I sat down (digitally) with Janine Marley at A View From the Box for their “Stage Door Dialogues” series to discuss my new show Mysteries and Lies premiering at this summer’s Toronto Fringe Festival.
Could you please introduce yourself to my readers?
I spend most of the year as a professional magician. I also manage the My Magic Hands program at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. I have been practicing for over twenty years and I’ve lived in Toronto my whole life. I’ve done a number of shows in the city over the past several years: James Alan’s Magic Tonight (2013-2026), Magic & Martini (2016-2020), the virtual experience Bring Magic Home (2020-22). My last Fringe production was fourteen years ago, called Lies, Damn Lies & Magic Tricks.
Please tell us more about your upcoming show in the Toronto Fringe Festival!
MYSTERIES AND LIES is first and foremost a magic show. We are messing with reality, or at least your perception of it in really fun ways. And we felt it was important to be able to do that playfully in an environment saturated with “alternative facts”, deepfakes, AI slop and fake experts. I’m a classical sleight-of-hand artist, so we’re doing all of this the old fashioned way. There’s no special technology involved, just the minds of the audience.
Through the magic of the Fringe lottery we found ourselves in the Sweet Action Theatre, which is a wonderful intimate space on Queen West. There are forty-five seats per performance. And we decided to take advantage of that intimacy to get up close and personal with the audience. Inspired by magicians from Spain and Argentina, we have members of the audience on stage the entire show. They make the magic happen as much as I do. We’re giving up a lot of control and a lot of certainty. It also means each show will be different and anything can happen.
Describe the essence of your show in 3 words.
Magic Live Unrepeatable
What’s your favourite part of performing in a Fringe Festival?
Fringe audiences are special. They comes looking for something. They’re not there by accident — they’ve chosen to seek out something different, something they can’t find at a mainstream venue. That means when you build something live with them in the room, they’re genuinely present for it. Every show becomes its own unrepeatable thing, shaped by the specific people who showed up that day. That’s rare, and it’s the whole point.
What’s another show that you’re looking forward to seeing at the Toronto Fringe Festival?
I have to shout out Keith Brown in 110% Wizard. He’s incredibly talented and charming. We have been watching Keith perform since before he was old enough to grow that beard. And we have the photos to prove it!
The show opens June 30 at the Sweet Action Theatre (Arstcape Youngplace, 180 Shaw Street, Queen & Ossington). Tickets are now available!
