Saint John: Robert Watkins and Kent Axell workshop

February 28th

Virtual Reality: Robert Watkins and Kent Axell workshop

Portland and Lincoln City: Shawn Farquhar

From Oregon this Week:

Thursday, March 26, 2020

This year, the Festival of Illusion offers you the chance to meet a magician who has fooled Penn & Teller -- twice! Festival headliner Shawn Farquhar has been entertaining audiences around the globe for over two decades. His magic has been seen on Television shows like the X-Files and Highlander, in Motion Pictures like Spooky House and the Fly II, for corporate clients like IBM and Konica, and on the most luxurious cruise vessels such as Norwegian Star and Radiance of the Seas.

Read more.

From the PDXMagicJam:

March 27 - 29

Shawn is a 2-time World Champion of magic, and has appeared on Ellen, Masters of Illusion, and Fool Us, where he became the first magician to fool Penn & Teller twice!  Shawn’s magic can be seen on Hulu, Netflix, & YouTube where many of his videos have been viewed millions of times.  Shawn has performed in more than 40 countries including extensive tours of China, Europe & Japan, as well as shows in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and off Broadway in NYC. 

Among countless other awards, Shawn is the only person in history to be awarded both Stage Magician of the Year and Sleight of Hand Magician of the Year by the International Brotherhood of Magicians. He's also won the highest award in magic - the Grand Prix World Champion of Magic at the Olympics of Magic in Beijing.

His infectious attitude and amazing magic will leave you breathless.

Read more and register.

Ottawa: Sky High Magic Series - Professor Wick’s Incredible Magic Factory with Majinx

From Ingenium:

March 8, 2020

The Canada Aviation and Space Museum is proud to present the lineup for this year’s Sky High Magic Series.

Prepare to be captivated by amazing magic and science-based illusions. These talented, high-energy magicians perform unbelievable feats of magic, blended with fast-paced comedy. They’ll tickle your funnybone, while leaving you utterly mystified!

Seating is limited. To avoid disappointment, please reserve your tickets in advance.

Ingenium members will receive a discount code to apply towards the admission fee!

*Please note that tickets for the Sky High Magic Series do not include access to the Museum.

Majinx: Professor Wick’s Incredible Magic Factory

Read more.

Kent Wong on Global News Edmonton

From the February 18th post "Edmonton parents turn to local magician to help raise money for their school" on Global News:

Some Edmonton parents have found a creative way to raise money for their school amid tough economic times. As Sarah Komadina explains, they’ve turned to a local magician.
Read more and watch video.

Random thoughts about the Carisa Hendrix Ring 17 lecture

After the many hours I've spent with Carisa's voice in my head (via Shezam, the podcast that hopes to make itself obsolete), it is delightful to know she's as wonderful in person as she sounds in the podcast!

Those of you who know me, know that I arrive early to magic lectures with the specific intent of securing a back row seat.  Imagine my surprise when, just before the lecture started, we all shifted 180 degrees and I found myself in the front row!  I'm delighted it happened.  It was great to have a clear view for such an inspiring lecture!

• Generally speaking, men seem less patient listening to magical ideas they can't directly apply, than women are.  
• Carisa created an effect that may make it worth getting one's ears pierced.
• Her "pickpocketing" coin routine is fabulous.
• Her insights around creating a fool proof structure for an effect (and a performance) were well thought out and supported by extensive field testing.
• She has put a tremendous amount of thought and effort towards developing concrete metrics by which to measure the success of her performances.  ("What gets measured, gets managed." -- Peter Drucker)

It will come as a surprise to no one, what the potato chip flavour or choice was for the pseudo-ex-pat lecturer:

• To borrow a phrase from the medical community, this data-driven approach clearly makes her an "evidence-based" performer.  This approach serves her well.
• She personifies the advice she gives in the podcast with respect to audience volunteer interaction.  I look forward to a day when every performer treats their volunteers with this level of respect.
• She had excellent thoughts on the parallels of comedy and magic.
• It was wonderful to learn about the evolution of the book production that made its way to Penn and Teller: Fool Us!
• We were treated to the distillation of $32K worth of art school into ~30 minutes with a crash course in Meta-Modernity.  Lots of food for thought.
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  View this post on Instagram

  
  

  
  

  
  

  When your #metamodernity talk gets #meta

  A post shared by James Alan (@jamesalanmagician) on Feb 19, 2020 at 11:18am PST

  
  
• And of course no magic lecture is complete without a deck of cards. Nothing like a variation of a Tommy Wonder routine by Carisa and Kayla Drescher to end the night!

Thank you for an excellent lecture Carisa!

Congratulations to Bob Taylor, who was awarded honourary lifetime membership!

Congratulations to Bob, our newest honourary lifetime member!#IBMRing17 @TOmagicclub pic.twitter.com/uMtxusx4gV

— Canada's Magic (@canadasmagic) February 19, 2020

The Sid Lorraine Hat and Rabbit Club has posted some photos on Facebook.  Canada's Magic has some photos on Instagram.


Here's what James Harrison thought about the lecture:

View this post on Instagram

@carisahendrix lecture was one of the best I’ve been at in a long while. Her insights into the business side, as well as how to structure a show was fantastic. Toronto needs her to come back again!! Thank you Carisa! Can’t wait to talk shop again

A post shared by James Harrison (@pickpocketjames) on Feb 19, 2020 at 4:02am PST

David Ben in the Globe and Mail

A reminder that David will be speaking about The Golden Age of Magic at the AGO later this week.



From the February 22nd opinion piece "Magicians are the original purveyors of ‘fake news.’ They can’t help it" by David Ben in the Globe and Mail:

Magicians were masters of cultural appropriation. There are many examples in the exhibition, particularly of Western magicians portraying themselves as Asian – both onstage and off – capitalizing on the then-burgeoning interest in all things exotic. My favourite: Fu Manchu, the onstage persona of David Bamberg, an eighth-generation Dutch-Jewish magician who was raised in the United States and educated in England and found fame in South America performing as a Chinese magician who spoke Spanish. (Not to be confused with the villainous Dr. Fu Manchu of Sax Rohmer’s novels and the films starring Christopher Lee.)

Read more.

Thank you to our February 2020 Friends!

Thank you to John Harrison, Richard Lyn, Joan Caesar, Ian Crawford, Matt DiSero, James Renoire, Gwyn Auger, Jason Maiuri, Doug Hunt, David Johnson, John Smithman, and Richard Hough for being Friends of Canada's Magic!

It's good to have friends like you.

You too can Be Our Friend for only $20 per year! 

Donations of any size are always welcome.