Catch them in Toronto until January 4. Tickets at Ticketmaster.ca
Yesterday, we made the trek to the Bluma Appel Theatre in Toronto.
- Regular readers may remember that Champions of Magic made their Toronto debut at this theatre in 2018.
- It is an intimate theatre with one balcony and a seating capacity of just over 800.
- The show is approximately 2 hours in length, including a 16 minute intermission.
- As always with this show we are genuinely afraid of posting spoilers. The less you know going in, the more you'll enjoy it!
Bluma Appel Theatre at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts
On with the show...
Note to parents of young children: The music can be very loud at times throughout the show. There are also smoke and fog machines involved. Forewarned is forearmed.
There's a videographer on hand to capture close-up miracles and project them on a big screen so everyone can see!
We're always excited to see
Champions of Magic!
Pre-show vibes
-
There were plenty of families with young children in the audience.
The audience was definitely in the holiday spirit and well primed to be
entertained.
-
Liberty Larsen,
Fernando Velasco,
Richard Young and Sam Strange
all do what they do very well! All of the performers showed us a side
of their characters that we'd not previously seen.
-
This show introduced us to Frances Morgan from Spokane who participates as
crew as well as having her moment in the spotlight. Frances kindly
agreed to do an interview with us that we hope to share with you soon.
-
The show is very different from the ones we've seen previously*. There
are significant changes in both the cast, and the structure of the
production.
*Toronto 2018, Oshawa 2019, Kitchener 2022, Toronto 2023, and Hamilton in 2025.
-
If memory serves, there are only 2-3 bits carried over from 2018, 3-4
repeats from 2023, and maybe 6 duplicates from earlier this year. Which
works out to roughly 75 - 80% of the show being new from its most recent
interation. That's a lot of new magic!
They made some bold choices, that served them well!
-
Every incarnation of the show offers imaginative narrative brought to life
through full ensemble numbers.
-
There are also plenty of moments for each of the acts to shine on their own.
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There was LOTS audience participation with both children and adults!
By our count, 14 volunteers were involved. Many of the volunteers were
able to do so from the comfort of their seats. A lucky few were
brought on stage for a fully immersive show experience!
-
We were lucky to experience young volunteer Jamie who held the audience in
rapt attention, as well as the tremendously delightful Emmy who
instantaneously won the hearts of those in attendance.
- The lighting design for this show is visually stunning!
Whether you're new to magic or are a professional magician, there's something for everyone!
-
Larsen has a very creative style that delivers personal and refreshing takes
on some classics of magic. As an added bonus for magicians, she spent
a little bit of time talking about her magical family!
-
Velasco pivoted from his signature heart-stopping stunts. Not to
worry, he still performs escapes, albeit at a smaller scale. He
showcased a wider variety of his talents and had the audience eating from
the palm of his hand.
- Young and Strange are always tremendously entertaining! Both individually, and together as a double act, they consistently deliver impressive sleight of hand, laugh out loud comedy, and a truly exhilarating exhibition of grand illusion. They get bonus points for mentioning Canadian born magician Dai Vernon. (And a minor demerit for not mentioning Doug Henning when Doug appears in a video clip.) We're sad to report that Young's homage to David Copperfield Easter egg is no longer in the show.
Larsen and Strange each did a particularly good job of staying in the moment and working with the unique 'gifts' this audience provided.
-
A special shout-out to the videographer, whose quick thinking salvaged an
effect when cards were scattered to the floor!
We highly recommend it!
(Even if you've seen it before.)
Post-show vibes
Disclosure: We were guests at this show. The opinions expressed above are entirely our own. We did not receive compensation for the writing or the publishing of this article.
With thanks to Champions of Magic for the tickets.
