Remembering those who have passed this year. Through your passion and
spirit you have helped shape the magic community in Canada and around
the world. Thank you.
There were 30 posts at Canada's Magic this month. Because the top two posts are about the same subject, this month we present the six most viewed posts in the past 30 days:
6. Congratulations to Colin Geddes, executive producer on Mad God! - We're rooting for you Colin! *fingers crossed* we see Mad God in the list of finalists at the Oscars!
5. Rosemary Reid in episode 95 of Shezam with Kayla Drescher - Congratulations to Rosemary Reid and Lee Asher for their success with the Sisterhood deck Kickstarter!
4. Ring 17: Daily Bread Food Bank virtual fundraiser [Dec 19] - Well done Ring 17 for raising over $1200 for Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank. You can still watch their virtual fundraiser show and donate at IBMRing17.com/show
3. Random thoughts about "Champions of Magic" 2022 - Catch them if you can!
1. (and 2.) Vote now for the 2022 Readers' Choice Award (2022 Readers' Choice award results ) - Congratulations again to all of the fabulous nominees! Keep up the great work!
From the December 30th Instagram post by CHCH Morning Live:
To help us ring in the new year we welcomed our friend @graemazing to dazzle & amaze us with his Level 7 Wizardry.
From the December 25th article "Presenting ... the 12 Good Folks of Christmas in New West" by Julie MacLellan in the New Westminster Record:
Shawn Farquhar: The affable, fast-talking Shawn makes life in New West more magical – quite literally. A two-time world champion of magic, Shawn serves up his world-class sleight of hand at the unique Hidden Wonders Speakeasy Magic Experience, tucked away in a secret location in downtown New Westminster. It’s a gem that draws people from all around the region into our city. And Shawn himself? Well, he’s an all-around good guy – just ask the folks he saved from a devastating apartment fire once upon a time in New Westminster. He spoke to reporter Julie MacLellan in June. *
* From the June 8th article "There's magic hidden in the heart of New Westminster" by Julie MacLellan in the New Westminster Record:
Farquhar, who lives in Maple Ridge, has a longstanding connection to New Westminster. He first lived in the community in the 1980s and built his career as a magician here, making the pages of the Royal City Record on numerous occasions. New Westminster’s own icon of magic, Leon Mandrake, a.k.a. Mandrake the Magician, is one of Farquhar’s heroes and mentors in magic.
Thank you to those who participated in the spirit in which the awards were
intended:
a fun way to recognize and celebrate all of the wonderful things being done by the fabulous talent in our country!
Thank you to everyone who made the effort to nominate and to
vote.
A special thank you to those who left comments articulating how the nominees inspire others within the magic community. Peer recognition is a tremendous gift.
This year brought out some of the best in the community. We won't name names because we weren't organized enough to ask for permission, but here are some of the heart-warming and fabulous behaviours we saw:
Bravo! This type of behaviour is at the heart of what makes the Canadian magic community wonderful!
Paraphrasing one of our readers,
The real
award is the friends we made along the way.
Indeed!
Some general comments that were left included:
Congratulations again to all of the fabulous nominees!
Keep up the great work!
Here are the results of our seventh annual "Readers' Choice Inspirational Canadian Magician of the Year" award!
Website: HermitMagic.com
Dave Curran
Nominated by Anonymous who wrote:
"I hate voting against myself… but I’m going with Dave Curran! Jokers is
an incredible new addition to the Canadian magic scene!"
Website: Jokers.ca, DaveCurranLive.com
Colin Geddes
Nominated by L7W who wrote:
"To have the ability to inspire others is an incredible gift. I nominate
Colin Geddes as the inspirational magician of the year. Magic shows others
that the impossible can be real; the challenge can be overcome.
"Magic is meant to be inspirational, unlock challenges and make the
problematic disappear. It's rare to find a magician willing to zoom out,
remove their ego and give themselves to others out of passion and
dedication.
"Colin is a magician who embraces those in the spotlight, educates the
willing and uplifts the magicians who might have lost their way. As an
observer of the Canadian magic industry, you cannot find a more authentic
and passionate magician than Colin."
Websites: Ultra8.ca,
learn more about Colin in his brief bio at Canada's Magic.
Chris Gowen
Nominated by Anonymous who wrote:
"For his monthly public shows at the Rec Room."
Website: ChrisGowen.ca
Ryan Michael
Nominated by Anonymous who wrote:
"Because he kicked some major butt at PCAM - stage magician AND
mentalist of the year!"
Websites: RyanMichaelMagic.com
Kelvin Ng
Nominated by Anonymous who wrote.
"For his incredible dedication and openness to learn, progress and drive
himself every day. Great magician, even better friend."
Website: KelModernMagic.com
Ryan Pilling
Nominated by Anonymous who wrote:
"For continuously creating quality magic and tricks. Giving out more
golden magic tips and asking nothing in return."
Websites: MagicTipsAndTricks.com,
WowRyan.com, learn more about Ryan
in his brief bio at Canada's Magic.
Jason Verners
Nominated by by Anonymous who wrote:
"For his monthly appearances on local news and his sold out run of shows
with Ecologist."
Website: JasonVerners.com
Trevor and Lorena Watters
Nominated by Anonymous who wrote:
"For their sense of humour, but seriousness in the art and making the best
of every situation. True performers."
Website: TrevorAndLorenaShow.com
Shawn Farquhar
Ryan Edwards
Nominated by Anonymous who wrote:
"For changing the way
people see mentalism in Canada. Putting on a variety of shows rather
than one standard and really showcasing magic in a great light."
Website: Mentalism.ca
From the June 8th article "Magician Chris Ramsay on finding magic, making it big on YouTube and appearing opposite Chris Rock in 'Spiral'" by Devon Preston in Inked:
But, one of his biggest puzzles to date took place in the 2021 film “Spiral,” where he portrayed a drug dealer caught in a Jigsaw copycat’s trap. “Darren Lynn Bousman, who was the director of this film and ‘Saw II,’ ‘Saw III’ and ‘Saw IV,’ is fan of magic and hit me up on email being like, ‘Hey man, I’m a big fan and I would love to kill you in one of my movies,’” Ramsay says. “In between takes, Darren would come up to me and be like, ‘Hey, I’m working on this, how do you think it looks?’ He’d just finished a scene with Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson, but he wouldn’t care and would ask me how a card trick looked. I would definitely do it again, and my character doesn’t die. I think he’s the only one who survived.”
