Canada's Magic

25 January 2022

Mia's Magical Night fundraiser with the Toronto Magic Company [Feb 6]

On the occasion of my Bat Mitzvah, I have chosen to support the important work of Chai Lifeline Canada. Chai Lifeline is devoted to supporting children and families facing illness. For over 15 years they have given thousands of families across Canada the concrete services and emotional support that enables patients, siblings and parents to find joy in their lives. My goal is to raise $18,000.00 to provide critical support services, including therapy, to children as well providing funding so that families can create some long lasting and special memories through experiences.

Families coming together and laughing is something we can all enjoy. On Sunday February 6th, please join me as The Toronto Magic Company delights us with their UNBELIEVABLE virtual magic show that has been entertaining thousands across the globe. Ben Train and Jonah Babins will mesmerize us and it is definitely something you won’t want to miss!

An Interactive Virtual Magic Show for all ages!

Date: February 6, 2022
Read more and buy tickets.

24 January 2022

Carol’s Cupboard fundraiser with James Alan [Feb 27]

From the January 20th Facebook post by James Alan:

21 January 2022

The Amazing Randi in the Beach Metro

You may recall that Michael Close and the Evasons consulted for the film Nightmare Alley.

From the January 11th article "Reel Beach: Born in the Beach, The Amazing Randi was a top magician and crusader against fraudsters" by Bernie Fletcher in the Beach Metro:

In Nightmare Alley Bradley Cooper plays a carnival huckster who learns the art of deceit and becomes a nightclub mind reader. The clothes are fancier, but he uses the same old tricks.

The film is based on the dark 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham (1909-1962), an amateur magician who was fascinated by the carny underworld. Like Harry Houdini before him, Gresham exposed many of the techniques used by phony spiritualists and psychics.

In 1959 Gresham wrote a biography of Houdini and dedicated his book to “the greatest living escape artist, The Amazing Randi” magician James Randi who helped him with the illusions.

Randi began life in 1928 as Randall James Zwinge (rhymes with “Swingy”) in the newly-built Victoria Park Apartments on Queen Street East near Willow Avenue, which was just down the street from the Prince of Wales Theatre (now the Fox).

A century ago streetcars came all the way out to the new Neville Park Loop and spurred a building boom along the eastern end of Queen Street.

...

Life comes full circle. Nightmare Alley was filmed at the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant (originally the Victoria Park Filtration Plant) just down the street from Randi’s first home. In 1928 the waterworks were still a dream in the eyes of Neville Park Boulevard resident R. C. Harris; a vision of clean, safe water for Toronto.
Read more.

From the January 12th Facebook post by The Society of American Magicians:

20 January 2022

Shawn Farquhar at The Magic Inn [Feb 24]

From The Magic Inn:

The Magic Inn started at the start of the pandemic as a social way to interact with other entertainers around the world.

The concept started as a online virtual venue, unlike something that is managed by a magic clubs or companies, we are a group of magicians with an aim to wanting to bring people together globally through the online environment and also have fun in the process.
Read more and buy tickets.

From the January 8th Facebook post by Shawn Farquhar:

19 January 2022

Visual effects supervisor Adrien Saint Girons mentions Chris Ramsay

From the January 14th article "Here’s how math art inspired the mirror verse moments in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’" by Ian Failes at Befores and Afters:

b&a: Tell me about that artefact, first?

Adrien Saint Girons: We designed that. That was, very bizarrely, one of the things that we spent a lot of time on. You wouldn’t think it, but it was a very time consuming process. It took a lot of iterations to come up with exactly the right look and the right mechanism for the box. There were a lot of changes that occurred. It used to be a much more mechanical kind of puzzle–I don’t know if you ever saw those Chris Ramsey [sic] videos online where he’s solving big puzzles. There was a whole backstory to it that got simplified in the end.
Read more.