WowFest 2014

From WowFest Magic:

Calgary’s showcase for sleight-of-hand has officially marked the calendar for the second annual WowFest Magic Arts Festival. Set to appear in the last two weeks of February 2014, to amaze Calgary audiences with a variety of comedy, magic, and mystery entertainments.  

After a highly successful and sold-out debut, WowFest is set to return with a full line-up of magicians spread over two weeks, hosted in the Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts. The event begins on Family Day, February 17th, with an opportunity for families to not only see some magic shows, but participate in workshops where they can learn magic tricks for beginners. The rest of the festival, ending on March 1st, will feature a wide variety of performances for all ages, including mysteries exclusively for grown-up minds to ponder.  

Read more.

Toronto: An Evening with Penn Jillette: "Every Day Is an Atheist Holiday!"

From the "An Evening with Penn Jillette: "Every Day Is an Atheist Holiday!" event page:

Saturday, 2 November 2013

CFI Canada is proud to present an exclusive evening with skeptical funnyman and magician Penn Jillette. Penn will talk about his experiences as a skeptic and atheist, answer audience questions and sign copies of his new book 'Every Day Is an Atheist Holiday!' After the event will follow an exclusive Members Only reception for your chance to get up close and personal with Penn. Become a Member or Renew today to receive free admission to the event and secure your spot at the reception. 

Read more and buy tickets.

From Durgy Spade

@canadasmagic My 25 min youtube special is up and online! The biggest project I have EVER done! http://t.co/aiPY99GfuR
— Durgy Spade (@DurgySpade) October 4, 2013

Scott Hammel juggles live explosives

From Youtube:

WARNING: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC VIDEO OF A SECOND DEGREE BURN.

Roman Cascade was an ambitious project about art and going after your dreams. Scott Hammell talks about his idol, Penn Jillette and how he inspired Scott to think about art differently. After a disastrous first attempt, Scott Hammell successfully juggles live explosives.

Read more.

David Peck interviews David Merry

Listen to David Peck's Face 2 Face interview with David Merry over at David Peck Live.

Edward Stone got it right!

Back in August, Edward Stone made a prediction.  According to last thursday's Fort Erie times, "Stone gets it right, predicts headline."

Well done Edward!

Ottawa (Greely) Jay Scott Berry events cancelled.

From Doug at Magic Information Canada:

Ottawa (Greely) Jay Scott Berry events cancelled. If you like, visit to be sure they're no longer listed at http://t.co/Q7MlBSmksb :)
— Doug C. (@magicinfo_ca) October 8, 2013

Broken wand: Robert Barna

From Henry Walser:

Barna, Robert A (Barney):

Robert Alexander Barna passed away peacefully on Thursday September 5th, 2013 in Kitchener, Ontario at the age of 54.

Barney was a gifted magician entertaining many with Merlin at birthday parties, special events, local restaurants sharing his charm and wit through his mystifying card tricks and illusions.
He is survived by his children, Jaryd and Jacklyn and their mother Karen, his parents Eugene and Marie of Leamington, his siblings: Peter (Jeannine), Jean (Kip Brown), Paul, David (Joanne), Terry (Sharon), Kevin, Debbie (Bob Richardson).

Read more.

There is also a nice rememberance in the most recent issue of the CAM publication, Northern Peeks on page 19 "The Final Curtain."

Toronto: Shift Your Perspective with Dan Trommater

From Facebook:

Saturday, October 5th 

Kick-off your Nuit Blanche right, with a magic show!

Catch magician Dan Trommater in this rare public performance before he heads to LA to perform at The World Famous Hollywood Magic Castle.

** FOR TICKETS: **
https://shiftyourperspective.eventbrite.ca/
This will be an intimate evening of magic and mystery. With only 45 available tickets, you'll be close enough to see every moment. Close enough to swear that you should be able to see how the tricks work - but don't be disappointed if you leave baffled.

Read more and buy tickets.

Halifax to host Houdini Seance

From John Cox at Wild About Harry:

Great news today! Bill Radner informs me that the 2013 Official Houdini Seance will be held in the catacombs of the historic Citadel HIll in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Halloween of this year.

Houdini and Bess performed in Halifax during their first tour of the Canadian Maritimes in 1896. That formative tour is the subject of Bruce MacNab's excellent book, The Metamorphosis: The Apprenticeship of Harry Houdini. Bruce will be co-hosting this year's seance, which is going to have a terrific lineup of guests and performers and will have a limited amount of tickets available to the public.

Read more.

Thank you to our October sponsors!

Thank you to our sponsors for their generous support.  We're pleased to have the support of:

• Clive Court - The Fun-da-Mentalist,
• Ryan Pilling author of Finding The Funny, 
• Evelyn & Phil Matlin, owners of Perfect Magic and
• Jeff Pinsky, owner of The Browser's Den of Magic!

The next time you see them, let them know you saw their sponsorship here!

 

 

 

For more information about purchasing Sponsored Posts or about our Platinum, Gold, or Silver level sponsorships, please visit our Sponsorship page.

 

Toronto: Tyler Wilson at Browser's Den Free Magic Club

From the Broswer's Den Facebook group:

CARDICIAN 'TYLER WILSON' WILL BE COMING TO 'BROWSER'S DEN' this Saturday October 5th. He will be the Special Guest for Browser's Den Free Magic Club and will be at the shop from about 2:00pm to about 4:30pm. Tyler will be doing tricks and talking magic with magic club members.

Read more.

Greely: CANCELLED Jay Scott Berry lecture and workshop

Updated October 8th, with information from Doug at Magic Information Canada:

Ottawa (Greely) Jay Scott Berry events cancelled. If you like, visit to be sure they're no longer listed at http://t.co/Q7MlBSmksb :)
— Doug C. (@magicinfo_ca) October 8, 2013

From Magic Information Canada:

Greely, ON: Thursday, October 17 at 8 PM. Jay Scott Berry. Magic lecture.    

Greely, ON: Friday, October 18 at 8 PM. Jay Scott Berry. Magic workshop. 

Read more.

Broken wand: Ray Parker

From the Times Colonist:

PARKER, Raymond May 25, 1929 - July 15, 2013 Ray passed away peacefully at the Royal Jubilee Hospice, surrounded by his family. Born in Wolverhampton, England, Ray, a noted entertainer, performed his first show at the age of eleven as a puppeteer. He soon expanded his skills to include acting, clowning, mime, dance, singing, and stand-up comedy. At the age of eighteen, while in the British armed forces, he performed in East Africa, while serving as a Royal Engineer. During this time, he developed an impersonation act, which led to theatre, BBC television, and radio engagements. In 1965, Ray and his young family immigrated to Canada, where his career continued to flourish. Ray's acts included his children as a family of clowns, performing vaudevillian slapstick comedy. At the age of 50, Ray fell in love with magic, and thrilled his audiences with yet another dazzling talent.


Read more.

“@canadasmagic: Broken wand: Ray Parker http://t.co/smzm4jYzek”. will be greatly missed.
— Brian Matlin (@bmat10) September 30, 2013

Rounding the Western rings in October

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
Vancouver, BC	SAM 95  (Carl Hemeon Assembly)	- 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 October

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

Hamilton, ON	Ring 49 (The Doug Henning Magic Wand Club)	- cards and coins
London, ON	Ring 265 (London Magician's Guild)	- schemes, swindles and scams
Kitchener, ON	Ring 235 (The Caesar Hat & Wand Magic Circle)	- Shane Cobalt lecture
Ottawa, ON	Ring 151 (Ottawa Society of Magicians)	- n/a
Ottawa, ON	Ottawa / Gatineau magicians	- n/a
Toronto, ON	Ring 17 (Sid Lorraine Hat and Rabbit Club)	- Tyler Wilson lecture

 

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

Rounding the Eastern rings in October

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

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

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

Ray Chance: cameo in Shawn Desman's Stuck video

Go over to Much Music and watch Toronto magician Ray Chance's cameo in Shawn Desman's new video, "Stuck".  Ray appears at about the 1:30 mark.

To see more of Ray's magic, visit his YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/chancemagic which includes his appearances on Much Music, Breakfast Television and stage show clips.

Fundraiser: Stop the Sucking

From Ring 17:

The Mosquitoes Suck Project, organized by SoChange, has released an instructional download including tricks from:

• Bill Abbott
• James Alan
• Joshua Jay
• Anthony Lindan
• Bobby Motta
• David Peck
• Brian Roberts
• Jay Sankey

For $10, you get a 106-minute, 3gb download of original magic. The download is available from dontbiteme.ca. $10 is the cost of an insecticide treated bed net, including delivery, which protects a family for up to ten years. These nets are distributed in Africa by Spread The Net. So download your copy today!

Read more and buy a download to Stop the Sucking.

A second season of Breaking Magic

From The Futon Critic:

(Silver Spring, MD)-Discovery Networks International (DNI) today announced the return of original series BREAKING MAGIC. Behind every trick is science, and this 14x30 series from Objective Productions brings back its international cast of magicians,  Ben Hanlin, Billy Kidd, Wayne Houchin, along with newcomer, Nate Staniforth, for even more mesmerizing stunts and street magic. BREAKING MAGIC will premiere on Discovery Channel in 224 countries across Europe, Middle-East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America beginning February 2014. 

Read more.