Chris Mayhew documents SOULO

The lovely and talented Chris Mayhew just completed a short documentary about the SOULO Theatre Festival at the Red Sandcastle Theatre back in May. In addition to being an extremely amusing and risible addition to the cast of Magic@theCage, he does some extraordinary video work (back in April, we co-hosted the launch party of his feature length film A Series of Unfortunate Effects). You can watch the film below and perhaps take a moment to vote for SOULO in NOW Magazine'sBest of Toronto 2014.

Tracey Erin Smith

The SOULO Theatre Festival, under the direction of Tracey Erin Smith, is an eclectic collection of one person "solo" shows which are often autobiographical, occasionally hilarious and always inspiring. Every show ran for a single performance along with several special workshops and panels for performers who want to develop their own solo work.

The documentary was filmed at the Red Sandcastle Theatre in Leslieville, Toronto and features (in order of appearance) David Harrell, Sebastian Heins, Adrianna Prosser, Rachelle Elie, Tracey Erin Smith, James Alan (whoever that is), Martha Chaves, Caryn Ladovsky, Terrence Bryant, Christopher Sawchyn, France Raymond, Michael Wolk, Linda Griffiths, Zabrina Chevannes, Polly Esther, Joanne Latimer, Sean Towgood, Sage Tyrtle, Tantoo Cardinal, Debra Bennett, Marsha Shandur.

The SOULO Theatre Festival is also nominated for Best Small Theatre Company by NOW Magazine. You can head over to NOW, now and vote.

Or click to Watch on YouTube.

SOULO_2014_POSTER-web

Photos from The Uncertainty Project

At the Wychwood Theatre, June 18-21.

Beyond the Mundane

On Friday, May 31, I was on Beyond the Mundane hosted by Elsie Lynn Leyland and Randi St.Claire. It's a very long interview and we cover a wide range of topics from magic, belief and disbelief. But mostly we're talking about The Uncertainty Project. You can "watch" the interview here, even though this is supposed to be radio. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jYar-jv20M?rel=0]

Tickets for The Uncertainty Project are now available online at www.uncertaintyproject.com/tickets 

Happy Pride

Pride is coming up around the corner - and this year in Toronto it's World Pride. So what was a big deal is now somehow supposed to be bigger. So to gradually get into the spirit, I'm chaining the colour of parts of my act for the month of June:

Before

After

It's a tiny thing, but since I bought the entire roll of duct tape. I'll keep using it through the entire month of June... or longer if the spirit moves me. And in the interest of being simultaneously silly and outspoken, if you snap a picture of me with my fabulous new blindfold and post it on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #magicpride or tag me on my Facebook page. , I will give you a pair of tickets to one of our upcoming shows (yes including that one.)

Fascinating Legal Stuff:

It has to be your own photo, no reposting these ones. Yes, you can walk up to me on the street with your own roll of pink duct tape (we will also accept lavender and rainbow). I might even do the trick for you. 

Care About Us - Documentary

A few weeks ago, I performed at a fundraiser for Care About Us, full length documentary about homelessness around the world. I did magic alongside several musical acts, and a pair of martial artists. The production, conceived by Dan Balcaban, is supported entirely through crowd funding. It has already completed filming in twelve cities around the world and is currently raising money to complete its post production. You can take a look at highlights from the fundraising party below or contribute on their Indiegogo Page.

www.CareAboutUs.net

Photos by Duy Nguyen

Uncertainty Project: CP24

James Alan Uncertainty Project Poster

I was on CP24 Breakfast this morning discussing my upcoming show, The Uncertainty Project at the Wychwood Theatre. While the show is about uncertainty, I am necessarily tight lipped about the tricks which are in the show, but you can get an idea of what's coming here:

The performance portion was not entirely what I was hoping for. Unfortunately the crew was dealing with a serious breaking news story about a deadly fire in Brampton. So while I was still able to go on amid the coverage we were, to a large extent, improvising when it came to the performance. We still got to have some fun though.

Tickets for The Uncertainty Project are available at www.uncertaintyproject.com/tickets