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.
Sawyer reached out to us through the Tony Eng Youth Fund.
At 16, his passion for magic appears to have no bounds and magic has
enriched his life for the last four years. We provided Sawyer, a
community-driven young man teeming with leadership qualities, a bursary
to help him attend the Canadian Association of Magicians (CAM) 2012
convention. In his application, Sawyer expressed a heartfelt desire to
meet Vancouver-based magician and President of CAM, Shawn Farquhar. We
were pleased to provide Sawyer with the grant to achieve this goal and
to also compete in the magic competitions at CAM.
This year there is a special addition to the convention where youth were
invited from around the globe to compete in a contest that is endorsed
by FISM. This is the first contest of it’s kind and representing Canada
is Sawyer Bullock of Ontario.
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!
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.
In the Super Session Workshop Paul Gertner will teach four of his favorite routines straight from his professional close-up show and his corporate speaking program. These are routines that are audience tested that Paul has NEVER taught before. At the Workshop you will be learning routines that Paul has used to make a living as one of the world’s leading corporate magicians for the past 35 years. These routines are not part of Paul’s standard magic lecture and are featured only as part of his Super Session Workshop Series. The only thing we ask is that you keep the routines you learn in this workshop for your use only.
Since the program’s inception in 2004, we have run 94 sessions in different centres throughout the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) engaging 1,670 participants, 584 volunteers and interacting with 5,695 community members. The program continues today thanks to the generous support of our title sponsor, Slaight Communications.
Who was S.W. Erdnase? Most likely, anyone reading this knows this name as the pseudonym used by the author of "The Expert at the Card Table" which is arguably one of the most important books ever written on sleight of hand with cards. On this episode of the "Spirit of Magic" podcast, I am joined by David Ben & Julie Eng of Magicana and the publishers of Magicol.
The exhibition, created by Jason England and Julie Eng, showcases the legendary book, The Expert at the Card Table - by the mysterious, S.W. Erdnase – and the book’s perpetual appearance in print for over a century. While exploring the numerous variants, both here and abroad, the exhibition also highlights the slew of ancillary discourse, publications and products Erdnase has inspired.
You will now have a chance to see Murray and Teresa this summer in, An Incredible Evening of Magic, which will be presented every weekend in July and August in Victoria, BC, at the beautiful Victoria Conference Centre Theatre. It is a must-see show featuring some of Murray & Teresa’s signature routines. You won’t be disappointed.
CBC is a media sponsor of Luminato, Toronto's Festival of Arts and Creativity. One of the shows this year is Natural Magick . It features magician David Ben. David is also artistic director of Magicana , an organization dedicated to the study and exploration of magic as a performing art. He joined Mary to talk about the allure of magic and his own powers of prestidigitation.
Magicana’s artistic director, David Ben, was invited to perform on Discovery Channel’s Daily Planetto commemorate co-host, Jay Ingram’s Last Show. The one-hour special also features memorable moments from Ingram’s sixteen years as the show’s co-host.
