04 January 2011

Browser's Den: CHAD ZHOU

From the Browser's Den of Magic:
The new year is starting off at 'Browser's Den' with a Special Guest at our Magic Club Meeting this Saturday, January 8. MR. CHAD ZHOU will be coming to our Magic Club to perform and teach some of his favourite coin and card material. He will also be sharing some ideas that he is working on for discussion. When I (Old Jeff) first met Chad some five years ago Chad showed me his 'Any Card at Any Number' which fooled me and many others in the shop; and fooled me badly. In fact it was pretty much only Jeff Hinchliffe who at that time had an idea of the method that Chad used.

We would like to publicly thank Chad for coming and being our Special Guest; especially so since he lives quite a distance from the shop. So we hope that you will attend the meeting this Saturday at the shop from 2:30pm until 4:30pm.

If this interests you, please confirm details directly with the Browser's Den of Magic.

03 January 2011

The world of magic: Looking for a new rabbit

That's the headline of this Toronto Star article which quotes Jay Sankey, Dan Trommater, Shawn Farquhar, David Acer and Murray Hatfield discussing the decline and relevance of contemporary magic.

What do you think?  Is Jay the only one who thinks that magic as we know it is doomed?


[h/t: Shawn Farquhar]

Eric Leclerc's Project 365

Eric Leclerc, a young professional magician from Ottawa, has started "Project 365" where he plans to post a magic video on YouTube every single day for an entire year.  (Calen Morelli from the US is almost a third of the way through a similar project titled "365 Days of Magic.")

We should be in for a treat as this project unfolds.  You may remember that Eric is currently the only magician to win both the stage (2003) and close-up (2007) competitions at CAM conventions!  To follow along, subscribe to his YouTube channel, LeclericShow.

Here's day one to get you started:



In addition, Eric and his team will be giving away just over $3000 in prizes throughout the year. Prizes include a Canon digital camera, an iPod Touch, a Sony E-book reader, a portable DVD player even a Playstation 3! You'll need to watch the videos for contest details.

Support  Eric by subscribing to his channel and commenting on the videos.

02 January 2011

Rounding the rings in January

Confirm details about dates and locations by visiting each club's website. 

CityClubEvent(s)
Calgary, ABRing 66 (Calgary Magic Circle)- n/a
Hamilton, ONRing 49 (The Doug Henning Magic Wand Club) - Clown Alley Lecture
London, ONLondon Magician's Guild- lecture: Performance tips by Peter Mennie
Kitchener, ONRing 235 (The Caesar Hat & Wand Magic Circle)- n/a
Ottawa, ONRing 151 (Ottawa Society of Magicians) - business
- something "new"
Toronto, ONRing 17 (Sid Lorraine Hat and Rabbit Club) - auction
Vancouver, BCRing 92 (Vancouver Magic Circle)- annual general meeting
- initiation ceremony
Victoria, BCRing 183 (Victoria Magic Circle) - Unopened deck competition
- Teach a Trick: Justin Louie
- dinner and dance
- Martin Lewis lecture (dates of other Canadian lectures this year)

Please leave a comment or e-mail me about corrections or omissions.

01 January 2011

Happy New Year!

Wishing you and yours a year filled with awe and wonder!

Here's a beautifully choreographed card routine to start your year. "Shapes" by Shawn Farquhar.