Jay Olson and Amir Raz in Consciousness and Cognition

From UBC News:

Magicians have astonished audiences for centuries by subtly, yet powerfully, influencing their decisions. But there has been little systematic study of the psychological factors that make magic tricks work.

Now, a team of researchers from McGill University and UBC has combined the art of conjuring and the science of psychology to demonstrate how certain contextual factors can sway the decisions people make, even though they may feel that they are choosing freely – a finding with potential implications even for daily decision-making.

“We began with a principle of magic that we didn’t fully understand: how magicians influence audiences to choose a particular card without their awareness,” explains Jay Olson, lead author of a new study published in Consciousness and Cognition. “We found that people tend to choose options that are more salient or attention-grabbing, but they don’t know why they chose them,” says Olson, a graduate student in psychiatry in McGill University’s Raz Lab, which investigates psychological phenomena such as attention and consciousness. 

Read more.

This article was also picked up at:

• the Medical Xpress 
• the Science of Us and
• Science 2.0 

Fun Family Day at Dave and Busters

Ontario's Family Day long weekend was just over a week ago.  (As a bonus for the kids it was an extra long, long weekend because of a school Professional Activities day tacked onto the Friday before.)  Going into the weekend, I had high hopes for a low key, low stress relaxing weekend that would include outdoor activities such as skating and tobogganing.

The Universe had other ideas.  To be fair, there was lots of sleeping in and it was very low key and low stress.  (Thank you to the public library for letting us borrow from your DVD collection.)  The weather outside, however, was close to minus 400 degrees with the windchill and I am not a fan of doing anything in that kind of cold.

On the weekend a Tweet from Bill Abbott caught my attention:

"CHICO IS BACK!!! 2 shows only. This Monday 2pm and 4pm"

How could I resist?

We arrived at Dave and Busters an hour before showtime and were warmly greeted at the door by Ben Train.  After we bought our tickets (bring cash), we went into the theatre to find our seats and settle in.  I was very impressed to find that the theatre was almost half full already.  We ordered some yummy food and passed the time by teaching Kidlet how to do a Bruce Posgate knot with the table decor.

Some notes on the show:

• About 10 minutes before showtime, the room was completely sold out.  
• Bobby Motta did a great job of warming up the crowd.
• Bill Abbott was in fine form.
• Kidlet has seen an effect created by Bill, performed a number of times by people who have purchased his product.  It was very educational for Kidlet to see Bill perform it himself!  (And it's always entertaining.)
• It was a delight for me to finally see Bill live, performing someThing I had only seen him do on video.  (And it looks great live!)
• After all these years, Chico is just as precocious as ever.
• Some magical items were on sale after the show ... parents bring some extra cash.
• The show was very entertaining and well worth the ticket price!

As a bonus, on your way out after the show everyone receives a game card which gives you unlimited play on all the non-ticketed games in The Midway.  Needless to say we spent a good chunk of time exploring all the offerings!  (And got some virtual snowboarding and skiing in to boot.)

Thank you Ben, Bill, Bobby and Dave & Busters for being a part of such a fabulous Family Day outing!


From Ben Train's Twitter feed:

Every Fri & Sat at @DnB_Toronto, come see @bobbymotta and @billabbottlive! 2 shows a night, 8 & 10:15- $20 per show (includes game cards)!
— Ben Train (@ErdnaseinTO) February 22, 2015

Festival de magie de Québec 2015

From the Festival de Magie as translated through Google translate:

From Thursday 3 to Sunday, September 6, 2015, the population of the Quebec City, Quebec tourists and magic lovers everywhere will be invited in the St-Roch Nouvo order to live magic moments. Indeed, several shows and events they will be offered by artists handpicked and only goal is to make them unforgettable and enchanting moments!
 For this 5th edition, will focus programming and animation at five locations to make the festival as accessible as possible to all. These will be: the square of the Saint-Roch Church, Benjo store, Theatre Lined, Little Imperial and Gabrielle-Roy Library. We expect more than 20,000 people.

Read more.

About the contest:

The Association du Festival de magie de Québec is very proud to announce the establishment the third edition of an international calibre contest in Quebec for amateur and professional magicians around the world.

We are also very proud that the first prize and the name of this contest bear the name of a legend and extraordinary pioneer of magic in Quebec. Many thanks to the Cailloux family for allowing us to use Michel Cailloux’s name.

Read more.

Watch a documentary about the 2014 experience from the Festival de magie de Québec's YouTube channel:




[via the Canadian Association of Magicians]

Food drive by The Browser's Den

The Browser's Den of Magic is collecting food to donate to a Toronto food bank.

Starting today, until the end of the Bash on Sunday, April 12th, 2015, you're urged to bring a canned food good (non-perishable) with you to the Browser's Den or the Browser's Magic Bash and help fight hunger in Toronto. It's amazing what a can or two from each of us could do. And as magicians, it's our duty to amaze! 

From the Browser's Den Twitter feed:

Bring a canned good to the Browser's Den or the #BrowsersBash2015 to help those less fortunate in #Toronto pic.twitter.com/0o3rMmS8Pq
— The Browser's Den (@theBrowsersDen) February 25, 2015

Ken Margoe, Chris Westfall and Brian Roberts at "Magic Tonight"

Confirm details by visiting Abracadabaret.com

Mississauga (Thurs):  Ken Margoe

Pickering (Fri):  Chris Westfall

Toronto (Sun):   Brian Roberts


James Alan, over at Abracadaberet, has kindly offered the readers of Canada's Magic a coupon code for 50% off tickets to "Magic Tonight!"  Use the coupon code cmagic when you buy your tickets for Magic Tonight to receive your discount*.




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

Behind the scenes at Wizard Wars

Also, go to Ellen Fox's website to find out which Canadian wizard has ink that reads "There is no hocus pocus"?

From Rick Lax's YouTube channel:

Three years ago Justin Flom and I hosted the first-ever "Wizard War" in a 2-bedroom apartment a block of the Vegas Strip. Against all odds, we parlayed it into a show on Syfy. (As a diehard Face Off fan, Syfy was always my #1 choice.) And against all further odds, they picked us up for more episodes. 

Read more and watch video.

Brian Roberts on Rogers TV

Rumour has it that Brian Roberts will be on Rogers TV Toronto, tomorrow at 10am and 3pm.