Last week on Magic Tonight

Thank you to the wonderful people who came out to celebrate the oddly-named long-weekend with us on Magic Tonight. It was a packed house and we're grateful to everyone who braved the rain (which we desperately needed) to see the show. Our special guests was the irritatingly photogenic Keith Brown. Visiting all the way from London (Ontario), he presented highlights from his one-person show Exchange which has has spent the last few months Fringe-Festival-hopping with. Take a look and see what we got up to.

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

Last time on Magic Tonight

I feel like an announcer on the old Batman series... Last time on... except that Robin isn't tied up somewhere about to be fed to a pit of alligators? Oh well. It was hot outside and cool inside at the Crimson Lounge Sunday night. The wonderful Jason Palter was there and the audience was on fire. Actually, I think the audience was on something; extremely energetic and interactive. It's very rare to have an audience that's appreciative to the point of being irritating.

Also making a surprise cameo in a couple of the photos is Scott McClelland, the director of Carnival Diablo and The Paranormal Show, who happened to be in town. Here Scott can be seen in a rare non-creepy attire.

Magic Tonight continues every Sunday night through the summer at the Crimson Lounge in Downtown Toronto. Readers of this blog can use the code reality for a discount on the price of tickets and dinner when purchasing online.

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.