Update on the Wayne Houchin story

Reminder: Donations can be made to assist Wayne through either Paul Harris' Matical Arts Fund or through the Acacdamy of Magical Arts.

This was sent to me last night from Clara Coto-Shepardson, Executive Producer of the Curiosidades Show:

Franklin Barazarte, TV host who set magician Wayne Houchin on fire, is now officially a fugitive of the law.
 

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - December 5th, 2012 - At 10am (AST), American magician Wayne Houchin held a press conference with his lawyers at the Renaissance Jaragua Hotel in response to Franklin Barazarte fleeing the Dominican Republic. While it's unclear how Mr. Barazarte avoided capture with an active criminal warrant out for his arrest, he managed to travel to New York city to be with his wife Adriana Azzi. As a result of ignoring serious charges, he's now officially considered a fugitive of Dominican law.
 

Houchin and his lawyers have asked the United States to arrest and extradite Barazarte to the Dominican Republic, to face prosecution for his crimes as well as civil litigation. Houchin and his lawyers said Barazarte's actions were completely unexpected, and consider it a criminal attack.
 

Last night, in an exclusive interview with Univision (New York), Franklin Barazarte surfaced from hiding to respond to allegations of attempted murder. He referred to his act of pouring flaming liquid on someone as "a blessing" which was something he'd done for a "long time in private." While he casually admits it was an "accident gone wrong," Mr. Barazarte goes on at length to explain how he feels hurt by all the "propaganda" surrounding this case, and the insinuation that he's even considered a criminal. Barazarte also discounts the gravity of Houchin's injuries by mentioning that Houchin "left the clinic the same day."
 

Meanwhile,  Houchin is still in the Dominican Republic and recuperating slowly. Riddled with 1st and 2nd degree burns on his head, face, ears, neck and right hand, he hopes to return home to Chico, California soon.
 

An Iphone clip, taken by a member of the group of magicians Houchin worked with has gone viral on the Internet. It clearly shows Barazarte intentionally setting the American magician ablaze. The later part of the clip shows Houchin in shock on the ground, paralyzed with pain.
 

- - - - 

Univision coverage of the 12.5.2012 Press Conference:

http://noticias.univision.com/primer-impacto/videos/video/2012-12-05/republica-dominicana-mago-llamas-television-fire?ftloc=channel1513:wcmWidgetUimStage&ftpos=channel1513:wcmWidgetUimStage:2

(cut and paste if not clickable)
 

Reminder: Donations can be made to assist Wayne through either Paul Harris' Matical Arts Fund or through the Acacdamy of Magical Arts. 

 

 

 

Harry Houdini in Vancouver

Harry Houdini performing outside the Sun building on Pender in 1929. #vancouver #history instagr.am/p/Sw0sEEh3tJ/
— Nine O'Clock Gun (@nineoclockgun) December 3, 2012

[via: MagicPedia]

Magic 'n Miracles: Fabulous!

Kidlet and I caught day one of Murray Hatfield's Magic 'n Miracles tour and had a fabulous time at the show!  (Unfortunately, due to unexpected scheduling issues on our part, we were only able to see the last half of the show.  I imagine that I'd be saying it was a super fabulous time, had we been able to see it from the start!)

In addition to Murray's wonderful magic, Michael Goudeau's impressive juggling, and the delightful work of Miles Meechan and Magdalaina Tamasik, I was tickled to see Billy Hsueh on stage!  Billy was taking advantage of Murray's offer to bring a young magician with him on tour.  I first had the pleasure of meeting Billy at Sorcerers Safari magic camp a couple of summers ago.  I'm sure Billy is learning an incredible amount on this tour!

The show was expertly produced by Steven Kline.  I was delighted he had the time and energy to have a quick chat with us when all was said and done!  Equally delightful was a chance encounter with Julie Eng and Suley Fattah, who were also in attendance.

I encourage you to catch the show and support a good cause in the process!


P.S.: Next time you see any of the people involved in the show, be sure to ask them about the pre-show smoke alarm!

Billy Kidd vs tough guys

From the Discovery Channel Website:




[via: Sheldon Casavant]

Bobby Motta's Mental in SNAP

From SNAP Vaughan East:

Dave & Buster’s is known for bringing world-class talents to Vaughan, and the recent shows put on by Toronto-based illusionist Bobby Motta were no exception. Motta’s show MENTAL was a two hour mind-bending experience that left more than one audience members amazed as they walked out of the Show Room. 

Read more.

Mike D'Urzo on OMNI TV

Magician Mike D'Urzo on OMNI TV from earlier this year.  Bits of it are in English, but you'll get the most out of the clip if you understand Italian.

New Westminster: David Merry lecture

From SAM 95:

Monday, January 28, 2013

When it comes to the field of magic, David has been asked to perform at some of the most prestigious magic events in the world for his peers.

Read more.

Rounding the Western rings in December

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)	- n/a
Edmonton, AB	Edmonton Magic Club	- n/a
Winnipeg, MB	The Magic Club of Winnipeg	- n/a
Vancouver, BC	Ring 92 (Vancouver Magic Circle)	- n/a
Victoria, BC	Ring 183 (Victoria Magic Circle)	- n/a

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

Rounding the Ontario rings in December

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

Hamilton, ON	Ring 49 (The Doug Henning Magic Wand Club)	- Christmas party
London, ON	Ring 265 (London Magician's Guild)	- magic auction
Kitchener, ON	Ring 235 (The Caesar Hat & Wand Magic Circle)	- n/a
Ottawa, ON	Ring 151 (Ottawa Society of Magicians)	- Christmas party
Ottawa, ON	Ottawa / Gatineau magicians	- n/a
Toronto, ON	Ring 17 (Sid Lorraine Hat and Rabbit Club)	- Brower's Den visit
Woodstock, ON	CAM 1 (Friendly City Mystics)	-  n/a

 

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

Rounding the Eastern rings in December

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

Halifax, NS	Ring 316 (Conjourer's Court)	- Christmas gift exchange
St. John, NB	Magic Circle of St. John	- n/a

Magical Arts Fund for Wayne Houchin

Updated Dec 5 to add, from iNewswire:

The Academy of Magical Arts (AMA), its Board of Directors and Board of Trustees, in conjunction with the Dai Vernon Foundation, Inc., has established a special fund to assist professional magician Wayne Houchin, who was severely injured during a Nov. 26 performance in the Caribbean.

Read more.

I have just learned from Wayne Kawamoto that Paul Harris has set up a Magical Arts Fund for Wayne Houchin to help Wayne with his finances during his recovery.

Read Paul's message to learn how you can contribute.

Phil Matlin's ragtime tour

Phil Matlin - owner of Montréal's magic shop Perfect Magic, will be playing ragtime and touring through Ontario (Cambridge, Elmira and Waterloo) at the end of December.

His detailed schedule can be found at the CAM website.

[h/t: CAM]

If you missed our previous post about the many talents of Phil, have a look at him playing Carolina in the Morning below:

Derren Brown's Apocalypse on SPACE

From Canada Newswire:

Before the Mayan calendar flips to Doomsday, SPACE asks viewers "what if the world ended tomorrow?" From BAFTA Award-winning psychological illusionist Derren Brown, DERREN BROWN: APOCALYPSE uses a compelling blend of suggestion, psychological tricks, and experiments to construct an elaborate and shocking stunt to convince one person that the planet has been devastated by a catastrophic meteor strike. The subject at the centre of the experiment is left to believe that he is one of a mere handful of survivors. The gripping two-part special airs back-to-back on Wednesday, Dec. 12 at 9 p.m. ET exclusively on SPACE.

Read more.

[h/t: iTricks]

Wishing Wayne Houchin a speedy recovery

Updated November 30th to add:

I have just learned from Wayne Kawamoto that Paul Harris has set up a Magical Arts Fund for Wayne Houchin to help Wayne with his finances during his recovery.

Read Paul's message to learn about how you can contribute.

Last evening, I was stunned to find this tweet in Wayne Houchin's Twitter feed:

WAYNE HOUCHIN SEVERELY BURNED IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.A statement from Wayne: ...
— Wayne Houchin (@WayneHouchin) November 28, 2012

The Daily Deception has a summary of what transpired and why.


Wayne's most recent tweet, shows his character and goodwill is still shining through:

Our mission has not changed: to spread joy, wonder & love through magic #Curiosidades This pic was taken this evening: img.ly/qhh7
— Wayne Houchin (@WayneHouchin) November 29, 2012

Please join me in wishing Wayne the speediest of recoveries from this horrific incident.

Senior Living on Location: Ray Roch

Watch Ray Roch's appearance on "Senior Living on Location":




The full episode will be aired on February 3rd, 2013.  Read the episode description at Senior Living.


[h/t: SAM 95]

SOMA wearing pie

And now, for no particular reason, a video of SOMA getting pies in his face at Sorcerers Safari 2012.

Go to the Facebook Page to watch the video at full size.

X-elent Lecture Series: The end of the road

From the X-elent Lecture Series website:

For the past 9 years, we've had some of the greatest lecturers come through the region and share their hard-earned knowledge with us.

This has been no small feat, nor something easily accomplished. Without the dedicated help of each city, we would have never lasted as long as we have.

Under the X-elent Series banner, the region has seen 47 of the best lectures possible. But as they say, ...all good things must come to an end. It's with a sad heart that I make the following announcement.

Season 9 was the final season of the X-elent Lecture Series.

Read more.
 

Read what Calgarian Yeats Wong had to say about his experience with the X-elent series and it's creator, Lee Asher.

Thank you Lee, for all you've done to bring more magic to Canada!

Welcoming a new patron: Ryan Pilling

Welcome to our newest sponsor, Ryan Pilling!

Based out of Calgary, Ryan is not only a comedy magician, but he is also: a blogger, a designer, and an author!  Check out:

Playing Big -- Making magic out of tricks:

Ryan blogs about peformance observations and tips. He recently posted about "The Importance of Being Bad" and his post "If You Can't Say Anything Nice" is a topic that really resonates with me.

The Magic Assistant -- Gwyn Auger:

From Gwyn's website:

Gwyn Auger is a vivacious, creative woman who brings dedication and enthusiasm to every project she embarks on. Gwyn’s primary goal is to be a full time magician’s assistant, and as a trained dancer and professional model, she brings beauty and grace to any stage.  

Gwyn is an integral part of tongue-in-cheek horror show "A Brush With Death," which has taken Calgary by storm!

In my experience, Gwyn definitely has her finger on the pulse of the magical happenings in Calgary!

WowFest:

Back in October we first heard the news about Ryan's idea for Wowfest -- a Magic Arts Festival that he'd like to launch in Calgary.  In November he shared the exciting news that he received funding for the project!  Listen to Ryan interviewed on CBC's The Homestretch, talking about WowFest.

If you haven't already, go and "like" the WowFest Facebook page and then go to the WowFest website to subscribe to the project's newsletter.

Finding the Funny --  A Professional Entertainer's Guide to Improvisation, Ad-Libs, and Audience Interaction:

"Learn the techniques to creating inspired moments of comedy, and getting the best out of your audience volunteers."

"This guidebook will help the practiced magician, juggler, clown and other entertainers add the sparkle of spontaneity to their performances."
 

Thank you Ryan, for your efforts towards raising the profile of magic in Calgary, and for your sponsorship!

Murray SawChuck returns to Pawn Stars

According to iTricks, Murray SawChuck will appear in today's episode of Pawn Stars, called The Offer.

From the History.com website:

Then, when a guy brings in a historic magician s "sawing in half" box the guys learn that cutting Chumlee in half is the easy part... putting him back together is a bit tougher.

Read more.

[h/t: iTricks]

Two years and 783 posts later....

Two years ago today, I published the very first post at this website.  Since that time over 28,000 page loads have been served.  There are 325 Twitter followers and I've sent 3400+ tweets into the ether.  There are  65 Facebook fans and 44 subscribers.  While the majority of readers are Canadian, our readers also come from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Malaysia, Portugal, Australia, and the list goes on and on.

There are so many wonderful things going on in this country's magic community and I'm barely scratching the surface!

Thank you, as always, for reading, subscribing, re-tweeting, liking, sharing, submitting news, corresponding, making me aware of typos, guest posting, sponsoring and most of all for your wonderful feedback and continued support!