Random thoughts about "An Evening of Magic and Laughter"

Last Friday, KOP and I ventured to Brampton to see An Evening of Magic and Laughter with Matt DiSero, headliner Steve Valentine, and emcee Evan Carter.  I'd seen adverts these three a number of times.  I know that Matt and Steve are guaranteed to entertain, and I'd heard excellent things about Evan Carter.   

 

TLDR:  A show bursting with magic and laughter!

 

 

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Here are some random thoughts about the show:

Also at the show (in no particular order):
- Glenn Ottaway
- Richard Forget
- David Merry
- Ray Anderson
- Artemus Syman 
- Ian Batterbury, and
- Gord Gardiner!

• The Rose Theatre in Brampton is a beautiful cozy theatre where almost all of the seats have a fantastic view of the stage.  I hope to get back to see more shows here. 
   
  
• Evan Carter lives up to his reputation.  He made hilarious observations about everyday life and was family friendly.  He quickly and expertly won over the audience. 
    
• Matt DiSero took the stage and did not disappoint! 
   
  
• Matt leaned into playing in his hometown and the audience loved it! 
    
• His years of experience and lessons learned on the road shone through and in spite of the fact that Hartnell wasn't behaving, we saw Matt at his best.
  
  
• The highlight of Matt's act was his selection of volunteer Camilla.  This five year old had just the right ratio of adorableness, impulsiveness, and respect for authority.  It was a delight to watch Matt guide her through the piece and let her shine like a star!
  
  

From the October 29th Instagram post by Matt DiSero, Camilla and Matt:

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• A brief intermission followed.
   
  
• Steve Valentine took the stage by storm and never looked back!
  
  
• The hand may be quicker than they eye, but Steve produces magic effects faster than my brain can absorb them!
   
  
• There was some difficulty with the tech and there was no AV for his show.  Those familiar with Steve's show, know that there are a ridiculous number of AV cues with multimedia woven throughout his set.  IT DIDN'T MATTER.  Steve ran through his show, improvising AV at times to great comedic effect, and no one was the wiser.
  
  
• Things were thrown, things were produced, things vanished, and the laws of physics were stood on their ear.
  
  
• Much of Steve's show was similar to the show he presented at Jokers, with minor tweaks and polishes. 
  
  
• There were also brilliant additions (to already strong pieces) that were absolutely amazing and well received.  (Who wouldn't want to leave the show with a box of kisses from Steve?)
   
  
• It was interesting for me, to see his show play in a theatre after seeing it first in a comedy club.  It was just as fabulous in the theatre as it was in a more intimate setting.  Steve masterfully delivers in any venue size.
  

• As I've said before, it is obvious to the casual observer that Steve takes his role as entertainer seriously.  It is equally obvious that he doesn't take himself seriously, which always endears him to the audience.

 

All in all it was a wonderful evening of entertainment by highly seasoned performers giving us their very best!

 

Thank you gentlemen, for sharing with us the gift of your talent!

 

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Georgetown: An Evening of Magic and Laughter with Matt DiSero, Steve Valentine, and Evan Carter [Sep 30]

Tickets at the John Elliott Theatre.

 

From the August 31st Facebook post by Matt DiSero:

Join us for an evening of magic and laughter, featuring Canada''s best magicians and comedians. You''ll be treated to incredible sleight of hand, mystifying illusions, and a whole lot of fun for all ages!
⏰  7.30 PM
🗓️  Sat. September 30, 2023
📍  John Elliott Theatre

 

 

 

 

Toronto: Steve Valentine lecture [Sep 23]

From the August 22nd Facebook post by the Browser's Den of Magic:

Steve Valentine Lecture September 23rd!

 

 

 

 

Stirling: The Variety Jam with Steve Valentine, Billy Kidd, The Silly People, and Mike Wood [Aug 19]

Tickets at the Stirling Festival.

 

From the August 16th Instagram feed by Steve Valentine:

If you find yourself in, or near Stirling, Canada , we’re shooting a personal project at the beautiful Stirling Festival Theatre 🎭

TWO live shows THIS Saturday with incredible performers.. get off the socials (after you read this) and come experience LIVE.

This will be crazy 😜
 

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Toronto: The Illusionists – Magic Of The Holidays [Nov 28 - Dec 3]

Tickets at Mirvish.com.

 

From the July 24th Instagram post by Mirvish Productions:

✨BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND - FOR ONE WEEK ONLY✨ The Illusionists – Magic Of The Holidays🪄 is a mind-blowing showcase featuring jaw-dropping talents of the most incredible illusionists on earth. This non-stop show has shattered box office records across the globe and dazzles audiences of all ages with a powerful mix of the most outrageous and astonishing acts ever seen on stage. This mind-blowing, family friendly new show will take over the Princess of Wales Theatre on November 28 to December 3.

 

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[via Peter Mennie]

 

Edmonton: Steve Valentine lecture [Jul 30]

From the July 25th Facebook post by Ron Pearson:

ATTENTION! Don't miss the amazing Steve Valentine lecturing here in Edmonton on Sunday, July 30

 

 

 

 

Guelph: Steve Valentine - Life & Other Deceptions [Sep 16]

From the River Run Centre:

Saturday, September 16, 2023 

Dazzling, hilarious, fast-paced and introspective, Life and Other Deceptions is a theater and magic show that has captivated audiences all over North America, and is called “one of the best magic shows ever.”  

As the star of NBC’s Crossing Jordan, Disney’s I’m in The Band, Major Crimes, The Big Bang Theory, Mike and Molly, Hot In Cleveland, Anger Management and over 200 hours of TV and film, Steve Valentine has carved out a unique place for himself in show business. However, few know that Steve Valentine is internationally recognized as one of the greatest sleight-of-hand artists in the world, having received four coveted awards from the world-famous Magic Castle alone. He was named Close-up Magician of the Year two years in a row and most recently Lecturer of the Year. Steve has traveled the world, performing in over 25 different countries, and had the honor of entertaining our troops overseas.

Fusing his well known, wicked, and cheeky sense of humor with incredible magic and masterful storytelling, this hit show takes you on a wild ride through Steve Valentine’s life, featuring fascinating stories, never before seen magic, and incredible sleight-of-hand. Part performance art and part intricate magic act, this show is hilarious, dramatic, touching, intimate, raunchy, and mind blowing.

Read more and buy tickets.

 

 

 

 

 

Calgary: Steve Valentine lecture [Jul 29]

Confirm details with Sean.

 

From the July 6th Facebook post by Sean Dougherty at the Calgary Magic Circle private group:

A lecture you won't want to miss, international multi award winning Steve Valentine's only Calgary lecture, Saturday 29th July 9.30am, at The Lake House Heritage Point De-Winton, come and learn,  be totally Amazed by Steve's Sleight of hand and ability to deliver magic like no one else, you will learn from the best. Only $25

 

 

 

Calgary: Mr. Valentine Blows Your Mind [Jul 28]

Read our thoughts about Steve's show:

Random thoughts about "Mr. Valentine Blows Your Mind!"

TLDR:
MIND BLOWN!
Hope to see again!

From the July 6th Facebook post by Brent Smith:

CALGARY!!!!! He's Coming.......Steve Valentine for a show and a lecture. JULY 28th..... .....$25
PM me on where to get tickets

 

 

 

Checking in with Matt DiSero and The Fog Machine of War

We had the opportunity to check in with Matt DiSero and learn more about his recently released book, The Fog Machine of War: Observations, Stories and Advice from the Showbiz Trenches.

As many of you are aware, Matt is a show biz veteran who has accumulated over 30 years of experience and stories about both the entertainment industry and life on the road.

 

 

 

What is your first memory of magic? 

First memory was of my great uncle doing magic. I couldn't have been more than 5. He worked in the side show occasionally and played piano at private gigs. Black sheep of the family. Naturally I was drawn to the dude who was doing card tricks for me. Better than being drawn to Uncle Jimmy the pot dealer. The real thing that got me hooked on magic happened at Morrissey Magic, and that story is in the book, so you'll have to read the story of the crack that got me hooked on magic.
 

Who inspires you that isn't a magician?

Fran Lebowitz, Peter Hujar, William Gibson, John Wing, William Burroughs, Edward R Murrow, Hunter Thompson and a zillion others.  Worthy of note, I don't see much of their influence in my own work. Ironic. I can be a lazy arse about work sometimes. By that metric I suppose another influence is Garfield. Also I noticed just now that I'm influenced by a lot of older or deceased artists. That's troubling. 

Who from the magic community inspires you?

A lot of people inspire me for a lot of different reasons. Jay Sankey for his ability to create, Steve Valentine for being an obsessive student of the history of magic and one of its greatest performers, David Ben for many of the same reasons and for treating this like an art, though I'm not sure it can be. (Let's start the fight! It's in the book too.) Mostly though, I'm inspired by any magician doing the type of work they want to do, that's OF them and who are still excited to be in this. The juice is performing live. For me, that's where the respect is at.
 

What prompted you to write this book?

I had no real desire to write a book because WOW I'm lazy... but magicians are often asking me to write one. They seem to like my Facebook posts and think I have something to say. Well, I'll prove them wrong, just you watch. Not sure I have anything to say, but when I thought about it, the idea of putting out a book would silence the constant ask. At the same time donating profits to a magic school in Bolivia absolves me of any guilt from asking for cash for the work. See the goal here is to straddle the constant self loathing while equally promoting this thing. Apathy, it's my sword and shield. Hey, lets also not forget that the published author tag also sure helps on the green card application, which I'm currently in the middle of getting through. Not long until I'm outta this frozen hell hole of Hoth we call Ontario.

 

 

 

 

What is your favourite anecdote from the book? 

I'm fond of the Magic Castle story, because the first time performing there is super special and I think people ought to read how it feels if they've never been. Mostly though, it's the Monkey story. The whole thing screams show business. If nothing else I was hoping to show people just how crazy this business can be, and that's the coolest thing about it. Even when the money wasn't great, the stories were. It was the best way to grow up. Oh... there's also a ton of swearing in it. Apologies, but I swear a lot. It's a personal failure. Take it up with the editor of this thing.

You're not making a profit from this book.  All proceeds are going to charity.  Tell us about the charity you're supporting.
 

As charities go, this is a good one. It's a magic school for kids in Bolivia. If you've ever been anywhere in South America you'll notice they have it pretty rough compared to here. It's a good place to try and raise some cash for. To be fair it was Shawn Farquhar who put me on to that school. I always wanted to do something to help kids in magic and Shawn had a connection to the school, so it was a great fit. Magic has given us all so very much and so many crazy adventures. I like the idea of helping out a kid who loves magic who might one day have their own crazy stories. Maybe because we bought some props and helped them along.... hey I'm just a steel town girl on a Saturday night, looking for the fight of her life. In the real time world no one sees me at all, they all say I'm CRAAAAZZYYY... she's a maniac....maniac on the floor.....

[Editor's note:  Great.  Now that Michael Sembello song is stuck in my head.]

 

Is there anything else you’d like to share about you or The Fog Machine of War with our readers?
 

I always say this is bathroom reading for magicians. It's not a long book, really not long. I'm saving trees. Short stories, often less than a page at a time. I'm not trying to put out a Ken Weber style work. It's light reading, hopefully, to make you laugh and think about the industry. There's a few pieces in there specifically designed to start some debates, maybe even fights. I was always a fan of Metropolitan Life by Fran Lebowitz, so I sort of patterned the book after that. Naturally my book is nowhere near as good as Fran's. That said, maybe I can build an empire off publishing a single book. Hey, worked for her.

 

 

Thank you Matt, for making the time to answer our questions! 

To learn more about The Fog Machine of War and to purchase the book, visit MattDiSero.com/book/

Learn more about Matt at his website MattDiSero.com and follow him on Instagram.

 

 

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Steve Valentine co-producer of Scatman John biopic

From the March 28th article "Scatman John Feature Film in the Works (Exclusive)" by Alex Ritman at The Hollywood Reporter:

Tom Malloy (Lansky, Ask Me to Dance), founder of Trick Candle Productions, and Steve Valentine (MonsterHigh, The Walk) brokered the deal with Lee Newman, Larkin’s stepson, who handles the estate.

“Today, more than ever, John’s message resonates and needs to be heard,” said Valentine. “He was a true legend, tearing down barriers that would have deterred many from attempting to accomplish their dreams. We are excited to work on this project with Lee, and are honored to be bringing Scatman John’s story to the big screen.”

Read more.

 

 

 

 

 

Random thoughts about "Mr. Valentine Blows Your Mind!"

TLDR: 
MIND BLOWN!
Hope to see again!

Regular readers will recall that this summer Dave Curran and Steve Esfandiar Kalantar opened Jokers, a comedy club in Richmond Hill.  We attended the soft launch in June (see our post "Jokers is serious about comedy") with plans to visit again after a few months.  

Steve Valentine's brand new one-man show "Mr. Valentine Blows Your Mind!" was the perfect reason to return.

 

Here are some random thoughts about the show:

The audience was a real Who's Who of the Ontario magic scene.  We spied (in no particular order):
- Peter Mennie
- Ryan Joyce
- Mark Hogan
- Glenn Ottaway
- Matt DiSero
- Richard Forget
- Jen & Mike Segal
- Ian Crawford
- Phil Pivnick
- David Sutherland
- Ben Train
- Chris Mayhew
- Chris Philpott
- Sean Dougherty and of course
- Dave Curran!

• The show was one hour and forty minutes of non-stop magic and comedy, expertly blended together with a generous amount of well-honed theatre.
  
  
• There were a ridiculous number of AV cues and an equally ridiculous number of magic effects, with multimedia woven throughout the show.  (Including some of the questions Steve solicited from his Instagram followers!)
  
  
• Things were thrown, things were produced, things vanished, and the laws of physics were stood on their ear.
  
  
• Magic classics were given a fresh twist.  And there were new to us effects that filled us with childlike wonder. 
  
  
• For the history lovers, there was a sprinkle of British history, American history, family history, and magic history (in the form of a beautiful homage to Oswald Williams).
  
  
• The show was very interactive with close to 10 volunteers!
  (Masking provided little to no protection from being volunteered.)
  
  

 

IYKYK:  If you were paying close attention in the spring of 2020, you may have seen moments of this show in their infancy, presented as part of a fundraiser for the Niagara SPCA.

• It was obvious to the casual observer that Steve took his role as entertainer seriously.  It was equally obvious that he didn't take himself seriously, which immediately endeared him to the audience.
  

This brand new show had the audience demanding two encores.

• If you stripped the magic out, it would have been a solid comedy show.
  
  
• If you stripped the comedy out, it would have been a solid magic show.
  
  

 

 

The synergy of Steve's comedy and expertly executed sleight of hand, lovingly combined with his joyful spirit of theatre, resulted in a mind-blowing evening of jaw-dropping entertainment!
 

Your next chance to see this show is October 21st at Jokers Comedy Club in Richmond Hill.  Tell them Canada's Magic sent you!

 

 

Here's what Matt DiSero had to say:

 

 Additional photos:

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How to be a part of Steve Valentine's live show [submissions due Sep 22]

Read the deets in his newsletter.

 

From the September 14th Tweet by Steve Valentine:

Hey, wanna be a part my live show? - https://t.co/UpyihqBnlO pic.twitter.com/nTcQmj6I7T

— Steve Valentine (@Stevevalentine) September 14, 2022

 

 

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Richmond Hill: Mr. Valentine Blows Your Mind! [Sep 30]

From the August 10th Facebook post bye Jokers Theatre and Comedy Club:

Huge announcement! Tickets are now on sale for the latest show addition to the Jokers lineup coming September 30th.

Mr Valentine Blows Your Mind!  Join the star of TV’s Crossing Jordan House, The Walk and Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place Movie for an incredible evening of non-stop sleight of hand and gossip.

Multi-award winning actor and sleight of hand chap Steve Valentine, brings an evening of Tricks and Tales to Jokers.

Spend the night with Steve Valentine (watching him on stage, no actual sex in the show).

Tricks and Tales

Sleight of Hand and Gossip

With over 250 hours of TV and film to his name Steve Valentine has been in almost everything you love.

But this Hollywood actor has a secret. Steve also happens to be a multi-award winning sleight of hand artist. From Hollywood’s world famous Magic Castle to headlining Las Vegas to touring with the The Illusionists, this incredible artist brings his own slightly edgy brand of wizardry to the stage.

So come, spend the night with Steve, who knows, he may even do a trick with you.
https://www.jokers.ca/steve-valentine

 

 

 

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