A brief history of Morrissey Magic

Back in August, I posted about Morrissey Magic closing after 54 years in magic.  When the store closed, their website went dark and with it their history.  I'm pleased to republish "A Brief History of Morrissey Magic."


Reprinted from MorrisseyMagic.com (archived on Dec 3, 2011), with permission from Dan and Phoebe:

A Brief History of Morrissey Magic

MORRISSEY MAGIC 1959 - 2011 OVER 50 YEARS OF MAGIC.

In 1959 Herb Morrissey started a very small magic business. So small in fact that we only had one product. MORRISSEY CUPS manufactured in Canada, available in aluminum and copper. The magic world quickly recognized that MORRISSEY CUPS were good quality cups and reasonably priced - VALUE FOR YOUR DOLLAR.

And today, 50 years later this is still our policy - VALUE FOR YOUR DOLLAR. Soon other products were introduced, Dove, Chick and Duck Pans, Zombie, Lota Bowls, Chop Cups and the list goes on and on. Over the years not only have we been introducing the most widely used magician's equipment, but also we have been innovative. We have brought to the magic market many items, which were never available before. One of the most famous of these is the MORRISSEY CHOP CUPS & BALLS COMBINATION.

By the early 60's MORRISSEY PRODUCTS were available in magic shops all over the world.

In 1964 we opened a retail magic shop in Montreal. Additional products were added from other manufacturers and we soon had a well-stocked magic shop. Lots of you reading this will remember the magic shop on Bluery Street.

In 1978 we opened a second magic shop in Toronto. Herb Morrissey moved to Toronto and Richard Olsen, a partner in the business managed the shop in Montreal as well as the manufacturing and mail order business. The Toronto store was a retail only magic shop.

In 1986 Herb's son, Dan Morrissey joined the business in Toronto and remains here to this day. We closed the operation in Montreal and everything moved to Toronto. So, it looks like Morrissey Magic will be around for another 50 years.

NOW OVER 50 YEARS LATER, CANADA'S LARGEST MAGIC DEALER IS LOCATED AT 2477 DUFFERIN STREET, TORONTO.

Our modern magic studio has 3000 square feet of retail space to service magicians from all over the world. And we are still supplying magicians and magic dealers with metal spun products. Today MORRISSEY MAGIC is truly an international magic company.

Known and respected throughout the magic world.

The Society of Canadian Magicians

Back in the Spring of 2011, I posted about a Facebook page David Donoghue had set up for remembering the Society of Canadian Magicians (SCM).  However, that page no longer appears functional.

Does anyone know what happened to it?

Ariel Frailich recently posted about the convention.  It would be nice if the memories could all be collected in one place.

St. Catharines: Chris Westfall lecture

Updated November 19th to add, the Calculated Chaos lecture will take place on Tuesday, November 19th.

Message Chris for details.

From the Browser's Den of Magic Facebook group:

A Chris Westfall lecture in St. Catharines!

Read more.

Burnaby: Murray's Magical Holiday Spectacular

From Yelp:

Saturday, December 14

Murray is back performing at the Tropicana till January 2014 after a highly successful tour of Australia! Murray is planning on going back to Oz for a 2014 National Tour. 

 As seen on "America's Got Talent" Murray is performing back in his hometown of Vancouver, Canada - Burnaby, BC to be exact at the Shadbolt Center For The Performing Arts. His first time back performing in over 20 years! ONE SHOW ONLY! so get your tickets before they sell out !

Read more.

Thank you to our November 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.

Or, you can Be Our Friend for only $20 per year!
 

Coquitlam: Stars of Magic

From the Stars of Magic Show Facebook page:

Saturday November 9

We have flown in some of the top talent from around the world for our convention.
We are hosting a PUBLIC show at the venue.

The show will be starring:
MC - Nick Lewin
Shoot Ogawa
Louie Foxx
Wes Barker
Barry Mitchell
Bill Robison

Read more and buy tickets.

Rounding the Western rings in November

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
Fraser Valley, BC	IBM Ring 387 (Fraser Valley Magic Circle)	- Farrell Dillon lecture - Christmas Banquet and Show - mentalism with special guest stars Leon Mandrake and Damien Carriere and emcee Chris Yuill
Vancouver, BC	Ring 92 (Vancouver Magic Circle)	- 3 of clubs convention - Christmas dinner
Vancouver, BC	SAM 95  (Carl Hemeon Assembly)	- Juan Garcia
Victoria, BC	Ring 183 (Victoria Magic Circle)	- 3 of clubs convention - Mentalism / mental magic - Wacky Wednesday

 

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

Rounding the Ontario rings in November

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

Hamilton, ON	Ring 49 (The Doug Henning Magic Wand Club)	- n/a
London, ON	Ring 265 (London Magician's Guild)	- Coin and coin box night
Kitchener, ON	Ring 235 (The Caesar Hat & Wand Magic Circle)	- Magic movie night
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)	- Dani DaOrtiz lecture, Simple workshop, Not so simple workshop, The show

 

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

Rounding the Eastern rings in November

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

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

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

[Guest post] New Okito Box patter

The following is a guest post from an author who wishes to be known as The Magic Demon.

--

NEW OKITO BOX PATTER
Exclusively for readers of Canada's Magic
by The Magic Demon

Some time ago I purchased a brass Okito Box from the Browser's Den of Magic in Toronto (although I'm sure Perfect Magic in Montreal carries them too!) If you don't already have one and you are into coin magic, you need one.

What always used to bug me about it was coming up with an explanation for the unusual looking prop. It isn't something you see every day. Inspired by recent events in the UK, I came up with the following story. I hope you will enjoy using it or a variation of it in your act.

I use a large old English penny. You can also use multiple pennies if you wish. You could use this as a module in your coin act or as a stand alone item. I won't go into the mechanics of the trick; use your favourite method. But here's what you can say while demonstrating the effect (in this case, that of making a single coin disappear from a seemingly secure brass case).

~~~~

"The Royal Family in England never carry cash on them. Do you know why? It used to be a problem for them years ago when they wanted to "spend a penny". Do you know what that means? In England it means to use a public toilet which used to cost a penny in the old days. They cost more today but the expression is still the same.

Now, in the old days they created little gold cases for the Royals to store their precious pennies, in case they needed to spend one. The cases had room for 3 or 4 pennies, more than enough for any Royal on tour. Now the original cases were made of gold or silver but they kept getting stolen or mislaid. So they decided to manufacture a number of them in brass. They still looked elegant but they were less likely to get stolen. I have one of them here, but I won't tell you how I got it. Let's just say the Royals were very absent minded about where they left them.

So they would store their precious pennies in their new brass cases - all safe and sound. But what they could not have foreseen was the unusual effect that the brass casing had on the old fashioned copper pennies. Now some say it is a purely chemical reaction between copper and brass. Others claim it is because Britannia (who is on the the coin) hates being imprisoned in such a tiny space. Well, whatever the reason, you can still see what happens - it's gone!

And that's why the Royals don't keep any money on them to this day. What would be the point? They couldn't even hold on to their pennies!"

~~~~

Thank you The Magic Demon for guest posting at Canada's Magic!

Chris Westfall on M-U-M cover

Read James Alan's article, "Magic Saved My Life," about Chris Westfall in the November issue of M-U-M!

From The Society of American Magicians:

A magician stands at a fork in the road. One path leads to magic; the other path leads to dangerous behavior, possible incarceration, and possible death. (So, let the reader be warned.) Chris Westfall is a remarkable magician in more ways than one. On the surface, he seems fairly ordinary; an arsenal of card tricks, rubber bands around his wrist, a mildly goofy, slightly off-Sankey sense of humor. None of that seems to explain how busy he is. He currently juggles four restaurant gigs in Toronto in addition to professional close-up gigs. In the summer he adds a series of kids’ day-camp workshops that fuels weekends full of children’s shows. Of course, he’s not organized enough to give me an exact figure, but a back-of-an-envelope estimate has him doing about six hundred dates a year.

Read more.

John Cox is live blogging the Official Houdini Seance in Halifax

WILD ABOUT HARRY: LIVE BLOG: Official #Houdini Seance in Halifax http://t.co/AXM8Df7SWI
— John Cox (@HoudiniWild) October 31, 2013

You can also, follow @HoudiniWild on Twitter!

The Herald News is also live blogging the event.

Update from John Cox about Halifax Houdini seance

WILD ABOUT HARRY: Daughter of Jack Price to attend the Official #Houdini seance in Halifax http://t.co/iAhqxaiZch
— John Cox (@HoudiniWild) October 30, 2013

Storytime with The Professor

From John Cox at Wild About Houdini:

The October 2013 Magic Castle Newsletter has launched a new column, "Storytime with The Professor", featuring memorable tales told by the late Dai Vernon. The inaugural story is about, what else, Houdini, and in it Vernon recounts how S.A.M. members once "tricked" Houdini into going into a closest at the New York Hippodrome and locked him inside. "We pulled this trick on him because he was such a terrible egotist," said the man who's own ego was pretty well developed.

Read more.

Toronto: Browser's Den 38th Anniversary Party

From the Browser's Den of Magic:

BROWSER’S DEN OF MAGIC
38th Anniversary Party
Date: Sunday, November 17, 2013
Cost to Attend: FREE!!

FREE PRIZES * DISCOUNT ON ALL MAGIC ALL DAY LONG * MINI MAGIC AUCTION * * SANDWICHES * COFFEE *SNACKS * MAGIC TRIVIA QUIZ WITH BIG PRIZES * LEN COOPER MEMORIAL AWARD * * SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD * CAKE *

Read more.

WowFest Magic Festival's Young Magician Showcase

From WowFest Magic:

At the upcoming WowFest Magic Festival, happening in February 2014, we want to hand a whole show over to the next generation of magicians! The Young Magician Showcase will feature amazing performers under the age of 20. This is an open invitation to all those young whipper-snappers who want to be a part of WowFest.

Read more.

Cool couple: Evelyn and Phil Matlin

Happy (upcoming) 55th wedding anniversary Evelyn and Phil!  And happy birthday Evelyn!


From The Canadian Jewish News, "Montreal Weddings" supplement (pg 12 and 13):

When Evelyn and Phil Matlin’s eldest daughter, Ronna, was playing in the basement, she discovered her father’s long forsaken magician’s suitcase. The year was 1964 and the curious 6-year-old begged him to perform magic at her birthday party.

This event sparked the revival of an inherent skill that Phil had honed in his youth, and to this day the world of magic plays an integral role in the family’s life.

Read more.

Broken wand: Gilles Fontaine

From Magician.org:

J.L. GILLES FONTAINE

The I.B.M. Headquarters recently was notified that J.L. Gilles Fontaine, 86, of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, died September 19, 2012. Born in Quebec City, he was the son of a banker, and became one himself. At age ten he saw a performance by Harry Blackstone, Sr. and it inspired him to take up magic as a hobby, collecting magic books, subscribing to magic magazines, and practicing for hours. He became "Gilles the Magician," and performed for children and senior citizens whenever and wherever he could. He even taught magic at a local elementary school.

Read more.

[via The Linking Ring, Vol 93, #10, October 2013]

Ottawa: Chris Pilsworth

From Canada Aviation and Space Museum:

October 27   

Come in costume for this special Halloween-themed magic show. Ghosts and goblins of all ages will enjoy magician-illusionist Chris Pilsworth's amazing wizardry and hilarious antics in a fast-paced, fun-filled performance. 

Read more and buy tickets.

[via Perfect Magic] 

Magi-Fest 2014: Youth scholarships

According to Andi at Vanishing Inc Magic, Canadian's are welcome to apply!  Thanks Andi!


From Magi-Fest:

Thanks to an overwhelmingly kind donation from magician Doug Taylor, we are pleased to announce the Magi-fest Youth Scholarship Program.  

Several lucky, enthusiastic young magicians (everyone under 18 is eligible to apply) will receive FREE entrance into the Columbus Magi-Fest. And, there are youth events being planned open only to the young, serious magicians.

Read more.