Keith Brown & Jason Palter on Magic Tonight

From last Sunday's Magic Tonight at the Izakaya Showroom where we had special guests Keith Brown and Jason Palter. We have new special guests every week! Tickets are available online - actually $5 cheaper than at the door.

There's also a best of the best gallery from all of our shows at www.abracadabaret.com/gallery/magic-tonight

Sweaty Thursday Afternoon

Last Thursday, it was hot... really hot... and I was ridiculously overdressed. But indoors it was much cooler at the Houses of Providence where I was performing for Magicana's Senior Sorcery program. They shares some photos on their Facebook page: 

After the performance, I was treated to a recitation of some of the most amusing dirty limericks I've ever heard (proof that age brings wit and wisdom.

You can support Magicana and their community outreach programs for children and seniors here. 

Shared Uncertainty (Part 2)

I'm slowly getting a chance to dig through the video from The Uncertainty Project back in June. Here is the next part

For those who are curious, this is a blend of material from The Vernon Chronicles Volume 1 (Stephen Minch, L&L Publishing, 1987), Vortex (Tom Stone, Hermetic Press, 2010) and Tricks (David Ben, Squash Publishing, 2003).

I hope more will follow soon but we have a lot of video (every night, with multiple cameras for some nights) and the files are huge and a pain to work with.

James Alan Uncertainty Project Poster

Summer @ The Cage

Last night, we ended the summer season of Magic@theCage with a fantastic sold out show. Of course, we're not going anywhere. We'll be back every Sunday this fall with a new and exciting show every week. Coming up in September, we have Jason Palter, Chris Mayhew, Paul Pacific and new performers Garnett Schmidt and Gary Benesco. I'll also be doing my (older) one-man show, Lies, Damn Lies & Magic Tricks on Sept 14. Tickets are available on the site.

I went back through the summer shows and picked out some of my favourite photos, including some of the goofier ones I wouldn't want to use for promotional purposes. There are way more to be found if you visit us on Facebook.

Magic at the Cage Poster

Shared Uncertainty

Part of the problem of a show called The Uncertainty Project is the necessity of remaining tightlipped about its contents. It was extremely important for the show to force people int a position to "expect the unexpected"* with all the discomfort and excitement that comes with that state of mind. At the end of the day magic revolves around reversal of expectations. We expect our watches to stay on our wrists, shuffled cards to stay out of order and empty hats to remain rabbitless. It's a fine line, trying to walk outside the boundaries of a traditional magic show but without degenerating into total randomness and Family-Guy-Manatee humour. On the other hand, I routinely blindfold myself with duct tape on stage and do magic with thimbles, so a show on the eve of World Pride demanded a certain amount of extra unexpectedness.

Enjoy Part One of The Uncertainty Project!

The Uncertainty Project was presented June 18-21, 2014 at the Wychwood Theatre in Toronto with additional unexpectedness by Lavender Blonde.

Not sure yet when Part Two will become available or how much of the show I'll be willing to post publicly. I guess the future really is uncertain.

*It's not actually the contradiction in terms that people normally assert that it is.

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.

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