Canada's Magic

05 August 2016

Toronto: August 2016 free magic club meeting

From the Browser's Den of Magic Facebook group:

Just a short and friendly reminder that our (free) Magic Club meets this Saturday, August 6 at Browser's Den.

We meet from 2:30 to 5:30pm. All interested in talking about magic are welcome.

04 August 2016

Lee Asher in the Daily Herald

From the Daily Herald:

"There are thousands of us, my friend, worldwide," says Lee Asher, 40, president of 52 Plus Joker (52PlusJoker.org), the playing-card collectors club coming to the Hyatt Regency Schaumburg Oct. 20-22 for the group's Annual Playing Card Collectors Convention. "We're kind of the Comic-Con for playing cards."

While euchre is believed to have led to the addition of the joker to modern decks, to collectors, cards are so much more than finding a decent euchre deck.

"Most every world event that's ever happened since the dawn of time has been documented on a playing card," says Asher, a professional magician from Toronto. "If you can think of something that happened, it's probably on a playing card."

Read more.

03 August 2016

Edmonton: There's magic at the 2016 fringe

The 35th Annual Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival: August 11-21, 2016.

From Fringe Theatre:

Ta Da!
Morton is a young boy who has always dreamed of being a magician. With the school talent show fast approaching, Morton needs to gain confidence in order to share his magic with an audience for the first time. A charming blend of mask, magic and theatre for all ages!

by: Casavant Productions
www.mortonthemagician.com

Murder at the Magic Emporium
Who killed Henning Lee?! Crack the case at this family-friendly whodunit where magic meets mystery. Venture off-Whyte and step into the most unique BYOV of the festival: the Magic Emporium! Join Henning Lee (Magician Kent Wong) and a cast of characters for a night you won’t soon forget. [Free parking]

by: RJK ENTERTAINMENT SERVICES
magicemporium.ca

6 Quick Dick Tricks: A Dirk Darrow Investigation
“BEST OF FEST: PATRON’S PICK” Edmonton Fringe 2015 ALL NEW! Mind-reading! Shakespeare! Time travel! Join Australia’s favourite comedy psychic detective as he pursues a killer in satirical film-noir mentalist style. From the creator of 2 Ruby Knockers… ★★★★&1/2 “An excellent show.” -Edmonton Journal ★★★★&1/2 “Amazing” -Edmonton Sun

by: Tim Motley
www.dirkdarrow.com

Read more and buy tickets.

02 August 2016

Thank you to our August 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.

Thank you to our August 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 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!

Donations of any size are always welcome.

01 August 2016

Calgary: David Merry at The Laugh Shop

From the Twitter feed of The Laugh Shop Calgary:

@davidmerry headlines Aug 4-6! Thur $12.95, Fri/Sat $19.95 8pm nightly. https://t.co/koV60M0iVR #yyc #yyccomedy pic.twitter.com/IWwtZYm0PZ
— Laugh Shop Calgary (@LaughShopYYC) July 31, 2016

31 July 2016

30 July 2016

Murray SawChuck on Masters of Illusion

From Murray SawChuck's YouTube channel:

[via iTricks]

29 July 2016

Mahdi Gilbert on "Penn and Teller Fool Us" Season 3

A third Canadian magician on Penn and Teller's Fool Us!

Well done Mahdi! You are truly an inspiration.

Watch on Mahdi Gilbert's YouTube channel:

28 July 2016

Shawn Farquhar RVP for SAM Canada

Congratulations Shawn!

From Shawn Farquhar's Facebook page:

I am happy and honored to announce I am the new RVP for the SAM for Canada. As the founder of SAM #95, a thirty year member, Dean of my Assembly and life time member #363 I look forward to working to make the SAM's presence in Canada bigger and better.

Read more and have your say.

27 July 2016

Did you catch the Magic Master Summit*?

Did you catch any of the presentations in last week's Magic Master Summit? Try as I might, I didn't get to see them all. (A big shout out to Kidlet and KOP for their patience with me as I gorged on magic videos.)

If you missed some or all of the free event last week, fear not! You can purchase a "LIFETIME PASS," and watch the entire event, from beginning to end, over and over, as many times as you like, for less than $6.57 per lecture! (Dave Womach's even offering up a 100% Money Back Guarantee.)

Get Your LIFETIME ACCESS before August 1, 2016 and Save $100!

All 30+ Lectures, $197 USD.

(After Aug 1, 2016 Price is $297)

Some of the videos I watched:

Rick Thomas (Performance and Personality): I could have used some of his advice back in my high school days.
Bill Gladwell (How to make $380,000 / year by "2-walling"): Interesting contract advice.
Dr. Joe Vitale (Easy and OUtrageous Marketing Techniques): Enough said.
Shawn Farquhar (Making Magic More Memorable): Are you a tuxedo person, or a coverall person?)
Chris Randall (Magic and Street Busking): The video includes instructions on two effects.
Greg Frewin (The Creative Process): Greg shared his interesting tactic to get creative time during his cruise performance days.
Murray SawChuck (Marketing and PR for Entertainers): Do you agree with Murray's "random call" theory?
Glen Foster (How to build a HUGE Fanbase): Don't for get to take advantage of his discount for people who have seen this talk.
Robert Stephens (Secrets to Six-Figure Strolling Magic): Fun listening to him describe when things literally hit the fan.
David Farr and Brad Ross (Internet Marketing and Lead Generation): Giving away to Magic Master Summit attendees, for FREE, an information package valued at close to $200!)
Theresa McLean (Secrets to Costuming): Fun stories and great costuming advice.

Purchase your lifetime access today, before prices go up!

--
* 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.

26 July 2016

Review: Keith Brown's "Absolute Magic"

From the CBC:

Hotter than Potter!

That's how short, suited, 20-something magician Keith Brown bills himself. He even hawks buttons with that overconfident slogan. It definitely becomes him, though — this guy performs like a motivational speaker on Red Bull.

Read more.

25 July 2016

Does magic have a future on Canadian television?

Of importance, in the last paragraph of Clive's message, he states:

"I want to encourage Canadian magicians who appear on international tv shows to produce an 8-minute video for showing to the people who will be meeting across Canada during the next year to discuss the future of Canadian television. It is our opportunity to change the lousy management of our entertainment resources....particularly television."

From Clive Court's Facebook page:

24 July 2016

The magic of Pokémon Go

From Discourse in Magic:

Unless you’ve been living under the worlds largest rock, I’m sure you’re aware of the hype and excitement of the launch of Pokémon Go.

Whether you feel good about it and you’re excited that nerds are getting out of their dens, and losing some weight. Or you feel bad about it, because people are crowding public places, while still staring at their phones. You cannot deny that it’s launch is one of the most viral launches of anything that we’ve ever seen.

Since magic is a unique art, it’s always interesting when new art forms, games, or technologies come to light, that help us get a better view of what were doing.

So what does magic and Pokémon Go have in common AND WHY DOES IT MATTER TO YOU?

Read more.

23 July 2016

Ryan Joyce on "Penn and Teller Fool Us" Season 3

The US networks are doing a great job of CanCon!

Watch Ryan's outstanding performance on the Penn & Teller Fool Us Season 3 YouTube channel:

Also watch Ryan's video Behind the Scenes EP 1:

22 July 2016

Random thoughts on "Chris Westfall Magic & the Porcelain Princess"

Last night I had the pleasure of catching "Chris Westfall Magic & the Porcelain Princess" at the Papermill Theatre (part of Todmorden Mills on Pottery Road, tucked in next to the DVP). It's a cozy theatre that seats approximately 150. I'm guessing there's not a bad seat in the house.

Kidlet had this to say about the show:

If you ask me what my favourite part is, my answer would be "the beginning to the end."

Kidlet's friend added:

If I were half as good a magician as Chris Westfall, I'd call myself incredible!

Here are some random thoughts that came to mind about Thursday night's show:

Ben Train kept the kids captivated in the lobby while we waited for things to get started.
Chris made the kids laugh as he gave the audience a pre-show sneak peak at Bella.
From the beginning, Chris and Bella, deliver a very visual and high-energy show!
Bella elegantly defied the laws of physics with, among other things, a crystal ball, rings, and a hula hoop.
(Was I the only one tickled by the visual pun of the dolly being taken off stage on a dolly?)
Chris masterfully executed illusions large and small.
Mouth shuffling was unexpectedly entertaining!
A Pokéman Go player made a timely and unexpected cameo.
This is a volunteer intensive show. By my count there were eight delightful children and one good-natured adult brought up on stage.
The volunteers were fabulous, and made the evening so much fun for everyone!
Chris expertly engaged the children, and had them eating out of the palm of his hand (figuratively).
Hang out after the show for post-show photos, autographs, and a meet & greet!
"Is it magic, or is it illusion?"

To learn more about this family friendly show, visit Chris Westfall Magic. You can purchase tickets for tonight's show (Friday July 22) at Eventbrite.

Disclosure: My family and I were guests at this show. The opinions expressed above are entirely my own. I did not receive compensation for the writing or the publishing of this article.

21 July 2016

Darcy Oake tests driverless car

From the CBC:

Darcy Oake has been getting a lot of head turns from drivers and pedestrians over the past few days on Winnipeg streets.

The Winnipeg magician has been driving a borrowed electric Tesla Model X around the city — one of the few self-driving cars currently on the streets of Winnipeg and Western Canada.

"It's insane. I feel like it's artificial intelligence."

"It senses everything around, it drives itself, it parks itself, it can come pick you up, it's kind of freaky," he said while taking CBC for a ride-along Tuesday afternoon.

Read more.

20 July 2016

Michael Close on WISH TV

From WISH TV:

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Each and every week Dick Wolfsie shares an interesting and unique story that has a connection to central Indiana.

This time Dick Wolfsie talked to magician Mike Close.

Close, who is the president of the Society of American Magicians, discusses the intricacy and process that goes into performing an illusion and a trick.

Read more and watch videos.

[via The Magic-Compass and iTricks]

19 July 2016

Brampton: Matt Disero

July 23

From Dave Sokowlowski's Facebook page:

Hey, go check out my good friend Matt Disero performing in Brampton.
Posted by Dave Sokolowski on Friday, 15 July 2016

18 July 2016

Calgary: James Jordan Vaudevillian

July 29 to Aug.6

From the Calgary Fringe:

WINNER {Spirit of the Fringe} Vancouver Fringe
Amazing vaudeville comedy variety show with original magic, skilled juggling and royalty-free music.

“You definitely will laugh and cheer” Valerie Ostara, Vancouver, Plank Magazine

“humorous, lighthearted and fast-paced” Andrea Hill, The Starphoenix

“Vaudevillian is a fast-paced firecracker” Michael Hingston, Edmonton Journal

Genre: Comedy / Spoken Word / Cabaret / Vaudeville
Rating: Especially for Young People (All Ages 5+, Audience Participation, For/By Children, Solo Performance,

Read more and buy tickets.