Toronto: Magic at the Red Sandcastle Theatre [Aug 18, Sep]

Tickets at the Red Sandcastle Theatre.

 

August 18

• Scott McClelland's Orville Doodles and his Terrible Imagination
  (more on Scott's summer tour at the bottom of this post)
  

 

September: every weekend

• Mahdi Gilbert
  (Mahdi the Magician, Mystica, Jeff Hinchliffe Stepping onto the Impossible, and Halden's Hypnosis, Magic, and Mindreading)
  

 

 From the July 30th Facebook post by the Red Sandcastle Theatre:

From the July 28th Facebook post by Scott McClelland:

We are One Week away from the Premiere of Orville Doodles and his Terrible Imagination! And then the Tour Begins!!! Take a look at where I will be playng, and if it is close to you, grab a ticket because you will not want to miss this Strange and Exciting New Puppet Production!

The Tour is coming in August and I am very excited to bring this New Show to you!

Get your Tix HERE~
https://www.ticketscene.ca/list.php?q=orville+doodles

There be Magick HERE

 

Studio City: Mahdi Gilbert lecture

From The Magic Apple:

Mahdi Gilbert will be lecturing at The Magic Apple on August 8th!!

Mahdi Gilbert was forced to reinvent magic for himself, literally redefining how a deck of cards can be handled. He performs wonders without hands and walks the Earth without feet and is a walking miracle to everyone he meets. A rare gentleman and scoundrel who palms without palms, shuffles without fingers and is living proof that nothing is impossible.

What will he teach?

“This is my intimate close-up set with cards featuring some of my most powerful material.”
Two Card Transposition, Ambitious Card, Triumph, Card to Pocket, Oil and Water.

Read more.

From The Magic Apple Twitter feed:

Mahdi Gilbert (@mahdibuchinger) will be lecturing at The Magic Apple August 8th at 730pm! Give us a call to sign up, you won't want to miss this incredible lecture and amazing person! $25 per person #brickandmortar #onlinelecturessuck #youcantdothatonline

— The Magic Apple (@MagicAppleStore) July 30, 2019

Mahdi Gilbert in CBC Arts

From the March 18th article "People told Mahdi the Magician his body would make his dreams impossible — but he refused to quit" in CBC Arts:

"One of my teachers told me I shouldn't use my body because my body 'isn't any good,'" the Canadian magician, who was born without hands or feet, tells filmmaker Jason D'Souza. "[They said] that I should use my mind because my mind is still good."

But then, at 17, he found something to be passionate about: slight [sic] of hand. Despite discovering that most of the literature about his newfound passion were written by two-handed magicians for other two-handed magicians, Gilbert would make it work for him and practice through the night.


Read more and watch the video by Jason D'Souza.

Toronto: Mahdi Gilbert workshop

DM Mahdi to learn more.

From the Twitter feed of Mahdi The Magician:
A note to subscribers: the content of this post is embedded from another website and is not available to preview. To view the content of the post, please visit http://CanadasMagic.blogspot.com. Some of the embedded code may be visible in this notification.

TORONTO WORKSHOP! Evening of Wednesday, November 14th.
$100 (materials included)
DM to RVSP ;)

— Mahdi The Magician (@mahdibuchinger) November 1, 2018

Toronto: Mahdi Gilbert informal performance

From the Browser's Den of Magic:

MAHDI GILBERT — SATURDAY MAY 19, 2018

Mahdi Gilbert will be performing and teaching a few tricks at Browser's Den. This is not a lecture but rather an informal performance.

We will be celebrating the launch of Mahdi's brand new Hidden Leaves Playing Cards. The cards will be on sale that day at the shop for $20.00.  Great opportunity to pick up a deck and support Mahdi. Good opportunity too to have Mahdi sign one of the cards as they are destined to be collectable.

Young Jeff and I have already seen the deck and the quality is top. Plus the cards have some secret details that Mahdi will expose on this day at the shop for those who buy a pack.

We will have a limited supply at the shop of Mahdi's cards. Should you wish to buy a deck in advance please call us at 416-783-7022 with a credit card.

Read more.

Kickstart Mahdi Gilbert's new deck, "Hidden Leaves"

From the "Hidden Leaves" Kickstarter page:

The cards are made from the same Premium Bee Stock used in world class casinos for durability & flexibility. This premium stock has been Crushed Thin so that they can be used for superior and fine card manipulation by card experts worldwide. Finally they have been enveloped in a Smooth Finish so that they are long lasting and glide effortlessly in any environment.

~~~

Every single card in every pack of Hidden Leaves playing cards has been drawn by Mahdi to evoke a nostalgic feel. Crafted with love, this deck is inspired by & a homage to the legendary card artist who in 1885 designed cards for Andrew Dougherty including Tally-Ho.

~~~

Many of Hofzinser's finest deceptions were only possible because of the playing cards of the era. Hidden Leaves playing cards feature no indexes just like playing cards used to be made. This unique feature allows you to explore all sorts of forgotten card transformations, hypnotize your audiences with hallucinations of duplicates, renders well-known prearranged stacks completely invisible (even to magicians).

These are only a sliver of the secrets you will find in Hidden Leaves.

~~~

I have also found through performing with Hidden Leaves that the audience is able to concentrate more on the plot of the card effect you are performing. I believe the reason for this is that there is less information for the spectators to process (they are not seeing a bunch of numbers & letters all the time) which allows them to focus on their cards and the magic that you are presenting.


Read more and back this project.

Who are the top 10 Canadian magicians of all time?

Updated April 3rd at 6pm to add the following nominations:

• Celeste Evans and Reveen The Impossiblist (Reveen Sr.)

Updated March 31st at 9pm to add the following nominations:

• Greg Frewin and Mahdi Gilbert

Updated March 29 at 7am to add the following nominations:

• Billy Kidd, Carisa Hendrix, Joan Caesar, and Julie Eng

Updated March 24 at 10am to add the following nominations:

• Alain Choquette, David Drake, Mickey Hades, and Shin Lim

Updated March 23 at 9am add the following nominations:

• Bob Farmer, Carl Coultier, Francis Martineau, Gary Ouelette, Howard P. Lions, Mel Stover, Romaine, Roy Cotte, Tom Ransom, Tony Eng, Willis Kinney

Updated March 23 at 7am add the following overnight nominations:

• Additional submissions:  Bedros "Spidey" Akkelian, Bill Abbott, Bobby Motta, Dale Harney, Eric Leclerc, Johnny  Giordmaine, Juliana Chen, Leon Mandrake, Sid Lorraine, Stewart James, Ron Leonard, and Vincent C

Updated at 12:15pm to add:

• Additional submissions: Darcy Oake, Luc Langevin, Murray Hatfield, Ross Bertram, Tom Auburn

Updated at 10:15am to add:

• The following names have been submitted for consideration:  Chris Ramsay, Dai Vernon, David Acer, David Ben, Doug Henning, Gary Kurtz, James Randi, Jay Sankey, Martin Nash, Richard Sanders, Shawn Farquhar

Complete list of nominations received (alphabetical by first name):

1. Alain Choquette
2. Bedros "Spidey" Akkelian
3. Bill Abbott
4. Billy Kidd
5. Bob Farmer
6. Bobby Motta
7. Carisa Hendrix
8. Carl Coultier
9. Celeste Evans
10. Chris Ramsay
11. Dai Vernon
12. Dale Harney
    
13. Darcy Oake
14. David Acer 
15. David Ben
16. David Drake
17. Doug Henning
18. Francis Martineau
19. Eric Leclerc
    
20. Gary Kurtz
21. Gary Ouelette
22. Greg Frewin
23. Howard P. Lions
24. James Randi
25. Jay Sankey
26. Joan Caesar
27. Joel Machtinger
28. Johnny Giordmaine
29. Juliana Chen
30. Julie Eng
31. Leon Mandrake
    
32. Luc Langevin
33. Mahdi Gilbert
34. Martin Nash
35. Mel Stover
36. Mickey Hades
37. Murray Hatfield
38. Reveen The Impossiblist (Reveen Sr.)
39. Richard Sanders
40. Romaine
41. Ron Leonard
    
42. Ross Bertram
43. Roy Cotte
44. Shawn Farquhar 
45. Shin Lim
46. Sid Lorraine
47. Stewart James
48. Tom Auburn
49. Tom Ransom
50. Tony Eng
51. Vincent C
52. Willis Kinney

Devon Murphy recently posted the article, "Top Canadian Magicians and the Tricks That Made Them Famous," at the CBC website.  Devon lists seven outstanding magicians (Julie Eng, Dai Vernon,  Doug Henning, Billy Kidd, Mahdi Gilbert, Greg Frewin, and David Ben).  (Of note, two of the seven on that list are recipients of the "Editor's Choice Award" in the Canada's Magic "Readers' Choice Award" festivities.)

Devon's list got me wondering.

Who do you, dear readers, consider to be the top 10 Canadian magicians of all time?

For those of you who don't like to be influenced by the decisions of others, we're going to start with a clean slate and let you choose all ten!

Submit your nominations in the comment form below,* by 11:59PM EDT on Friday April 6th.  You may nominate as many Canadian magicians as you like.  (Number of nominations don't influence the vote.  If you see your choice(s) listed, please refrain from submitting duplicates.)  Voting will open shortly thereafter.  

What say you?  Who are your top (living or dead) Canadian magicians of all time?


--
* or email me.  I'll send a confirmation back to let you know I received your email.

London: Mahdi Gilbert at "The Vault"

From the Vault Festival:

31 Jan — 04 Feb

MAHDI THE MAGICIAN
AN UTTERLY UNIQUE SLEIGHT OF (NO) HANDS CARD MAGICIAN.
Born without hands or feet, Mahdi Gilbert has struggled through bullying, loneliness and depression to recognition from the greatest magicians of our time.

Throughout his childhood in Toronto, Mahdi was tormented for his physical differences and constantly wondered what would become of his life. Captivated by sleight of hand and card magic, he dreamt of becoming a professional magician – but as he began to study he came across a seemingly insurmountable obstacle: every magic book ever published has been written for performers with two hands.

Read more and buy tickets.

Montreal: Mahdi Gilbert lecture

From the Montreal Magic Jam:

Tuesday January 9th

Mahdi Gilbert is one of the hottest magicians in the world. His magic is incredible, his sleight of hand impeccable. Oh and he does all this without even having hands.

Mahdi has performed his magic all over the world and has been seen on TV by over 270 million people. Here’s your chance to see him live, performing and teaching some of his signature routines, talking about his thinking, as well as teaching some tricks that you haven’t seen before. Here’s your chance to sit down and spend an evening with one of the most inspirational magicians on the planet.

Read more and buy tickets.

Mahdi Gilbert to be interviewed at Living Maths

From the Twitter feed of Living Maths:
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Join me on 28 Aug 6pm GMT + 2 when I interview @mahdibuchinger - The magician without hands https://t.co/HBvGhJzqCg #Magic #Magician #cards

— Living Maths (@LivingMaths) August 7, 2017

Mahdi Gilbert's approach to illegal copies of his work

From Mahdi Gilbert's Facebook post:

Mahdi Gilbert at the South Tyneside International Magic Festival

From the South Tyneside Council website:

A magician born without hands or feet who managed to fool two of the magic world's toughest critics is bringing his unique act to the North East in March.

Mahdi Gilbert will lead an invasion of magicians from across the Atlantic heading to South Shields for the 14^th annual South Tyneside International Magic Festival (STIMF) from 16-19 March.

Born in Canada and now living in New York, Mahdi has developed every single technique he employs in his illusions from scratch. And, despite having no hands, he has become one of the world's finest sleight of hand magicians.

Read more.

2016 Readers' Choice award results

Thank you all for participating in the spirit in which the awards were intended:  a fun way to recognize and celebrate all of the fabulous talent in our country.

One hundred and eighty five of you voted in this "bragging rights" only contest.  Here are the results of our first ever "Readers' Choice Inspirational Canadian Magician of the Year" award!

Beacons of Inspiration

Murray and Teresa Hatfield

The Hatfields outdid themselves last year with their production "Unbelievable."  Murray also stepped up to the Vice President position of CAM, in anticipation of becoming CAM President later this year.

Thanks for the inspiration Murray and Teresa!


Website: MurrayHatfieldMagic.com

Matt DiSero

In 2016 Matt appeared on season 3 of Penn and Teller's "Fool Us," which I think is inspiring all on it's own.  He also has a knack for keeping things light and making us laugh.

Thanks for the inspiration Matt!

Website: MattDiSero.com

Editor's Choice

Mahdi Gilbert

I found Mahdi's appearance on season 3 of Penn and Teller's "Fool Us" very powerful and inspirational.  I was also impressed that one of my readers from Germany chose to nominate Mahdi.  Apparently he has quite the fan base!

Website: MahdiGilbert.com

Readers' Choice

Steven Lafond

Congratulations to Steven for winning the 2016 Readers' Choice award!

Keep up the great work with 'Magic Mondays' in Ottawa and your ongoing support of the Canadian magic community!


Website: MagicStudioProductions

The Mahdi Gilbert Scholarship

From Mahdi Gilbert:

Mahdi Gilbert knows firsthand the value of learning magic. His new sponsorship program will help students of magic progress with their education. Sponsored by Mahdi Gilbert & Before Magic.

Read more and apply.

From Mahdi's Twitter feed:

https://t.co/EbyoJ63kHk pic.twitter.com/fdV9TAFcMd

— Mahdi Gilbert (@mahdigilbert) January 9, 2017

Vote now for the 2016 Readers' Choice award

Updated to add: 

• Voting has closed.  Results will be posted later this week.
• The Evasons have requested that they be withdrawn from consideration for this voting process.  We are unable to remove their names from the ballot at this time and ask that you respect the Evasons' wishes and not vote for them.

The nominations are closed and voting is now open for the 2016 "Readers' Choice Inspirational Canadian Magician of the Year" award!  Voting will close on Sunday, January the 22nd at 11:59pm EST.

To vote, scroll down to the bottom of this post and participate in the poll.  (Unfortunately, the poll does not appear in the mobile version of the site.)

Let's have a look at the nominees (in no particular order):

Matt DiSero

Matt's nominator stated that Matt is "a very sassy act."  In addition, in 2016 Matt also appeared on season 3 of Penn and Teller's "Fool Us."

Website: MattDiSero.com

The Evasons

The Evasons have requested that they be withdrawn from consideration for this voting process.  We are unable to remove their names from the ballot at this time and ask that you respect the Evasons' wishes and not vote for them.

Mahdi Gilbert

Mahdi's nominator submitted the following: "He has inspired so many of us through his amazing sleight of hands without having any hands. The way he transformed his own life through magic is a role model for everyone who's searching for meaning, hope and inspiration."  Mahdi also appeared on season 3 of Penn and Teller's "Fool Us."

Website: MahdiGilbert.com

 

Murray and Teresa Hatfield

The Hatfields were nominated for "starring in and (even more importantly) producing the extraordinary magic and illusions-filled phantasmagoria 'Unbelievable' at this summer's PNE in Vancouver. It was, without a doubt, the most inspirational, most wonderful, most entertaining stadium-scale magical event I have ever witnessed."


Website: MurrayHatfieldMagic.com

Steven Lafond

Steven's nominators submitted the following, "Steven Lafond, producer and host of 'Magic Mondays' in Ottawa for his continued support of the magic community. Hosting over 30 different magicians from all over Canada in 2016 alone.  (Additional supporting comment: He has done a whole year's worth of monthly magic showcases featuring locals and big names alike. Chris Pilworth, Bill Abbott, Mysterion, Zach & Steve, Jonathan Gold, Eric Leclerc...all opened by local professional and up-and-coming magicians. A real community supporter.)

Website: MagicStudioProductions

University of Toronto magic club 2016 - 2017

First class starts Friday Oct.7th.

From Will Zhang's Facebook page:

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[Guest post] Can Canada's top mentalists fool Penn and Teller?

The following is a guest post from Clive Court.

-- 
MEET THE EVASONS---THEY READ A LOT OF MINDS IN WASHINGTON, D.C. BUT CAN THEY FOOL PENN AND TELLER?

TORONTO,Ont--(Sept.1)   The Evasons are a Toronto couple who make a good living reading the minds of corporate and political leaders on the U.S. East Coast.

On Wednesday, Sept.7, at 8pm.ET, they will challenge the famous Las Vegas magical duo on Penn and Teller:Fool Us! the popular primetime series on the the CW Network.

Recognized as one of the world's top mentalism acts, The Evasons appear to be part of an emerging trend which is bringing more magical and visual entertainers to primetime TV audiences in the United States.

Network TV series like NBC's America's Got Talent, CW's Masters of Illusion, and Penn and Teller:Fool Us! are introducing a greater number of magical and visual entertainers to North American viewers.  This, in turn, has meant more exposure for Canadian magicians.

Why is this?  Because Canadian magical entertainers are ranked among the best in the world by other nations. The Evasons are known worldwide for their second-sight act where a blindfolded Tessa describes in intimate detail the personal items held up by members of the audience.

Although based in Toronto and Annapolis, Maryland (just outside Washington,DC) Jeff and Tessa are in demand around the world as entertainers for major corporate and international conventions.

Born in Toronto, Jeff met Tessa in the early 80s while hosting a fashion show where she was a model. Tessa was working part-time while studying at Ryerson University. They have been together since 1983.



--

                                 
For further information, photos and video:  Please go to www.evasons.com.

NB.  A great example of a Canadian magician appearing on a US network primetime show was Winnipeg's Darcy Oake introducing guest artists from The Illusionists (on Broadway) on the August 31 edition of America's Got Talent.  Among the other Canadian magicians appearing on US primetime TV this summer were: Shawn Farquhar, Murray SawChuck, and Vitaly Beckman (from Vancouver); Mahdi Gilbert, Neil Croswell, Ryan Joyce, and Matt DiSero (from Toronto); and world-champion magician, Greg Frewin, from Niagara Falls.


~~~~

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

Mahdi Gilbert on "Penn and Teller Fool Us" Season 3

A third Canadian magician on Penn and Teller's Fool Us!

Well done Mahdi!  You are truly an inspiration.


Watch on Mahdi Gilbert's YouTube channel:

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Toronto: Free magic club and Mahdi Gilbert lecture reminder

If you haven't yet read Teller's review of Ricky Jay's “Matthias Buchinger: ‘The Greatest German Living,’ go to the New York Times site and check it out!  In it, Teller mentions Mahdi Gilbert.

From the Browser's Den of Magic Facebook group:

Hi Guys,

This Saturday/June 4 from 2:30 to 5:30pm is the next FREE magic club meeting. All interested in talking magic are welcome.

And/Or the Mahdi Gilbert lecture is the next day on SUNDAY, JUNE 5 at 3pm...You May Pay at the Door.

Magical hugs,
Jeff & The Browser's Den Team

Toronto: Mahdi Gilbert lecture

From the Browser's Den of Magic:

Date & Time: Sunday June 5, 2016
Where: Browser's Den of Magic
Lecture Fee: $20.00
(Lecture Notes for Sale at lecture)
-------------------------------------------------------
Mahdi Gilbert travels the four corners of the Earth sharing his life and his magic with people.

Now is your chance to witness the power of Mahdi in this exclusive whirlwind tour through his magic, his story and his soul.

You will follow a child born without hands as he discovers magic and develops his passion into the most remarkable sleight of hand man this world has ever seen.

Through the performance and thorough explanation of several pieces of magic,
you will learn how to:

 * Trust Yourself * Break the Rules * Transform your Liabilities into Assets *
*Charm and Disarm * Believe in the Impossible * Make Others Believe in the Impossible *


Read more and buy tickets.