Last week on Magic Tonight

What a creepy evening on Magic Tonight! Nick Wallace is, as I have maintained for years, the devil. In addition to an extremely creepy doll which seemed to form strange invisible connections with nearby individuals, he was turning people into human puppets and swallowing sharp objects. Odd how when you say it like that it doesn't sound anywhere near as fun as it is in person. Go figure. Take a look at some of what we got up to. Magic Tonight continues through the summer on Sunday nights 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.

The Ghosts are Returning

I'm delighted (and slightly frightened) to learn that Nicholas Wallace's Seance is coming to Toronto this fall. Over the past several years, Nick has earned a reputation for producing outstanding shows. He is as clever as he is charming. I first saw Seance nearly two years ago at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton and I left the theatre feeling thrilled and more than a bit disturbed. Nick Wallace may seem to be sweet and innocent but I suspect he is actually the devil, pure evil wrapped in Mister Rogers' sweater.

If you don't believe in ghosts and you're not afraid of the dark, Nick Wallace can help with that.

Seance is playing in Toronto for nearly two weeks at the Theatre Passe Murraille Mainspace in September and October. Tickets are now available from the theatre box office.

Theatre Passe-Murraille

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Last week on Magic Tonight

The Magic Tonight director of Secret Operations

I've recovered from Pride. Gotten all the glitter out from around my eyes. Our stage manager also reports that he purged his beard of glitter (thank you Elspeth McRobb)

Our special guest this week was the adorable Ben Train who, due to a slight wardrobe malfunction, performed his astonishing feets of mindreading without socks. It was a fun evening.

Magic Tonight continues through the summer at the Crimson Lounge in Toronto. Readers of this blog can get a discount on the price of tickets and dinner with the code reality when purchasing online.

Norman Beck lecture in Toronto

On a very wet and rainy in Toronto, filled street construction and Pride celebrations in nearly equal amounts, we hosted a lecture with Texas' Norman Beck. For those not familiar with his work, Norman is essentially cleverness personified. We arrived too early to set up for the lecture and went to lunch and he made sure that I was pre-fooled. He performs what is apparently very clear cut and straightforward magic, but what's going on behind the scenes is not at all what you'd expect. Subtlety and general sneakiness can sometimes go farther than fancy sleight of hand.

As a bonus he slipped in his secrets for getting better restaurant service and nabbing free room and seat upgrades. Useful wisdom indeed!

Special thanks to Magicana and Julie Eng for helping us to organize this event.

She's at it again - Lavender Blonde being generally NSFW

If you came to see my show last year, The Uncertainty Project, you'll remember being shocked by the opening with Lavender Blonde and her barely dressed backup dancers. To kick off the Pride festivities downtown I went to the Gaga4Gaga party at the Marquis of Granby on Church Street. Mostly because I knew Lavender would be performing. New material (which is totally NSFW):

Because of the audio in the background, they videos may not play on a platform that doesn't display ads (like phones).

I woke up Saturday morning with a bit of a sore throat which means that I probably sang along far more than I'd be willing to publicly admit.

Last week on Magic Tonight

What wonderful audiences we had at the show. Things were certainly feeling festive as the GTA got into the spirit for Pride. Sunday in particular was an extra-fabulous rendition of the show. Although it was raining through most of the day, it didn't make things any less festive. There is a bit of backstory. A few months ago, one of the servers at the Crimson Lounge where we host Magic Tonight in Toronto, fixed me with a steely glare and warned me that when Pride rolled around, i was not going to get away without some serious sparkles and glitter. Of course, you don't really have to ask me twice, but I figured I'd play hard to get just for the sport of it.

And the incredibly tall (and I suppose honorarily fabulous) Brian Roberts did a fantastic bit of classic magic-ing at the Franklin House in Mississauga.

If you haven't been out to see the show in a while. Take a look at what you missed. Magic Tonight continues every Sunday 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.