X-elent Lecture Series: The end of the road

From the X-elent Lecture Series website:

For the past 9 years, we've had some of the greatest lecturers come through the region and share their hard-earned knowledge with us.

This has been no small feat, nor something easily accomplished. Without the dedicated help of each city, we would have never lasted as long as we have.

Under the X-elent Series banner, the region has seen 47 of the best lectures possible. But as they say, ...all good things must come to an end. It's with a sad heart that I make the following announcement.

Season 9 was the final season of the X-elent Lecture Series.

Read more.
 

Read what Calgarian Yeats Wong had to say about his experience with the X-elent series and it's creator, Lee Asher.

Thank you Lee, for all you've done to bring more magic to Canada!

Welcoming a new patron: Ryan Pilling

Welcome to our newest sponsor, Ryan Pilling!

Based out of Calgary, Ryan is not only a comedy magician, but he is also: a blogger, a designer, and an author!  Check out:

Playing Big -- Making magic out of tricks:

Ryan blogs about peformance observations and tips. He recently posted about "The Importance of Being Bad" and his post "If You Can't Say Anything Nice" is a topic that really resonates with me.

The Magic Assistant -- Gwyn Auger:

From Gwyn's website:

Gwyn Auger is a vivacious, creative woman who brings dedication and enthusiasm to every project she embarks on. Gwyn’s primary goal is to be a full time magician’s assistant, and as a trained dancer and professional model, she brings beauty and grace to any stage.  

Gwyn is an integral part of tongue-in-cheek horror show "A Brush With Death," which has taken Calgary by storm!

In my experience, Gwyn definitely has her finger on the pulse of the magical happenings in Calgary!

WowFest:

Back in October we first heard the news about Ryan's idea for Wowfest -- a Magic Arts Festival that he'd like to launch in Calgary.  In November he shared the exciting news that he received funding for the project!  Listen to Ryan interviewed on CBC's The Homestretch, talking about WowFest.

If you haven't already, go and "like" the WowFest Facebook page and then go to the WowFest website to subscribe to the project's newsletter.

Finding the Funny --  A Professional Entertainer's Guide to Improvisation, Ad-Libs, and Audience Interaction:

"Learn the techniques to creating inspired moments of comedy, and getting the best out of your audience volunteers."

"This guidebook will help the practiced magician, juggler, clown and other entertainers add the sparkle of spontaneity to their performances."
 

Thank you Ryan, for your efforts towards raising the profile of magic in Calgary, and for your sponsorship!

Murray SawChuck returns to Pawn Stars

According to iTricks, Murray SawChuck will appear in today's episode of Pawn Stars, called The Offer.

From the History.com website:

Then, when a guy brings in a historic magician s "sawing in half" box the guys learn that cutting Chumlee in half is the easy part... putting him back together is a bit tougher.

Read more.

[h/t: iTricks]

Two years and 783 posts later....

Two years ago today, I published the very first post at this website.  Since that time over 28,000 page loads have been served.  There are 325 Twitter followers and I've sent 3400+ tweets into the ether.  There are  65 Facebook fans and 44 subscribers.  While the majority of readers are Canadian, our readers also come from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Malaysia, Portugal, Australia, and the list goes on and on.

There are so many wonderful things going on in this country's magic community and I'm barely scratching the surface!

Thank you, as always, for reading, subscribing, re-tweeting, liking, sharing, submitting news, corresponding, making me aware of typos, guest posting, sponsoring and most of all for your wonderful feedback and continued support!

Toronto: The Mark Lewis Magic Show

Updated December 18th to extend the run to the end of January.

From Toronto.ca:

Starts: December 2, 2012
Ends: December 30, 2012  January 27, 2013
  
From the second the show starts, right through to the very end, the children will be laughing with delight! The show is sheer mayhem, madness, and magic! Through his decades of experience, Mark Lewis has achieved a rapport with his young audiences that is unequalled in this area of entertainment!
Read more

For more information, visit the Lower Ossington Theatre website or visit Ticketwise to purchase your tickets.

Alex Kazam vs.Teller

And now for something completely different...

Alex Kazam vs.Teller

Welcoming a new patron: The Fun-da-Mentalist!

Welcome to our newest sponsor, Clive Court, The Fun-da-Mentalist!

Clive's impressive career has taken him from England to Australia, New Zealand, the United States and lucky for us, Canada!  Some notable professional highlights include:

• Performed in London's West End as a teenager.
• "One of the best known magicians on Australian television." -- TV Week
• Wrote and cast "A History of Mystery," the first hour-long TV magic special produced in Australasia.
• Produced the TV magic special, "The Vanishing Art," shown on PBS.
• Approached by Gene Gordon, to give his first lecture in Buffalo.
• Developed the concept of the Canadian Telefilm Broadcast Fund.
• Helped to develop Canada's first degree program in Public Relations.
• Recently reinstated into the Magic Circle.

Currently, Clive performs as The Fun-da-Mentalist, "a cabaret entertainer who specializes in demonstrations of mind-bending magical experiences."

If you haven't already, read Clive's full biography.  It is fascinating!  (It may be that Clive is responsible for my introduction to Monty Python's Flying Circus via PBS.)

Thank you Clive, The Fun-da-Mentalist, for your tireless efforts towards the improvement of Canadian Television and your sponsorship of this website!