Broken wand: Daryl Easton

It is with a heavy heart that I post the news about the recent passing of Daryl Easton.  I had the good fortune to meet Daryl when he was a special guest at Sorcerers Safari in 2015.  Although he's not Canadian, he had a big impact on the campers that year.   He was so easy going and just fit right in.

Magicana has an old video of Daryl performing in the Magic Palace in the 1980s.

Vanish Magazine has a feature with a Daryl tribute on page 34.

Our thoughts go out to his wife Alison, and their children, at this impossible time.

Matt Johnson in the Abbotsford News

From the Abbotsford News:

Submerged in water, with his neck chained to the floor of the 260-gallon tank, Matt Johnson's hands were cuffed through holes in its trapdoor roof.

Using a bobby pin, he picked both the handcuffs free and the collar off his neck.

Then came the hard part.

At Johnson's feet were 31 identical-looking keys. Thirty were useless; one would open the lock holding the door keeping him under water.

His lungs seared, begging for oxygen.

Where was that one key?

Johnson had come halfway around the world, from Abbotsford to Birmingham, to take a crack at fame: an audition on Britain's Got Talent.

But it was going wrong.

Read more.

London and Fort Myers: David Merry in March

From David Merry's website:

Yuk Yuks London (confirm show times with Yuk Yuk's London)

• March 3
• March 4 

Laugh in Comedy Cafe (confirm show times with Laugh in Comedy Cafe)

• March 9
• March 10
• March 11

More "Magic and Martini"

From James Alan's newsletter:

It's been a fantastic fall season at Magic & Martini and we're thrilled with the enthusiastic support and reviews we're received. Our shows in Toronto are sold out through March 5 so we've added additional dates to help manage the demand.

We've just added performances for Saturday nights on March 18, April 15 and April 29. Tickets are available now and we're offering our subscribers a discount. Use the code secrets and get two-for-one tickets to our shows in Toronto, Oakville and Hillsburgh.

Here is the full list of available dates:

SpiritHouse in Toronto
Saturday, March 18 (new)
Saturday, April 8 (limited space)
Saturday, April 15 (new)
Saturday, April 22 (limited space)
Saturday, April 29 (new)
Saturday, May 6
Saturday, May 20

O'Finn's Irish Temper in Oakville
Friday, March 3 (limited space)
Friday, April 21
Friday, May 12

The Friendly Chef in Hillsburgh (Erin)
Friday, February 17 (very limited space)
Saturday, March 4
Saturday, May 13

Read more and buy tickets.

Amherst: Maritime School of Magic

From Cumberland News Now:

Although many think of the magician as having the top hat and jacket and tails, (Brian) Hebert practices and teachers what he calls impromptu magic, something that can be performed at any time and almost anywhere.

“All the stuff can be held in my pocket,” he said.

It’s something the amateur magician hopes to share through a new Maritime School of Magic he’s setting up in Amherst. He hopes to begin classes in early March and continue for one hour a week for eight weeks.

The classes are tailored for children ages eight to 10, but if there’s enough interest he will open classes for older children. Along with learning to perform magic, Hebert said, the children will learn a lot of skills they can use in their every day life.

Read more.

The Great Boomsky: Truro magician Isaac Willis

From The Chronicle Herald:

In the 1920s, a popular “professor” worked as a porter at the Truro train station. However this porter wasn’t a moonlighting academic.

Under the stage name of Professor Boomsky, he once mystified full houses at the world’s finest theatres. And before that, he worked at the White House.

Isaac Willis was born on Christmas Eve, 1879 in Alexandria, Va. By the age of two, he was living in Washington, D.C., where his father, a former cart driver, was a doorman at the White House. Eventually, Isaac joined his father, working there as a messenger boy.

By a twist of fate, Isaac caught the eye of Alexander Herrmann, a millionaire magician who lived a glamorous lifestyle befitting a modern-day rock star, complete with a yacht, private railcars, and a seaside mansion.

Herrmann, who often gave command performances for presidents and royalty, took notice of the charismatic Willis. In a flash, the White House needed a new messenger boy. The teen had signed on as Herrmann’s apprentice, assuming the role of Boomsky, the magician’s beloved stage assistant.

Read more.

Canadians nominated for the 2017 Academy of Magical Arts Awards

Congratulations and good luck to The Evasons and to Shawn Farquhar!


From the Facebook page of The Evasons:


From Shawn Farquhar's Facebook page: