Review: Card Table Artifice

From The Star:

Ever wanted to be a card sharp or a Mississippi riverboat gambler? Then S.W. Erdnase’s The Expert at the Card Table is essential reading.

Known in magical circles simply as Erdnase, this much admired Bible of card manipulation was published in 1902 and, in detailed, polished and unemotional prose, exposes many tricks of the trade, including blind shuffles, bottom dealing, stocking and locating specific cards, palming and legerdemain.

The work inspired a string quartet with narration, written by composer Gavin Bryars and Spanish poet Juan, which premiered in 1997. And now Toronto magician David Ben has added yet another layer for the 2014 Luminato Festival.

Read more.

Take On Me with Rob Zabrecky

From Magicana:

Magicana is pleased to announce that one of our guest artists, Rob Zabrecky – the opening act for Card Table Artifice – will be a participant in Luminato’s Take On Me visual arts programme.

Take on Me is a partnership between the Luminato Festival and PATTISON Onestop as part of their ongoing Art in Transit program. Artists from outside Toronto (such as Rob Zabrecky from Los Angeles) are asked to create short videos that represent their work. In turn, artists from Toronto are asked to create a “response”. The video dialogues will be presented on platform screen across the TTC subway station platform screens before and during the Luminato Festival.

And when Rob Zabrecky is involved, you can be sure it will  be something worth watching!

Read more.

David Ben on News Talk 1010

From Magicana:

Want to hear more about our Transgressive Magic shows for the Luminato Festival? Tune in to CFRB’s @newstalk1010 on Saturday May 31 at 1:30PM when David Ben (@theconjuror) will be on the air revealing all kinds of secrets!

More Luminato 2013 reviews

From The Globe and Mail:

Monday evening: George Brown House, an Ontario heritage building situated just south of the University of Toronto, is named, of course, after the distinguished Father of Confederation and founder of The Globe, the newspaper that became the newspaper you are reading. Normally off-limits to the great unwashed, Brown’s stately home was the venue chosen by Luminato’s go-to magic man, David Ben, to showcase the extraordinary legerdemain of American magician Steve Cohen.

The setting proved an apt backdrop for Cohen’s act, which owes a considerable debt to Johann Hofzinser, the 19th-century Austrian known as the father of card magic. At New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Cohen’s unofficial home, he typically entertains audiences of no more than 50. For the Toronto cohort, only slightly larger, the diminutive Cohen – nattily attired in morning coat, waistcoat and striped trousers – deftly stick-handled his way through a series of jaw-dropping tricks, each seemingly more difficult than the last.

Read more.

From Mooney on Theatre:

I straightened my bowtie and tucked in my pocket square this evening to see Steve Cohen perform his show Chamber Magic at George Brown House for Luminato, where the dress code is as fancy as the attendees (let’s just say that for this evening anyhow, his sobriquet The Millionaires’ Magician was well deserved). The show, a classic parlour magic display designed for close audiences, sent me running home to the interwebs to try to figure out how some of his tricks had been performed. I’ll say only this: even online, magicians are pretty tight-lipped.

The pleasure of a magic show is in allowing yourself to be amazed – and it’s nice to be able to stay amazed. Cohen’s skills are really a pleasure to watch as he performs of variety of tricks that are indeed bewildering and delightful. You understand that, on some level, something must be happening somewhere you can’t see it, but that feels beside the point for a moment (except to the gentleman sitting a bit in front of me, who murmured his guesses to his companion frequently). When the card is turned or the glass fills with the correct colour of liquid, we in the audience both expect it and cannot fathom it.

Read more.

From Opus One Review:

We enjoyed being fooled. We pay good money to people who can trick us. We long for the impossible, and what Miguel Puga does is impossible, but there it is.

To help us catch him in his onstage trickery while we are seated in an auditorium, Sr. Puga shows some of his illusions live on a big screen, so we can scrutinize his hands. For openers,  he mixes a deck of cards, draws the Ace of Hearts out of the deck, mixes again and draws again, until he has ‘randomly’ drawn out all the hearts in sequence from deuce to King. While his assistant at the piano, Ms. Paz Sabater, plays Manuel de Fallas’ El Amor Brujo (Love, the Magician), Puga turns the cards face down and their backs spell out EL AMOR BRUJO. Impossible! How did he do it? I’ve no idea, but I want to see him do more ‘magic’. And he does.

Read more.

Reviews: Luminato 2013

From Musical Toronto:

Luminato failed to show its hand with the first of its magic-themed shows, which opened at Mazzoleni Hall on Friday night. The title is Concerto for Piano and Pasteboards. It’s a fine show.  But it has almost nothing to do with pianos and everything to do with card tricks.

It’s a short, sweet magic show where the assistant doesn’t mutely stand at the magician’s side in a sequined suit but plays a grand piano instead.

Read more.

From Torontoist:

When Miguel Puga first spoke after performing a couple of introductory card tricks, it was in part to apologize for his broken English. The Spaniard, known also as MagoMigue (yes, that’s pretty much Spanish for Magic Mike), may not have the greatest command of the language, but he then proceeded to prove his assertion, as trite as it may sound, that magic possesses a universal power that can transcend ordinary communication. Blessed with a naturally funny presence and an undeniable gift for showmanship, Puga’s expert card manipulations were every bit as impressive as the apparent telepathic abilities he put to good effect on more than one occasion.

Read more.

From The Star:

By Miguel Puga & Miguel Aparicio. Presented by Luminato. To June 16. Mazzoleni Hall, 273 Bloor St. W. 416-368-4849 (luminatofestival.com) 

The piano gets equal billing in Miguel Puga and Miguel Aparicio’s show Concerto for Piano & Pasteboards, being presented in the opening days of Luminato. But this is really all about 90 minutes of Puga’s magic tricks, not the art of the keyboard.

Read more.

[via Sharing Wonder]

Toronto: Lunchtime Illumination - Steve Cohen

From Light News:

Prestidigitation on the plate
By Steve Cohen, The Millionaire's Magician

(Appearing at Luminato Festival on June 19, as part of the Lunchtime Illumination series)

Meals, like live performances, have a beginning, a middle, and an end. A well-trained wait staff can treat each diner's meal as a performance and aim for the idea of "no dead time" as the evening unfolds - each moment something interesting should be happening, without the wait staff appearing overbearing or intrusive.

Read more.

Toronto: Lunchtime Illumination - Magicians David Ben & Steve Cohen

From Luminato Festival:

During this transformative discussion, Toronto-based master magician David Ben and the Millionaires' Magician, Steve Cohen, will be joined onstage by a molecular gastronomist and chef John Placko who knows a thing or two about magical effects in the kitchen. Magic happens every day, it is about believing what you see, taste, or smell. (David Ben advises that all who attend must swear a vow of secrecy!)

Read more.
 

To whet your appetite, have a look at David's interview in Light News:

I am interested in the secrets that transform common fare into the divine.

I have collected and explored these secrets for over thirty-five years and I have come to realize the secrets are what can be described as “tacit knowledge,” information, tips, and techniques that are difficult to describe, particularly to another person, but which are understood, and often discovered, by masters in any given field, craft, or art.

Read more.
 

[via Magicana]

Toronto: Maestros Of Magic

From Magicana:

In partnership with Luminato, Magicana is proud to present: Maestros Of Magic. 

Miguel Puga and Raefal Benatar give us the opportunity to experience magic for both the eyes and the ears; magic that confounds our logic and music that stirs our emotions. It is an unusual pairing, presented by Maestros of Magic. Steve Cohen, another Maestro, strikes a different chord, one that is as intimate as it is intriguing, performed in the ordinarily off-limits opulence of George Brown House.

Read more.

Luminato 2013 runs from June 14th to the 23rd.

Review: Banachek’s The Alpha Project

From The Toronto Review of Books:

Do certain individuals have the ability to see the future, to read the thoughts of others, or to communicate with the spirit world? Whatever your answers to these questions might be, in his show The Alpha Project an extraordinary performer named Banachek invites spectators into a universe where such superhuman feats are possible. At least, this is true for the first half of his one-man performance, which recently finished its world premiere.

Read more.

From the Dark: an interview with Juan Esteban Varela and Michael Weber

From Cadence Canada:

Cadence recently had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Juan Esteban Varela and Michael Weber, the incredible mind and director behind the astonishing illusionary production From the Dark, which makes its North American debut this weekend as part of the sixth annual Luminato Festival of Arts and Creativity. As part of the third joint venture between Luminato and the Canadian magic non-profit group Magicana—this year titled Mind over Matter—Varela’s show is one of the most unique magical productions to ever be staged, a production that involves blindfolding both the performer and the audience, to experience a wide breadth of classic magic tricks from a sightless perspective. A novel show and celebration of magic unlike any other, Varela’s show debuted in 2010 at the National Magic Congress in Madrid, Spain, and has since been spellbinding audiences around the world. Stemming from an idea that pegs the question of whether a person truly needs the sense of sight to reason, imagine, and be amazed, Varela’s From the Dark is a conceptual behemoth and an experience that will surely tanzilize the senses—minus those involving the eyes, of course—and promises to give the audience a show unlike any they’ve experienced before.

Read more.

Visit Magcana's website for more information about The Luminato Mind Over Matter magic series.

Richard Turner on The Morning Show

Watch this Global Toronto video of Richard Turner on The Morning Show:



Did you catch Richard at Luminato's Mind Over Matter?  There's still time!

Banachek: prediction results and show reviews

From The Star:

The surprise retirement of I’ll Have Another was there. The out-of-the-blue bid for the 2024 Olympics was there. The story on gang violence? There. He even had the feature article on Australian Aboriginals.


Read more.

From Torontoist:

For someone who makes his living performing feats of mentalism (telepathy, psychokinesis, hypnotism, seances, and dermaoptics, a.k.a. “the magic of sensing without sight”), British-born performer Banachek’s entire backstory is pretty unique. And given that the audience at last night’s opening night show was not short on skeptics—a handful of whom we spoke to during intermission, or casually eavesdropped on, and a number of whom were volunteers on the stage itself—it is the highest praise to say the entire audience left looking absolutely baffled, but also delighted.

Read more.

From Mooney on Theatre:

A lot of people believe in telepathy, psychokinesis, past life regression and ghosts. These people go to a magic show ready and willing to believe. Others, like me, are skeptics who go simply for entertainment. Banachek’s The Alpha Project, playing as part of Luminato, is a great show for the latter. I suspect it might be a bit confusing for the former. For both kinds of people (and those in between) it’s still a fun night.

Read more.

Banacheck predicts Saturday's news

From the Toronto Star:

Renowned U.K. mentalist Banachek has written down a few predictions of what he believes will appear as headlines on the front page of the Saturday Star on June 9 and sealed them in a glass box on display in the front window of Kiehl’s, a cosmetic/beauty products store at 407 Queen St. W.

Read more.

[h/t: Sharing Wonder]

Toronto: Banacheck predicts

From Sharing Wonder:

Last night at Kiehl’s on Queen Street, world-famous mentalist, BANACHEK, was spotted sealing a prediction – now on display – of headline news from The Toronto Star which will be revealed June 9.

Read more.

Toronto: Luminato Discount Offer

From Sharing Wonder:

Magic enthusiasts: a special offer* just for you!
We are presenting Mind Over Matter with Luminato and we have just arranged a special  10% discount.

Use this link to BUY and SAVE NOW

Or, call 416-368-4849/4TIX (Password MAGICANA).

Read more.

* This is a limited time offer only. Offer is valid until 11:59PM Sunday May 20, 2012 for online sales only. Phone lines are open Monday to Friday 11am – 7pm and Saturdays 11am to 3pm; the offer is only valid until 4pm on Saturday May 19, 2012.

Offer is subject to availability. Offer cannot be applied to previously purchased tickets or combined with any other offers or promotions.

Toronto: Call for volunteers

From Sharing Wonder:

Seeking volunteer magicians/performers for a Luminato show. No experience required.

Can the non-sighted experience the same sense of astonishment that those with sight feel when witnessing magic? For Chilean magician Juan Esteban Varela, anyone with an imagination can transform fantasy into reality. In From the Dark, he does just that. Each audience member is blindfolded, provided with a box of props and then, individually and collectively, directed by him to create magical feats. It is a unique and thrilling experience.

We are looking for volunteer magicians/performers to help make the magic happen!

Read more.

Please note that this is a Toronto-based opportunity.

Toronto: Luminato tickets on sale now

From Sharing Wonder:

Luminato tickets can now be purchased by the general public, bringing you one step closer to Toronto’s  electrifying festival.

Magicana is proud to present three enthralling, cutting-edge shows that will surely challenge the way you perceive the world.

Read more.

The Luminato Mind Over Matter magic series features Banachek, Richard Turner and Juan Esteban Varela.  Buy your tickets now!

Toronto: Luminato advance tickets

From Sharing Wonder:

We would like to extend the opportunity to buy advance tickets for Luminato 2012, before they go on sale to the general public on April 14.

From now to April 13, pre-sale tickets can be purchased online via the special BUY TICKETS links located throughout this blog (or by phone at 416-368-4849). Please use the code SEASONS for phone-based orders. Not only will you be able to purchase tickets for the magic programs (see below), but you will also have access to ALL Luminato ticketed events.

Read more.

Toronto: Luminato - Mind Over Matter

From Sharing Wonder:

For the 2012 Luminato Magic series – Mind Over Matter – we have invited three masters of the impossible – Banachek, Richard Turner and Juan Esteban Varela - to challenge the way we perceive the world and function within it.
Follow us and we will keep you updated on all our shows! For now, see David Ben’s – artistic director for Magicana –  magical video invitation.

The sixth edition of Luminato takes place from June 8–17, 2012.
Read more and find out when tickets will go on sale.

Read more about Luminato at the CBC.

Luminato in the press

• June 11 from torontoist.com:  A Magical Night Out at Luminato
• June 11 from Mooney on Theatre: Luminato 2011 Review – Natural Magick: David Ben (Produced in association with Magicana)
• June 13 from torontoist.com:  The High and Lows of Luminato's Opening Weekend
• June 14 from National Post:  Tricks Of The Trade