Canada's Magic

07 July 2016

Chicago: Chris Mayhew at the Chicago Magic Lounge

06 July 2016

Jack Lillico in the Vancouver Magic Circle June 2016 Newsletter

Last month I posted a link to John Smithman's interview of Jack Lillico. This month, the Vancouver Magic Circle published a special "pull-out" section about Jack. It includes John's interview, along with some fabulous photos of magic history.

Check it out on pages 7 - 14 of the June 2016 edition of the Vancouver Magic Circle Newsletter.

As an added bonus, watch on Facebook, a video John made of an 89-year Jack Lillico doing a Card Sleight:

05 July 2016

Diary of a Sorcerers Safari newbie - part 11

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A camper's notebook.

Day 5: Tuesday August 18th (cont)*

8pm

Dinner was wings and fries and salad and donuts! Jen Segal, Christina Galonska, Stephanie Kline, Lori Farquhar, Lisa Close, and Mike Toal worked hard to get it organized and serve us since we weren’t in the Mess Hall tonight. They’re always working really hard to making sure all of the non-magic stuff is taken care of. I sure am grateful for their efforts.

Dance party = so much fun! Mark Correia did a wicked Michael Jackson impersonation and two of the littlest kids here had an incredible dance off! Phil DaCosta DJ’d again and gave away t-shirts and cards and stuff too for answering questions and making clever requests. I love this place.

Mark doing his thing.

The weather must have cleared ‘cause they’re letting us have camp swim!

10pm
I did it!! I got scared and wasn’t going to. But then I remembered that Scott Hammell and Eric Leclerc both say that we should try things “out of our comfort zone” now and again. The lifeguard said it was safe to jump from up high and that he’d make sure nothing bad happened to me. I was so nervous climbing up those stairs. They went up forever. The lake looked such a long way down. I froze and almost didn’t do it. Then I jumped!!!! I was surprised how long it took for me to hit the water -- it felt like hours. I didn’t get hurt, nobody laughed and my friends all cheered for me! I really feel like I’m part of one big family here.

I did it!!!

There was more dancing and a spectacular fireworks show. Everyone sang some song by a band called “Queen” and that was the end of the night. I’m so excited and tired. I don’t remember much else. I don’t want camp to end tomorrow.

This is so. much. FUN!

Everybody dance now!

To be continued ...

--
The 2016 season of Sorcerers Safari will run from Sunday August 7th through Friday August 12th, 2016. For more information, or to register, please visit SorcerersSafari.ca

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* The “Diary of a Sorcerers Safari Newbie” is primarily based on the 2015 camp season. It is an aggregate of many perspectives, and at times includes events from previous years.

04 July 2016

Have you registered for the 2016 Magic Master Summit*?

Updated November 2017 to add:

Register for the 2017 Magic Master Summit!

Back in May, I shared with you information about the 2016 Magic Master Summit, a FREE online magic convention featuring more than 30 presentations, from more than 24 experts, totaling more than 50 hours of incredible secrets!

Did I mention, it's completely FREE, July 18-22, 2016?

Here's the tentative schedule:

Monday - July 18, 2016

Rick Thomas

Brad Ross

Dan Sperry

Bill Gladwell

JC Sum

Tuesday - July 19, 2016

Shawn Farquhar

Dr. Joe Vitale

Kristoffer Olson

Justino Zoppe

Chris and Neal

Chris Randall

Jim Gravina

Wednesday - July 20, 2016

Greg Frewin

Murray SawChuck

David DaVinci

Steven Yerardi

JC Sum

Glen Foster

Thursday - July 21, 2016

Reza

Josh Knotts

Brad Ross

David Farr

Stacey Smithson

Friday - July 22, 2016

Josh Knotts

Wacky Chad

Ken Weber

Kyle Knight and Mistie

Justino Zoppe

From what I understand, the sessions are each free for 24 hours, then after that if you want to purchase access to them, you'll have the ability to go back to review them.

What are you waiting for? Register at Magic Master Summit today!

--
* Disclosure: I am a Magic Master Summit Affiliate and I am eligible to make a commission with every sale made using the links posted on this site.

03 July 2016

John Smithman writes about Charles Howard

From John Smithman's Facebook page:

02 July 2016

2016 Allan Slaight Award Recipients

Congratulations to this year's winners!

From Magicana:

Lifetime Achievement Award ($15,000) - TON ONOSAKA
Sharing Wonder Award ($15,000) - DARCY OAKE
Sharing Secrets Award ($10,000) - RICHARD KAUFMAN
International Rising Star ($5,000) - JORGE BLASS
Canadian Rising Star ($5,000) - LUC LANGEVIN

Read more.

Revisit "The Magic Palace"

From Magicana:

The Magic Palace was a Canadian television series, produced and hosted by Dale Harney, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which was an inspiration for a generation of magicians. In an age before YouTube and the Internet, the show gave viewers a broad sampling of magic acts from North America and Europe in an unprecedented scale.

Almost lost to history, it is now one of the most important collections of magic performances. Magicana is delighted to share this material and, perhaps, inspire another generation of magicians all over again.

Read more and enter exhibit.

Watch the teaser:

01 July 2016

Thank you to our May 2016 Friends!

Thank you to John Smithman, John Harrison, Richard Lyn and Joan Caesar for being Friends of Canada's Magic!

It's good to have friends like you.

You too can Be Our Friend for only $20 per year!

Donations of any size are always welcome.

Toronto: Free magic club meeting

From the Browser's Den of Magic Facebook group:

Hi There- This Saturday, July 2nd is our next (FREE) Magic Club Meeting.

We meet at Browser's Den from 2:30pm to 5:30pm. All interested in talking magic are welcome.

And we are pleased to let you know that it looks as if Jeff Hinchliffe will be joining us at the meeting.

Happy Canada Day!
Jeff & The Browser's Den Team.
Serving Magicians Since 1975

Thank you to our July 2016 sponsors!

Thank you to our sponsors for their generous support.

This site would not be possible without their backing.

We're grateful to have the support of:

Clive Court - The Fun-da-Mentalist,
Evelyn & Phil Matlin, owners of Perfect Magic
Jeff Pinsky, owner of The Browser's Den of Magic and
Michael Fisher, aka The Amazing Corbin, aka Captain Corbin The Magical Pirate!

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!

Donations of any size are always welcome.

30 June 2016

29 June 2016

Vancouver: 3 of clubs 2016

From the 3 of Clubs Convention:

Register today and join us on November 11th-13th, 2016 for our favourite I.B.M. Ring Reunion, the 3 of Clubs!

We’re bringing together some of our favourite talent and greatest friends we’ve met throughout the years we’ve spent travelling the magic convention circuit.

If you saw yourself in the photo above, we want YOU! If you don’t see yourself there, we REALLY want you!

Come see what your West Coast magic family has to offer, and see what makes us one of the best magic communities in North America!
Read more and register.

28 June 2016

Diary of a Sorcerers Safari newbie - part 10

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A camper's notebook.

Day 5: Tuesday August 18th*

Cheesy omelette breakfast. I saw the rabbits again! And I saw a bright green frog too. Still no sign of the deer.

At card class Shawn Farquhar talked to us about stuff I’d never considered. He said, “give people a sense of wonder. Don’t make them feel stupid or small.” And then he said this quote from American poet Maya Angelou:

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

We played “Capture the Flag” which was so. much. FUN!

6pm
The camper show was fantastic. Before the show, Lee Asher made his group perform walk around for the audience. They did really well.

Pre-show walk around.

Then the show started. Some of the kids performed things they just learned (or even made!) this week! Others made stuff up and some came prepared with things they’d been working on the whole year. Shout out to them all!

Emcees: Chaz and RJ.
Performers: Cathy, James, Brad, Matt, Tariq, Jordan, Ava, Vincent, Landon, Matthew, Nathan, Will, Ben, Jack, Nick, and Jeff.
Backstage: Simon, Holden, Serena, and Jarrett.
Sound and tech: Steve Kline (for this and all the other shows!).
Production assistants: Mike and Lisa Close, Dan Wiebe, and Mike Toal.

Owning the stage.

Sponge balls.

Something big is about to happen!

The coolest thing about the show was that everyone’s performance looked good. Beginner kids went first so they didn’t have to go after someone who had more experience. I don’t see any competition between the kids. The adults want us all to shine.

Today’s electives were Pulp Friction (with Lee himself!), linking rings, Gravity Half Pass (with Aaron Fisher!), Assistant’s Revenge stage illusion, Miser’s Dream, any card at any number, and Patriotic Ropes.

Bill Wells and Sheldon Casavant talking coins.

Patriotic ropes with Phil DaCosta. Photo by James Carey Lauder.

I did the linking rings and was kinda surprised (and disappointed) to learn how they work. It seems that some of the most wonderful effects are based on simple ideas. Loran was a great teacher, but I’m going to have to practise a lot more until I feel comfortable doing it in front of anyone!

Rats. Camp swim got rained out. (I wish I tried the high jump yesterday). Silver lining: we all piled into the Staff Lounge and had a big impromptu panel with Shawn, Eric, Phil, and Mark. They do things off the top of their head better than I can do anything I’ve rehearsed a million times. I wonder how much of it is pure talent and how much of it is hours and hours of practise.

Shawn speaking at the panel.

To be continued ...

--
The 2016 season of Sorcerers Safari will run from Sunday August 7th through Friday August 12th, 2016. For more information, or to register, please visit SorcerersSafari.ca

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* The “Diary of a Sorcerers Safari Newbie” is primarily based on the 2015 camp season. It is an aggregate of many perspectives, and at times includes events from previous years.

27 June 2016

Vancouver: "UNBELIEVABLE: A Magical Experience"

The show will run at the PNE August 20 – September 5, 2016 (Closed Monday August 22 and 29).

From the Pacific National Exhibition website:

A world-class magical showcase not to be missed! Watch in amazement and witness grand illusions. Come and be thrilled as we present champions of magic! UNBELIEVABLE magic, comedy and breathtaking illusions - get a front row seat to a magical experience you will simply describe as UNBELIEVABLE!

From the stages of Las Vegas, Hollywood, and Shanghai, Unbelievable brings together some of the world's champion Magicians:

International Award Winning, Canada's Master Illusionists, Murray Hatfield and Teresa present unbelievable magic, interactive comedy and jaw dropping, state-of-the-art illusions.

Get ready to jump into the world of Magic and comedy with American comedian magician Matt Marcy who will leave you laughing and gasping in astonishment.

From the United States, Scott Pepper will amaze you with his unbelievable talent, as he pays tribute to Houdini by attempting a version of an escape that would have made Harry Houdini himself nervous.

Then to the Weird & Slightly Dangerous, Marty Putz who will bring the arena to it's feet in his world of whacky magic.

Then be amazed by The First Lady of Magic, Juliana Chen, leading master of manipulation. Chen known around the world, and perhaps the best-known female magician today, will blow your mind.

Collectively, these world champion magicians have performed around the world and have come together to take you on a magical journey that is Unbelievable!

Read more and buy tickets.

26 June 2016

Broken wand: Gordon McIntosh

From the Abby News:

McINTOSH, Gordon
It is with great sadness we announce the passing of Gordon McIntosh on June 17, 2016. Gord was a man of many talents, you could know Gord for his entire 67 years and you would still only scratch the surface of this great man. He was a proud man, who was pleased to call you his family or friend. Gord was predeceased by his wife Sheila and his son David. Gord leaves behind his two sons Chris (Tanya) & Anthony, his two step daughters Cheri (Dan) & Jennifer (Jeff), and his grandchildren Chandelle, Maizie-Skye, Elana, Carmin, Samuel, Bryan, Ryan, Eric & Austin. His love of magic brought his life so much joy and amazing friendships! Thank you to the VMC & FVMC for your friendship to Gord. It means a lot. Thank you to the Doctors and Nurses at the Abbotsford Hospital for all your hard work. Celebration of Life to be July 24. More details to follow.

25 June 2016

Catching up with Discourse in Magic

Jonah Babins and Tyler Williams have been steadily producing podcasts since their launch in April. Have a look at what they've released so far...

From Discourse in Magic:

Welcome to the Discourse in Magic podcast! This is where we tackle magic’s hardest issues, theories, philosophies, discussion, and more to help you explore. We jump into all sorts of resources and most importantly actionable tips to help better the art and become a killer performer!

Episode 11 – How to be a Great Teacher, Mentor and Student of Magic with Aaron Fisher and Adam Grace
June 16th, 2016

Episode 10 – Playing Card Innovation and Economy in the Era of Crowdfunding with Lee Asher June 9th, 2016

Episode 9 – Community Month: Introduction Magic Shops, Camps and Friends June 2nd, 2016

Episode 8 – Performing Tips for the Working Magician, From Restaurants to Big Illusions with Chris Westfall May 26th, 2016

Episode 7 – Ethics and morals for the modern magician with Ben Train May 19th, 2016

Episode 6 – Creating a fictional premise with conflicts and twist endings that rock May 12th, 2016

Episode 5 – Designing magic for the screen and the stage with Patrick Kun May 5th, 2016

Episode 4 – Improv and being open to change with Chris Mayhew April 29th, 2016

Episode 3 – Personality, character and connecting with your audience with Eric Leclerc April 27th, 2016

Episode 2 – Going viral, the Reddit secret, and Rubik’s cubes with Steven Brundage April 23rd, 2016

Episode 1 – Introduction Episode April 20th, 2016

Read more and listen to podcasts.

24 June 2016

Toronto: Browser's Back Room

How exciting! I look forward to visiting soon.

From the Browser's Den of Magic Facebook page:

Dear Magic Friends,

Jeff Pinsky here. I hope that all is well.

I am very pleased and excited to announce something new at Browser's Den.

We have transformed the back room of Browser's Den (some 500 square feet) into a Collector's and Used Magic Centre!

This new centre is open to you during our regular store hours. There you will find a treasure trove of both used and collectable magic at very low and reasonable prices.

Read more.

23 June 2016

Vancouver: Wes Barker lecture

From Jeff Christensen's post at the CAM Facebook page:

Up next on the Vancouver Magic Circle's lecture series is none other than Wes Barker. Live and direct from his TV appearances on Fool Us to his international tour stops with major comedy festivals around the world. Wes is an innovative performer that makes magic current, hip and engaging. Come find out how you can make your magic more interesting and engaging for your audiences. The first thing an audience member thinks when you enter the stage is "Who is this person and why should I care?" Wes Barker will answer all of this and much much more. All will be answered on Friday July 22nd 7pm (doors open at 6:30) at Douglas College. You won't want to miss Wes Barker Stunt Magician!

22 June 2016

Montreal: Le lab magique Jun 29

Catch the last lab before summer break!

Avec:

ARTISTE INVITÉ
Patrice Meunier - magicien fantaisiste

ARTISTES TESTEURS
André Rancour Ventriloquie
Hamza Araqui - cirque
Le testeur surprise

Animé par - Erick Elektrik et Bernard Lebel