Toronto: Ken Margoe lecture [Apr 14]

Tickets at Eventbrite.

 

From the April 1st Instagram post by Ken Margoe: 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ken Margoe (@kenmargoe)

 

 

Improved magic coverage at Canada's Magic!

Hello, magic lovers!

We have a confession: writing about magic takes way too much time. Between practicing new tricks, attending magic shows, and trying to writing funny blog posts, we're starting to feeling like we need a little magic of our own to make it all happen.

So we decided to let the artificial intelligence (AI) take over for a while. That's right, starting with this one, all new posts on CanadasMagic.blogspot.com are now generation by AI. Who knows, maybe it will we came up with amazing tricks or funny jokes that even we didn't think of.

 

AI created graphic

Don't worry, we'll still being around to add our personal touch and share our love of all things magic. But for now, let's sit back and letting the robots do the work. Who knows, maybe they will even reveals the secrets behind some of the biggest hoaxes of all time.

Watch the magical madness created by artificial intelligence and, as always, believe in the impossible! 

Later this week, details about:

1. Magic in the City: A showcase of Canadian magicians in Toronto, featuring performances by some of the country's top illusionists.
   
   
2. Canadian Magic Convention: An annual gathering of magicians from across Canada, featuring workshops, lectures, and performances by both established and up-and-coming talent.
   
   
3. The Great Canadian Magic Show: A touring production featuring a lineup of Canada's most renowned magicians, performing a variety of mind-bending illusions and tricks.
   
   
4. Magic on Ice: A unique event combining the art of magic with the beauty of figure skating, featuring Canadian magicians and skaters performing together in a dazzling display of skill and creativity.
   
   
5. Canadian Magical Masters: A competition showcasing the best magicians in Canada, with contestants vying for the title of "Canadian Magical Master" and the chance to represent the country on the international stage.

 

Before you get too excited about the events (we're super anxious to get our tickets for #4), we encourage you to double-check your calendars.

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Seriously though.  Check the date. 

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ICYMI: Nicolas Ribs' Canada's Got Talent audition

From the March 28th upload "You Won't Believe Your Eyes | Nicolas Ribs' Magic Act" at the Canada's Got Talent YouTube channel:

Howie admits this is the best magic he's ever seen after watching Nicolas Ribs' unexplainable performance! 

 

 

Toronto: Loran lecture [Apr 20]

From the Browser's Den of Magic Newsletter:

Accomplished magician, lecturer, and author, Quebec illusionist Loran is thrilled about sharing the secrets he has accumulated over a lifetime with you and offers a most inspiring lecture.

With over 30 years of experience, Loran has amazed thousands of spectators around the world. He has collaborated on stage and films with the Rolling Stones and AC-DC, Allan Rayman, and Jackie Chan.

Loran has presented his magic on English-language screen TV networks, CTV, CBC and City TV, as well as the national French-language networks, TVA, and Radio-Canada. His acting and consulting skills have been seen in a wide variety of Canadian and American movies, and television series, notably; Relic Hunter, The Tuxedo and Terror Train (Remake 2022).

THE LECTURE
Covering a vast array of topics on the art of illusion, Loran guarantees that no matter what your current skill level is, you will come away with knowledge that can be immediately implemented in your current presentations.

Loran presents and explains many of his original effects using various objects such as cards, spoons, scarves, and T-tip for close-up and stage magic performance. Most of the effects are commercial routines that include the complete presentation. Here are some of the effects.

•     Mirrorize” A mystifying coincidence with mirrors.
•     Unreal Silk” The scarf that penetrates matter.
•     The Nostradamus egg” Is it an egg or a prediction?
•     Card-Trap” A dangerous game with a mousetrap.

A part of the lecture is also devoted to the technical aspects of stage performance. This includes subjects like how to create a good cue sheet and technical requirement document, how to manage your music, what type of microphone and road case you may need. This segment will benefit both the seasoned professionals, as well as the novice beginner, and is indispensable if you are performing for school, on small as well as the large stage.

The knowledge that is shared with you by Loran, has been obtained over decades spent in real stage situation experience.

We look forward to seeing you all at what will be an incredible lecture!

 

From the March 12th Facebook post by the Browser's Den of Magic:

Canada's Got Talent: Getting to know Mark Lewis

Next in our series of short interviews with some of the magic acts listed in the March 5th Canada's Got Talent media release is Mark Lewis!
 

You may already know that Mark:

• wrote the books The Lives of a Showman, Streetwise TAROT, and The Royal Road to Stage Hypnotism, and
• is a hypnotist, an accomplished palmist, and tarot card reader, in addition to being a magician.
  

We're delighted that Mark made time to answer our questions ahead of his April 2nd appearance on the 2024 season of Canada's Got Talent!

 

 

Who inspires you that is not a magician?
 
Nobody really! Or maybe there is but I can't think of any right now!

 

What is your first memory of magic? 

I was nearly 13 years old and went into a library and saw a book on magic. I took it out on loan and that started the whole thing off and it has lasted 66 years!

 

Who from the magic community inspires you?

Nobody really! I think the best magicians are all dead!  In other words there are many, many magicians from the past that inspired me. David Nixon in the UK certainly did. As did David Berglas, Harry Lorayne, Tommy Cooper, Paul Potassy and many, many more! However, I can't think of anybody alive that does! That is probably a sign that I am an old misery born in the age of the dinosaur!

 

Was there anyone or anything instrumental to you becoming a magician?

No. I was completely self taught from books. I never met a magician for the first two years of my studies and I thank God every day for it! I think I went downhill very slowly after that! 

📸 : CGT

Did you ever get discouraged and think about quitting magic?  
 
I have never even for a single second thought about quitting magic. I have devoted my life to the art.

Do you have any tour or pre-show rituals you’d be willing to share with our readers?
 

Not really. I do know the great Howard Thurston used to jump up and down before going on stage saying, "I love my audience! I love my audience!" Of course he had never worked the working men's clubs of Northern England or to drunks in the middle of the night in London night clubs like I have!

 

Why is now the right time for you to be a part of Canada's Got Talent?
 

Because I am 79 years old and nearly dead! I don't think they accept applications from the spirit world so I better do it now while I am still above ground!

 

 

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
 

Not really. I have probably said too much as it is! 

 

 

Thank you Mark, for making the time to answer our questions!  Break a leg on CGT!

Learn more about Mark at his website MarkLewisMagic.com and follow him on Facebook and YouTube.

 

 

 

Watch Canada's Got Talent Tuesdays on CityTV.

 

 

 

 

Buffalo: Ken McCreedy and Shawn Farquhar at MAWNY 2024 [Apr 28]

From the February 16th Facebook post by IBM Ring 12:

The greatest one day convention in the world! MAWNY 2024 is approaching on Sunday April 28 at the M Hotel in Buffalo, NY! Register at mawny.org today!

 

 

 

Canada's Got Talent: Getting to know Vincenzo Ravina

Next in our series of short interviews with some of the magic acts listed in the March 5th Canada's Got Talent media release is Vincenzo Ravina!
 

You may already know that Vincenzo:

• performed on Penn & Teller: Fool Us,
• won the 2023 overall Audience Choice Award at the Halifax Fringe Festival with his show Actual Magic, and 
• wrote a collection of short stories, Peril & Exploit and Other Mysterious Tales,
  

We're delighted that Vincenzo made time to answer our questions! 

 

Who inspires you that is not a magician?
 
I'm inspired by Wes Anderson, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Lemony Snicket, David Lynch, the Muppets, and Fiona Apple. And I'm inspired by TV shows like The Twilight Zone, LOST, and Taskmaster. I'm inspired by events like the theft of the Mona Lisa.

 

What is your first memory of magic? 

I'm not sure how old I would have been, but my earliest memories of magic are of a family friend making a coin vanish and reappear inside several small nesting boxes with rubber bands wrapped all around, and of my family regularly going to a restaurant in Halifax where a magician named Dave Moon would perform. He had a long, white beard, and wore purple robes and a tall pointy hat. I loved the feeling of watching his magic and I wanted to share that feeling with others.
 

 

Who from the magic community inspires you?

I am regularly inspired by the magicians in my local club, the Halifax Magic Club. They have made my work so much better with their feedback and ideas. 

In the broader magic community, there's too many... I love Charlie Caper, Penn & Teller, Zabrecky, Carisa Hendrix, Morgan & West, Ben Hart, Joshua Jay, Derek DelGaudio, Mac King, Piff the Magic Dragon, Andy at The Jerx, and the two big Davids (Copperfield and Blaine). I've learned something important from every single one of these folks and I'm definitely forgetting others.

 

Was there anyone or anything instrumental to you becoming a magician?

Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic was a treasure trove of knowledge which I'm still using today, and a subscription box service called Magic University started me off with a lot of props, which I used a lot when I was doing shows as a kid. 

📸 : CGT

Did you ever get discouraged and think about quitting magic?  
 
I think like a lot of magicians, I learned magic in my youth, and then at a certain point, I drifted away from it and didn't do magic for some years. I got tired of birthday parties and I started thinking magic was uncool in high school. I also got to thinking that magic couldn't be a career or creatively fulfilling, for some reason. So I focused on creative writing and journalism. But Rod Doiron, who was the president of the Halifax Magic Club at the time, reached out to me in 2009 and invited me to come to a meeting. I started going regularly and I got back into magic again. At first, as a hobby. And then I realized that pretty much anything I want to do creatively, I could do through magic. So I started going to open mics and developing new routines and material and got one of my pieces onto Penn & Teller: Fool Us. Since then I've been regularly performing my show, Actual Wizard, at different venues and theatres in Nova Scotia, and writing a new show every year for the Halifax Fringe Festival.

Do you have any tour or pre-show rituals you’d be willing to share with our readers?
 

A lot of magicians like to pack small and play big. Me, I pack pretty big. So the majority of my pre-show ritual is just setting up my tables, lights, sound, props, hanging strings from the ceiling, putting programmes on seats, checking and double-checking my lists, going over cues, greeting people as they arrive, etc. and then suddenly it's time to perform. I always feel like I'm planning a surprise party or wrapping a gift when I'm setting up my show. I'm excited to surprise people.

Those rare times when I have time between setting up and performing, I will think about Joshua Jay's pre-show mantras "Tonight is part of the process. Perform like it's the first time and the last time. Enjoy the show," and I will think about how appreciative and privileged I am that people have bought tickets and have taken time out of their lives to come see me.

 

 

Why is now the right time for you to be a part of Canada's Got Talent?
 

When I performed on Penn & Teller: Fool Us, I was basically going directly from open mics to onstage in Vegas in front of a huge audience and celebrities, so I was not entirely at ease. Now is the right time for me to be a part of Canada's Got Talent because I feel more comfortable with my character and my performance than I've ever felt. I created the piece that I brought to my audition at CGT four years ago and I've performed it in nearly every show I've done in that time. It has grown, changed, and evolved into what I think is a quite good piece of magic, so I was eager to share it with the judges, the live audience, and the rest of Canada.

 

 

 

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
 

If you're in Nova Scotia or visiting, come out to one of my shows! I try to have one or two public shows every month and tickets are available at ActualWizard.ca

 

 

Thank you Vincenzo, for making the time to answer our questions!  Break a leg on CGT!

Learn more about Vincenzo at his website ActualWizard.ca and follow him on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

 

 

 

Watch Canada's Got Talent Tuesdays on CityTV.