Canada's Magic

19 March 2016

Mike D'Urzo 2016 "Performer of the Year"

Congratulations Mike!

From Mike D'Urzo's Facebook page:

Winner of the 2016 "Performer of the Year" award by Festivals & Events Ontario! #FEO2016
Posted by Mega Magic on Friday, 4 March 2016

18 March 2016

Toronto: Browser's Bash Mystery Guest

From the Browser's Den of Magic Twitter feed:

ANNOUNCING: The Mystery Guest at this year's #BrowsersMagicBash2016 is - Steven Brundage! #Cube3 pic.twitter.com/YcbyIVZLeR
— The Browser's Den (@theBrowsersDen) March 10, 2016

17 March 2016

Random thoughts on "Outerbridge Clockwork Mysteries"

I had the pleasure of seeing Marion and Ted Outerbridge perform their show "Clockwork Mysteries" last month. They had just completed a 5,500 mile US lecture tour. I caught them at the Milton Centre for the Arts.

[As an aside, I encourage you to go and see a show at this fabulous 500 seat theatre. It's approximately 25 minutes west of Toronto's western border. The facilities are modern and spacious. On the lower level, it appears that all seats have amazing sight lines. (I didn't venture up to the balcony.) The seats are a little bit wider than standard theatre seats, which makes them very comfortable! They offer amenities like a coat check (by donation) and the ability to pre-order intermission refreshments. Best of all, parking is free and plentiful.]

Here are some random thoughts that came to mind while watching their amazing time travel themed show:

A fast paced, extremely entertaining, high-energy show.
All illusions, big and small, were masterfully performed.
Greta the Psychic Goose earns her keep.
There is a nice ratio of grand illusion, intimate magic, and mentalism.
I really enjoy watching "assistants" do magic in their own right. Marion owns it!
Those of you who know me well, know that my opinion of magicians is heavily weighted on how they treat their audience members. One of my favourite moments in the show, lasted no more than 2 seconds. Ted walked into the audience to select a volunteer. He found someone he wanted to bring on stage. She said, "no." Instead of cajoling or otherwise pressuring her, he simply moved on and found someone else. That's how you make the audience feel like you can be trusted to treat them right. Show people respect from the get go.
Ted has a knack for picking awesome audience volunteers. Six year old Archer was a really good sport and owned that stage!
Nine year olds can't be trusted to count down from 90.
Ted's disco ball jacket is a thing of sheer beauty!
I love that audiences in 2016, still enjoy watching someone get sawed ~~in half~~, ~~into halves~~, into two pieces.
Among other wonderful pieces, we were treated to: "The Psychic is Right," "The Time Machine," "Alarm Clock," "Floating Barricade Light," "Outside of the Box," and their elegantly performed "Levitation."
The biggest mystery of the night for me: How does Marion manage all of those costume changes?

If you get a chance to see them perform their show "Clockwork Mysteries," go and see it!

(If you're at the upcoming CAM convention, you'll get a taste of their show in the Grand Gala performance at the CAMaraderie Convention/Festival de magie de Québec on April 23, 2016. They're also scheduled to perform at SAM New York's "2016 Salute to Magic" on May 7th.)

To learn more about this fabulous duo, listen to the Scott Wells' podcast 278: The Inner Secrets of the Outerbridges or visit their website at www.outerbridgemagic.com.

Disclosure: My family and I were guests at this show. The opinions expressed above are entirely my own. I did not receive compensation for the writing or the publishing of this article.

16 March 2016

Broken wand: Pat Lyons (aka Pat Patterson)

From Magicana's Facebook page dated March 15:

PAT LYONS (PATTERSON)Magicana is sad to report the passing of famed magic illustrator Pat Lyons (aka Pat Patterson)...
Posted by Magicana Sharing Wonder on Tuesday, 15 March 2016

15 March 2016

Toronto: Zack Mirza's "Immaculate Deceptions"

From the "The Drake Hotel Presents: Zack Mirza - IMMACULATE DECEPTIONS - LIVE! Magic Show" Facebook event:

Catch me LIVE! on stage, Friday March 18th at The Drake Hotel. Tickets will be available online through The Drake website (https://guestlistapp.com/events/408468) for $20. Tickets will also be available at the door for $25 dependent upon availability due to limited seating.

14 March 2016

Monday musings: Popcorn and milk

I wonder if anyone has ever incorporated this into their act? A fun experiment for little hands during March break!

"You can fill a glass full to the brim with milk, and fill another glass of the same size brim full of popcorn, and then you can put all the popcorn kernel into the milk, and milk will not run over. You cannot do this with bread. Popcorn and milk are the only two things that will go into the same place."[1]

I wonder, does it really only work with milk? And if so, why?

From Pe ter Brown's YouTube channel:

--

[1] Wilder, Laura Ingalls, and Garth Williams. "Winter Night." Farmer Boy. New York: Harper & Bros., 1953.

13 March 2016

Phil Hoffman in the Northwest News

From Northwest News:

Hoffman, who began performing the same year he first started learning magic, won the Under-18 Amateur Magician competition sponsored by Miracles and Magic, according to his mother.

In 2013, he was awarded a scholarship from Ultimate Magic Productions to attend the Sorcerer's Safari magic performance camp in Ottawa, Canada. [Editor's note: the camp is in Haliburton, ON.]

"He likes the idea of doing the magic right in front of someone," Mrs. Hoffman said.

"No smoke and mirrors," her son chimed in.

Has the teen found his life's calling?

"I think so," Hoffman said.

Read more.