Sleightly Sketchy: Steal*

Updated at 2:30pm to add a link to a post Shawn Farquhar made on Facebook today.

We're not even halfway through the second month of 2018 and already two significant conflicts regarding intellectual property (IP) rights have surfaced.  At the end of January, Shawn Farquhar posted his most recent encounter with IP theft.  A short seven days later, Michael Close posted this about his new Paradigm Shift ebooks.  (And six days after that, another incident identified in a FB post from Shawn.) And that's just Canadian magicians.

Scroll down to the end of this post to see how you can get involved in combating this type of piracy.


* With thanks to Kidlet for providing the inspiration for the last panel.




 From Michael Close's Facebook page:

Do you market with darts?

From the article "Marketing Your Magic Business - Do you shoot guns or toss darts?" by Peter Mennie at Magician's Masterclass:

When developing your magic business marketing plan there are two potential strategies:  shotgun or darts.  In my experience, most magicians use the shotgun approach which targets a broad base of potential clients with little to no focus.
I prefer the second strategy called D.A.R.T. which stands for Directed At Responsive Targets.

Guns are loud, fired from far away and hurt or kill their prey. Darts are tossed at their targets from 10 feet away and everyone drinks when you hit the bulls-eye.

Let me explain.

Read more.

FVMC: Awards and 2018-2020 executive

Congratulations to John Walls, Chris Yuill, Wes Barker, Caroline Elise, Gary Savard, Gord Boyes, Mike Nordon, David Wilson and Dave Watters!

From the Fraser Valley Magic Circle Facebook post:

A note to subscribers: the content of this post is embedded from another website and is not available to preview. To view the content of the post, please visit http://CanadasMagic.blogspot.com. Some of the embedded code may be visible in this notification.

Los Angeles: Carisa Hendrix lecture

From Purple Owl Productions:

Bubble Tech 2.0 with Carisa Hendrix

Learn the benefits of bubble shows and how you can incorporate them into your current routine!

What are those benefits you ask? Take a look:
Universal appeal: Equally impressive and enjoyable for a wide rage of ages, cultures and genders.
Can be done silently: I have a bubble show in English and French and could easily put together one in Spanish with minimal effort because so much of it can be done to music or silently.
Cost Effective: Bubble shows are inexpensive to create, highly portable, and play big.
Fluid Integration: Bubble Tricks can be added to an existing clown, circus or magic show or be a show all on their own.

Read more and order tickets.

From Purple Owl Productions Twitter feed:

Here’s @bradrossmagic talking about @CarisaHendrix’s lecture! Registration is now open for Bubble Tech 2.0 in Los Angeles on March 1st. Space is limited. Don't miss out! https://t.co/IzM65noIUo#magic #magician #losangeles pic.twitter.com/b1i42aewNI

— Purple Owl Productions (@PurpleOwlProds) January 31, 2018

Bobby Motta at Crow's Theatre and his American television debut

From Crow's Theatre:

Canada’s most coveted mentalist and mind-reader Bobby Motta retruns to Crow's Theatre with his show Cryptic on February 21st and 22nd.

Hailed by the New York Times as “one of the top mentalists on the planet,” Bobby Motta rides the twists and turns of the human psyche in Cryptic. Bobby sets the stage with tricky mind play, manipulating show-goers with deceptively simple psychology, then he goes deeper, pulling audiences into his mysterious world with his ultra-thrilling style and mesmerizing techniques. He grabs hold and blurs the lines between reality and the paranormal realms as he pulls you in.

Bobby Motta is Canada's own master of the unknown who earns props from celbrities here and abroad, astouding stars like Russell Crowe and Nelly Furtado. His incredible ingenuity and stage effects have also made him one of the industry's most sought after consultants behind the scenes, loaning out his secrets and effect to the consulting teams for worls class magicians lke David Blaine and Criss Angel, and consulting on some of stage and TV's biggest productions.

Read more and buy tickets.

In case you missed it, watch Bobby's American television debut last Fall, as he entertains Steve Harvey.  From Bobby Motta's YouTube channel:

Edmonton: Sheldon Casavant in "Sparks Fly. Magic Happens."

From Fort Edmonton Park:

Join us for an enchanting evening with one of Canada’s most sought-after performers, magician Sheldon Casavant. With sleight of hand and mind-captivating illusions, Sheldon has wowed audiences of all sizes around the world with his contemporary, awe-inspiring style of magic.

Celebrate an early Valentine’s Day with this fast-paced, interactive, and entrancing show (for you history buffs, there’s even some little known historical facts about the legendary magician Harry Houdini).

So grab your sweetheart or friends and make long-lasting memories together as items vanish, inanimate objects come to life, and impossible feats are overcome – right before your very eyes.

Read more and buy tickets.

From the Fort Edmonton Park Twitter feed:

Join us for an enchanting evening with one of Canada’s most sought-after performers, magician @SheldonCasavant. Just like some of the illusions in the show, tickets will disappear fast so get yours today! #yeg #yegevents pic.twitter.com/i6E0V2VVLU

— Fort Edmonton Park (@FortEdPark) January 26, 2018

Alex Seaman, IBM nominee for International President-Elect

It seems like only last year, when we congratulated you on your then new position of Vice President of IBM!

Congratulations again Alex!  And thank you for all of your hard work.

From Alex's Facebook page: