It'll be a spectacle on ice tonight! Come out and support #HelpAChildSmile and watch #Celebrities vs #NHL alumni. pic.twitter.com/rbkb0eSGw8
— Greg Frewin Theatre (@FrewinTheatre) November 20, 2014
20 November 2014
Greg Frewin et al vs the NHL Alumni Stars!
From the Greg Frewin Theatre Twitter feed:
Toronto: "Magic Tonight" with Keith Brown, Jason Palter, and James Alan
From Keith Brown's Twitter feed:
This Sunday I will be opening for Jason Palter at #magictonight ! We have a new location near College & Spadina.... http://t.co/0itXSYq83a
— Keith Brown (@KeithHBrown) November 19, 2014
From the Abracadabaret Twitter feed:
This Sunday on #magictonight @paltergeist & @james_alan Advance tickets online at http://t.co/Y6UJWzgeN3 #toronto
— Abracadabaret (@Abracadabaret) November 17, 2014
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* Offer is subject to change without notice. Canada's Magic earns a commission when you use the coupon code cmagic.
SOULO Theatre: Best small theatre company
Congratulations to James Alan, General Manager of the SOULO Theatre company!
From Reality Based Magic:
SOULO Theatre – where I plot and scheme away, largely behind the scenes as the general manager – has just won Best Small Theatre Company from NOW Magazine’s Best of Toronto Reader’s Choice! Massive credit goes to the team that helped organize the 2014 SOULO Theatre Festival and massive thanks to everyone who voted over the past few months. It’s a tremendous honour.
Read more.
19 November 2014
Winner of Forcing the Ace
The contest to win a copy of "Forcing the Ace" from the Orca Limelights series closed last night at midnight.
We had some great advice for performing youngsters suggested: practice, work on one thing at a time when you are just starting out, be willing to take a risk and try, "Prepare. Practice. Perform. Perfect. Repeat." and READ MORE BOOKS!
Here's the list of entrants:
Random draw results:
We had some great advice for performing youngsters suggested: practice, work on one thing at a time when you are just starting out, be willing to take a risk and try, "Prepare. Practice. Perform. Perfect. Repeat." and READ MORE BOOKS!
Here's the list of entrants:
- Lee Asher
- Roger Boucher
- Tara Hutchinson
- Robert Lamar
- Jay
Random draw results:
Congratulations to Tara Hutchinson!
I'll be contacting you with instructions about how to claim your prize. I hope you (or a young reader) enjoys the book as much as I did. (And don't forget to let me know how you like it.)
Thank you all for playing! A special thanks to Amy Collins from Orca Book Publishers for generously making this book available to you!
Murray Sawchuk's at at Planet Hollywood’s Sin City Theater
From the Las Vegas Sun:
[via iTricks]
In the end, Murray Sawchuck had to be more than a poser.
Not that it wasn’t a great deal of fun following Sawchuck canvas the valley mugging for photos in front of hotel-casino marquees with such self-written captions as, “Wild Wild West is a nice place!” But it had to come to an end, as Sawchuck sought to resume his stage show at a Las Vegas venue after leaving Laugh Factory at Tropicana on Oct. 30.
Sawchuck’s new venue is Sin City Theater at Planet Hollywood, where he sets up Dec. 20 for what is to be a yearlong run of shows at 2 and 4 p.m. daily (dark Fridays).
Read more.
[via iTricks]
18 November 2014
[Guest post] Watching the Magic Unfold
The following is a guest post from Erin Thomas, author of "Forcing the Ace,"
Erin talks about Sorcerers Safari, early memories of magic, magic at Canada's Wonderland (Paul Pacific or Jeff Pinsky, perhaps?) and more.
Today's the last day to enter to win your copy of Forcing the Ace!
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Having already written a few times about the awesomeness that is Sorcerers Safari Magic Camp in Ontario, and rejoiced in the similarities between magicians and writers (introverts unite!), I think it’s time to try a different tack. Today I want to share some of my memories of watching magic and enjoying it. Because really, that’s what it’s all about.
As it turns out, magic is probably one of the first things I ever saw clearly. I was eight or nine years old when my parents took my brother and I to see David Copperfield in Toronto. We sat up in the balcony, looking down on a big, brightly lit stage. I kept squinting and turning away, complaining that my eyes hurt. Acting on a hunch, Dad handed me his glasses. Wow! Whaddya know… there was a person down on that big stage! And he was doing really cool stuff.
Sadly, I remember the fact of the show more than the details, although there was one memorable moment when he walked through a giant wall onstage. Wikipedia tells me that his Great Wall of China effect was in 1986, a couple years later, so I might be confused, but this is how I remember it. That, and him reaching into a tiny bottle and pulling out a rainbow-coloured scarf that seemed to go on forever.
I do remember the sharp, sudden realization that the world was a place with edges, and that details existed more than an arms’ length away. My world got bigger that night. And if you could pick one thing to be your first sight through corrective lenses, a magic show is a pretty decent option.
I know I saw other magicians over the years. There would have been shows at day camps and birthday parties, magicians on stages at town carnivals, Canada’s Wonderland, the Mediaeval Faire. And I would have watched and clapped, laughed and been astonished. These are all vague impressions, though.
There was that “Circus” in the McQuay family’s backyard—a show put on by the neighbourhood kids for parents lined up in lawn chairs. I remember Piper’s acrobatics, and I think some kind of “lion act” featuring Katie the Airedale. The tightrope was a skipping rope stretched across the grass, and we took turns balancing across it. Of course there was a magic act, courtesy of one of those boxed kids with plastic cup-and-balls pieces and a disappearing chamber as tall as a Barbie doll. None of us ended up pursuing magic as a calling, so I suspect it might have been the sort of act that comes from reading the directions five minutes before the show, but watching, I still thought it was cool. Even the possibility of things disappearing and reappearing was enough for me.
I watched magic shows when I was researching the book. My favourite, of course, was the final performance at Magic Camp. I brought my husband and my daughter along, to see the kids I had talked with earlier in the week perform. I LOVED that. It wasn’t always the most polished magic, but it was sincere.
Unfortunately, my husband and daughter haven’t been bitten by the magic bug the way I was. They don’t always want to go see the shows. But I dragged them along to a Christopher Tracy’s family magic show at a resort in Florida last winter, and we had a great time. My daughter was chosen as the first audience volunteer. He broke the rules in a fun way, instructing her to close her eyes while he made things “disappear” by tossing them behind a counter. He invited the whole audience in on his secret—this isn’t really magic, we’re here to have a good time—so that when he started in on the tricks that baffled us, we enjoyed it even more. We laughed, and my daughter felt special for having been part of the show.
We’re not done with magic, my family and I. I’m not done with it. I have no plans to become a magician (becoming a writer is more than enough work, thanks very much), but I sure do like being in the audience.
Sometime soon, maybe I’ll see you there.
Erin talks about Sorcerers Safari, early memories of magic, magic at Canada's Wonderland (Paul Pacific or Jeff Pinsky, perhaps?) and more.
--
Having already written a few times about the awesomeness that is Sorcerers Safari Magic Camp in Ontario, and rejoiced in the similarities between magicians and writers (introverts unite!), I think it’s time to try a different tack. Today I want to share some of my memories of watching magic and enjoying it. Because really, that’s what it’s all about.
As it turns out, magic is probably one of the first things I ever saw clearly. I was eight or nine years old when my parents took my brother and I to see David Copperfield in Toronto. We sat up in the balcony, looking down on a big, brightly lit stage. I kept squinting and turning away, complaining that my eyes hurt. Acting on a hunch, Dad handed me his glasses. Wow! Whaddya know… there was a person down on that big stage! And he was doing really cool stuff.
Sadly, I remember the fact of the show more than the details, although there was one memorable moment when he walked through a giant wall onstage. Wikipedia tells me that his Great Wall of China effect was in 1986, a couple years later, so I might be confused, but this is how I remember it. That, and him reaching into a tiny bottle and pulling out a rainbow-coloured scarf that seemed to go on forever.
I do remember the sharp, sudden realization that the world was a place with edges, and that details existed more than an arms’ length away. My world got bigger that night. And if you could pick one thing to be your first sight through corrective lenses, a magic show is a pretty decent option.
I know I saw other magicians over the years. There would have been shows at day camps and birthday parties, magicians on stages at town carnivals, Canada’s Wonderland, the Mediaeval Faire. And I would have watched and clapped, laughed and been astonished. These are all vague impressions, though.
There was that “Circus” in the McQuay family’s backyard—a show put on by the neighbourhood kids for parents lined up in lawn chairs. I remember Piper’s acrobatics, and I think some kind of “lion act” featuring Katie the Airedale. The tightrope was a skipping rope stretched across the grass, and we took turns balancing across it. Of course there was a magic act, courtesy of one of those boxed kids with plastic cup-and-balls pieces and a disappearing chamber as tall as a Barbie doll. None of us ended up pursuing magic as a calling, so I suspect it might have been the sort of act that comes from reading the directions five minutes before the show, but watching, I still thought it was cool. Even the possibility of things disappearing and reappearing was enough for me.
I watched magic shows when I was researching the book. My favourite, of course, was the final performance at Magic Camp. I brought my husband and my daughter along, to see the kids I had talked with earlier in the week perform. I LOVED that. It wasn’t always the most polished magic, but it was sincere.
Unfortunately, my husband and daughter haven’t been bitten by the magic bug the way I was. They don’t always want to go see the shows. But I dragged them along to a Christopher Tracy’s family magic show at a resort in Florida last winter, and we had a great time. My daughter was chosen as the first audience volunteer. He broke the rules in a fun way, instructing her to close her eyes while he made things “disappear” by tossing them behind a counter. He invited the whole audience in on his secret—this isn’t really magic, we’re here to have a good time—so that when he started in on the tricks that baffled us, we enjoyed it even more. We laughed, and my daughter felt special for having been part of the show.
We’re not done with magic, my family and I. I’m not done with it. I have no plans to become a magician (becoming a writer is more than enough work, thanks very much), but I sure do like being in the audience.
Sometime soon, maybe I’ll see you there.
~~~~
Thank you Erin, for guest posting at Canada's Magic! Today's the last day to enter to win your copy of Forcing the Ace!
17 November 2014
Appreciating the Certificate of Appreciation
I had the good fortune of attending the Browser's Den 39th anniversary party yesterday. Unfortunately, I arrived late in the day and missed much of the merriment. Bernice Cooper was there which is always wonderful. I did enjoy a very lively trivia quiz, some lovely refreshments, catching up with good friends, making new acquaintances, and of course adding to my magic inventory!
Congratulations to Ryan Brown, this year's recipient of the Len Cooper Memorial Award. Ryan received a full set of eight Tarbell Course in Magic books in Len's memory. (You may recall that Ryan won the Best Magician Contest in 2012).
The highlight of the day, for me, was receiving this Certificate of Appreciation from Jeff.
The fine print:
It means a tremendous amount to me that Jeff, who does so much good for the magic community at large, thinks that I am enriching the community as well.
Thank you Jeff!
Congratulations to Ryan Brown, this year's recipient of the Len Cooper Memorial Award. Ryan received a full set of eight Tarbell Course in Magic books in Len's memory. (You may recall that Ryan won the Best Magician Contest in 2012).
The highlight of the day, for me, was receiving this Certificate of Appreciation from Jeff.
The fine print:
It means a tremendous amount to me that Jeff, who does so much good for the magic community at large, thinks that I am enriching the community as well.
Thank you Jeff!
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