magic is about honesty
everything here is true
except for the bits I made up
I was on Rogers Daytime Toronto in March talking about Magic@theCage. I performed what is probably my favourite trick these days.[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF10fXlgmGg?rel=0]
Magic@the Cage is still running every Tuesday & Sunday night at 7:00 PM. Information and tickets are available at www.abracadabaret.com
Back in 2009, I took over the management of Abracadabaret (then Friday Night Magic) from its founders, James Biss & Dave Curran (as I've written previously). Since then, I've had the pleasure of working with a host of talented performers and genuinely splendid people from Toronto and abroad. At the end of April, I will be stepping down as the director, producer, coordinator and general boss person at Abracadabaret to explore some other projects. After five years, I am feeling the need to try something different. As explanations go, I realize that's not very satisfying. Much like the client that sounded like they wanted to book you and then decides they've "decided to go a different direction" which is code for anything from "you're too expensive" to "we've decided to dissolve the company and donate the proceeds to Rob Ford's re-election campaign."
However, the show will go on. A well-respected magician, psychic, hypnotist, children's entertainer and author, Mark Lewis, has agreed to take over. There will still be Magic@theCage twice a week, under Mr. Lewis' astute direction.
While I'm sure there will be changes, they can only be for the better. Mark is an extremely knowledgeable magician who has been at it for over half a century and cares deeply for magic as an art form. We're delighted that he is able to bring his decades of experience to this and other upcoming projects.
I'm not going far. I will still be performing (booking information is over at www.JamesAlan.ca). But as far as our public events go, you can get in touch with Mark directly.
See Mark Lewis performing as part of Wendy's Canada's #ExpectToBeAmazed ad campaign in 2013:
Pay no attention to the fact that this was posted on April 1.
I just found out, via John Talbot, that the Wendy's Canada #expectToBeAmazed Facebook campaign won Bronze in the Shopper Innovation Awards:
More than 4,000 people entered the contest for the trip (1,000 people above target) during the six-week campaign, the brand’s Facebook page garnered 60,000 new “likes,” the videos received more than 320,000 views and 8.7 million impressions were tracked.
The Great Mark Lewis
It's been long enough, I can finally confess... I never actually got to taste the thing. We weren't allowed to eat the ones that were prepared to go on screen and I don't really eat that much fast food and I missed my chance.
Oh well... next magic-themed ad campaign....
I've got a new teaser video, now up on YouTube (or an inch and a half below this sentence if you're in a hurry). Posted with special thanks to Toronto's magic video elf, Chris Mayhew. There's an extended version immediately below. I've also updated the video page with a few new things, so feel free to check it out.
