07 August 2022

The lives of female magic practitioners

From the June 21st article "Abracadabra to ABCs under scrutiny by USask researchers" at the University of Saskatchewan:

Despite popular representations of witches, real female magic practitioners were rarely accused of witchcraft. In the Essex witch trials during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, for example, only three percent of those accused were actually magic practitioners. These practitioners were more commonly understood as protections from witchcraft.

“In comparison to the hundreds of monographs on the unusual hot spots of the witch trials, and despite the fact it is estimated that hundreds of thousands were operating at any given time, not a single credible academic book deals with the female magic practitioner of pre-modern Europe,” said Dr. Frank Klaassen (PhD), professor of history in USask’s College of Arts and Science. He and Dr. Sharon Wright (PhD), professor of history in St. Thomas More College, are co-principal investigators of a new SSHRC Insight grant in the amount of $212,809.

Their research will investigate female magic practitioners from 1350-1550. It will include a close study of late medieval ecclesiastical courts in England, focused studies on known female practitioners, and a broad-based comparative survey of female practitioners in Western and Central Europe. Who were these women? What sorts of things did they do? How did they compare to male practitioners? And how and when did the church seek to regulate their activities?

The results of this project will include not only conventional scholarly outputs, but also public history outputs such as historically based games and an online museum exhibition featuring known female practitioners, the manuscript evidence for their activities, and even 3D vectors of the tools they used. Much of the funding will also support graduate and undergraduate student training, research, and research outputs. 

Read more.




06 August 2022

Saskatoon: Potted Potter

From the August 4th Instagram post by Starvox:

Potted Potter tickets are on sale now for Broadway Theatre in Saskatoon!
📆 October 3-5, 2022
🗺️ Broadway Theatre
📍715 Broadway Avenue, Saskatoon, SK. S7N 1B3
🎟️ https://broadwaytheatre.ca/events?p=event&event=1374

 

 

 

 

 

 

05 August 2022

An excellent synopsis of FISM 2022 by Ryan Joyce

From the August 3rd post "WOW! What a week! FISM Quebec 2022 was AMAZING! See Exclusive CAM photos." by Ryan Joyce at CAM:

Quebec City expanded artistic boundaries by introducing bold ideas and themes. A fresh spark of excitement has rekindled in the minds and hearts of magicians worldwide because of FISM Quebec 2022.

The six-day convention and competition brought together over thousand magicians from fifty countries and featured some of the best magicians worldwide. Simon Coronel and Laurent Piron become FISM Grand Prix Winners in close-up and stage.  Coronel presents an impossible linking card miracle, and Piron makes paper come to life on stage. Applause!

Making new friends, catching up with old friends and seeing extraordinary talented magicians did something wonderful to my soul. I know I’m not alone. Canadians should be proud of the historical mark FISM Quebec 2022 contributes and its influence on a new generation.

Hopefully, many of them will be Canadian.

The Canadian Association of Magicians is proud to acknowledge the efforts of our President, Renée-Claude Auclair, Pierre Hamon, the entire FISM Team and over one hundred and fifty volunteers that made FISM Quebec 2022 possible.  

Read more.


 

 



 

04 August 2022

Hamilton: Greg Frewin at fundraiser for Interval House of Hamilton [Aug 10]

Tickets at www.benefitshow.net/2022/03/wild-magic-starring-greg-frewin.html

 

From the August 3rd article "Magic fundraiser for Interval House of Hamilton" by Mark Newman at The Spec:

Niagara Falls illusionist Greg Frewin is looking to conjure up some fundraising dollars for Interval House of Hamilton.

Frewin, the first Canadian to win the World Championship of Magic competition, is bringing his 'Wild Magic' show to the McIntyre Performing Arts Centre at the Fennell campus of Mohawk College Aug. 10 in support of the west Mountain shelter.

“We are excited to be a part of this fundraiser and the support is coming at a much-needed time,” said Sue Taylor, executive director of Interval House of Hamilton. “We remain over-occupancy at our emergency shelter, and we don’t anticipate reprieve any time soon. We are providing safe shelter to a record number of women and children experiencing family violence and or abuse; currently we are using staff offices and community rooms to maximize our space and give women and children a safe place to rest.”

Read more.

 


 

 

 

03 August 2022

Chris Ramsay's FISM 2022 recap

On behalf of everyone who wasn't able to attend FISM 2022, thank you to all the attendees who have shared your experiences, photos, and videos from the event!

 

From the August 2nd upload "I Went to The World Championship of MAGIC!! (FISM 2022)" at Chris Ramsay's YouTube channel:

 

 

 

02 August 2022

Sebastopol: Joe Culpepper's Magic Design Workshop [Aug 13]

From the July 30th Instagram post by Joe Culpepper:

Excited to be teaching this Magic Design Workshop on August 13th in Sebastopol, CA. Learn optical illusions and how to add magic effects to your own artistic projects: https://tinyurl.com/yd2kdaa5

 

 

 

 

 

 

01 August 2022

Billy Hsueh in the Surrey Now-Leader

Congratulations Billy!  Thank you for your hard work!

 

From the July 27th article "Presto, he’s president: World’s largest magic organization now led by Surrey’s Billy Hsueh" by Tom Zillich in Surrey Now-Leader:

The role of international president of the IBM is rare for a Canadian, as only eight residents of this country have held the office, four of whom are from Vancouver, and Hsueh is first of Asian descent.

“It wasn’t something that I sought out to do, but it just kind of happened, the process of me being on the board and the committees when I was 16, 17 years old,” Hsueh explained. “I kept volunteering my time and worked my way up the board, and eventually they nominated me as vice-president and then president-elect, now I’m president.

He added: “It just feels really good to represent an organization that I’ve been part of since I was, like, 11, and being able to give back, as much as can, for everything this organization has done for me.”

Read more.

 

 

 

The article mentions that 8 Canadians have held this title.  They include:

  1. Len Vintus 1922–1926
  2. Bruce Posgate 1980–1981
  3. R.J. Obie O'Brien 1993–1994
  4. Joan Caesar 2008–2009
  5. Shawn Farquhar 2014–2015
  6. Alex Zander 2019–2020   [youngest]
  7. Billy Hsueh 2022-2023    [second youngest]

Who are we missing?