20 December 2017

Isn't this how everyone picks a post-secondary school?

From the December 19 article "The Things We Do For Love (of Magic)" by Evelyn Matlin at the Perfect Magic blog:
So here’s the story. Before Christmas Stephane came to our shop for  supplies. He was talking to Phil at this point, as I was with another customer so I don’t know how the topic came up,  but I caught a bit of the conversation and later got the whole story. Stephane told us when he graduated from CEGEP, he was accepted by four Universities. He told his father he wanted to go to the Polytechnique  Montréal. His father said, “Why do you want to go there? You can go to any University, you can go to McGill!” and Stephane said he made up some excuse that he told his father and that’s where he went.

He said “Very few people know this but I chose it because ...

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19 December 2017

A magical Diversion to start the New Year

From the December 12th article "Entertainment Diversion Opposes The Great Illusion Friday, January 5th!" by Pascal at le blog TV news (translated by Google):
A program presented by Arthur and proposed by Satisfaction, The Television Agency, broadcast Friday, January 5 at 21 hours on TF1.

For one evening, forget everything you think you know about magic and let yourself be immersed in the incredible universe of "DIVERSION"!

" For this second issue, six magicians specializing in illusion or mentalism will take control of your TV!" Caroline Marx "The Sorcerer", Enzo Wayne "The Elusive", Luc Langevin "The Scientist", Gus " The manipulator ", Antonio" the expert "and Viktor Vincent" The mentalist "have given themselves the mission to make you spend an amazing evening that mixes magic and humor On the set, they will surprise anonymous and celebrities with blows many more bluffing turns than the others! "

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Read original article "Le divertissement Diversion opposé à La grande illusion vendredi 5 janvier !" in French.


From the MT1 Twitter feed:

18 December 2017

Jeff Hobson steals from Toronto police

Catch The Illusionists at The Princess of Wales Theatre until January 7th.


From the December 15th article, "Performer ‘robs’ police chief Saunders of watch" by Alina Bykova  in the Toronto Star:
Saunders, who was in the audience with his wife and son, was picked as Hobson’s “first victim” for a trick that involved a set of cards and ended with him removing a chewed card from Hobson’s mouth.

At the same time, Hobson skilfully removed the chief’s Apple watch from his wrist without him noticing.

“Of course, not being from Toronto, Jeff had no idea who this gentleman in a suit was — and the chief never revealed his identity,” wrote John Karastamatis of Mirvish Entertainment in an email to the Star.

Saunders said he was shocked and amused by the trick.

“What happened is I got duped; buddy removed my watch, but he was kind enough to return it,” Saunders said in a phone interview. “It’s shocking how good he is, he did it without anyone knowing. It was very funny.”

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17 December 2017

Steve Harmer in the Mayerthorpe Freelancer

From the December 4 article "Peter Shokeir" by in the Mayerthorpe Freelancer:

Motivational Magic helps children understand abstract concepts through a magical performance. It offers 10 different shows, which teach subjects ranging from leadership to bully prevention.

"Kids love magic. It captures their imagination," Harmer said. "The message enters in the backdoor."

For Elmer Elson, Harmer did his "Brilliant and Resilient" show that teaches children how to bounce back after difficulties and problems. Some concepts he taught include the importance of interpersonal connections and believing in one's own abilities.

"I love capturing the children's attention," Harmer said. "It's just a fun way to teach. I have more fun than the kids."

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16 December 2017

Ottawa: Ben Train at Magic Monday

From Ben Train's Facebook feed:

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14 December 2017

Billy Kidd in GeniiOnline

From the article "Canadian Magician Billy Kidd wants her work to speak for itself" by Chloe Olewitz on Dec 1 from GeniiOnline:
To Kidd, the question of women in magic is a source of frustration. She’s not convinced that the lay audience is even aware that there are fewer female magicians out there, and she’s not sure she cares. “It’s never affected my career, it’s never affected me getting gigs, it’s never affected my audience,” Kidd said. Meanwhile, she does take issue with the push to turn non-magical pretty women into magicians for nothing more than the money-making novelty of putting a female on the bill. “I sometimes think I’m sexist against my own sex,” she admits.

Kidd doesn’t promote herself as a female magician—she is a magician, what else is there to talk about? “Take anyone who’s not a performer and make them famous because of that one little gimmick, their ego will completely explode. And it hurts the people who do put all that time and effort in, because they deserve it. They deserve the spotlight more in that regard,” Kidd says. She believes that sexism is more a fabric of our society today than it is specific affliction in the magic community, and she’d rather not draw so much attention to the topic. “The whole topic just segregates us even more. If your magic is strong enough, your magic should speak for itself.”

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