Murray SawChuck received the Society of American Magician's Presidential Citation

Congratulations Murray!  Well deserved!  

 

From the August 17th Facebook post by Murray SawChuck:

Super honored to receive this from the Society Of American Magicians! Thank you Rod Chow

 

 

 

 

Matt Johnson received the Society of American Magician's Presidential Citation

Congratulations Matt!  Well deserved!

 

From the July 26th Facebook post by Matt Johnson:

I’m absolutely floored to find out that I was just awarded a presidential citation by the president of the Society of American Magicians at the annual magic conference in New Orleans!!!
I had NO IDEA this was coming😮😮😮
I am BEYOND HONOURED ❤️🙏

Connie Boyd received the Society of American Magician's Presidential Citation

Congratulations Connie!  Well deserved!

 

From the August 23rd Instagram post by Connie Boyd:

✨I am #honoured & #grateful to receive a Presidential Citation, issued by the National President @rodchowmagic  #thankyou so much 💋

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Magical Women (@themagicalwomen)

 

 

 

Julie Eng received the Society of American Magician's Presidential Citation

Congratulations Julie!  Well deserved!

From the August 18th Instagram post by Julie Eng:

What an honour! I am so humbled to be recognized with the Society of American Magician's Presidential Citation issued by National President, Rod Chow, on July 23, 2023. I'm deeply touched by the acknowledgement, and thank both Rod and the SAM committee for the honour. I will always work toward furthering the art in the best way I can! Thank you for this wonderful recognition of work to date!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Julie Eng (@magicienne)

 

 

 

 

Matt Johnson awarded presidential citation at SAM convention

Congratulations Matt!

 

From the July 26th Tweet by Matt Johnson:

I’m absolutely floored to find out I was just awarded a presidential citation by the president of the Society of American Magicians at the magic annual conference in New Orleans! I had NO IDEA this was coming😮 SO HONOURED ❤️🙏

 

I’m absolutely floored to find out I was just awarded a presidential citation by the president of the Society of American Magicians at the magic annual conference in New Orleans!
I had NO IDEA this was coming😮
SO HONOURED ❤️🙏#humbled #nevergiveup pic.twitter.com/jYRBGhdIfC

— Matt Johnson - Illusionist & Escape Artist (@likemattjohnson) July 27, 2023

 

 

 

Rod Chow on CBC Radio and at CTV News

Updated at 10am to add:

• Listen to Rod's August 11th interview by Stephen Quinn on CBC Radio.
  

 

From the August 11th article "Vancouver man the first non-American to be president of magicians' society" by Kendra Mangione at CTV News:

A Vancouver man is the first outside of the United States to be made president of a very specific group: the Society of American Magicians.

Rod Chow follows in the footsteps of greats like escape artist Harry Houdini.

He said it all started with card tricks, then his act expanded to include money. His website describes him as a "master money manipulator" who is "sophisticated, stunning and sensational."

The magician who's often found performing at the Richmond Night Market or around Vancouver's Chinatown seems to have caught the attention of his peers.

Read more.

 

 

Congratulations Billy Hsueh and Rod Chow

Congratulations to:

• Billy Hsueh, incoming President of the IBM, and
• Rod Chow, incoming President of SAM

 

From Joe Turner's July 1st Facebook post:

Congratulations to the Vancouver Magic Circle, IBM Ring #92, and to my friends Billy Hsueh and Rod Chow for becoming International President of the IBM and National President of the SAM, respectively. Two great guys, and one fantastic Ring. This commemorative congratulatory ad produced by Ring 92 is wonderful. Well done, all!

 

 

Free Virtual SAM Gala Show [June 11]

From Michael Likey's June 8th Facebook post:

Via Anthony Darkstone, President of The S.A.M International Assembly :

Here is the Zoom link for our 11 June Gala Show. There is no charge and all are welcome to attend. Magicians and lay people. This is a historic Gala honoring Rod Chow & is jam-packed with superb talent and several notable International names as surprise Guests with cameo performances.

Get ready for an unforgettable experience. It will be Hosted by myself and incoming S.A.M President Rod Chow.

 

Rod Chow: owner of the World's Narrowest Commercial Building

Updated at 9am to add:

•  Next year, Rod will be the first Canadian president of the Society of American Magicians!
  

 

From the May 25th article "Built on a bet. Owner of world-famous Chinatown building says, despite pandemic, he's here to stay"  by Ashley Moliere in the CBC News:

The Jack Chow Insurance building, also known as the Sam Kee building, was built on a bet, according to its owner Rod Chow.

In the early 1900s, businessman Chang Toy bought a standard 30-foot lot at the corner of Pender and Carrall streets.

But the City of Vancouver needed to widen one of the streets, so it expropriated 24 feet of the land leaving him with only six feet.

"No one thought he could do anything with it," said Chow.

...


The structure at 8 West Pender Street is also the world's narrowest commercial building, according to the Guinness Book of World Records


Read more and watch video.

 

[via Shawn Farquhar]

 

--

Which puts the total of Canadian World Record holding magicians to fourteen! 

• Doug The Great:  Heaviest Stilts Mastered.  [Guinness World Record]
• Scott Hammell:  Highest Suspension Straight Jacket Escape. [Guinness World Record]
• Lucas Wilson:  Fastest Suspension Straight Jacket Escape. [Guinness World Record - 2011]
• Carisa Hendrix:  Longest duration fire torch teething. [Guinness World Record - 2012]
• Michael Francis:  Most one-handed coin rolls in a minute. [Guinness World Record - 2013]
• Mark Correia:  Longest Amount of Time Wearing a Straitjacket. [World Record - 2014] 
• The Sentimentalists:  (Chris Mysterion and Steffi Kay) Most items transferred from one mentalist to another.  [World Record - 2017] 
• Gordon Precious:  Oldest heli-skier [World Record - 2019]
• Big Trick Energy: (Led by Chris Ramsay, Eric Leclerc, Wes Barker, and Alex Boyer) The largest online video chain of people performing a magic trick.  [Guinness World Record - 2021]
  
• Rod Chow:  Owner of the World's Narrowest Commercial Building  [Guinness World Record]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canadians competing at IBM SAM 2017

A little bird has told me that four Canadians will be competing at the upcoming IBM-SAM Combined Convention.

Keep an eye out for Philippe Theriault, Nicky Circelli, and Nicolas Dutel (stage), and Chris Bruce (close up) who all made the preliminary judges’ selection to compete for IBM and SAM prizes plus a chance to obtain a spot to compete at FISM 2018 in South Korea!

Joan Caesar is  a co-chair of the competition, along with Vinny Grosso, Past President of the SAM.

Break a leg Canada!



[With thanks to Joan Caesar for sending me the information.]

Canadians at IBM SAM 2017

The IBM-SAM Combined Convention is coming up July 12th to 15th!

Canadian roll call please!

So far, I've got:

• Julianna Chen (stage and lecture), 
• Jay Sankey (close-up and lecture), 
• Murray Hatfield and Teresa (stage and lecture), and 
• The Outerbridges (stage and lecture).

Who'd I miss?


From Ted Outerbridge's Facebook page:

Shawn Farquhar in The Magic Compass' top 20

A friendly reminder that this is the last day to nominate a Canadian magicians for the 2016 "Readers' Choice Inspirational Canadian Magician of the Year" award!

From The Magic Compass:

Before we look ahead to a new year we thought we would once again look back at the 20 top magic news stories, posts and viral videos of 2016. This list was compiled from the most popular posts from magic related Facebook pages, YouTube sites, Twitter, Reddit, The Magic Compass and other social media. Some of the things that made this list surprised us. Other stories that we liked a lot didn’t gain any traction at all.

Read more. 

From Shawn Farquhar's Facebook page:

Shawn Farquhar RVP for SAM Canada

Congratulations Shawn!

From Shawn Farquhar's Facebook page:

I am happy and honored to announce I am the new RVP for the SAM for Canada. As the founder of SAM #95, a thirty year member, Dean of my Assembly and life time member #363 I look forward to working to make the SAM's presence in Canada bigger and better.

Read more and have your say.

Random thoughts on "Outerbridge Clockwork Mysteries"

I had the pleasure of seeing Marion and Ted Outerbridge perform their show "Clockwork Mysteries" last month.  They had just completed a 5,500 mile US lecture tour.  I caught them at the Milton Centre for the Arts.

[As an aside, I encourage you to go and see a show at this fabulous 500 seat theatre.  It's approximately 25 minutes west of Toronto's western border.  The facilities are modern and spacious.  On the lower level, it appears that all seats have amazing sight lines.  (I didn't venture up to the balcony.)  The seats are a little bit wider than standard theatre seats, which makes them very comfortable!  They offer amenities like a coat check (by donation) and the ability to pre-order intermission refreshments.  Best of all, parking is free and plentiful.]

Here are some random thoughts that came to mind while watching their amazing time travel themed show:

• A fast paced, extremely entertaining, high-energy show.
• All illusions, big and small, were masterfully performed.
• Greta the Psychic Goose earns her keep.
• There is a nice ratio of grand illusion, intimate magic, and mentalism.
• I really enjoy watching "assistants" do magic in their own right.  Marion owns it!
• Those of you who know me well, know that my opinion of magicians is heavily weighted on how they treat their audience members.  One of my favourite moments in the show, lasted no more than 2 seconds.  Ted walked into the audience to select a volunteer.  He found someone he wanted to bring on stage.  She said, "no."  Instead of cajoling or otherwise pressuring her, he simply moved on and found someone else.  That's how you make the audience feel like you can be trusted to treat them right.  Show people respect from the get go.
• Ted has a knack for picking awesome audience volunteers.  Six year old Archer was a really good sport and owned that stage!
• Nine year olds can't be trusted to count down from 90.
• Ted's disco ball jacket is a thing of sheer beauty!
• I love that audiences in 2016, still enjoy watching someone get sawed in half, into halves, into two pieces.  
• Among other wonderful pieces, we were treated to: "The Psychic is Right,"  "The Time Machine," "Alarm Clock," "Floating Barricade Light," "Outside of the Box," and their elegantly performed "Levitation."
• The biggest mystery of the night for me:  How does Marion manage all of those costume changes?

If you get a chance to see them perform their show "Clockwork Mysteries," go and see it!

(If you're at the upcoming CAM convention, you'll get a taste of their show in the Grand Gala performance at the CAMaraderie Convention/Festival de magie de Québec on April 23, 2016.  They're also scheduled to perform at SAM New York's "2016 Salute to Magic" on May 7th.)

To learn more about this fabulous duo, listen to the Scott Wells' podcast 278: The Inner Secrets of the Outerbridges or visit their website at www.outerbridgemagic.com.

Disclosure:  My family and I were guests at this show. The opinions expressed above are entirely my own. I did not receive compensation for the writing or the publishing of this article.

Review: Michael Close reviews "The Experts"

Read Michael Close's thoughts on "The Experts" from the July issue of MUM Magazine.

From Sharing Wonder:

Mark Twain said a classic is a book that people praise and don’t read, a definition that certainly applies to The Expert at the Card Table by S.W. Erdnase. Dai Vernon was the primary champion of the book; his approach to card handling, shaped by Erdnase’s philosophy and techniques, astonished everyone. Vernon shared his insights to the members of the New York inner circle, and years later even offered personal lessons on the techniques (a project abandoned because of too few interested parties). Charlie Miller and Ross Bertram (in Canada) were also exponents of Erdnase.

Read more.

Shawn Farquhar awarded the SAM Patriot and Heroism medal and plaque

Congratulations Shawn!

From Shawn Farquhar's Facebook page:

Honoured, proud and humbled to be awarded the SAM Patriot and Heroism medal and plaque. #ibmprez #keepcalmandperformmagic #sharingmymagic #shawnfarquhar
Posted by Shawn Farquhar on Friday, 3 July 2015

Thirty seconds with Dan Wiebe

This is the first in a series of "Thirty seconds with ..." interviews, so called because I approached the interviewees at Sorcerers Safari Magic and Performance Arts Camp last summer with the idea that I would interview them for 30 seconds.  Little did they know ...

Semi-professional magician, Dan Wiebe, from Winnipeg Manitoba, is one of the first faces I remember meeting at my first visit to Sorcerers Safari.   Dan is super friendly and has a great sense of humour.  His son Graham previously attended camp for over half a dozen years.  Dan's been an instructor with the camp for seven years.

FUN FACT:
Dan would rather watch Star Trek: The Next Generation, than Star Wars.


DID YOU KNOW?
Dan's most embarrassing magical moment was during a performance as "Alex R. O'Leif," when he blanked on the script after recognizing a student as an audience member.

Dan loves that Sorcerers Safari as a fun place to be.  He's a big part of making it that way.  His classes are practical, patiently taught, entertaining and creative.  For the very young kids with shorter attention spans, he'll sometimes get them to do a little craft that gets incorporated into the routine he teaches.  While helping set-up last year's camper show, he made sure that all of the kids would be showcased and their talents highlighted in a lighthearted and entertaining way.  (Who can forget the sight of one of the smallest performers choosing what had to be the tallest volunteer?)  Dan's first memory of magic dates back to about ten years of age, when he watched someone make an "invisible flea" fly onto a piece of paper.

Dan is a 13 year instructor with the Society of Young Magicians (youth chapter of the Society of American Magicians).  His advice for young magicians:  "Practise."

When not in a magical mood, you're likely to find Dan at a computer.

From Becky Wells' Facebook page:

Post by Fireside Productions.

For more information about the Society of Young Magicians in Winnipeg:

Post by James Carey Lauder.

Guarantee your spot at #MagicCamp Aug.15-19 2015. Tell your parents registration is on your wish list - it's now open at sorcererssafari.ca
— Sorcerers Safari (@SorcerersSafari) December 22, 2014

Canadians at the World Championships of Magic

Updated July 10 to add this article from The Now Newspaper:

NORTH DELTA — A North Delta couple was crowned “North American Champions of Stage Magic” after traveling to St. Louis last week for the International Brotherhood of Magicians, Society of American Magicians and North American F.I.S.M. Championships Combined Convention.

Trevor and Lorena Watters met while studying at Douglas College, and now the couple, who reside in North Delta, perform comedy magic routines together, competing at an international level.  

Read more.

Congratulations to Shin Lim and Lorena & Trevor Watters on their successes at the IBM/SAM competitions!  Wishing you all the best at the FISM World Championships next July.  (Visit the IBM website to read the full list of contest winners.)

From The Province:

Trevor Watters has a magic touch with women.

On one of his first dates with an 18-year-old named Lorena, Watters invited her back to his parents’ house in Delta.

Some men might have chatted a bit before quickly moving to hanky-panky. Not Watters.
He had placed a large illusionist’s box in the living room. He invited Lorena to climb into it so he could stick 12 swords into her.

Read more.

From the Edmonton Journal and CTV News:

Three Canadians from the Vancouver-area will represent North America at the World Championships of Magic in Italy next summer.

Trevor and Lorena Watters, a North Delta couple, beat six other finalists to win the North American Stage Magic Championship in St. Louis this weekend.

Vancouver-born Shin Lim will represent North America under the category of magic acts performed to a small audience without a stage.

Read more.

Breaking news from IBM/SAM

Updated July 5th to add the official announcement from Trevor and congratulations from the Vanishing Rabbit and Clive Court:

Post by Trevor Watters.

Post by Clive Court.

Happy to announce that Lorena and Trevor Watters are the North American F.I.S.M. Stage Champions! Congrats you guys you totally deserve it

— Vanishing Rabbit (@VanishingRabbit) July 5, 2014

From Murray Hatfield's Twitter feed:

So happy for our friends Trevor and Lorena Watters. Congratulations on winning first at the IBM/SAM and showing the world how great you are!
— Murray Hatfield (@MurrayHatfield) July 4, 2014

Congratulations  Lorena and Trevor!!!

IBM/SAM Competition Finals update

Thanks for the update Jen!  Way to go Lorena and Trevor!

From Jen Segal's Facebook page:

Post by Jen Segal.