Talent listed at Festival de Magie includes:
- Luc Langevin
- Philippe Beau
- Alex Boyer
- Alexandra Duvivier
- Markobi
- Topas
- Jimmy Cao
- Jules Caron
- Marc Chabot
- Jean Deshaies
- Jean-Pierre Du Sault
- Fredo
- Mephisto
- Emmanuel Savoie
- Nicolas Tardif
- Philippe Thériault
24 July 2024
Festival de magie de Québec [Sep 19 - 22]
23 July 2024
Random thoughts about Graemazing Level 7 Wizard at the Hamilton Fringe
Graemazing Level 7 Wizard is playing at the Hamilton Fringe daily until July 28th.
Based on our previous travel experience to Niagara Falls, KOP and I again added an hour to the Google projected travel time, with the hopes we could wander around Hamilton prior to the show. The traffic gods, however, had other plans. Luckily, we arrived with plenty of time to find parking, a rest room, and get checked in at a leisurely pace.
- This was our first time at the Hamilton Fringe!
-
Graeme's show is at the Elaine Mae Theatre adjacent to
The Staircase. (Check their website for instructions on where to find alternate
parking if their lot is full.)
- The Elaine Mae Theatre is a cozy theatre space which comfortably seats approximately 40 people.
- The venue has air conditioning.
- There is a flight of stairs up to the venue. Contact the theatre directly to see if they offer accommodations.
-
If you require a rest room, they will send you over to The Staircase.
(Which has a good number of stairs to get from the sidewalk to the main
floor.)
- Each Fringe attendee is required to purchase (and wear) $4 Hamilton Fringe button. (We confused the volunteer staff outside the venue by trying to pay for the button with cash. We apparently broke some generally known (except to us) norm. We're still not sure what payment methods they prefer, as eventually they let us trade our sheet of plastic and our coins for two buttons.)
-
Fringe volunteers also have tip buckets and Fringe fund raising buckets,
into which they request you donate cash in support of the Fringe. (So
apparently cash isn't taboo for everything.)
- All ticket sale proceeds go to the performers.
On with the show...
- The performance space is intimate, capable of seating approximately 40 people.
- It is general admission seating. If sitting at the front is important to you, arrive early.
-
Unless you are short and there's a tall person sitting in front of you,
there are no bad seats in the house. (The seating is NOT
raked. All the chairs are on the same level. The stage is
raised.)
- The show is highly interactive. There were more than a dozen volunteers and a segment which required the whole audience to participate.
- Only a handful of the volunteers were required to get on stage.
-
Volunteers were treated with dignity and respect.
-
While not crafted as a "children's magic show," the (guardian
accompanied) children in the audience were very engrossed and
entertained!
- The show is targeted as "Parental Guidance (ages 13+)." We feel this has less to do with the content of the show and more to do with young children's abilities to follow instructions and to sit still for the duration of the show (approximately one hour).
- Graeme could have very easily created an entertaining show, performing his selection of magical effects as documented (and performed by countless other magicians).
- With a delightful impact, however, he highly personalizes his conjuring, adding to the entertainment value of each of the sequences by making them unique to his "Graemazing Level 7 Wizard" persona.
- The description for the show "Graemazing is a Level 7 Wizard with a black belt in card magic and a starfish badge in mind reading, totally real" tells you upfront that the show isn't going to take itself overly seriously!
- If you're looking for a show that invokes super heroes, comic books, trading cards, breakfast cereals, John Cena, and movies from the 90s, look no further!
- BONUS POINTS for a wonderful shout out to The Browser's Den of Magic.
-
There were many very strong, almost visceral, audience reactions to his
well-crafted performance.
- Graeme's improvisation expertise, combined with his re-imagining of classic effects, elevates his more than capable wizardry, and creates an engaging show unique to every audience!
The experience was unquestionably, Graemazing!
Disclosure: KOP and I were guests at this show. The opinions expressed above are entirely our own. We did not receive compensation for the writing or the publishing of this article.
22 July 2024
Julie Eng, Executive Director of Genii
Congratulations Julie! Looking forward to seeing what you have up your
sleeve!
From the July 20th Facebook post by Julie Eng:
Friends: Some exciting news to share!
After twenty years of working with Magicana, I will be leaving my role as executive director at the end of July. It’s been an incredible tenure: I’ve met so many fascinating characters; I’ve worked with devoted and passionate people; I’ve been privileged to be part of extraordinary projects. I am also very proud of the body of work that has become part of Magicana’s legacy. It has been an honour to work with such a visionary and unique charity driven by the mandate of elevating our art—and a charity that has been led by an exceptional board of directors and artistic director David Ben. We were a lean team, but we got things done!
But I’m not going far! I’m staying firmly within the magic world, joining Genii Enterprises as its new executive director! The owners of Genii—Randy and Kristy Pitchford—have set forth a new and exciting vision to expand the Genii universe, and it will be my job to steer Genii to that new direction. There are so many new and exciting areas opening up, and I’ll be sharing more and more as we move toward 2025.
So, for now, that is what’s happening. It’s a lot. But it is so exciting to see this organic development unfold! Lots more to share! Soon!
Details about changes at Magicana can be found on the Sharing Wonder blog:
https://www.magicana.com/news/blog/remembering-future
From the July 20th post "Remembering the Future" by David Ben at Magicana:
I’ll start with a big one: On July 31, Julie Eng will be moving on from Magicana to take on a new role as the Executive Director of Genii. Given Randy and Kristy Pitchford’s vision and philanthropic nature, and Julie’s indefatigable energy and creative flair, I predict that wonders will never cease. Everyone involved with Magicana, and I in particular, are very proud of Julie. She has been part of Magicana since 2004; we are delighted to see her take on this new and exciting role as she continues her journey in magic.
Although I do not know exactly what they have up their sleeves, I do know one or two things. The primary one from our perspective is that Magicana will be migrating, among other things, its online content—including The Screening Room and all the current online exhibitions—to Genii! This will take some time, and Magicana’s site will remain as is until the migration is completed. All of the resources that you have come to love and explore will remain available not just in the present, but also in the future.
Shawn Farquhar on the cover of Genii
From the July 20th Facebook post by Shawn Farquhar:
A childhood dream came true today.
Thank you to the amazing team at Genii Magazine, and especially to Dustin Stinett, Elizabeth Kaufman, Peggy Donmoyer, and Richard Kaufman.
19 July 2024
18 July 2024
Lindsay: Lucy Darling, the Mistress of Magic [Jul 18]
From the July 17th Facebook post by Carisa Hendrix:
Come join me! Lucy Darling, the Mistress of Magic this Thursday July 18th at 7:30pm at the Flato Academy Theatre in Lindsay Ontario! @lindsayacademytheatre Always delighted to be back in #canada #ontario #lindsey #flato #lucydarling #magic #drag
17 July 2024
Random thoughts about Piff the Magic Dragon in Niagara Falls
Catch Piff the Magic Dragon in Calgary Aug 8th & 9th. Tickets at The Laugh Shop.
We're playing a little bit of catch-up at the blog. These random
thoughts are from the show we saw on Mother's Day weekend. (Is there a
better way to celebrate Mother's Day than going to see a magic dragon?)
Based on our previous travel experience to Niagara Falls, after consulting Google we added an hour to the longest estimated time in an attempt to get us to the theatre by 3pm. Surely leaving at noon would give us a chance to wander around and take in The Falls prior to the show!
Wouldn't you know there were phantom traffic jams aplenty. KOP and I rolled into town at 2:40pm, scrambled for parking, and made our way to the theatre. Sadly there was no time to see The Falls.
Thankfully, we made it to the Avalon Theatre (at Fallsview Casino Resort) with a few minutes to spare!
- This was our first experience at this venue.
- The box office staff and lobby staff were super friendly and helpful!
- It's a nice sized theatre with a capacity of about 1500.
-
The theatre website states "You are never more than 100 feet away [30.48 m]
from an amazing performance by your favourite artist."
On with the show...
- The show is highly interactive. (There were at least a dozen volunteers in addition to a whole audience game of HoT with a kicker ending!)
- Francis is a squire of many talents! Including (but not limited to) playing the tin whistle, videography, rapping, dancing, and urm, choreography.
-
Jade is just as charming and wonderful as you'd expect from listening to her
on
The Piff Pod
back in the day, or seeing her on Piff's television appearances.
- We loved that Jade spent some time in the audience chatting up the littles while the adults were being told the rules for the HoT experience.
-
As expected, Mr. Piffles was an absolute crowd favourite! He is a very
accommodating and adorable magic dog.
- As a companion to the expertly executed comedy magic, there was a significant amount of legit stand-up comedy. Delivered in a way that only Piff can! (As with a regular stand-up comedy show, don't sit up front if you don't want to be part of the show!)
- There was much amazement in the audience. And laughter. So much laughter!
- For us, the pièce de résistance was the sandwich effect Piff showcased on the 2024 AGT Fantasy League. Complete with a callback to audience volunteer Princess Kat from earlier in the show.
- In the stage show, Piff explained how certain AGT edits detracted from the entertainment value of the routine.
-
He was right. The effect was super strong live, in person, and
without edits!
-
After the show there was a Meet and Greet in the lobby with Jade, Mr.
Piffles, and the magic dragon himself, Piff. They were very friendly, signed
autographs, and didn't rush. (We were the last in line from our show,
and even though we knew we were the last thing standing in the way from them being
able to change / eat / relax, they were very friendly and sociable!)
Definitely the funniest and most magical dragon you'll ever see!
Catch Piff the Magic Dragon in Calgary Aug 8th & 9th. Tickets at The Laugh Shop.
When he's not on tour, you can see Piff in
Las Vegas at the Flamingo!
Disclosure: KOP and I were guests at this show. The opinions expressed above are entirely our own. We did not receive compensation for the writing or the publishing of this article.
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