Canada's Magic

31 March 2020

30 March 2020

Our sponsors' shops are open online!

It is a challenging time for the entertainment industry. No doubt about it. This is a reminder that our sponsors also have bills to pay and mouths to feed.

Three of our generous sponsors are brick and mortar shop owners (Perfect Magic, The Browser's Den of Magic, and The Vanishing Rabbit Magic Shop). One of our generous sponsors, Michael Close, has been offering daily magic jams for free.

If you have the means, please support them by placing an online order.

28 March 2020

Broken wand: Steve Dickson

Updated March 30th to add a link to Steve's obituary:

From the Vancouver Sun:
It is with overwhelming sadness that we announce the sudden passing of Steve Dickson. Steve was an amazing man, husband, father, friend and magician who enriched the lives of all who had the opportunity to meet him. Friends and family will celebrate Steve's life at a later date.

Read more.

Steve Dickson passed away on Wednesday March 25th. Our sincere condolences to his friends and family.

From Shawn Farquhar's Facebook March 26th post:

Yesterday, a friend I have known for nearly three decades, had a sudden heart attack and passed. Steve Dickson was a pillar of the magic community, a brilliant teacher, mentor and performer of magic. At one time he owned a magic shop in New Westminster where everyone went to hang, learn and tell stories. So many of our community started their magic lessons with Steve and he was always the guy to help the young magician as well. For years we worked together at the Old Country Inn doing close up, later he helped me create what has become the Cabaret of Wonders. He was a wickedly great at Photoshop and a wiz with computers and never hesitated to help anyone who needed promotional material. He and I didn't agree on everything, which is a good thing, as many times he changed my mind or attitude. He will be truly missed in our community and my heart goes out to Paddy, his wife, who suffers the greatest loss of us all... the love of her life as I know she was his greatest joy.

As we face the coming days, tell those you love how you feel because you truly never know when your time will end.

27 March 2020

Greg Frewin: Magicians helping animals

From the Greg Frewin Theatre Facebook post:

Join us next Wednesday for a live youtube magic show..FREE. Some of my good friends are going to help me entertain you and your family. Any donations to the SPCA will be great in helping animals in these tough times.
@jondorenbos @kevinjamesmagic @imagicianlive @charles.bach @ryanjoycemagic @spcaniagara @rickwilcox @chrisstolz @leonardobruno #magic #freeliveshow #spca ~ Greg Frewin

26 March 2020

Women seen as worse magicians

From the March 7th article "Women seen as worse magicians despite identical skills" from Neuroscience News:

Study participants were shown close-up videos of 14 magic tricks. Only the hands and arms of the magician presenting the tricks were visible. The figure wore white gloves and long sleeves which prevented participants identifying cues about whether they were male or female.

The performer was introduced to half the participants as ‘Nathalie’ and to half the participants as a ‘Nicolas’. Those who believed they were seeing tricks performed by ‘Nathalie’ rated them more negatively, and less impressive, than those who believed they were watching tricks performed by ‘Nicolas’.

Read more.

25 March 2020

Breaking news: Allan Slaight Relief Fund for Professional Magicians

With tremendous thanks to the Slaight Family Foundation for their generosity!

From Magicana:

And just like that, the Canadian magic industry has vanished.

In response to difficult and devastating times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for magicians who work in the gig economy, the Slaight Family Foundation has pledged to help.

Allan Slaight Relief Fund

To contribute during these trying times, the Foundation has established the Allan Slaight Relief Fund of $150,000 to help defray cost-of-living expenses incurred by professional Canadian magicians. The Slaight Family Foundation has partnered with Magicana to administer the payment of funds to applicants who meet eligibility.

The relief fund was initiated to help with monthly costs, such as groceries, utilities, phone and Internet bills, up to a maximum of $500 per application. Because of the uncertainty of how long we must maintain strict social distancing, applicants can reapply for assistance thirty days after receiving a prior payment, until the fund is depleted.

If you are a Canadian citizen, living in Canada, working as a full-time professional in magic with at least three years of experience, you are eligible for funding assistance. We understand that many magicians are semi-professionals. We would, however, ask that applications at this time be reserved for those who rely on magic as their sole source of income.

Read more to learn about the application process.