Rounding the Eastern rings in April

Confirm details about dates and locations by visiting each club's website.

Halifax, NS	Ring 316 (Conjourer's Court)	- n/a
St. John, NB	Magic Circle of St. John	- n/a

Please leave a comment or e-mail me about corrections or omissions.

Going for it!

I've spent the past 3+ years posting notices of performances, lectures, awards and achievements at this blog.  At the back of my mind, a seed was planted.

"I can do that."

It was small and quiet at first.  A hushed whisper of a thought.  Easy to ignore.

"I can do that."

As the days and months progressed, the inner voice grew slowly but surely.  The everyday busy made it easy to discount.  There are bills and groceries and errands and accounting and schedules that need my attention. 

But with every post about a magical success story, the notion became more entrenched.

"I can do that."

Most recently at Ring 17 members night I was delighted to see so many members go to the front of the room and just go for it.  And so, the subconscious niggling finally asserted itself to the conscious mind.

"I can do that.  Go and do it!"

The time has come for me to put all of my free time towards mastering the craft of magic.  Toronto magician and five year producer of Abracadabaret, James Alan, has agreed to take me under his wing.  (I've watched him very patiently teach children.  He's going to need all of his patience to get me stage ready!)

To increase my motivation, a downtown Toronto venue has been booked in the middle of October, for my first solo show.  It is with tremendous gratitude that I thank James for clearing his schedule to assist with coaching me, as well as both producing and directing this project.  Accordingly, posting at this site will be infrequent to nonexistent over the next while.

Details of the upcoming performance will be released when the timing is right.  Timing, as they say, is everything.

And with that I remind you, dear readers, to check the timing (and especially the date) of publication of this announcement.

Top 5 posts in March 2014

5. Manitoba museum an honour to son

4. Broken wand: Sandy Gregory

3. Goodbye to Morrissey Magic -- the end of an era in Toronto

2.  Random thoughts about Ring 17 Members' Night

and the most viewed post in March is ...

1. [Guest post] An open letter from the president of Ring 17

Orlando: Bill Abbott

From Bill Abbott's Twitter feed:

Appearing at Wizards in Orlando Monday! Grab a ticket and let me know if you're coming. @wizardzmagic http://t.co/wFXExIowjS
— Bill Abbott (@billabbottmagic) March 30, 2014

Everett: Tyler Wilson and Chris Mayhew

From the Northwest Ring of Fire:

June 21st, 2014

Tyler Wilson Lecture
with special guest Chris Mayhew

Read more.

Random thoughts about Magic @ The Cage

Over March Break, we made our way to The Cage to catch Abracadabaret in action.   On tap were James Alan, Chris Westfall and Jamie Stam.

• The Crimson Lounge at The Cage is a great venue for dinner theatre.  [This is a cash only venue.]
• Performers who are aware that there minors in the audience, and adjust their script / set to accommodate for young people, win over the children's parents immediately.  Doubly so if the show wasn't billed as a child friendly show.
• Performers who mind their language because of the presence of young persons with perhaps delicate ears, can be more entertaining than if they had ignored the fact entirely.  [Kudos and thank you to James Alan!]
• Adults are surprisingly entertained by children volunteers on stage, as long as the children are enjoying themselves and especially if the children are laughing.
• Kidlet has seen a balloon animal act before, a few times, more times than I can remember and was still well entertained by Chris's handling.  Impressive Chris!
• I'm always delighted to see James on stage with a roll of duct tape in hand.  Because I know what follows is going to be wonderful.
• Jamie presented some material I hadn't seen him perform before.  Very creative, visual and effective.
• Most of the Sunday (and some of the Tuesday) shows this month have been sold out.  Be sure to purchase your tickets in advance to reserve your seats!  (If you have comps, do let James Alan know which date you're hoping to attend.)

Montreal: Chris Westfall's Calculated Chaos

From Montreal Magic Jam:

April 3rd

One of the things we enjoy most about organizing these lectures is being able to introduce you to new up-and-coming magicians, so we’re very excited to be bringing Chris Westfall to Montreal. Chris is a true student of magic as well as a worker in every sense of the word. With thousands of performances under his belt in a multitude of venues, Chris has developed a style and repertoire suited for the real world. Chris’s material has been published in Magic, Genii and M-U-M, and he was an invited speaker at the acclaimed 2013 Magi-Fest convention.

Read more (également en français) and buy tickets.

I should also remind you that Chris is giving his lecture in Ottawa on April 1st:

pic.twitter.com/2dTXs9Hro1
— Chris Westfall (@westfallmagic) January 7, 2014