22 January 2015

Ricky Jay on Dai Vernon

From iTricks:
PBS is stepping up the promotion of their airing of Ricky Jay: Deceptive Practice as a part of American Masters next week with a few new clips. In addition to one of Jay on Charlie Millers, they put out this video featuring memories of the incomparable Dai Vernon. Deceptive Practice will air on most PBS station next Friday, January 23; it is the first time a magician has been featured in the American Masters series.

Watch on YouTube:

 

21 January 2015

Ben Train and Lukas Stark this week at "Magic Tonight"

James Alan, over at Abracadaberet, has kindly offered the readers of Canada's Magic a coupon code for 50% off tickets to "Magic Tonight!"

Use the coupon code cmagic when you buy your tickets for Magic Tonight to receive your discount*.




Mississauga:




Pickering:




Toronto:






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* Offer is subject to change without notice.  Canada's Magic earns a commission when you use the coupon code cmagic.

So how do you know what's good?

When we opened Perfect Magic, before the internet, we bought what we thought was good from suppliers we trusted. There was not this smorgasbord of magic that there is today. Every single day we receive new items to consider. At one time there was Mak Magic, Morrissey Magic, Abbott’s, Fun and a few others that manufactured products here in Canada or the U.S.A and Supreme in England. Now very little is made here. It’s hard to compete with China or India. Some of the stuff is good, some is not. But when you read the write-ups, everything is the greatest ever. So how do you know what is good.

Read more.

20 January 2015

Breaking news! Toronto: Browser's Den Bash!

Click for details.
See Magic. Learn Magic. Show Magic. Love Magic
April 12th, 2015 
Imagine 12 jam-packed hours of magic filled with a plethora of amazing talent, delicious food, and wonderful experiences that you cannot find elsewhere. Card guys, mentalists, stand-up magicians, stage perfomers, and everything in-between... there's something for everyone! You're going to have a fantastic time at the Browser's Magic Bash. It might even challenge the way you normally look at magic conventions.

Space is limited so act now and reserve your spot right away.

Read more and register.

Thirty seconds with Dan Wiebe

This is the first in a series of "Thirty seconds with ..." interviews, so called because I approached the interviewees at Sorcerers Safari Magic and Performance Arts Camp last summer with the idea that I would interview them for 30 seconds.  Little did they know ...


Semi-professional magician, Dan Wiebe, from Winnipeg Manitoba, is one of the first faces I remember meeting at my first visit to Sorcerers Safari.   Dan is super friendly and has a great sense of humour.  His son Graham previously attended camp for over half a dozen years.  Dan's been an instructor with the camp for seven years.

FUN FACT:
Dan would rather watch Star Trek: The Next Generation, than Star Wars.


DID YOU KNOW?
Dan's most embarrassing magical moment was during a performance as "Alex R. O'Leif," when he blanked on the script after recognizing a student as an audience member.
Dan loves that Sorcerers Safari as a fun place to be.  He's a big part of making it that way.  His classes are practical, patiently taught, entertaining and creative.  For the very young kids with shorter attention spans, he'll sometimes get them to do a little craft that gets incorporated into the routine he teaches.  While helping set-up last year's camper show, he made sure that all of the kids would be showcased and their talents highlighted in a lighthearted and entertaining way.  (Who can forget the sight of one of the smallest performers choosing what had to be the tallest volunteer?)  Dan's first memory of magic dates back to about ten years of age, when he watched someone make an "invisible flea" fly onto a piece of paper.

Dan is a 13 year instructor with the Society of Young Magicians (youth chapter of the Society of American Magicians).  His advice for young magicians:  "Practise."

When not in a magical mood, you're likely to find Dan at a computer.

From Becky Wells' Facebook page:




For more information about the Society of Young Magicians in Winnipeg: