Winners of tickets to see Scott Hammell in "The Trick with the Gun"

The contest to win a pair of tickets to see Scott Hammell in "The Trick with the Gun" closed last night at midnight.  Thank you to everyone who played!

If you didn't win, you can still purchases tickets at the cinema box office,

There were some fabulous books mentioned that I'll have to add to my reading list.

Here's the list of eligible entries:

1	James A	Chatting with him at a black & white party that no one told me was a black and white party.
2	James A	https://twitter.com/james_alan/status/663566744917815297
3	Derek D	Scott Hammel based contests
4	Sammy J	Well, there was this one time when I got a personal message from Canada's Magic to enter a contest...
5	Sammy J	https://twitter.com/Doc_Sammy/status/665332672206647296

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations to James, Derek and Sammy!

Thank you again to to Alex from the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema for generously making these tickets available to you!

Toronto: Open Sesame at Hart House

From Ben Train's Facebook page:
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I am so pumped to be joining my friends @opensesamemagic, @willzmagic, @magicacematt, and the U of T magic club for a FREE show! See you there!
Posted by Benzi Train on Wednesday, 11 November 2015

Mahdi Gilbert: He's Fond of Cards

From Kevin Ho's YouTube channel:

Keith Brown in "Fresh from the Fringe" and at Dave and Busters

Keith Brown's doing a three show run in Collingwood, called "Fresh from the Fringe" November 13 - 15.

He'll also be at Dave and Busters November 27th and 28th.

Learn more about these events at Keith's website, Absolute Magic.

Darcy Oake in the news

Updated at 13:43 EST to add:

• At tomorrow's show in Toronto, there will be a free pre-show conversation with Magic Mike the 2013/2014 Canadian Magician of the Year! The pre-show is approximately 30 minutes in length and will begin at 6:30PM in the lower lobby. Seating is limited and will be available to the first 250 guests. 

A reminder that there's a coupon code you can use to see Darcy's show tomorrow in Toronto.

From the Toronto Sun:

For Darcy Oake, the magic started early. And by accident.

The Winnipeg-born illusionist who vaulted to fame on Britain’s Got Talent last year says his father — veteran sportscaster Scott Oake — inadvertently set him on his career path with a fluke card trick some two decades ago.

“My dad knows zero magic,” explains the 28-year-old Oake. “But there was a deck of cards sitting there and he was just playing with it. He said, ‘Pick one, look at it and put it back in the pack.’ Then he shuffled the cards, reached into the pack, pulled one out and said, ‘That was your card.’ And it was my card!

“I had no idea how he did it. It drove me crazy — until I found out weeks later it was a total accident. He had a one-in-52 chance of getting it right, but played it like he meant to do it. It captivated me — being fooled like that. That’s where it all started for me. Who knows how things would have turned out if that trick hadn’t worked.”

Read more.

From the Globe and Mail:

He’s a Canadian illusionist who appeared – suddenly, right before our eyes – on the world stage. In advance of the upcoming Ontario dates of his cross-country Edge of Reality tour, we spoke to magic man Darcy Oake.

You were a finalist in the 2014 season of Britain’s Got Talent. How did that come about?

They approached me to do the show. I was doing a spot in a variety show in Paris, and I was working a lot on cruise ships. Artistically, it was unsatisfying. But doing Britain’s Got Talent could have been risky. I didn’t want to get there and get buzzed off and ruin everything I’d built up to that point. But they assured me that my style would fit the show perfectly. I went and did it, and it turned out to be the smartest thing I ever did.

But you’re from Winnipeg. Did you pull a British passport out of a hat or something?

Anyone can do any of those talent shows. It’s open. Their show is the biggest one, though. I thought: if I’m going to do one, it’s going to be that one.

Read more.