Toronto: James Alan guest hosts The Newest Trick in the Book.

From James Alan's Facebook post:

While the sophisticated and charming Jonah Babins is off lallygagging enjoying his last few days of summer vacation, they've left me to guest-host this special night of The Newest Trick in the Book.

I'm sure Jonah has nothing to worry about. What trouble could we possibly get into with Sammy Jakubowicz, Mike Carbone, uncle Wes and uncle Glenn?

Toronto: Grumpy old magicians

Catch Matt DiSero and Glenn Ottaway in James Alan's "Magic Tonight: The grumpy old men of magic" on September 15th.


From the Facebook page of James Alan:

Review: Glenn Ottaway benefit

From Fordham PR:

On stage, well-known comedians, magicians and even a pair of mentalists celebrated Glenn’s career and encouraged the audience to dig deep to help Glenn and his depleted bank account. Thanks to comedian/magician Matt Disero, who created the one-night only comedy concert, some of the country’s top headliners volunteered their time and talent, so here’s a brief pictorial account of The Rocky Horror: It’s a Wonderful Life Anyway show.

Read more.

Toronto: A Glenn Ottaway benefit show

November 9th.

From The Rocky Horror:

Hosted by Mike Bullard star CFRB radio and his own television show Open Mike with Mike Bullard, this is a once in a decade variety show. 

Starring Jeff & Tessa Evason, world famous mentalist duo described by NBC television as "The best act of their kind in the world", comedians David Merry, and Glen Foster of CBC's Comics, Mini Holmes star of She's so Funny, David Peck, a pure skill manipulation magic act right out of vaudeville, comedy magician Matt Disero Seen on The Comedy Network, cruise ship and military peacekeeping tours the world over,  plus Scott Norman the most handsome juggler ever.....and a host of other acts. This is a show not to be missed !

Read more and buy tickets.

Jason, Glenn, Keith, Greydon, Chris and Chris at "Magic Tonight"

Confirm details by visiting Abracadabaret.com

Mississauga (Thurs):   Jason Palter

Pickering (Fri):   Glenn Ottaway

Toronto (Sun):  Keith Brown and Greydon Gilmore

Toronto (Tues):  Sketchy Magic


James Alan, over at Abracadaberet, has kindly offered the readers of Canada's Magic a coupon code for 50% off tickets to "Magic Tonight!"  Use the coupon code cmagic when you buy your tickets for Magic Tonight to receive your discount*.



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* Offer is subject to change without notice.  Canada's Magic earns a commission when you use the coupon code cmagic.

Coupon code for 20% off Magic Tonight

James Alan, over at Abracadaberet, has kindly offered the readers of Canada's Magic a coupon code for 20% off tickets to Magic Tonight!

Use the coupon code cmagic when you buy your tickets for Magic Tonight to receive your discount.

Tonight's special guests are Matt DiSero and Michael Close.  Upcoming guests include Glenn Ottaway, Jason Palter, Bill Abbott, Paul Pacific, Chris Mayhew and more!



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* Offer is subject to change without notice.  Canada's Magic earns a commission when you use the coupon code cmagic.

Vaughan: Diamond and Ottaway

From Ring 17:

We would like to make a prediction... or perhaps reveal a prediction:

After reading the subject line, fifty percent of you are saying, "Who's Dustin Diamond?" And fifty percent are saying, "Who's Glenn Ottaway?"

For those born after 1985, Glenn Ottaway is the godfather of comedy magic in Toronto. Mostly retired at the moment, you may have seen him at the Morrissey Magic anniversary parties or at our own comedy magic workshop a few years ago.

For those born before 1985, Dustin Diamond was "Screech" on Saved by the Bell (1989-1993), one of the great television nerds of all time.

This Saturday night (March 15), there is a special comedy gala headlined by Dustin Diamond and hosted by the legendary Mr. Ottaway himself at Dave & Busters (Highway 400 &7).

Read more.

Harry Anderson in "Harry the Hat Tonight"

Anyone who has known me for any length of time, knows that I have a soft spot in my heart for Harry Anderson's three card monte routine, Monarch Monte.  Seeing his live show has been on my bucket list for quite some time.  (I even briefly considered finding my way to Regina in November of 2010 to see him perform there.)

Imagine my delight when I first learned that he was scheduled to perform and lecture in Whitby, ON.

And so, last weekend, I went to the Class Act Dinner Theatre for the very first time. The theatre itself is spacious.  It looked to me like there were no bad seats in the house.  The buffet was plentiful and delicious.  My dinner companions made more than one trip to the servery before their meal was done.  The roast beef and Yorkshire pudding were the highlights of my meal and the desserts were yummy!

There were quite a few familiar faces in the audience:  David Ben, Julie Eng, Suley Fattah, Mike Segal, Jen Segal, Lee Elliott, Michael Close, Lisa Close, Owen Anderson, Peter Mennie,  Michael Fisher,  Deborah Fallick, Sammy Jakubowicz, Scott Hood, Ken McCreedy,  Richard Forget, David Sutherland, Phil, Bob Johnston, David Lax, Philip Groff and Gordon Precious.  There were other faces to which I've been unable to put a name and some I've just plain forgot.  (It was a busy weekend.)  Apologies if I've left you out.*

Richard Forget was the opening act for Harry Anderson. Apparently, one must be at least 6 feet tall to get onstage tonight.
— Sammy Jakubowicz (@Doc_Sammy) May 19, 2012

For entertainment, we had Glenn Ottaway, David Merry (who was non-stop with fantastic zingers, "I've been happily married for six years ...") and Richard Forget to warm us up.  Richard performed many of the effects he discussed at last September's Ring 17 lecture.  (I've never been so happy, to not see a skipping rope on stage.)  Then it was time for the headlining act!

Harry Anderson, complete with signature Borsalino and hand-painted tie, opened with Wise Guy Monte, followed with a discussion of card counting, some reminiscing about his performance with Skippy the guinea pig on SNL, and a straitjacket escape I'll not soon forget.  He also did some snazzy dancing while demonstrating card memorization and card counting in real time.  He finished with a larger than life magic square.   For an encore, we were treated to his very special chapeaugraphy routine.

Hilarious show last night @ClassActDinnerTheatre #HarryAnderson
— Peter Mennie (@petermennie) May 20, 2012

As for the lecture, "Tipping the Hat," Harry took us through each of the routines in his show, discussed volunteer selection and regaled us with stories from his past.  (My favourite is how an expensive impulse buy started a chain of events which lead to his being cast in Night Court!)  Dave Merry was on the money when said (in April) that "the stories alone are worth the price of admission."  (And this weekend with Harry cost less than a round trip flight to Regina!)

Thank you Class Act Dinner Theatre and Harry Anderson for a wonderful weekend!


"There's just one f***ing rule!"

Poor Yvette.

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* If I’ve missed listing anyone who was there please send me an e-mail or leave a comment below! Thank you to Owen, Deborah and Sammy for helping me put names to some of the faces.

The opinions expressed above are entirely my own.  I was not compensated in any way.

Rounding the Ontario rings in February

Confirm details about dates and locations by visiting each club's website.
  

Hamilton, ON	Ring 49 (The Doug Henning Magic Wand Club)	- Got Talent night
London, ON	Ring 265 (London Magician's Guild)	- Magic Olympics
Kitchener, ON	Ring 235 (The Caesar Hat & Wand Magic Circle)	- annual DVD night
Ottawa, ON	Ring 151 (Ottawa Society of Magicians)	- Memorial Night / Classic Magic
Toronto, ON	Ring 17 (Sid Lorraine Hat and Rabbit Club)	- comedy workshop (panelists: Matt DiSero, David Merry, Glenn Ottaway and Paul Wildbaum)
Woodstock, ON	CAM 1 (Friendly City Mystics)	- N/A

 
Please leave a comment or e-mail me about corrections or omissions.