Goodbye to Perfect Magic -- the end of an era in Montreal

On Monday November 1st, after 45 years in the business, Perfect Magic closed up shop for the very last time.*

Phil and Evelyn Matlin started Perfect Magic as a mail-order company in Montreal in 1976.  Later they opened retail space in Montreal.

In 1979, they collaborated with C.W. Vermeys to launch the very first Magie Montréal convention!  Magie Montréal ran annually until 1998.

From 1993 to 2002, their son Brian ran a satellite store in Burnaby, B.C.

You may recall that Evelyn passed in July 2020.

Did you know that Phil is also a professional ragtime piano player?  Browse through his YouTube channel! I enjoy both of his CD's,  Ragtime Daze, and Ragtime Magic.

Thank you to Evelyn and Phil, for the wonderful contributions you've made to my life.  Phil, we wish you all the very best as you begin this new chapter in yours!

--
* Backorders and presales will be honoured.

And then there were two … (brick and mortar magic shops)

Just over a year ago we all put our heads down and did what needed to be done.  

While we were hunkered down, a big shift happened in the Canadian magic community.

We’re down to TWO dedicated brick and mortar magic shops.

• The Vanishing Rabbit went online only last May.
• Perfect Magic went online only late last year.
• Last month, Magie Spectram announced their intentions go operate online only.

From the October 1st, 2014 post “Why bother with a magic shop?” written by Evelyn Matlin wrote at the Perfect Magic blog:

It’s so easy to look up  what you want on line, find the cheapest price and order.  I can’t say that I blame anyone for doing that. But there may be a cost to the saving of money, especially in magic.

Click through to read Evelyn's thoughts on the matter.

A comment from the 2013/08/29 post "Goodbye to Morrissey Magic -- the end of an era in Toronto"

...travelling magician (travelling light) from British Columbia stuck for a surprise gig in Barrie last summer and Dan really got me out of a jam. He was a great guy...asked what I had for a budget (tight budget since I wasn't getting paid!) and set me up with great stage sized stuff that made my show a success...customer service like that doesn't exist on some internet site ...

Don't have brick and mortar shop in your area? Consider supporting one through their online shops. (I direct your attention to one of our sponsors The Browser's Den of Magic in Ontario, and to Clownin’ Around in BC.)

Over the past ten years roughly 85% of all brick and mortar magic shops in the world have closed.

We need to think about how we can support the two remaining brick and mortar shops in Canada, Browser's Den of Magic & Clownin’ Around.

Thank you Jeff at The Browser's Den of Magic, and Quincy at  Clownin’ Around, for your fabulous brick and mortar shops!

Spidey in The Suburban

From the February 10th post "Cohen in the City: Episode 46 – World renowned local mentalist and magician Spidey" by Mike Cohen in The Suburban:

Bedros Akkelian, better known as Spidey, is a proud resident of Laval who is gaining notice globally  for his profession as a mentalist and a magician.   He will be performing on a live Zoom broadcast for the Cummings Centre on Feb. 17 at 7:30 pm.   Barbara Zavalkoff, who chairs the committee that organizes these events, joins Spidey on this show. It includes a very emotional moment when Spidey learns about the passing of someone whom he held dear.

Read more and watch video.

 

 

From the February 9th Facebook post by The Society of American Magicians:

Spidey - Mentalist/Hypnotist is one of new stars in the magic world. He is part of the cast of Masters of Illusion, has performed on Penn and Teller: Fool Us and is part of Netflix's Brainchild. Like many entertainers, he has taken to the online world for shows during the pandemic. He took some time out to talk to The Suburban Newspaper about his work and upcoming shows.

 

 

Perfect Magic in the Montreal Gazette

A wonderful piece by Julie Matlin about her parents!



From the March 13th article "The magic of pursuing your dreams: father's bravery had a ripple effect" by Julie Matlin in the Montreal Gazette:

Phil and Evelyn Matlin, my parents, own a beloved Montreal institution called Perfect Magic. It is, fittingly, a magic shop that’s been serving the community for more than 43 years. Walk in and you’re likely to find amateur hobbyists alongside pros chatting about technique. Or a seasoned performer giving some tips to a kid just starting out. It’s a unique experience.

My dad is 83 now, and my mom is 79 and undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer, yet they still go to work every day. Whenever I ask them about retiring, my dad shakes his head. “What would I do?” he asks. They’re happy. And I’m happy for them. My dad followed a dream and it led them to not only run a business that supported a family with four children, but also left a lasting mark on the magic community at large.

It’s funny how we got here.

Read more.

Perfect Magic writes about Magicians Without Borders

From the December 21st post "Magicians Without Borders" by Evelyn Matlin at Perfect Magic:

You must have heard about Doctors Without Borders, well yesterday we had a visit from Magicians Without Borders, a non-profit organization founded by Tom Verner and Janet Fredericks. It was a real fun and fascinating day.  These people go around the world spreading magic. What fun that must be. Harry Chaucer  (on the right) was here with a friend. Harry is a magician without borders.

Here are a couple of photos. They’ve been all over the planet entertaining people. The audience seems to be enjoying it.  According to the literature they left me, they have been performing  since 2003 for one million children in many of the most war-torn, difficult places in the world like Haiti, Sudan, Burma, and Bangladesh as well as for veterans in the US.  They came up from Vermont to see us and it was fun and educational.

Read more.

Magic and the Mind

From the November 5th post "Magic and the Mind" by Evelyn Matlin at Perfect Magic:

As most of you know, I was treated for cancer, and had Chemo and a robotic operation and now I’m back and so far so good. I was anxious to get back to the shop. A new customer came in and I picked up Cardtoon to demo it and I had no idea how it worked. I asked Phil. He said, “I never did it. You always demo it.”  I put it aside.

When he left I sat down with the deck and for the life of me, I could not remember how to do it. I opened a new pack to read the instructions and it was so complicated I couldn’t understand it. Then I remembered that whoever bought it, I showed them how it worked because the instructions were so complicated I felt they would take it home and never use it. It’s such a simple trick so I took a few minutes and showed them the secret so they would never have to look at the instructions. Still I couldn’t remember it or follow the instructions.

Read more.

Montreal: Guy Camirand Day!

From the October 29th post "GUY DAY" at Perfect Magic:

Mark your calendars NOVEMBER 2ND FROM 10AM TO 1PM. 2019
GUY DAY CELEBRATION

We’re celebrating Guy Day. Yes we are having a special event at Perfect Magic and invite you to to be there. We are honouring Guy Camirand of the Camirand AcadeIMG_0129.jpgmy of Magic. Many of you were his students of magic and he would be thrilled to see you. Many of you may have purchased the excellent products that he and Gary Ouellet created. Guy said he is bringing a surprise, something new that should be of interest to you, but he didn’t tell me what it is.

Bring your kids with you and get them started in magic. I’m sure they’ll be entertained.

We’re having a STOREWIDE SALE for the occasion, so be sure to be here on this coming Saturday NOVEMBER 2nd from 10:00am to 1:00pm 2019   We look forward to seeing you.

Read more.

Update from Evelyn Matlin

If you have a moment, be sure to visit the Perfect Magic blog and leave Evelyn a comment, or send her an email with your good wishes.


From the June 10th post "Magic Sent Me Back To the Magic Shop" by Evelyn Matlin at the Perfect Magic blog:

Today I saw my doctor and he said everything was fine and I should be having my robotic operation next week or the following week at the latest. They do 2 robotic operations a day. If I’m the first, I go home the same day and if I’m the second, I sleep over at the hospital. Frankly I don’t care which it is, as long as I get it over with. I thank you all for your good wishes that you sent and appreciate them. If you get a chance, drop in and say hello.

Read more.

Sending healing thoughts to Evelyn Matlin

For those of you who don't already know, have a read of Evelyn Matlin's March 11th post "Who’s The Magician Here?" at the Perfect Magic blog.

So if any of you don’t know yet, and are wondering why I haven’t written anything since January, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the beginning of February. To make a long story as short as possible, I think you know that Phil broke his ankle in late December and was working at home all this time. I looked after the shop all of January. I was used to running up and down the stairs of the shop and would take parcels to send out at the Pharmaprix Post Office across the street. I thought nothing of it.

Then, in early February I noticed I was out of breath when I got to the top of the stairs.

Read more.

Without Perfect Magic, there may not have been a JP Parent to fool Penn and Teller!

How many brick and mortar magic store staff are responsible for stories like this one from JP Parent ...

From the October 10th article "A Note from Montreal Magician Jean-Pierre Parent Who Fooled Penn and Teller" by Evelyn Matlin at Perfect Magic:

One goes about ones business everyday, doing what they do, but once in a while something happens to lift your spirits. JP Parent  who fooled Penn and Teller https://youtu.be/_-P4wjAROok took the time to write to me and with his permission I am sharing it with you. This is what he wrote.

“I love your articles you post !

The last one about being in heaven when you walked in the shop was my favorite. Ms Evelyn, you prob would not remember this if I told you ,but you where the first person to perform a magic trick for me in a magic shop.

Read more.

Perfect Magic: Sale, sale, sale!

From the Perfect Magic blog:

Some of the items were on the last sale, but most of them are not. The items are at least 50% discount, most are 60% discount, and some are more. It lasts until July 31, 2018 or before if items are sold out, so order now if there’s something you want.

You may not be interested in the items I listed ON SALE, but surely you’ll find something of interest in 1561 items. So this is what I decided to do. I’m attaching the complete list without prices. If there’s anything you want, send Perfect Magic an email of your list, up to 10 items, and I will send you their Sale Price and you can decide if you want them or not and we can make arrangements for payment from there.  You can buy more than 10 items of course, but it would be hard for me to be looking up lists for 100 items at a time. You can send another 10 after you get my reply if you’re interested in more stuff.

Read more then snag your deal at Perfect Magic!

Perfect Magic wants to know "When and Where Did You First See Magic?"

From the July 12 post "When and Where Did You First See Magic?" at the Perfect Magic blog:

There were all kinds of rides and shows on the fairway, such as Freak Shows, House of Mirrors, and a Magic show and more. To entice you to go to the magic show, there was an elevated platform with a magician who had an Arm Chopper and an assistant.  Other guillotines and choppers, cut the carrot as the blade comes down, but not the  person’s head. With the Arm Chopper you actually see the arm fall into the basket. 27.jpgIt is a wonderful illusion especially when done with a volunteer from the audience.  It’s still popular today as it’s easily portable as it sits on any table. It still is as clear to me as the day I saw it.

Read more and let them know "When and Where Did You First See Magic?"

Why the big sale at Perfect Magic?

From the May 26th post "Why The Big Sale At Perfect Magic?" at the Perfect Magic blog:

There is a huge sale at Perfect Magic. Why? Because Murphy’s Magic, a wonderful supplier of ours, has a huge sale and we are passing the saving on to you. Some of the items on our sale have a discount of over 80%. Perhaps its spring cleaning time. There are many wonderful items on this special which ends June 1. There are over 1700 items but I only put a sampling up and I’ll continue putting things up until June 1.

Read more.

Perfect Magic wants to know your favourite magic trick

From Perfect Magic:

People often ask me when they come into the shop “What’s your favourite magic trick?” You may think my answer is ridiculous after all the tricks I have in the shop, but it’s the ...

Read more and let them know your favourite in their comments!

Pro-tip from Perfect Magic

From Perfect Magic's February 14 blog post titled "What Every Magician Should Know":

The other day I got a call from an old customer, a good magician I’m told by those who have seen him perform, and he wanted a certain electronic device. We had it in stock. He took a long drive to get to our shop as he wanted it right away and he’s from out of town.

I got a call from him today asking if we had another one in stock. I said yes. He asked if we would try it out to see if it worked. We did and it did. He said his didn’t.

“Strange,” I said. “Did you put a battery in?”

“Of course,” he replied.

Read more.

Isn't this how everyone picks a post-secondary school?

From the December 19 article "The Things We Do For Love (of Magic)" by Evelyn Matlin at the Perfect Magic blog:

So here’s the story. Before Christmas Stephane came to our shop for  supplies. He was talking to Phil at this point, as I was with another customer so I don’t know how the topic came up,  but I caught a bit of the conversation and later got the whole story. Stephane told us when he graduated from CEGEP, he was accepted by four Universities. He told his father he wanted to go to the Polytechnique  Montréal. His father said, “Why do you want to go there? You can go to any University, you can go to McGill!” and Stephane said he made up some excuse that he told his father and that’s where he went.

He said “Very few people know this but I chose it because ...

Read more.

Canadians remember Eugene Burger

From Perfect Magic:

Eugene Burger was special, as a magician and as a person. The first and most important memory I have of him was when he came to Montreal to lecture for Magie Montréal. It was many years ago and I was not that into magic at the time, but I went to the lecture to help Phil and Vim Vermeys with registration, etc.  and stayed of course for the lecture.

Anyone at that lecture learned valuable lessons. I don’t rememberphil-eugene-and-tom one trick that he did. It wasn’t about the tricks, it was about performing. Every word was well thought out and had a reason for being there. His jokes were not to get a laugh, which they got, but as he explained, when you laugh you close your eyes for a second and that’s all the time he needed to do what he had to do in front of your eyes.

Read more.

From Derek Selinger's Facebook page:



From Lawrence Larouche's Facebook page:




From Ben Train's Facebook page:



From the Facebook page for Michael Close:



From Shawn Farquhar's Facebook page:




Visit the Eugene Burger Memorial Page, McBride Magic & Mystery School on Facebook.

McCord Museum: Magic, music, and dance

From Perfect Magic:

If you haven’t been to the McCord Museum this summer it’s worth going to. Not your usual museum exhibition. It’s called ILLUSIONS – The Art of Magic and Luc Langevin is the ambassador of the exhibit. It’s the Allan Slaight collection, which was acquired by the McCord with the help of the Emmanuelle Gattuso Foundation.  A tip of the Top Hat to the people who designed it.. Phil and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

We were invited by magician Dr. Joe Culpepper, magician, scholar, consultant and friend and customer of Perfect Magic. Before the guided tour, we were treated to a magic show, in a lovely little theatre there, given by the young students, who attended the McCord Museum Camp, Abracadabra, who were guided and taught by Joe and the counsellors. The kids did a great job and they all knew how to take a bow when the applause came.

So what’s the link between magic and music?

Read more.

Jeff says thanks to everyone for their support of the Browser's Den.

Special guest shouts out to: Kind of Magic's Phil Cox, Perfect Magic's Phil & Evelyn Matlin as well as past president of the IBM and head of the Canadian Association of Magicians – Joan Caesar.

From Len Cooper's family: Bernice, Len's wife, as well as his children Jack and Heather Cooper are here too! Len would have absolutely adored this!

Today's Zone performers: Al Grose, Arthur Poon, Morgan Pierce, Alex Boyer, Derick Finn, and Rosemary Reid!

Montreal: Masters of Spectacular

January 26th.  With Marc Trudel!

From Evelyn Matlin's Facebook page:

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