Toronto: Asi Wind lecture

From the Browser's Den of Magic:

From the same people who brought you Michael Ammar, Daniel Garcia, The Buck Twins, Eric Jones and many others -- Sorcerers Safari presents the Asi Wind Lecture in Toronto - Wednesday August 20th.

WHAT: The Asi Wind Lecture WHERE: Browser's Den // 3220 Dufferin Street #19, Toronto, ON M6A 2T3. WHEN: Wednesday August 20th, 2014 

Asi Wind comes to Toronto! With the help of Sorcerers Safari Magic Camp, the Browser's Den is proud to offer you the opportunity to spend an evening with Asi Wind - World renowned mentalist.

Spontaneous and unpredictable, Asi's magic lectures are a roller-coaster for the brain. Combining his free-spirited playfulness and uniquely creative mind, Asi treats each audience to a truly unforgettable experience. At one moment Asi might reveal the name of your past love and another he might read someones mind over the phone. The only thing you can expect is the unexpected.

Read more and buy tickets.

Shawn Farquhar, president of the I.B.M.

Updated on July 16 to add:

Dennis Schick from the IBM has kindly provided me with a PDF copy of the (previously mentioned) cover story about Shawn Farquhar in this month's issue of The Linking Ring to share with the readers of Canada's Magic.

Thank you very much Dennis! 

From Dennis:

If you are an I.B.M. member, you have already seen and read the cover story on Canada's own Shawn Farquahar in the July issue of The Linking Ring. If you are not an I.B.M. member, here it is, with a reminder that this is a good example of what you are missing by not being a member. Why not join and support Shawn and his year as president? Go to www.magician.org.

Updated at 3pm to add:

• Dennis Schick has a wonderful interview with Shawn on page 22 in this month's issue of the Linking Ring (v94, 7) July 2014.

As many of you already know, Shawn Farquhar recently became president of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

Dennis Schick wrote up some interesting parallels between Shawn and Kenrick “ICE” McDonald, incoming president of the Society of American Magicians.  

From the IBM blog:

The combined convention this year of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and the Society of American Magicians will establish a number of firsts, as well as other interesting and historic events. Until someone actually researches the archives, some of these are more assumptions than facts. They are interesting to speculate about anyway. Besides, astute magic historians likely will come forward to set the record straight whatever we say. But until then, here are a half-dozen observations and tidbits about the two new presidents of the largest (I.B.M.) and the oldest (S.A.M.) magic organizations in the world.

Read more.

Post by IBM - International Brotherhood of Magicians.

How well do you know me?

When I started this site back in 2010, I did so pseudo-anonymously.  In part because I'm a private person, and partly because I didn't want who I am to influence this bloggy experiment.

As the site gained traction, I've been fascinated learning who you some of you think I am.  Typically the guesses have been very flattering, but wrong!  There are still a number of you out there who don't know me, that think you have an idea of who I am.  Let's see how right you are.

For fun, fill out the poll below.  People who know my (not so) secret identity are welcome to participate.  The poll will close in 13 days.  (For a score and bragging rights, e-mail me your answers or post them in the comments.)

The person behind the curtain at Canada's Magic:

• is shorter than the average of the heights of Richard Forget, Ryan Pilling, James Alan and David Acer
• is / has been on the executive of CAM
• is / has been on the executive of IBM
• was born in Western Canada
• was born in Central Canada
• was born in Eastern Canada
• performs / performed magic professionally
• performs / performed magic semi-professionally
• performs / performed with live animals
• box jumps / jumped
• has recently (within the past 5 years) published a book
• has created and marketed at least one original magic effect
• has been involved in the magic community for more than 10 years
• has been involved in the magic community for more than 20 years
• has been involved in the magic community for more than 30 years
• has at least two X chromosomes (making them either female or a male with Klinefelter's syndrome)

If you're feeling confident, leave the name of who you think I am in the comments.  (Unless you really do know.)

Let the games begin!

Clive Court, Life Member of the Canadian Public Relations Society

Congratulations Clive!

From the Canadian Public Relations Society:

Clive Court began his PR career in London’s Fleet Street as assistant to the Publicity manager of a major daily newspaper. He was responsible for the promotion of the Children’s I-SPY Book series which was recently revived in the UK. In the late 50s, he also launched the famous Michelin Travel Guides into the UK market. He soon moved to television and was responsible for the launching promotion of Get Ahead which eventually became known as Dragon’s Den (or Shark Tank in the US). Before leaving the UK in 1962, Clive worked for Granada Television on the promotion of Coronation Street during its first year of production.

Read more.

Steffen Banta wins Sorcerers Safari Magic Camp scholarship

Congratulations Steffen on winning a scholarship to Sorcerers Safari Magic Camp!

This year Sorcerers Safari Magic Camp runs from Friday August 15^th through to Wednesday August 20^th.  They are currently taking registrations at http://www.sorcererssafari.ca

From the IBM Facebook page:

Post by IBM - International Brotherhood of Magicians.

And rumour has it that

I've just been informed that North American FISM champs, and world's cutest couple, are coming to @SorcerersSafari this summer!
— Ben Train (@ErdnaseinTO) July 8, 2014