Dean Gunnarson: coffin escape

Does anyone have any updates to share about this event?

From Dean Gunnarson's Facebook page:

Post by Dean Gunnarson.

[via Clive Court]

Boomer beats cancer

From the St. Catharines Standard:

Niagara’s newest cancer survivor is hoping to get back to his regular weight soon. About 500 pounds or so.

Six and a half months ago, Niagara Falls magician Greg Frewin noticed his nine-year-old Siberian tiger Boomer acting a bit strange. Something on his right side was bugging him.
Closer inspection revealed a lesion which seemed to grow over the next week. Boomer, one of four tigers performing in his nightly magic show, was clearly agitated.

“We could tell he was licking it,” says Frewin. “He was trying to keep it clean. Something was not right.”

After a check with the vet, Boomer was sedated and the lesion cut open, which revealed “signs of a tumour.” A sample was analyzed and the bad news arrived shortly after – Boomer had cancer.

Read more.

From CHCH:

We all know that wild tigers face extinction every single day from poaching and habitat loss. But what you may not realize is they can also get cancer. And there’s one cancer-stricken tiger in Niagara Falls that’s living a much healthier life than he would have in the wild thanks to his handlers.

In the wild, tigers live for about fourteen years. That number is doubled in captivity. Despite not being in a zoo, Boomer the tiger is one of those big cats who’s life was preserved thanks to the help of the people around him.

Read more.

From 610 CKTB:

A tiger in Niagara Falls has survived cancer, and now we are hearing his story.

A few months ago Greg Frewin's nine year old tiger started acting strange.
The International Grand Champion of Magic, and Niagara Falls Magician took Boomer to the vet.

Read more. 

From the Greg Frewin Theatre YouTube channel:




From the Greg Frewin Theatre Facebook page:

Post by Greg Frewin Theatre.

Randi in Australia

From Think Inc:

THE AMAZING JAMES RANDI is a magician and scientific skeptic best known for his challenges to paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the co-founder of Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), and the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). He began his career as a magician named The Amazing Randi, but after retiring at age 60, he chose to devote most of his time to investigating paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims, which he collectively calls “woo-woo.” 

Held in five cities, An evening with James Randi will feature a discussion with Richard Saunders (Australian skeptic, podcaster, and professional origamist) or Lawrence Leung (comedian, writer and director), a Q&A session with the audience and a meet and greet with selected guests. 

Adelaide: Monday 1 December 2014, 6pm  The Science Exchange, 55 Exchange Place, Adelaide 

Perth: Wednesday 3 December 2014, 6pm  Octagon Theatre, UWA, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley 

Brisbane: Thursday 4 December 2014, 6pm  Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Southbank, Brisbane.

Melbourne: Friday 5 December 2014, 6pmMelbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, Southwharf, Melbourne 

Sydney: Sunday 7 December 2014, 6pmThe Metro Theatre, Sydney.

Read more and buy tickets.

For more Randi goodness, watch this YouTube video of his post-show Q&A and performance after the screening of his film "An Honest Liar" at the  Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival:



[video via iTricks]

Vancouver: IBM presents Just About Magic

Get ready to JAM IBM style.

From the IBM Facebook page:

Post by IBM - International Brotherhood of Magicians.

James Alan on Rogers TV

Watch James Alan talking about "Magic Tonight" on Rogers TV Toronto with Val Cole, tomorrow (Wed) at 10am, 3pm and midnight. Watch for James at the 10-minute mark.

A reminder that readers of Canada's Magic receive a 20% discount* by using the coupon code cmagic



--
* Offer is subject to change without notice.  Canada's Magic earns a commission when you use the coupon code cmagic.

A question from the floor

Updated at 16:00 the consensus so far:

• The Browser's Den of Magic: oldest existing magic shop
• Perfect Magic: oldest existing magic shop under single owner (the people that opened it are still running it)
• IBM Ring 17 - since 1941
• IBM - co-founded by a Canadian in 1923

What is Canada's oldest magic institution?

From Lee Asher's Twitter feed:

@canadasmagic I think @theBrowsersDen is Canada's oldest magic institution. Maybe @jay_sankey @SorcerersSafari or someone else can confirm?!
— Lee Asher (@LeeAsherMagic) November 11, 2014

@canadasmagic @theBrowsersDen I should preface by saying oldest Canadian magic institution "still open".
— Lee Asher (@LeeAsherMagic) December 2, 2014

David Merry on "Too Much Information"

From David Merry's Twitter feed:

My first episode of Too Much Information @TooMuchInfo_TV is this Tuesday @ 11pm on @SuperChannel Topic: Marriage
— David Merry (@davidmerry) November 20, 2014

@davidmerry hey david! The marriage episode is actually airing next week :)
— Too Much Information (@TooMuchInfo_TV) November 24, 2014

From Toronto is Awesome:

Too Much Information pits two panels of… well, panelists I guess… against each other. Riffing on the topic of the day – Politics. Sex. Religion. You know, the classic non-starters. Each team of panelists waxes on the subject at hand, vying to outwit, out-banter, out-shock and generally out-clever their foes across the isle. Moderated by the affable Norm Sousa (Discovery Channel’s Never Do This at Home) who at times looks like a mischievous kid who stole his Dad’s suit and set out to host a late show. His boyish face lights up when someone says something truly off-key and really lays into an opposing panelist. After all, that’s the beauty of a show that airs at night and the majority of your guests are comedians – there will be some sh*t said.

Sousa kicks things off with a monologue of sorts, testing the electricity in the water. He does a few setups on the theme of the show, to get the crowd warm & loose. It’s definitely not the daytime audience they’re looking to draw. The crowd in these seats comes ready for comedy. Familiar faces saying very naughty things, almost as if the camera isn’t even there

Read more.