Watch on Tubi.
From the July 24th Instagram post by Dean Gunnarson:
I just found out my TV series Escape Or Die can be watched on tubitv.. Watch as me and my crew travel around the world and i attempt some pretty daring escapes... let me know how you like it. 💀 ☠️ https://tubitv.com/series/300000904/escape-or-die?start=true
From the June 26th Instagram post by Dean Gunnarson:
I don't promote all my shows but I thought I would share this show happening Saturday July 15 at the Elkhorn Resort in beautiful Riding Mountain National Park. It's so very close to home.... 2 shows . One kids show and one more adult originated. Both are Family fun. Hope to see you there ❤️
From the June 20th Facebook post by Dean Gunnarson:
Updated March 30th to add a CGT teaser using Dean's audition.
Congratulations Ben, Christian, and Dean, on fantastic auditions!
Watch video of Ben's audition at the bottom of this post.
Watch episode two of Canada's Got Talent at CityTV.com to see clips of the auditions by Christian and Dean.
Some of Dean's audition from the February 13th post at the Canada's Got Talent Facebook page:
From the March 28th upload "19-Year-Old MAGICIAN Magic Ben’s Audition Freezes Judge Lilly Singh" on the Canada's Got Talent YouTube channel:
Growing up in a small Inuit community in Northern Quebec, Benjamin was stunned after seeing his first magic act at age 9. Since then, he’s been mastering his sleight-of-hand. What results is an audition that stuns the judges with up-close magic precision, but it’s his finale that leaves Lilly completely frozen!
Next in the the series of Canada's Got Talent contestants is Onanole's Dean Gunnarson!
Who from the escapology community inspires you?
Thank you Dean, for making the time to answer our questions! Break a leg on CGT!
Learn more about Dean at his website AlwaysEscaping.com or follow him on Instagram.
Was that Dean hanging upside down and on fire at the end of last week's episode? Tune in next Tuesday to find out!
Learn more at the Canada's Got Talent website.
From the March 7th media release "Canada’s Got Talent Reveals This Season’s Showstopping Acts, Premiering March 21 on Citytv" at Globe Newswire:
ALBERTA
ATSUSHI ONO – Magic Act, Calgary
BRITISH COLUMBIA
WILL STELFOX – Magic Act, Vancouver
MANITOBA
DEAN GUNNARSON – Stunt, Onanole
ONTARIO
CHRISTIAN MASCIA – Magic Act, Stoney Creek
RICHARD FORGET – Magic Act, Whitby
QUEBEC
JP PARENT – Magic Act, Montreal
YUKON TERRITORY
MAGIC BEN – Magic Act, Whitehorse
On June 6th, Dean Gunnarson participated in a rededication of a plaque at the building where it all started over 100 years ago.
From the June 5th article, "Winnipeg still a magic city 100 years after international organization’s founding" by Sam Thompson at Global News:
Internationally-known illusionist and comedy magician Brian Glow says the brotherhood, which is the largest organization of magicians in the world, was founded in Winnipeg in 1922.
The city’s long history of magic — which includes a 1923 performance by the legendary Harry Houdini, who escaped from a straightjacket 30 feet above a downtown building — is largely due to its geographic location.....
Although the brotherhood became so popular that it moved to the U.S. less than a decade after its founding, Gunnarson said the city has a long history of famed magicians to this day — from himself and Glow to the likes of Doug Henning, Darcy Oake, and Greg Wood.
“Sometimes we don’t appreciate things in our own backyard… and Winnipeg has such a vibrant, rich history of politicians, entertainers — and of course magic,” Gunnarson said.
From the June 6th article "'The magic city': 100th anniversary of International Brotherhood of Magicians marked in Winnipeg, where it all started" by Devon McKendrick at CTV News Winnipeg:
IBM was started by three magicians, including Len Vintus, who is from Transcona, in 1922, and now the organization has around 15,000 members with local groups in more than 88 countries.
"He created the world's largest magic organization with no computer, no smartphone, no fax machine, all with a typewriter and a mimeograph machine," said Dean Gunnarson, who is a Winnipeg escape artist.
The IBM was created to connect magicians who lived outside major cities and were unable to attend magic club meetings."(Vintus) promoted magic, the City of Winnipeg, the Province of Manitoba. He was a real ambassador for this city and province and, of course, magic."
From the June 29th article "World’s largest magic club celebrates 100th anniversary, Winnipeg roots" by Cody Sellar in the Free Press Community Review:
To celebrate the anniversary, local members held a ceremony at the original headquarters on June 6, recreating the unveiling of the 1986 historical building plaque by setting the veil ablaze.
Transconian Melvin McMullen, better known by the stage name Len Vintus, founded the organization in 1922 at the age of 19. He rented an office on the seventh floor of the building at Main Street and William Avenue and set to work.
“He was absolutely driven. Wore a suit and tie and vest every day of his life that I knew him, until he went to the hospital with a stroke,” said Dean Gunnarson, a Winnipeg escape artist who became friends with McMullen until his death in 1999....
The Winnipeg ring has now morphed into the Magic Club of Winnipeg, run in part by brotherhood member Carey Lauder. He’s helped teach a host of young magicians, including Darcy Oake. He said for some kids, magic provides a crucial confidence boost.
“It’s like kid Toastmasters,” he said, citing parents who told him their children gained the self-assurance to speak up in class and other such things.
Lauder, who also works at the magic counter at Toad Hall Toys, said McMullen’s legacy is a point of pride for the Winnipeg magic community.
...
Gunnarson said his tombstone is carved in the shape of the province and inscribed with the title: “Mr. Manitoba.”
From the May 29th Facebook post by the Magic Club of Winnipeg:
Upcoming events!! Hope you can get out.
After the Monday June 6th plaque ceremony, we are heading over to the King's Head. Please pass on to any friends who may not be getting our posts.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!!!
International Brotherhood of Magicians (I.B.M.) 100th Anniversary
The International Brotherhood of Magicians will be celebrating it’s 100th Anniversary with a variety of events in Winnipeg.
On Monday, June 6th , also known as Magic Day, a plaque rededication will be taking place at 1:00pm on the corner of William and Main. (Originally dedicated on June 6th, 1986 with Doug Henning and Mayor Bill Norrie)
A display on the history of I.B.M. is currently up at the Millennium Library until mid June.
There will also be an I.B.M. lecture at the Transcona Museum, date to be announced.
The International Brotherhood of Magicians (I.B.M.)was founded February 10, 1922 in Winnipeg, Manitoba by Len Vintus (stage name of Melvin Justus Given McMullen) of Transcona, Manitoba, Gene Gordon (a.k.a. Gordon Avery) of Buffalo, New York, and Don Rogers (a.k.a. Ernest Schieldge). The I.B.M. was started by magicians living outside the major cities, who were unable to attend magic club meetings, and who kept in contact by post.
The International Brotherhood of Magicians (I.B.M.) is an organization for both professional and amateur close-up and stage magicians, with approximately 15,000 members worldwide. The headquarters is in St. Charles, Missouri. There are over 300 local groups, called Rings, in more than 88 countries, largely concentrated in cities of the United States and Canada. The organization publishes a monthly periodical entitled The Linking Ring, which features tricks, coverage of shows and events in the magic community, and interviews with magicians.
Winnipeg has a vibrant magic community and history with many internationally famous magicians having started in our great city.
Just to name a few;
- Doug Henning who it’s has been said brought a whole new era to the world of magic
- James Cielen an I.B.M. Gold Medal winner
- Dean Gunnarson World’s Most Daring Escape Artist
- Brian Glow a touring corporate Magician
- Darcy Oake top finalist on Britain’s Got Talent
- Other local magicians that played an important part in Winnipeg’s magic history;
- Mel Stover, Ray Starr, Gene Shelley, Terry Greenwood, Joe Kaufert, Ivar Roberts aka Richard Haldane, Greg Wood, Sean Fields and Anders Boulanger who have made a living performing magic locally and throughout Canada.
Listen to the February 12th episode "International Brotherhood of Magicians celebrating 100th anniversary!"
Facebook posts with photos from Dean Gunnarson's Halloween Houdini escape last Saturday.
Photos by James Carey Lauder.
From the October 29th Facebook post by Dean Gunnarson:
This Halloween I will get locked up in 8 sets of police handcuffs from different countries. The handcuffs will represent that Parent Alienation affects millions of children and parents around the world. I will then be locked inside a metal coffin that will be bound and locked with heavy chains and maximum-security locks. The coffin is symbolic because the effects of Parent Alienation slowly kills a loving and caring parent and keeps a child away from half a loving and caring family. This escape from the handcuffs and metal coffin is not life threatening but extremely challenging, painful, and enduring. Imagine your self locked and chained inside a metal coffin and what would you do ???
This escape has never been attempted before by anyone!
The escape event will start at 1 pm and the escape will happen about 1:26 pm October 31, the same time Houdini died in 1926. Because of Covid my location is Not being released to the general public as a public event. It will be for media only. Safe distancing and Covid rules will be asked to be upheld. The location is near downtown Winnipeg in a safe open historic area with free parking. Media can even record the event from their own vehicles.
On October 29, 1987, escape artist Dean Gunnarson recreated Houdini's 1915 suspended straitjacket escape in Los Angeles to promote the live Halloween television special, The Search for Houdini. Dean was introduced as James Randi's protege, and Randi was on hand to assist in the stunt.
Read more.
26, 27 & 28 April 2018
Such international grandiloquent wizardry event will take place for the first time in Bangladesh with the spur-of-the-moment participation of world-renowned magicians like Safir Ullah Sikder, Dean Gunnarson, Ariann Black, Fukai, Albert Tam, Mamada, Bond Lee, Ma Yan Yan, Keanu Ho, Dr. Man, Myungjoon Lee, Lee Jei Min, B.S.Reddy, Ali Magician, Venu Samala, Raj Kumar, Dominico Danta, Walter Rolfo, and other famous magicians from more than fifteen (15) countries including Bangladesh, India, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, Korea, Japan, Italy, Canada, the USA & other countries around the world.
Read more.
Here is the long synopisis for "Pick a Card, Any Card", coming soon to MTS Winnipeg on Demand.
- The City of Winnipeg has a rich history in the art of Magic. From the founding of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (I.B.M.) in 1922, , to modern day successes like Dean Gunnarson and Sean Fields; Winnipeg and the world of magic have grown together to form a charming relationship.
Over a light dinner and wine, Winnipeg magicians Anders, Greg Wood, Gord Gilbey, Ray Starr, Chris Funk and Sean Fields tell stories of Winnipeg magic; how Harry Houdini played a part in the founding of the I.B.M., how Philips Magical Paradise was founded out of tragedy, which Winnipegger worked on Criss Angels "Mindfreak", and other fascinating tales.
Read more.
Imagine being shackled and chained inside a glass box filled with water. It’s a stunt few people can pull off. Escape Artist Dean Gunnarson is going to attempt just that at this year’s Toastmaster’s Conference.
While being on stage and performing in front of people seems to come natural to Gunnarson, the performer has had to overcome fears of his own.
“He has quite an inspirational story. He’s faced a lot of his fears,” said Ryan Sturgeon.
Gunnarson’s attempt to escape the Russian Death Tank will cap off the conference being held Nov. 11-12 at the Victoria Inn.
Read more.
