Michael Close "wraps it up"

I was lucky enough to attend one of Michael's lectures!  Far out magic dude!

(After you've finished reading the blog post, have a look at Michael's latest newsletter which includes a chat with R. Paul Wilson.)


From Michael Close's blog post "Wrapping It Up":

Heading your way first are my new ebooks, tentatively titled The Paradigm Shift Parts 1 and 2. I have been working on this project for almost ten years. I have demonstrated some of the material to a select group of magicians in the past couple of years, and the response has been enthusiastic. (Quentin Reynolds said The IKEA Card Trick is the best routine he’s seen in years.) The focus is on card magic, but you will also find effects that use other objects. There are contributions from Harry Riser, Bob Farmer, Mick Ayres, Roy Walton, and Simon Aronson. In addition to the effects, there are some groundbreaking essays that will help to take your magic to a new level. Each ebook will contain more than thirty chapters. Lisa and I are working furiously in order to have the two ebooks out before the end of year.

Read more.

Gerard Dietrich in the Kitchener-Waterloo CBC News

We previously mentioned Gerard's injury.  It sounds like he's healing well.  We continue to wish Gerard a speedy recovery!
 

From the article "How a broken femur sidelined Santa for 1st time in 46 years" by Carmen Ponciano in the Kitchener-Waterloo CBC News:

Like his counterpart in Miracle on 34th Street, Dietrich has has taken the time to learn sign language and bits of other spoken languages so he can communicate with children from all backgrounds.

"My favourite part is the interaction between the children, the adults and myself," Dietrich said.

Though he's hung up his red suit this holiday season, Dietrich made sure to pack his Santa Claus beard and wig for his time in the hospital, just in case kids from the children's ward stop by.

This year, Dietrich's finances will take a hit as a result of his injury. His son, Scott Dietrich, has set up a GoFundMe campaign to relieve some of that financial burden.

Read more.

Thank you to our December 2017 friends!

Thank you to John Smithman, John Harrison, Richard Lyn, Joan Caesar, The Outerbridges, and Ian Crawford 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 December 2017 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,
• Jeff Pinsky, owner of The Browser's Den of Magic, and
• Michael Close, author of the Workers series and other ebooks.

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.

Toronto: Free magic club

From the Browser's Den of Magic Facebook group:

Hi Denizens,

Friendly reminder that this Saturday December 2nd at Browser's Den is our next free Magic Club. All are welcome.

Club meets from 2:30pm to 5:30pm.
 

Take it easy-Old Jeff, Young Jeff & The Browser's Den Team

Top 5 posts in November 2017

Of the 34 posts at Canada's Magic this month, here are the 5 most viewed posts in the past 30 days:

5. Congratulations to Luc Langevin! - I hope you and your family are getting some sleep!

4. Rounding the Central rings in November - Did you catch the Richard Sanders lecture?  It was awesome!

3. Shriners' Holiday Magic Shows - This post is three years old and apparently ranks high on search results.

2. The 2017 "Readers' Choice Inspirational Canadian Magician of the Year" award - You have one more day to make a nomination.

and the most viewed post this month  ...

1. 2017 "Holiday Magic" - The Holiday Magic post is very popular every November.  Keep up the great work Dick Joiner and company!

Dai Vernon: The Spirit of Magic

From Magicana:

While the film was very well received, it was only available briefly for purchase as a VHS cassette, which was subsequently pirated. The film pops up regularly online, always low-quality copies of copies shared without any credit to those who made the project possible.

Now is our chance to fix that. We have provided Historica Canada with a clean copy, transferred from the broadcast master. It is now available to view on-line for free as part of their Canadian Biography series. A copy can also be viewed through the Screening Room.

Read more.

From Magicana's Facebook post:

Matt Johnson in the Surrey Now-Leader

From the article "Chilliwack magician’s signature water-tank escape can’t be performed at Surrey theatre" by Tom Zillich in the Surrey Now-Leader:

Matt Johnson’s magic show in Surrey won’t be quite the same as performed elsewhere.

The Chilliwack-based entertainer will not be attempting an escape from a large water tank here this Friday night (Dec. 1), after being told the contraption can’t be used at Surrey City Hall’s Centre Stage theatre, which doubles as council chambers.

The tank-escape trick was performed by Johnson on the CW Network show Penn & Teller: Fool Us last spring.

Read more.

Montreal: Jason Ladanye lecture

From the Montreal Magic Jam:

Monday December 4

Jason Ladanye Jason spent nearly twenty years studying with master magician and gambling expert Darwin Ortiz. His approach to magic is similar to Darwin’s, strong and practical magic that is built for laymen. Each card trick plays like a miracle that they’ll remember for the rest of their lives! In 2013, Ladanye wrote a best-selling book, Confident Deceptions. In this lecture, Jason Ladanye will be performing all new, never before seen material from his upcoming book, Game Changer. Here’s a chance to see some of the material BEFORE the rest of the world.

Read more and buy tickets.

Look Ma! We're in GeniiOnline!

Welcome GeniiOnline readers!  Have a look around and we hope you enjoy your stay. 

Thank you Anna for the birthday wishes!  We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.


From the Genii Online Twitter feed:

Happy 7th Anniversary @canadasmagic! https://t.co/vqfTvbumBk

— Genii Online (@GeniiOnline) November 28, 2017

CBC Kids casting call for kids for magic show series

Deadline for Self-Tapes: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28th , 2017 by 5:00PM EST

Oh to be 12 again ...

From eBoss Canada:

CASTING CALL FOR
“UNTITLED KIDS MAGIC SHOW SERIES”
Based on The Illusions of: Jesse Feinberg and Stu Stone!

SYNOPSIS: The first ever digital series to explore the mystical and fascinating world of magic with kid magicians! Our team of 3 master magicians are guaranteed to blow-your-mind. Watch as they travel the city of Toronto, gaining access to various VIP locations like; The Nike Factory, Apple Canada, backstage at amusement parks and concert halls as well as preforming their trickery for celebrities!Behind the scenes, “Untitled Kids Magic Series” are brought to you by some of the masterminds behind largest thrills in the history of television magic, who have worked with the biggest names in the industry such as: Criss Angel, David Blaine, Dynamo and David Copperfield.

***TALENT MUST BE NON UNION
***TALENT MUST BE A CANADIAN CITIZEN
***TALENT MUST BE A TORONTO LOCAL AND LIVE IN THE GTA
NOTE: If you live OOT you can still submit, but you must be able to work as a TORONTO LOCAL, and MUST BE A CANADIAN CITIZEN

SEEKING:

BOYS AND GIRLS: 8-12 years old who are interested in magic!
IDENTICAL TWINS:8-12 years old who are interested in magic!

Read more.

Rounding the Western rings in December 2017

Confirm details about dates and locations by visiting each club's website.

City	Club	Event(s)
Calgary, AB	Ring 66 (Calgary Magic Circle, Les Brocklesby Ring)	- TBA
Edmonton, AB	Edmonton Magic Club	- TBA
Winnipeg, MB	The Magic Club of Winnipeg	- SYM - Christmas Party
Fraser Valley, BC	IBM Ring 387 (Fraser Valley Magic Circle, Celeste Evans Ring)	- Third Monday Magic.
Vancouver, BC	Ring 92 (Vancouver Magic Circle)	- TBA
Vancouver, BC	SAM 95  (Carl Hemeon Assembly)	- TBA
Victoria, BC	Ring 183 (Victoria Magic Circle)	- TBA

Please leave a comment or e-mail me about corrections or omissions.

Rounding the Central rings in December 2017

Confirm details about dates and locations by visiting each club's website.

Montreal, QC	Ring 62 (20th Century Ring)	- Free form first Fridaze - Executive meeting - Second Saturday night special - Instagram Tuesday - Sunday brunch
Hamilton, ON	Ring 49 (The Doug Henning Magic Wand Club)	- Christmas dinner.
London, ON	Ring 265 (London Magician's Guild)	- TBA.
Kitchener, ON	Ring 235 (The Caesar Hat & Wand Magic Circle)	- TBA
Ottawa, ON	Ring 151 (Ottawa Society of Magicians)	- TBA.
Ottawa, ON	Ottawa / Gatineau magicians	- TBA
Toronto, ON	Ring 17 (Sid Lorraine Hat and Rabbit Club)	- Browser's Den visit.

Please leave a comment or e-mail me about corrections or omissions.

Rounding the Eastern rings in December 2017

Does anybody have current information to share about the Magic Circle of St. John?

Confirm details about dates and locations by visiting each club's website.

Halifax, NS	Ring 316 (Conjourer's Court)	- Visit their Facebook page.
St. John, NB	Magic Circle of St. John	- TBA

Please leave a comment or e-mail me about corrections or omissions.

Darcy Oake in the Toronto Sun

From the article "Keeping the magic during holiday season" by Joanne Richard in the Toronto Sun:

Darcy, along with his parents, veteran Hockey Night in Canada sportscaster Scott and his wife, Anne, committed themselves to helping others struggling with the same demons that claimed Bruce – raising $1.6 million to open the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre in Winnipeg. The non-profit facility will provide treatment, resources and skills necessary for residents to successfully re-enter society.

Today, the electrifying illusionist (who is actually preparing a mind-blowing act for The Illusionists show running through the holiday season Dec. 12 to Jan. 7 at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto) says he found wonder and purpose not only in his career in magic, but in working with his parents to keep his brother’s memory alive through helping others.

Read more.

Luc Langevin in "le fil"

From the article "These teachers who change lives" by Matthieu Dessureault in le fil, the newspaper of Laval university, translated by Google:

On stage as on television, Luc Langevin knows how to amaze his audience with breathtaking magic numbers. Before being the talented illusionist we know, he completed a Bachelor's degree in Engineering Physics and a Master's degree in Optics, as well as a PhD in Biophotonics. If he left school to devote himself to his job, this passage to the University will not be vain, far from it.

Already at the time, he knew he was going towards magic. Thanks to Professor Michel Piché, he learned to master a technology that would prove very useful to invent his tricks: that of lasers. "I was very surprised that Mr. Piché agrees to frame me in my graduate studies. When I asked him, he already had about twenty students under his responsibility. I gave him my CV, where it was indicated that I wanted to become a magician. It seems that it piqued his curiosity! "Recalls laughing Luc Langevin.

A scientist who wants to become a magician, the professor admits that it is not commonplace. Nevertheless, he did not hesitate a second to take him under his wing. "I was looking for a good student for my work and Luc Langevin was clearly one. Magic requires technical skill and a good understanding of optics since the illusion comes from manipulating brain mechanisms with images. He was a good candidate to help me develop new approaches in my field of research, "says the one who has been teaching at the University since 1984.

Read more.

Happy seventh blogiversary to me!

Seven years ago today, this blog was born!

Thanks to you wonderful people who have supported this project!

For free, we've published over 3,225 posts, and served well over 113,018 page loads (over 613,955 by Blogger's count).  Two hundred and twenty-one of you have given us your thumbs-up on Facebook, more than 1186 of you are following along on Twitter (20,225 tweets and counting!), and approximately 60 of you have subscribed to this site's RSS feed.  The bulk of you are Canadian, and I'm delighted to see visitors from United States, the United Kingdom, India, France, and the list goes on.

There are so many of you doing such a fabulous job of making magic a priority in this great country!

A special thanks to:

• All of my early supporters.  Special shout outs to Ariel, Doug, James, and John for your continued encouragement.
• All of you readers, Likers, RTers, submitters, guest posters, contest prize providers and all other manner of promoters of this site.
• All of my sponsors, past and present.  That means you: Magic Information Canada, Ryan Pilling, Clive Court, Perfect Magic, The Browser's Den of Magic, The Amazing Corbin, and Michael Close!
• All of the blog's official friends, past and present.  That's you:  John Smithman, John Harrison, Richard Lyn, Joan Caesar, Ted & Marion Outerbridge, and Ian Crawford.
• My family for their support of this bloggy experiment.

My continued thanks to all of you!

Five minutes with Shawn Farquhar (at Magi-Fest)

Not to be confused with my series of "Thirty seconds with ..." interviews.


From Magi-Fest:

Magi-Fest: You have performed at virtually every major convention around the world. We’re HONORED to have you at Magi-Fest. You have also organized dozens of conventions yourself. What, in your mind, is the secret ingredient to a great convention?

Shawn: I love magic conventions! I think it is the one place, other than the stage, where I truly feel at home.  No two conventions are ever the same, and what sets them apart is the vision of the organizers.  Some convention have become stale as they stick to “working formulas” while others try new things that sometimes fail.  I’d rathe be at one that tries new things and fails as they are far more exciting and fresh. The one thing all great conventions have in common is talent that is approachable.  I don’t go to a convention to see the act do their signature routine, since I can watch that on YouTube or their DVD. I go to the convention to experience them as performers.  On and off stage.  The chance to rub shoulders, ask questions and hang out is what makes a convention special for me.  I have seldom left a convention without feeling inspired and motivated.

Read more.

The OUTERBRIDGE - Touring Secrets lecture tour of Europe 2018

From the Outerbridge Magic Facebook page:

The OUTERBRIDGE - Touring Secrets lecture tour of Europe kicks off in Bonn, Germany on January 15th. The tour continues through Europe and concludes in Copenhagen, Denmark on Feburuary 2nd. More information on the way soon. 

 January 15 - Bonn, Germany
 January 19 - Hamburg, Germany
 January 21 - Chemnitz, Germany
 January 22 - Antwerp, Belgium
 January 25 - Zurich, Switzerland
 January 26 – Munich, Germany
 February 1 - Horsens, Denmark
 February 2 – Copenhagen, Denmark

"Pick a Card, Any Card - The Art and History of Magic in Winnipeg"

If you missed seeing "Pick a Card, Any Card - The Art and History of Magic in Winnipeg" when it aired in 2012, you can view it now on the Sugar Cube Entertainment YouTube channel.

From the MediaCircus.TV Facebook page:

Here is the long synopisis for "Pick a Card, Any Card", coming soon to MTS Winnipeg on Demand.

- The City of Winnipeg has a rich history in the art of Magic. From the founding of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (I.B.M.) in 1922, , to modern day successes like Dean Gunnarson and Sean Fields; Winnipeg and the world of magic have grown together to form a charming relationship.

Over a light dinner and wine, Winnipeg magicians Anders, Greg Wood, Gord Gilbey, Ray Starr, Chris Funk and Sean Fields tell stories of Winnipeg magic; how Harry Houdini played a part in the founding of the I.B.M., how Philips Magical Paradise was founded out of tragedy, which Winnipegger worked on Criss Angels "Mindfreak", and other fascinating tales.

Read more.

From the Sugar Cube Entertainment YouTube channel:
 

Fraser Valley: Carisa Hendrix lecture

From the Fraser Valley Magic Circle Facebook page:

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