Discovery channel: You Couldn’t Do This

From Canada.com:

You can retire from TV, but you can never get away from science — especially if you inculcated a lifelong interest in how things work from a young age. Jay Ingram, one of the original hosts of Discovery Canada’s Daily Planet newsmagazine, gets in touch with his inner child with his return-to-TV special You Couldn’t Do This.

Ingram explores the science behind magicians’ death-defying acts, showing how the most dangerous stunts can’t be explained away by illusion, misdirection and sleight-of-hand. Sometimes, what magicians do is real, aided and abetted by the old-fashioned laws of physics. Understanding science can make it possible for a human being to be fired from a cannonball or contort oneself into innumerable different positions and poses, all of them painful. Seeing is believing, they say, but one of the first laws of science is that you can’t always trust your eyesight alone to tell you what’s going on.

True, by taking a hard, science-based look at the world of illusion, Ingram risks playing the part of party-pooper. Ingram is more science nerd than spoilsport, though, and You Couldn’t Do This is worlds removed from Breaking the Magician’s Code.

Read more.

Lee Asher on The Magic Way

Will you be seeing Lee Asher at Sorcerers Safari Magic Camp next week?  If so, be sure to congratulate him for his recent cover on The Magic Way!

Made the cover of the Chinese magic magazine THE MAGIC WAY! pic.twitter.com/akMffGXg8L
— Lee Asher (@LeeAsherMagic) August 18, 2013

Read the article they published last summer about his 2012 tour through China.  (Read in English via Google Translate.)

Festival de magie de Québec 2013

August 30th to September 2nd.

Performers include:

• Mathieu Bich
• Stéphane Bourgoin
• Simon Pérusse
• Bob Arseneau
• Simon Bernard
• Billy et Manu
• Jean Deshaies
• Ekaterina Dobrokhotova
• Jean-Pierre Dussault
• Fredo
• Nicolas Gignac
• Michel Huot
• Jack maître magicien
• Le magicien Jules
• Yannick Lacroix
• Sébastien Louis-XVI
• Martin le magicien
• Carl Pellerin
• Jacques Pétard
• Carol Rondeau
• Richard Tremblay
• Marc Trudel
• Général Patente

And from Doug at Magic Information Canada:

J'ai ajouté le conférence Mathieu Bich au Québec en Septembre à http://t.co/Q7MlBSmksb (with apologies for my shaky French).
— Doug C. (@magicinfo_ca) August 18, 2013

Visit Festival de Magie de Québec for more information or to buy tickets.


Watch this year's interactive advertising for the event on YouTube:

Edmonton: Ryan Pilling and Gwyn Auger

When you go to see these two lecture, be sure to thank them from me, for being wonderful sponsors of this blog!


From Facebook:

Sunday, 25 August 2013 

Don't miss this double-feature lecture.

Gwyn Auger - The Magic Assistant - Columnist for VANISH magazine, and veteran of promotion and live marketing. In her role as social media coordinator she was instrumental in the success and sold out shows of WowFest Magic Festival in Calgary earlier this year. She will be sharing her tips and techniques on personal branding and promotional marketing that will get you recognized and booked. Make sense of your online marketing strategy and get the results you want!

Ryan Pilling - Comedy Magician and Improvisor - Author of "Finding The Funny", a guidebook for getting amazing reactions with your audience interaction. Ryan is going to break down the magic he does in his show. Not only share and teach real-world routines, but dive in to to work of creating, writing, and developing those acts. Tips for making the magic more powerful through connecting with your audience, and developing your own creative muscle.

Read more.

Nine years of My Magic Hands

Congratulations Julie, on the continued success of this fabulous project!

From Sharing Wonder:

It is hard to believe that My Magic Hands was originally launched nearly a decade ago.

Magicana applied for funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation(OTF) to develop a pilot program version of  ”Magic Hands”.  In 2004, the program was designed and tested during the year in four different at-risk communities around the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), including Canada’s top children’s rehabilitation hospital, now known as Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. The response to the pilot program was excellent and Trillium agreed. Magicana was then awarded a multi-year grant to expand  My Magic Hands program (and, to simultaneously develop Senior Sorcery – a program designed specifically for the senior population). My Magic Hands continued to evolved and developed through funding from private foundations and donors. Today, this program is funded solely by the Slaight Family Foundation.

Read more.