Canada's Magic

18 February 2015

Montreal: The McCord Museum magic acquisition

The McCord Museum has acquired a $3-million collection of 600 posters, 200 rare books and 200 documents relating to the golden age of magic – from the 19th to early 20th centuries.

Included are objects linked to Harry Houdini, including personal correspondence and scrapbooks. Houdini performed in Montreal four times, including the event in 1926 where a McGill student punched Houdini in the stomach before he was prepared for it, rupturing his appendix. Houdini died a week later.

“It’s the second-largest collection of Houdini material held in a public institution,” said David Ben, artistic director of Magicana, an organization dedicated to the study of magic. Ben served as an adviser to the museum and was there on Monday as journalists were invited into the museum vaults to view some of the artifacts. The Library of Congress in the U.S. has the largest such collection, making this the most extensive in Canada. “The collection is significant,” Ben said.

Read more.

From Julie Eng's Facebook page:

Post by Julie Eng.

17 February 2015

Thirty seconds with Ben Train

This is the fifth in a series of "Thirty seconds with ..." interviews, so called because I approached the interviewees at Sorcerers Safari Magic and Performance Arts Camp last summer with the idea that I would interview them for 30 seconds. It didn't always work that way.

Professional magician Benzi Train is from Toronto, Ontario. Proud of his homecountry, Ben thinks of "poutine, maple syrup, and free health care" when thinking about Canada. (Good thing for that health care too; poutine and maple syrup aren't good for you in large doses.)

FUN FACT:
Ben's a fan of Harry Potter, chocolate chip cookies and Netflix.

DID YOU KNOW?
Ben's most embarrassing moment was getting pantsed at camp last summer. (I think there's video footage of that out there somewhere. Finding it will be left as an exercise for the reader.)

Ben first came to Sorcerers Safari Magic and Performance Arts Camp loving the idea that two of his passions, magic and camping, could be experienced simultaneously. He comes back because, it's "the most amazing place in the world." The words family, fun, and magic come immediately to mind when he thinks about magic camp. Last summer marked Ben's twelfth year at Sorcerers Safari. He has attended as a counsellor in training, a counsellor and most recently as an instructor.

Ben's first memory of magic was seeing Triumph performed when he was 14 years old. He hopes that magicians today adapt to, integrate, and utilize all of the new technology and platforms to their advantage.

Ben heads up Five Academy Magic and performs as well as lectures all over the world.

Visit Ben's website at bentrain.ca .

Ben will be appearing this coming Sunday at Magic Tonight (50% discount with coupon code cmagic) .

From the Fireside Productions Facebook page:

Post by Fireside Productions.

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Previously published "Thirty seconds with ..." interviews:

Dan Wiebe | Eric Leclerc | Lisa Close | Alex Seaman

From the Sorcerers Safari Twitter feed:

Guarantee your spot at #MagicCamp Aug.15-19 2015. Tell your parents registration is on your wish list - it's now open at sorcererssafari.ca
— Sorcerers Safari (@SorcerersSafari) December 22, 2014

16 February 2015

Pickpocket James on Daytime TV

From Pickpocket James' Twitter feed:

Popping on Daytime TV for the Live show on Feb. 16th. @RTVBarrie @VioletsVenue
— PickpocketJames (@PickpocketJames) February 10, 2015

15 February 2015

Shawn Farquhar interviewed by Scott Wells

There are two parts to the interview!

From Shawn Farquhar's Facebook page:

Post by Shawn Farquhar.

14 February 2015

Europe: Jay Sankey tour

From Jay Sankey's newsletter:

I also love meeting my awesome students and fans. Which is why I'm so psyched for my European Lecture Tour, starting NEXT WEEK!

Bruxelles/ Feb 16
Lieges/ Feb 17
Luxembourg/ Feb 18
Geneve/ Feb 19
Reims/ Feb 20
Strasbourg/ Feb 21
Dijon/ Feb 23
Clermont Ferrand/ Feb 24
St. Etienne/ Feb 25
Nimes/ Feb 26
Marseille/ Feb 27
Toulouse/ Feb 28
Poitiers/ March 2
Lorient/ March 3
Paris/ March 4
Bale/ March 5
Zurich/ March 6
Lille/ March 9
Velden/ March 10
Antwerpen/ March 11

Read more.

13 February 2015

Toronto: Markham Street Films at the Browser's Den of Magic

From the Browser's Den of Magic Facebook page:

Hello everyone! Tomorrow a film crew from Toronto's Markham Street Films will be at Browser's Den of Magic starting around 2:30pm to shoot footage for a documentary film about the bullet catch. The documentary features Scott Hammell, Magic Mike Segal (who will be in attendance at Browsers), and numerous other magicians. The crew would love to meet some young, budding local magicians to hear their stories, see them shop and talk about tricks, and to discuss the joy and wonder of getting into magic for the first time. Please come out if you are interested in participating. Please note, individuals under the age of 18 must have a guardian with them to sign a consent form to appear on camera. We hope to meet everyone there!