Face2Face - Podcast Interview

I sat down recently to have a chat with David Peck, the host of the Face2Face Podcast. As far as I can tell, David is a man who never sleeps. In addition to putting out a prodigious number of podcast interviews (mine is number 222) he also teaches in the International Development Program at Humber College, practices magic and has a family. David has been a guest on Magic Tonight a few times, so this was a chance to return the favour.

Actually, I've appeared on Face2Face before along with the magician, skeptic and humorist Michael Close. This time, we talk about mathematics, magic and mystery, risk and about how to leverage small secrets, and why it’s not about how smart you are, but it’s about what you know.

Listen to the interview at DavidPeckLive.com or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

Magic Tonight 2015

As 2015 comes to a close, I flipped back through our photo gallery from Magic Tonight. This year we did 85 shows (at least that's the number we have photos from. We may have skipped a couple.) This would not have been possible without the venues who graciously hosted us - The Crimson Lounge, The Bear and The Franklin House! I also need to thank the performers who appeared for us, in alphabetical order:

Bill Abbott, The Irritatingly Photogenic Keith Brown, Ryan Brown, Michael Close, Joe Culpepper, Matt DiSero, Michael Feldman, Ron Guttman, Ken Margoe, Chris Mayhew, David Merry, Zach Mirza, Bobby Motta, Mysterion, Glenn Ottaway, Paul Pacific, Jason Palter, Jenny Parsons, David Peck, Phil Pivnick, Steve Reynolds, Brian Roberts, Lukas Stark, Rob Testa, Ben Train, Jason Verners, Nicolas Wallace, Chris Westfall, Wes Zaharuk

But most importantly, our thanks to our audiences; the (literally) thousands of people who came out to see us perform. This would not have been possible without your interest and support.

So enjoy a little look back at 2015:

(or watch the slide show on YouTube)

Magic Tonight continues in 2016. Readers of this blog can use the code reality for a discount on the price of tickets and dinner when purchasing online.

The Rocky Horror The Morning After

Last night, a group of comics, magicians and variety entertainers came together to support and pay tribute to Glenn Ottaway. Performers who donated their time included Mike Carbone, Jeff & Tessa Evason, Richard Forget, Glen Foster, Mini Holmes, David Peck and Brian Roberts. The evening was hosted by Mike Bullard and organized by Sir Matt of DiSero. You can check out Glenda Forham's review of the event. This is how it all ended:

She also managed to snag a few goofy photos of me:

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If you would still like to chip in, you can make a donation at www.TheRockyHorror.com.

Happy Halloween

Magicians are not generally very scary people. We're primarily entertainers. But sometimes, in order to be dramatic, we need to court danger and sometimes just be a little weird. So for Halloween this year, I took a look through our archives and assembled this collection of the magicians on Magic Tonight getting dressed up or just generally being strange and creepy. Enjoy!

Magic Tonight runs weekly at the Crimson Lounge in downtown Toronto, Readers of this blog can use the code reality fir a discount on the price of tickets and dinner when purchasing online.

The Rocky Horror - a must see show this November

Coming up November 9 at the Revue Cinema in Toronto, there is a show that you do not want to miss: The Rocky Horror. The show has an incredible lineup of talent, on the subject of which I shall gush more momentarily. The show is a benefit for the legendary Canadian comic performer Glenn Ottaway. Glen has been featured guest of mine on Magic Tonight several times, where he is always hilarious and often slightly risqué. Back when I was still trying to figure out which shoe went on which foot, he was the host of A Little Night Magic for about a decade.

I first encountered Glenn at Morrissey Magicin Toronto where he was performing at their anniversary party. At one point in his presentation, there was a youngster who was sitting in the front who was being slightly disruptive. When Glenn threatened to silence the youth by pissing directly into his mouth, I knew at once that I had found a role model of the highest order.

This show has an incredible lineup. Matt DiSero, David Merry, David Peck & Brian Roberts have all appeared on Magic Tonight. Glenn Foster is an incredible Canadian comic and Jeff and Tessa Evason are simply brain-melting. The evening is hosted by Mike Bullard (of Open Mike with Mike Bullard fame) and I might possibly sneak in and do a little something.

So please head over to www.TheRockyHorror.com and grab yourself some tickets before they're all gone.

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Last week on Magic Tonight

We had a wonderfully fun time. As producers go, I'm a little bit young. As such, I don't really have what it takes to stand up to veterans of the business and so people who have been doing this for a long time essentially get to do whatever they want on my show because I don't really have the guts to tell them no. This is made slightly worse when the people happen to be taller than me (which is relatively hard to accomplish.) So when the gypsy philosopher David Peck and the rubber-chicken master Matt DiSero decided they wanted to try something zany and off the wall, I was nervous. I've never seen grown men get so excited over a Jay Sankey trick....

If you missed the show, take a look at what we were up to. If you want to come join us, the show continues through the summer at the Crimson Lounge in Toronto. Readers of this blog can use the code reality for a discount on the price of tickets and dinner when purchasing online.