Toronto: Browser's Den auction and grand opening party

From the Browser's Den website:

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2011
To celebrate this new chapter in our 36 year history, we invite you and your friends to our Grand Opening Party.

There will be discounts, specials, food, beverages and one of our famous MAGIC AUCTIONS…Where you will be offered fantastic bargains.

Read more.

James Randi: Vancouver date

The CAM website has posted the venue and ticket information for the Vancouver stop of the James Randi Canadian tour.

Toronto: Asi Wind Workshop

From Abracadabaret:

Presented in partnership with the Browser’s Den of Magic.

Asi Wind Workshop - Monday, September 26, 2011 @ 7:00 PM

This hands-on workshop is strictly limited to fifteen participants. It features special treatment on magic with the memorized deck, including “Mnemonicosis” and “The Trick that Cannot Be Explained” and other material from his professional working repertoire, and from his published material, Time Is Money, Chapter One and Switcher.

Read more or purchase tickets.

Meta: popular posts

In reverse order, the five most popular posts on this blog:

5. Book launch: "The Lives of a Showman"

4. Toronto: Ghost Stories at the Panasonic Theatre.

3. Canada's Got Talent 2012 auditions

2. Did Shawn Farquhar fool Penn & Teller?


and the number one most viewed post is .....





1. Shawn Farquhar on Penn & Teller's Fool Us

Toronto: offering magic VHS tapes

From James Alan:

I've been asked to help dispose of a rather large collection of Magic VHS cassettes. It contains over 380 commercially produced VHS cassettes (L&L publishing, A-1 Multimedia, etc) and includes just about any and all of the major releases you can think of.

It will go to whomever submits the best offer by 5PM on August 31, 2011. All offers will be considered, no matter how high or low.

Two caveats: 1. The collection is in Toronto and must be picked up, it will not be shipped and 2. There is no inventory of what videos are included and the owner has no intention of making one.

But if you're willing to dust off your VCR, this is definitely a huge treasure trove of magic waiting to be rediscovered!

Questions or bids can be sent to info at jamesalan dot ca

Good luck.
James Alan | info at jamesalan dot ca

Alex Seaman: gold medal winner

From BC Local News:

A 19-year-old magician from Port Coquitlam last month pulled out a gold medal for his award-winning tricks.

Alex Seaman clinched the hardware from the Pacific Coast Association of Magicians and the Canadian Association of Magicians.

Read more.

[h/t: CAM website]

Rounding the Western rings in September

Check out the makeover for the Vancouver Magic Circle's website!

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

City	Club	Event(s)
Calgary, AB	Ring 66 (Calgary Magic Circle, Les Brocklesby Ring)	- Wayne Houchin lecture
Edmonton, AB	Edmonton Magic Club	- Wayne Houchin lecture
Winnipeg, MB	The Magic Club of Winnipeg	- Wayne Houchin lecture
Vancouver, BC	Ring 92 (Vancouver Magic Circle)	- Wayne Houchin lecture
Victoria, BC	Ring 183 (Victoria Magic Circle)	- Wayne Houchin lecture

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

Rounding the Ontario rings in September

Note that the Sid Lorraine Hat and Rabbit club has a new home for their redesigned website at IBMRing17.com.

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

Hamilton, ON	Ring 49 (The Doug Henning Magic Wand Club)	- Discussion of Mike Finney's magic lecture
London, ON	London Magician's Guild	- N/A
Kitchener, ON	Ring 235 (The Caesar Hat & Wand Magic Circle)	- N/A
Ottawa, ON	Ring 151 (Ottawa Society of Magicians)	- N/A
Toronto, ON	Ring 17 (Sid Lorraine Hat and Rabbit Club)	- Richard Forget lecture
Woodstock, ON	CAM 1 (Friendly City Mystics)	- N/A

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

Toronto: Asi Wind in Magic With Chutzpah!

Asi Wind is back in Toronto with his show "Magic With Chutzpah!"

From the Abracadabaret website:

Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Venue: The Artscape / Wychwood Barnes
Time: 8:00pm
Price: $30.00

To purchase tickets or for more invormation visit the Abracadabaret website.

James Randi and behind the scenes

From the previously mentioned appearance of James Randi on ABC Primetime Nightline.










[h/t: MagicNewsWire.com for the video links] 

Kranzo's in Canada!

Read about Nathan Kranzo's adventures with Lee Asher, Wayne Houchin and Greg Frewin in his post "CANADA eh."

Sheldon Casavant on circus camp

Sheldon Casavant talks about Total Under the Big Top Camp in the article "Circus arts build confidence."

From the Sherwood Park News:

Casavant added that it's once a participant masters a skill that they begin to believe in their abilities and that they can perform and amaze someone.

"It gives you the opportunity to do something your parents or your peers can't do, so it kind of creates that sense of confidence," Casavant said. "That confidence, whether they're doing magic or juggling, or any skills that are taught at Under the Big Top, those skills are great when in a couple weeks they go back to school, they've experienced something great at that makes them feel good about themselves as well."

Read more.

Thanks for your continued support!

Back in November when I started this blog, I had no idea what to expect.  (It seems fitting that my first post was about Jeff Hinchliffe and the post previous to this also features Jeff.)  I thought I'd be doing okay if I scrounged up four or so posts a month.

Look at us now!  This is post number 258!  (Where did all the news come from?)  We've served up well over 6500 page views in 2011 alone and most recently have had over 1000 page views in July and August each!  We have one hundred and three Twitter followers and over 1000 tweets.  We also have forty-two Facebook fans and a couple dozen subscribers.

All this to say, thank you.  Thank you for reading, subscribing, re-tweeting, liking, sharing, submitting news, corresponding, making me aware of typos, guest posting and most of all for your wonderful feedback and continued support!

Toronto: Card College Clinic at Browser’s Den

From the Browser's Den:

INSTRUCTOR-Mr. Jeff Hinchliffe

Date & Time: Wednesday nights for ten consecutive weeks beginning Wednesday, September 21, 2011. Each class will run from 7:15pm until 8:15pm at our new shop location, 3220 Dufferin Street

Course Focus- Card College Books by Roberto Giobbi

Cost: Only $99.00 plus tax (In Advance Please) for ALL 10 CLASSES!

Read more.

Toronto: Magic at the Exhibition

[Edited Aug 18 to add information about Majinx.  Thanks for the tip Daniel!]

This year's CNE is showcasing two young Canadian magicians and The Family Majinx.

At The Farm is Daniel Steep's show, Agri-Kidabra, an interactive magic show that educates audiences about Canadian Farming.

In the Busker's Corner you can catch magician Sheldon Casavant, who also wrote the illustrated children's book, "Morton the Magician and His Magnificent Magic Show."

And at Kids' World you can see Majinx perform and also participate in Professor Wick's School of Magic and Illusion.

This year the Ex runs from August 19th to September 5th 2011.  Please check the CNE's website for dates and showtimes.

James Randi on ABC's Primetime Nightline, Weds. 10pm / 9pm Central

Edited August 21 to embed video found at The Magic Newswire.









From Randi.org:

Wednesday night at 10:00pm (9:00pm Central), ABC's Primetime Nightline will air a one-hour special on psychic abilities.

James Randi, along with JREF President D.J. Grothe, JREF's Million Dollar Challenge Director Banachek, and advisor Jamy Ian Swiss, worked with Nightline producers on two of the segments and participated in three days of taping, including the JREF's first-ever open Million Dollar Challenge event where hundreds of New York City psychics were invited to take our tests.

Read more.

Wayne Houchin: September lectures

Wayne Houchin will be lecturing in Canada this Fall.

The according to to the X-elent Lecture Series website Wayne Houchin's lecture dates are:

• Ring 183 (Victoria Magic Circle) on September 12th
• Ring 28 (Edmonton Magic Guild) on September 13th [contact e-mal can be found at magicinfo.ca]
• Ring 66 (Calgary Magic Circle) on September 14th
• The Magic Club of Winnipeg on September 15th
• Ring 92 (Vancouver Magic Circle) on September 16th

He'll be wrapping up the lecture tour with dates in the US (Seattle, Eugene and Portland).
Please confirm details about dates, times and locations by contacting each club directly.

James Randi Canadian tour

Edited August 26th to add link for Vancouver date.

From Randi.org:

The JREF is excited to announce that our own James "The Amazing" Randi will be embarking on a whirlwind lecture tour across Canada this September.  The tour will be graciously hosted by the Center for Inquiry Canada and will see Randi traveling from coast to coast with plenty of stops on the way.

According to the site, he will be touring following cities:

• Vancouver, BC (9/22)
• Kelowna, BC (9/23)
• Calgary, AB (9/24)
• Edmonton, AB (9/25)
• Saskatoon, SK (9/26)
• Toronto, ON (9/27)
• Ottawa, ON (9/28)
• Montreal, QC (9/29)
• Halifax, NS (9/30)

Check back with his website for announcements about times and venues.

Links for 2011-Aug-15

• From Bill Abbott:  August 2011 Newsletter
     
• From Browser's Den: "Eric Jones Lecture"
  
     
• From CAMmagic.org: "Dues may be due … did you get an email?"
     
• From Ariel Fralich: "When magic makes a difference" and "Spectator’s Ambition"

• Lecleric Show episodes on YouTube (I haven't been able to keep up with viewing, but here are links to the last few weeks worth of videos):
  206. Magic Trick Freak Out!!!!! - DAY 206
  207. Lego Coin Magic! - DAY 207 of 365
  208. Orgasmic Aces - Day 208 of 365
  209. The Appearing Truman - Day 209
  210. Floating Tennis Ball - Day 210 of 365
  211. Any Card at any Slim Shady - Day 211
  212. A Groom's Magic Trick - DAY 212 of 365
  213. Skydiving Magic Trick - DAY 213 of 365
  214. Paranormal Leclerictivity - DAY 241
  215. 1500$ Card Trick - Day 215 of 365
  216. Eric @ FFFF Magic Convention - DAY 216
  217. REVEALED how to bend a spoon
  218. Finger Penetration - Day 218 of 365
  219. El Diablo Mago - Day 219 of 365
  220. Appearing Goldfish - Day 220 of 365
  221. Solving a Sudoku Puzzle in Seconds!
  222. Poker Table Prank - DAY 222 of 365
  223. Making Tanya Appear - Day 223 of 365
  224. Amazing Appearing Card - Day 224 of 365
  225. Solving a Sudoku Puzzle in Seconds!
  226. Vegas Vending Machine Trick

Johnny Giordmaine tribute back on line

From John Pellatt, creator of the "A Tribute to John Giordmaine" website:

The on line Tribute to Johnny Giordmaine, Canada's most beloved children's magician (1898-1974) went off line last month. The good news - it's back on line now at its own new dedicated domain. Discover what a gifted performer he was and what memorable achievements he made. Did you know, for example, that he was the very first magician ever to appear on TV in Canada? Or that he was a positive role model and mentor to countless hundreds of young magicians - many of whom ended up working professionally in the business today? Check it all out at http://www.johngiordmaine.com/

Thanks for the update John!