CAM JAM - FISM Quebec Guest Panel [Oct 12]

From the Canadian Association of Magicians:

The Canadian Association of Magicians is pleased to announce a special virtual CAM JAM event on Wednesday, October 12, at 8 pm EST! It's an exclusive look at the historic FISM World Championship of Magic in Quebec City!  

Read more and register.

 

 

 

Random thoughts about "Mr. Valentine Blows Your Mind!"

TLDR: 
MIND BLOWN!
Hope to see again!

Regular readers will recall that this summer Dave Curran and Steve Esfandiar Kalantar opened Jokers, a comedy club in Richmond Hill.  We attended the soft launch in June (see our post "Jokers is serious about comedy") with plans to visit again after a few months.  

Steve Valentine's brand new one-man show "Mr. Valentine Blows Your Mind!" was the perfect reason to return.

 

Here are some random thoughts about the show:

The audience was a real Who's Who of the Ontario magic scene.  We spied (in no particular order):
- Peter Mennie
- Ryan Joyce
- Mark Hogan
- Glenn Ottaway
- Matt DiSero
- Richard Forget
- Jen & Mike Segal
- Ian Crawford
- Phil Pivnick
- David Sutherland
- Ben Train
- Chris Mayhew
- Chris Philpott
- Sean Dougherty and of course
- Dave Curran!

• The show was one hour and forty minutes of non-stop magic and comedy, expertly blended together with a generous amount of well-honed theatre.
  
  
• There were a ridiculous number of AV cues and an equally ridiculous number of magic effects, with multimedia woven throughout the show.  (Including some of the questions Steve solicited from his Instagram followers!)
  
  
• Things were thrown, things were produced, things vanished, and the laws of physics were stood on their ear.
  
  
• Magic classics were given a fresh twist.  And there were new to us effects that filled us with childlike wonder. 
  
  
• For the history lovers, there was a sprinkle of British history, American history, family history, and magic history (in the form of a beautiful homage to Oswald Williams).
  
  
• The show was very interactive with close to 10 volunteers!
  (Masking provided little to no protection from being volunteered.)
  
  

 

IYKYK:  If you were paying close attention in the spring of 2020, you may have seen moments of this show in their infancy, presented as part of a fundraiser for the Niagara SPCA.

• It was obvious to the casual observer that Steve took his role as entertainer seriously.  It was equally obvious that he didn't take himself seriously, which immediately endeared him to the audience.
  

This brand new show had the audience demanding two encores.

• If you stripped the magic out, it would have been a solid comedy show.
  
  
• If you stripped the comedy out, it would have been a solid magic show.
  
  

 

 

The synergy of Steve's comedy and expertly executed sleight of hand, lovingly combined with his joyful spirit of theatre, resulted in a mind-blowing evening of jaw-dropping entertainment!
 

Your next chance to see this show is October 21st at Jokers Comedy Club in Richmond Hill.  Tell them Canada's Magic sent you!

 

 

Here's what Matt DiSero had to say:

 

 Additional photos:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Canadas Magic (@canadasmagicdotcom)

 

 

 

52 Plus Joker FREE Zoom 2022 Red Carpet & Diamond Awards event [Oct 8]

From the October 4th Instagram post by 52 Plus Joker:

This Saturday, starting at 5:30 PM EST, join 52 Plus Joker FREE on Zoom as we present the 2022 Red Carpet & Diamond Awards event.
.
Spot all the #PlayingCard celebrities, hear crowd predictions, and get the inside scoop with your Red Carpet host @atouchofrosemary. Then at 7 PM, watch as club President @leeashermagic crowns the Diamond Award winners for 'Artist of The Year' and 'Deck of the Year.' You won't want to miss any of it.
.
Mark your calendar and join us for an evening of #playingcard bliss.
.
ZOOM LINK IN BIO.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 52 Plus Joker (@52plusjoker)

 

 

 

 

Toronto: Ring 17 social meet [Oct 6] and Jeff Hinchliffe lecture recap

Ring 17 is having a social meet this Thursday at Shoeless Joe's Sports Grill, 3200 Dufferin St, North York.  Contact Ring 17 for details.

 

From the October 3rd Facebook post by Ring 17:

No, that wasn't a practical joke when we suddenly switched the lecture speaker last week! Sadly just two days before our lecture, our scheduled speaker and past president James Alan tested positive for that trendy virus that just won't go away (and we thought the Macarena stuck around a long time!), so we had to scramble. We are truly grateful that Sir Jeff Hinchliffe stepped up to help us out. Our heads are still reeling from the routines and knowledge he dropped on us including a some history of magic colouring books and his new rising card effect! And it was member Rob Fishbaum's birthday! His family must really love him if they let him spend his special day with us! Afterwards folks went down to the Uptown Pub for drinks, food and of course, MAGIC! 

NOTE: We did videotape the lecture (thanks to member Chris Mayhew) and are currently editing it. As soon as that is done, a screening link will be made available to members to view – just one of the new perks of being a member of the 2022-2023 season!

Reviews are thumbs up on the venue we were used for Jeff's lecture, the Agricola Finnish Lutheran Church located by York Mills Station, which has a big open hall and a parking lot to match. We have been having difficulty finding venues that are central and within the club's budget, but hope to return here. We will be exploring other spaces over the season as we are not always able to get the dates that we want for certain places. 

Thanks to everyone who came out! It was great seeing you all in person and we look forward to more Meet-Ups and Events to come

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you to our October 2022 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 - Life Member, Canadian Public Relations Society,
• Jeff Pinsky, owner of The Browser's Den of Magic,
• Michael Close, author of the new Paradigm Shift ebooks, the Workers series and others,
• Ryan Pilling's "Tips & Tricks for Magicians" newsletter, and
• the "Magicians Talking Magic" podcast!
  

The next time you see them, let them know you saw their sponsorship here!

 

MagicTipsAndTricks.com

Magicians Talking Magic

 

 

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.

or