[Guest post] Random thoughts about "Magic Show" with Ken McCreedy

The following is a guest post from John Smithman.

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On October 28th, Champions in the Workplace sponsored an afternoon magic show by Ken McCreedy for seniors in St. Catharines at the Gibson Road Older Adults Centre. Over 100 people enjoyed a full show of classic magic by a true professional. Ken was perfect - funny, colourful and very entertaining. Several members of our Fonthill Magic Circle also attended to support our service to senior citizens in St. Catharines. The Community Centre promoted the show and provided the venue - a beautiful hall with a well-equipped stage.

— John Smithman

  

 

 

Thank you John for guest posting at Canada's Magic!

 

 

Welcoming back a new Friend: John Smithman

Welcoming our newest Friend, John Smithman!

You may remember that back in 2015 John was the Vancouver Magic Circle Membership Chair and is an avid photographer.  In addition, he is also the founder of Champions in the Workplace Training & Development, an established workplace coach, trainer and author  of "Workplace Champion By Example."

John's relocated to Ontario and we hope he enjoys the Central Canada magic scene as much as he did the West Coast!

Thank you John, for being an official Friend of Canada's Magic!

W. C. Shelly

John Smithman posted a while back, that "W.C. Shelly was the second president (1944-1945) of the Vancouver Magic Circle. He was a prominent business man and politician in Vancouver who had a park named in his honour."

Not to shabby to have a park named after a magician!

Here's a photo of John at the park:





I think he started a trend, because Shawn Farquhar recently posted a similar photo!


From Shawn Farquhar's Twitter feed:

The VMC annual picnic held at a park named after one of our members! #farquharfun #shawnfarquhar #vmc75 https://t.co/BG7ewp9REj pic.twitter.com/5tm5X7wvXn

— Shawn Farquhar (@magiChampion) August 20, 2018

Jack Lillico in the Vancouver Magic Circle June 2016 Newsletter

Last month I posted  a link to John Smithman's interview of Jack Lillico.  This month, the Vancouver Magic Circle published a special "pull-out" section about Jack.  It includes John's interview, along with some fabulous photos of magic history.

Check it out on pages 7 - 14 of the June 2016 edition of the Vancouver Magic Circle Newsletter.

As an added bonus, watch on Facebook, a video John made of an 89-year Jack Lillico doing a Card Sleight:

John Smithman interviews Jack Lillico

From Workplace Champion, read "The Magic that is Jack Lillico":

Jack Lillico has been a member of the Vancouver Magic Circle for 70 years. His life was filled with magic; but he also had other pursuits like a career as a Denturist and two cross-Canada tours in his homebuilt Model T Ford. This article reflects some of his story as a magician in Vancouver, British Columbia.

I interviewed 89-year old Jack Lillico at the home of legendary magician and author Ray Roch and his wife Pat on April 14th 2016. These are my notes of the Interview. – John Smithman

THE YOUNG MAGICIAN
Born in 1927, Jack started magic when he was 8 years old. Pretty soon he had ‘a burning desire to learn more about it.’ “I did garden parties and church events. Then, I met Rolf Blackstaad. We called ourselves The Black Jack Magic Club and had a blackjack as our insignia In 1937.

Read more.

Welcoming a new Friend: John Smithman

Welcoming our newest Friend, John Smithman!

John is the Vancouver Magic Circle Membership Chair and an avid photographer.  In addition, he is also the founder of Champions in the Workplace Training & Development, an established workplace coach, trainer and author  of "Workplace Champion By Example."

John first became aware of Canada's Magic when I cross-posted his Magic Café request for information about Guy Stanley.  I'm happy to report that John has since been reunited with Guy!

Thank you John, for becoming an official Friend of Canada's Magic!

Connecting John Smithman to Guy Stanley

I'm happy to report that with the help of Phil Matlin, John Smithman was able to reconnect with Guy Stanley 53 years later!

From the Magic Cafe:

I'm a happy man. Some people of action helped me find my long lost friend Guy Stanley.

Nicole at Canada's Magic saw my post here, emailed me and asked me to send her my contact information which she sent to Phil at Perfect Magic in Montreal so that he could forward it Guy Stanley, one of his regular customers. Guy called me within hours and we spoke for several hours catching up on 53 years of separated time.

I was right. Guy still loves magic as a hobby and has a treasury of books on great historical champions of magic. Thanks Nicole for taking action. Thanks Phil for closing the loop. And thanks to Magic Café's Steve Brooks for making connections among us magicians possible!