Go-Fund Me campaign in support of Dan Goldberg

Steve Valentine has set up a Go-Fund Me campaign in support of 30 year old Dan Goldberg.  Dan is a former member of Ring 17, and is currently going through treatment for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.

Read more about the situation at Go-Fund Me.

From Facebook:

Broken wand: Assistant Betty Lou Ikenberry

From the obituary posted March 20th, at the Pawhuska Journal-Capital:

Born March 11, 1935, in Niagara Falls, NY, she was the daughter of the late Kathleen Mason and John Richardson.

Betty grew up in St. Catherine’s, ON, Canada. At 16, she ventured out on her own and joined the Royal American Show. The show traveled across the US, performing at state fairs and carnivals. As a Magician’s Assistant, her role was to entertain the audience with the art of illusion. She also had other responsibilities such as selling tickets, collecting money, etc. She spent four years traveling with the show and each year they wintered in San Antonio, Texas. During the off-season, she obtained her GED and later her Certified Nurse’s Training Certificate. She also took classes such as tap and ballet to enhance her performances.

Read more.

Ottawa: Chris Westfall at Magic Monday

From the Magic Monday Facebook page:

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.

Program highlighting Luc Langevin's 10-year career

From the March 9th article "Luc Langevin célèbre ses 10 ans de carrière" on Lien Multimedia as translated by Google:

A special show on Ici Radio-Canada Télé

Luc Langevin's journey in 10 years is phenomenal. Thanks to his hard work, his innovative vision, his charisma, his simplicity and his personal signature, he has become THE reference in magic in Quebec. Luke has set new standards in magic in the dusty and making it more accessible. This new special issue, which chronicles the milestones of the last ten years of Luc Langevin's career, is a magic fire that once again fascinates and entertains. The public will see in particular Luke in rehearsal behind the scenes of his new show as well as unpublished images of his performances on French television.

A special show will be presented on Ici Radio-Canada Télé, Thursday, May 3 at 20h, Sunday, March 25 22h50 and on ICI ARTV Monday, April 16 9pm.

Read more. En français.

Who are the top 10 Canadian magicians of all time?

Updated April 3rd at 6pm to add the following nominations:

• Celeste Evans and Reveen The Impossiblist (Reveen Sr.)

Updated March 31st at 9pm to add the following nominations:

• Greg Frewin and Mahdi Gilbert

Updated March 29 at 7am to add the following nominations:

• Billy Kidd, Carisa Hendrix, Joan Caesar, and Julie Eng

Updated March 24 at 10am to add the following nominations:

• Alain Choquette, David Drake, Mickey Hades, and Shin Lim

Updated March 23 at 9am add the following nominations:

• Bob Farmer, Carl Coultier, Francis Martineau, Gary Ouelette, Howard P. Lions, Mel Stover, Romaine, Roy Cotte, Tom Ransom, Tony Eng, Willis Kinney

Updated March 23 at 7am add the following overnight nominations:

• Additional submissions:  Bedros "Spidey" Akkelian, Bill Abbott, Bobby Motta, Dale Harney, Eric Leclerc, Johnny  Giordmaine, Juliana Chen, Leon Mandrake, Sid Lorraine, Stewart James, Ron Leonard, and Vincent C

Updated at 12:15pm to add:

• Additional submissions: Darcy Oake, Luc Langevin, Murray Hatfield, Ross Bertram, Tom Auburn

Updated at 10:15am to add:

• The following names have been submitted for consideration:  Chris Ramsay, Dai Vernon, David Acer, David Ben, Doug Henning, Gary Kurtz, James Randi, Jay Sankey, Martin Nash, Richard Sanders, Shawn Farquhar

Complete list of nominations received (alphabetical by first name):

1. Alain Choquette
2. Bedros "Spidey" Akkelian
3. Bill Abbott
4. Billy Kidd
5. Bob Farmer
6. Bobby Motta
7. Carisa Hendrix
8. Carl Coultier
9. Celeste Evans
10. Chris Ramsay
11. Dai Vernon
12. Dale Harney
    
13. Darcy Oake
14. David Acer 
15. David Ben
16. David Drake
17. Doug Henning
18. Francis Martineau
19. Eric Leclerc
    
20. Gary Kurtz
21. Gary Ouelette
22. Greg Frewin
23. Howard P. Lions
24. James Randi
25. Jay Sankey
26. Joan Caesar
27. Joel Machtinger
28. Johnny Giordmaine
29. Juliana Chen
30. Julie Eng
31. Leon Mandrake
    
32. Luc Langevin
33. Mahdi Gilbert
34. Martin Nash
35. Mel Stover
36. Mickey Hades
37. Murray Hatfield
38. Reveen The Impossiblist (Reveen Sr.)
39. Richard Sanders
40. Romaine
41. Ron Leonard
    
42. Ross Bertram
43. Roy Cotte
44. Shawn Farquhar 
45. Shin Lim
46. Sid Lorraine
47. Stewart James
48. Tom Auburn
49. Tom Ransom
50. Tony Eng
51. Vincent C
52. Willis Kinney

Devon Murphy recently posted the article, "Top Canadian Magicians and the Tricks That Made Them Famous," at the CBC website.  Devon lists seven outstanding magicians (Julie Eng, Dai Vernon,  Doug Henning, Billy Kidd, Mahdi Gilbert, Greg Frewin, and David Ben).  (Of note, two of the seven on that list are recipients of the "Editor's Choice Award" in the Canada's Magic "Readers' Choice Award" festivities.)

Devon's list got me wondering.

Who do you, dear readers, consider to be the top 10 Canadian magicians of all time?

For those of you who don't like to be influenced by the decisions of others, we're going to start with a clean slate and let you choose all ten!

Submit your nominations in the comment form below,* by 11:59PM EDT on Friday April 6th.  You may nominate as many Canadian magicians as you like.  (Number of nominations don't influence the vote.  If you see your choice(s) listed, please refrain from submitting duplicates.)  Voting will open shortly thereafter.  

What say you?  Who are your top (living or dead) Canadian magicians of all time?


--
* or email me.  I'll send a confirmation back to let you know I received your email.

Matt Dillahunty "Magic & Skepticism" tour 2018

From Pangburn Philosophy:

VICTORIA, BC - Sunday April 1st 2018
McPherson Playhouse

VANCOUVER, BC - Tuesday April 3rd 2018
The Rio Theatre

CALGARY, AB - Friday April 6th 2018
Bella Concert Hall @ Mt. Royal University

WINNIPEG, MB - Sunday April 8th 2018
Burton Cummings Theatre

OTTAWA, ON - Tuesday April 10th 2018
Harold Shenkman Hall @ The Centre des Arts

TORONTO, ON - Friday, April 13th 2018
Jane Mallett Theatre @ St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts
with special guest Dr. Jordan Peterson
​
MONTREAL, PQ - Sunday, April 15th 2018
Oscar Peterson Concert Hall @ Concordia University

HALIFAX, NS - Monday, April 16th 2018
Bella Rose Arts Centre

Read more and buy tickets.

From the Pangburn Philosophy Facebook page:

Toronto: A super secret special guest at the Newest Trick in the Book

From The Toronto Magic Company's Facebook page:

Come see the Newest Trick in the Book on Tuesday March 20th!

The show is FREE, and we have an AMAZING lineup, of world class performers.

Get tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-newest-trick-in-the-book-to…)

Graemazing Reed A Newest Trick in the Book newcomer, but an expert magician is here to show off some brand new magic! He has a Tedx talk, countless TV appearances, and AMAZING magic to boot! Come see his BRAND NEW material on Tuesday!

Bella M. Eurta - A wildly talented variety performer, a Newest Trick in the Book newcomer, and all around expert on stage. She's going to be performing something that I PROMISE you have never seen before

Benzi Train - A TMC founder, Newest Trick expert, and a ridiculously talented performer, is bringing something amazing and a little bit frighting to the stage

and your host

Jonah Babins - A TMC founder, and frequent time traveller, potion drinker, and holder of magic secrets. Come see the some magic that might just make you believe!

PLUS

A SUPER SECRET SPECIAL GUEST!