks!  From the press release:

"... viewers are able to feel the power of magic from the comfort of their homes and experience some of the psychological principles these tricks reveal (including ‘magicians choice,’ and choice blindness,' ‘failure to see,’ ‘change blindness,’ inattentional blindness, as well as the ‘aha’ moment)."

I'm not too proud to admit that on more than one occasion Julie had me right where she wanted.  I was also properly schooled by Anthony Barnhart.



On the other hand, I did well with Ronald Rensink's challenge and some of the other ones too!

Julie also teaches a coin trick that even I could master, with a little practice.

"We take these principles that magicians know, we bring them into the lab and we try and figure out how they work."

-- Jay Olson

It is humbling (and a bit disconcerting) to discover, as the press release describes, that "we sometimes don't see what's right under our noses," "we see tricks that fool us despite nothing actually happening," and that "we can be blind even to our own choices."

"We were all surprised at how magical the science was. It was astonishing to realize that we don’t see what we think we are seeing, that our memories are as slippery as our perceptions, that who we are — even our deeply held beliefs can change without us knowing. Like good magic the science left us with a feeling of wonder."  
-- the Zuckerbrots

For some behind the scenes photos have a look at the Reel Time Images Facebook page, Instagram account, or Twitter feed.  I look forward to hearing Daniel's thoughts at his Browser's Bash mini-talk.

During the making of the documentary, Julie said she was pleased to learn that "old magic tricks that I have known and have performed since I was a child can still have a deep and profound affect on people, particularly with the right presentation."


There are a variety of real world applications to the knowledge gained:

• Work on "how small distractions can blind drivers" can help improve driver safety.  ("Driver looked but failed to see" is an actual category of accident!)

Anthony Barnhart's studies showing how "off beats" work across sensory systems, help me better understand my habit of turning off my radio when I'm in a situation that requires my full attention.

• Suggestion-based treatments have promising uses in the medical field.
• The Zuckerbrots noted that Rensink's findings with respect to 'change blindness' "seems to underlie film editing.  It is apparently the reason why you don’t notice the change of pictures, from wide shot to close up for example, while you are watching a film."  
• In addition to psychology benefiting from the insights discovered using magic as an investigative tool, the Zuckerbrots observed that "some magicians believe they have already gained from what they’ve learned from psychologists.  Tom Stone is a great example, he certainly credits work he did with experimental psychologists as having changed his own performance in fundamental ways."
• Julie posits that "... from learning how intention and actions (movement) can help create smoother technical manipulation, to how it can mask the most technical sleight… is useful."  After all, she continues,

"If we can use science and technology to work out the perfect angle for speed skaters to maximize physics to their advantage, why can we not benefit from learning more about human behaviour and cognition to advance our field?"

"Each of these areas can bring a lot of insights to magicians to heighten the “magic" experience for audiences."

Is there anything else you'd like our readers to know about the show? 

"We hope they find watching it as interesting and as much fun as we did making it." 

-- the Zuckerbrots

"Bring their eyes and ears (and to be prepared to have fun!)"    -- Julie Eng

I certainly had fun learning and I'm sure you will too!  (As the scientific field evolves, I hope they'll film a second part.)

Tune in to "The Science of Magic" on CBC’s "The Nature of Things" on Sunday, March 18, 2018 at 8PM (8:30 NT). The documentary will also be available to watch online at cbc.ca/natureofthings on Friday, March 16 from 5:00 pm EST.



--
* Maybe they're really magic. Who knows? **
** With apologies to Stephen Sondheim.

Luc Langevin in le Journal de Montréal

From the March 10th article "La magie m’a apporté tout ce qu’il y a de bon dans ma vie" by Bruno Lapointe in le Journal de Montréal, as translated by Google:

"It's very long to create illusions, test them, tweak them ... I put two years, one full-time. And all this time, I told myself that I must absolutely deliver the material. I do not have a choice, "he reveals.

To achieve this, the illusionist has sought the help of director René Richard Cyr, to enhance the visual coating of the tour. His first and only choice for this role. But he had to work hard to convince the man of theater to join this project, something that was far from being won in advance.

Read more.  En français.

We've previously published dates for Luc's "Now tomorrow" tour.  Here are some additional dates from Lien Mulitmedia:

• Quebec City: Salle Albert-Rousseau in  on April 12, 13 and 14
• Montreal: Théâtre Maisonneuve on April 18 and 19 
• Laval: André Mathieu Hall - July 19-20-21, 2018
• Montreal: Salle Maisonneuve, Place des Arts - November 30 and December 1, 2018
• Quebec: Albert-Rousseau Room - December 9 and 10, 2018
• All the details of the tour on evenko.ca

Deception: Series Premiere on March 11

From the CTV website:

When his career is ruined by scandal, superstar magician Cameron Black has only one place to turn to practice his art of deception, influence and illusion – the FBI. Using every trick in the book and inventing new ones, he will help the government catch the world’s most elusive criminals while staging the biggest illusions of his career. The series is from writer/executive producer Chris Fedak (“Chuck”) and executive producers Greg Berlanti, Martin Gero and Sarah Schechter. Illusionist David Kwong (“Now You See Me”) will co-produce.

“Deception” stars Jack Cutmore-Scott as Cameron Black, Ilfenesh Hadera as Kay Daniels, Lenora Crichlow as Dina Clark, Amaury Nolasco as Mike Alvarez, Justin Chon as Jordan Kwon, Laila Robins as FBI Agent Deakins and Vinnie Jones as Gunter Gustafsen.

Read more.

Watch "The Science of Magic" on CBC’s "The Nature of Things" Sunday, March 18

Edited March 15th to add links to: 

• Canada's Magic's post Random thoughts about "The Science of Magic" on CBC's "The Nature of Things"
• MORE TRICKERY FROM THE MAGICIANS FEATURED IN THE SCIENCE OF MAGIC from the CBC,
• WHAT MAGIC HAS TAUGHT US ABOUT HOW THE BRAIN WORKS from the CBC, and 
• The CBC promo page for The Science of Magic

Edited on March 7th to add:

•  The CBC has posted a 1 minute promo and a 1+ minute excerpt of the show at http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episodes/the-science-of-magic

Edited on March 6th to add:

• Welcome GeniiOnline readers! Watch this space for updates about the show, including any announcements about international viewing opportunities.

Ever since it was first announced, we've been eagerly awaiting the air date of the Reel Time Images' CBC documentary on magic and science, featuring Julie Eng.

I'm delighted to announce that the show is scheduled to air on the CBC’s "The Nature of Things" on Sunday, March 18!

The show boasts an extraordinary list of participants, which include:  Julie Eng, Ronald Rensink, Jay Olson, Gustav Kuhn, Anthony Barnhart, Amory Danek, Matthew Tompkins, Thomas Strandberg, Billy Kidd, Tom Stone, Thomas Fraps, Pit Hartling, and Juan Tamariz.

I can hardly wait!


From “The Science of Magic” press release:

THE SCIENCE OF MAGIC

produced, directed and written by

Donna Zuckerbrot and Daniel Zuckerbrot

With magical guide Julie Eng

Toronto-based magicienne and executive director of Canada’s magical arts organization Magicana

World Broadcast Premiere on CBC’s The Nature of Things

Sunday, March 18, 2018 – 8PM (8:30 NT)

“The scientific community, I believe, can learn a lot about both the principles that magicians use as well the unique experience that magic elicits. By using new tools and scientific theory to understand why these principles work, scientists can really learn about the limits of human cognition.”

•             Gustav Kuhn, Cognitive Psychologist, Goldsmiths University of London

“Magicians and scientists both have learnt that it's our own mysterious consciousness that casts the spell, weaving reality from fleeting impressions. So, even when you don't know it, you are the magician.”

•             Julie Eng, Magicienne, Executive Director Magicana

Reel Time Images is pleased to announce the world broadcast premiere of their new documentary, The Science of Magic. Directed by Donna and Daniel Zuckerbrot, and with magical guide Julie Eng, Toronto-based magicienne and executive director of Canada’s magical arts organization Magicana, The Science of Magic can be seen on CBC’s The Nature of Things on Sunday, March 18, 2018 at 8PM (8:30 NT). The documentary will also be available to watch online at cbc.ca/natureofthings on Friday, March 16 from 5:00 pm EST.


Magic has become the latest investigative tool for scientists exploring human cognition, neurobiology, and behaviour.  Across Canada, the US and Europe, The Science of Magic follows researchers and scientists who are bringing magicians’ tricks into the laboratory.   This extraordinary exploration peeks behind the curtain into a fascinating world where ancient magic meets modern science.

Colourful, compelling and interactive, this film takes a critical and engaging look at the fascinating facts revealed when you see the human mind through the eyes of a magician.  With opportunities to participate in on-air magic tricks, viewers are able to feel the power of magic from the comfort of their homes and experience some of the psychological principles these tricks reveal (including ‘magicians choice’, and choice blindness”, 'failure to see’, ‘change blindness’, inattentional blindness, as well as the ‘aha’ moment).

Acting as guide for much of the evening, Julie Eng mystifies with her magical talents, using card tricks to show how magic can be used to explore human consciousness. Alongside these simple tricks are more elaborate scientific experiments.  Jay Olson, a performer of magic since his youth, is completing his PhD in psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal. There, Olson is one of the scientists spearheading a novel and powerful approach to experimental psychology.  At the Montreal Neurological Institute, we join him for an extraordinary demonstration involving an MRI machine that seems not only to read minds, but to also use its electro-magnetic fields to manipulate your most private thoughts.

Professor Ronald Rensink at the University of British Columbia discovered how small distractions can blind drivers to obvious dangers. He believes that magicians’ practical knowledge about how to fool the eye and the mind can fuel important new research in vision science and psychology in general.

In the US professor Anthony Barnhart, a magician turned scientist is using magic principles to investigate why we sometimes don’t see what’s right under our noses. We also meet Professor Amory Danek who is using the conjuror’s craft to study creativity and problem solving. 

In London England Gustav Kuhn conducts a study along with Canadian magician Billy Kidd, that tracks the eye movements of the magician’s audience. We see tricks that fool us despite nothing actually happening, as well as demonstrations that reveal we can be blind even to our own choices.

As surprising as many of these magic tricks are, the ultimate reveal, as Julie tells us just before she vanishes in front of our eyes, is that the true magician is our own brain — weaving reality out of fleeting impressions.



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THE SCIENCE OF MAGIC - PARTICIPANTS

Julie Eng
http://www.magicienne.com
Born in Victoria BC into a family of magicians, Julie Eng has been appearing on stage from an early age.  Julie has developed a refreshing and distinctive style which combines a mix of elegance, surprise and humour. Besides performing, she is currently the executive director of Canada’ magical arts organization, Magicana which is dedicated to the study, exploration and advancement of magic as a performing art.


Ronald Rensink
https://psych.ubc.ca/persons/ronald-rensink/
Professor Rensink grew up in Whitby, Ontario and has taught at the University of British Columbia (UBC) since 2000. An authority on vision in humans and machines, his seminal paper on “change blindness” has become one of the most cited papers in the field of cognitive psychology. His studies of perception and consciousness have led him to work with magicians. He believes that magicians’ practical knowledge about how to fool the eye and the mind, can fuel important new research in vision science and psychology in general.


Jay Olson
https://www.jayolson.org
A performer of magic since his youth, Jay is currently completing his PhD in psychiatry at McGill University. Jay Olsen is looking at how magic, deception and suggestion can be used to create new methods in psychology. His studies show how magicians influence their audience and how people can be deceived into believing a machine is controlling their mind. His current work is on the potential use of machines as placebos.


Gustav Kuhn
https://www.gold.ac.uk/psychology/staff/kuhn/
Dr. Kuhn is a cognitive psychologist at Goldsmiths University of London. He went to England originally to perform magic and ended up staying and studying psychology. He is one of the founders of The Society of Magic Association (SOMA), and uses the methods of magic to study a range of questions about how we perceive and think about the world. His research focuses on magic, and explores how magicians allow people to experience the impossible.


Anthony Barnhart
https://www.carthage.edu/live/profiles/1492-anthony-barnhart
Dr. Barnhart is a professor of psychology at Carthage College in Kenosha. Wisconsin. His many years as a magician inform his studies of how our attention is misled in daily life. His research explores the wealth of principles used by magicians, but still unknown to psychology.


Amory Danek
http://www.amorydanek.de
Dr. Danek is associated with the psychology department at the University of Heidelberg. Her research using magic (with the cooperation of magician Thomas Fraps) is focused on insight. Her current research is aimed at disentangling the various ways of thinking and feeling that together make up the “aha experience”. Another aspect of her research involving magic uses behavioural and neuroimaging experiments. This work is centred on identify brain regions that come into play when our expectations are violated (e.g. something mysteriously appears, disappears, or acts contrary to what normally happens).


Matthew Tompkins
https://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/team/matthew-tompkins
Matt Tompkins a part-time professional magician since he was 14 is currently the Jr. Dean at the Queen’s College Oxford University where he is a doctoral student in the department of Experimental Psychology. He uses his knowledge of magical techniques to investigate the interplay between attention, illusions and beliefs.


Thomas Strandberg
http://www.lucs.lu.se/choice-blindness-group/
Thomas Strandberg currently does research in the cognitive sciences at Sweden’s Lund University.He is affiliated with the Choice Blindness Laboratory. They use a variety of methods, including magicians’ tricks to study how our preferences, attitudes and choices change with the feedback we receive about them.


Billy Kidd
http://www.billykiddshow.com
Billy Kidd has been an actor in theatre, film, and television since she was 11. Her career as a magician began when, after graduating from the University of Alberta’s theatre program, she happened to see a magician busking on the streets in Edmonton. Here fascination with magic and especially street magic eventually led to international TV appearances and performances all over the world.


Tom Stone
Tom Stone is the stage name of Swedish magician, editor and author Thomas Bengtsson. One of Scandinavia’s foremost magicians, he is rarely to be found at home in Stockholm, Sweden. He spends a great deal of time traveling the world performing and lecturing. His books on magic, and creativity are considered modern classics by many of his fellow magicians.


Thomas Fraps
http://www.thomasfraps.com/english/index_e.html
A former student of physics, Thomas Fraps is an award-winning professional magician whose performances combine illusion, comedy and science. He has worked with a number of scientists including with Professor Amory Danek for whose experiments in problem solving he designed and performed a wide variety of magic tricks.


Pit Hartling
http://pithartling.de/en/
An extremely popular performer not only in his home of Germany but throughout the world. The author of two acclaimed books for magicians Hartling is as much in demand as a lecturer and teacher of magic as he is as an entertainer.


Juan Tamariz
Born in 1942 Juan Tamariz-Martel Negrón in  Madrid, Spain he is known professionally as Juan Tamariz or simply as Tamariz. He is regarded as a national treasure in Spain, and an international treasure by his fans around the world. Based on his encyclopediac knowledge, his skill and creativity Tamariz is recognized by most of the world’s magical greats as the greatest magician alive.

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The Science of Magic is produced, directed and written by Donna Zuckerbrot and Daniel Zuckerbrot.  It is produced by Reel Time Images in association with CBC, with the Participation of the Canada Media Fund, the Canadian Film or Video Tax Credit, and the Ontario Tax Credit.

On This Day in 1923: Houdini in Winnipeg

From the April 3rd, 2012 post "Favourite Foote Photos: Brett Lougheed" by Esyllt W. Jones Lost Foote Photos:

This photograph taken by L.B. Foote on February 21, 1923, to me, perfectly illustrates the Winnipeg we are striving to become once again. Suspended 30 feet above the Winnipeg Free Press building on Carlton Street, Harry Houdini, arguably the biggest name in entertainment at the time, wriggled his way out of a straitjacket in front of what was reported to be four or five thousand awestruck onlookers. This publicity stunt was intended to generate interest for his week-long show at the Orpheum Theatre. Houdini’s opening act at the show was a young comedian named Jack Benny. It was not uncommon for performers of this calibre to make regular appearances in Winnipeg during this time.

Read more.

From the Twitter feed of 93-3 The Drive:

Look up, look wayyy UP and you would've seen THE Harry Houdini hanging above the street in Winnipeg on this day, 1923. Jack Benny was here too?! --> https://t.co/ScJSEaFWiy -Scott (Tom & Kerri) #winnipeg #manitoba #Canada #history #retro #magic #escape #classic #HarryHoudini pic.twitter.com/YW4Wif4Eax

— 94-3 The Drive (@943TheDrive) February 21, 2018

Chris Funk to be on this season's "Masters of Illusions"

Filming happened Thursday and Friday!  How exciting!

Any other Canadian magicians I should know about for this season?

From Chris Funk's Twitter feed:

It begins! #tvshow #mastersofillusion #magic #thewonderist #internationalmanofwonder #lifeontheroad https://t.co/PhU2tghAsK pic.twitter.com/uqEncejwUT

— Chris Funk (@chrisfunkmagic) February 2, 2018