TLDR:
MIND BLOWN!
Hope to see again!
Regular readers will recall that this summer Dave Curran and Steve Esfandiar Kalantar opened Jokers, a comedy club in Richmond Hill. We attended the soft launch in June (see our post "Jokers is serious about comedy") with plans to visit again after a few months.
Steve Valentine's brand new one-man show "Mr. Valentine Blows Your Mind!" was the perfect reason to return.
Here are some random thoughts about the show:
The audience was a real Who's Who of the Ontario magic scene. We spied (in no particular order):
- Peter Mennie
- Ryan Joyce
- Mark Hogan
- Glenn Ottaway
- Matt DiSero
- Richard Forget
- Jen & Mike Segal
- Ian Crawford
- Phil Pivnick
- David Sutherland
- Ben Train
- Chris Mayhew
- Chris Philpott
- Sean Dougherty and of course
- Dave Curran!
- The show was one hour and forty minutes of non-stop magic and comedy, expertly blended together with a generous amount of well-honed theatre.
- There were a ridiculous number of AV cues and an equally ridiculous number of magic effects, with multimedia woven throughout the show. (Including some of the questions Steve solicited from his Instagram followers!)
- Things were thrown, things were produced, things vanished, and the laws of physics were stood on their ear.
- Magic classics were given a fresh twist. And there were new to us effects that filled us with childlike wonder.
- For the history lovers, there was a sprinkle of British history, American history, family history, and magic history (in the form of a beautiful homage to Oswald Williams).
- The show was very interactive with close to 10 volunteers!
(Masking provided little to no protection from being volunteered.)
IYKYK: If you were paying close attention in the spring of 2020, you may have seen moments of this show in their infancy, presented as part of a fundraiser for the Niagara SPCA.
- It was obvious to the casual observer that Steve took his role as entertainer seriously. It was equally obvious that he didn't take himself seriously, which immediately endeared him to the audience.
This brand new show had the audience demanding two encores.
- If you stripped the magic out, it would have been a solid comedy show.
- If you stripped the comedy out, it would have been a solid magic show.
The synergy of Steve's comedy and expertly executed sleight of hand, lovingly combined with his joyful spirit of theatre, resulted in a mind-blowing evening of jaw-dropping entertainment! Your next chance to see this show is October 21st at Jokers Comedy Club in Richmond Hill. Tell them Canada's Magic sent you!
Here's what Matt DiSero had to say:
Additional photos:
