Resources

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A Lecture on Magic

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Next Wednesday, I've been invited to give a lecture for the KW Hat & Wand Club in Kitchener, Ontario. (Having been the president of the Sid Lorraine Hat & Rabbit Club for three years, I can confirm that it is legally required that these clubs have goofy names held over from ages past.)

Years ago, Kitchener was home to a biannual magic convention where I had some of my earliest opportunities to meet world renowned magicians, so I have lots of fond memories. I'm also in the neighbourhood performing at private engagements fairly often.

I don't do this type of presentation often, since I have been performing magic professionally for a short amount of time compared to some. At some of these magic gatherings, I can single-handedly drop the average age in the room by five to ten years. 

I'll be sharing some of the material from my show and the thinking behind it. For those interested in seeing how the magic sausage is made, guests welcome.

The lecture is at 7PM on Wednesday, February 15 at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church (54 Queen Street North, Kitchener - map)

Hocus Pocus - Opens Tonight

David Ben, one of the country's foremost magicians has a new show which officially opens tonight at Soulpepper. Hocus Pocus formally hits the stage after a weekend of previews at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, tucked away in Toronto's Distillery Historic District. 

I got to see one of the previews over the weekend and it's an exciting blend of classical conjuring, spoken word, cinema and good old fashioned mystery. The show is family friendly (with a smidgen of mature content.) If you have the opportunity to get down there, I'd highly encourage anyone with an interest in magic to see the show and enjoy a bit of extra enchantment and wonder this holiday season. 

Dai Vernon's "Symphony of the Rings" - Photo by David Linsell

Dai Vernon's "Symphony of the Rings" - Photo by David Linsell

Thanks to a little birdie at Magicana, you can use the discount code magic10 for 10% off tickets to shows before December 21. 

 
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Introducing Discourse in Magic

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Earlier this month, I sat down with Tyler Williams and Jonah Babins, the hosts of the Discourse in Magic podcast. The podcast is primarily a resource for younger magicians who are looking to improve the quality of their performances in a thoughtful way. So, with a bit of a beginner's mindset, we discussed some of the finer points of putting together a longer-form magic show. Listen here...

The theme of the discussion was the long list of little things that goes into making for a better show — thinking in terms of marginal improvements instead of trying to hold out for "revolutionary" ideas. The idea is that invisible insignificant changes add up to something extremely significant.

One of the most effective techniques I've employed for creating a more complete and inclusive magic experience is the notion of subtly pushing up the start of the show so that you have a head start making a positive impact in your audience is something that I've enjoyed for years. At all of the Magic Tonight & Magic & Martini shows, we work on setting the stage well before the curtain goes up. One of my favourite steps in this process is taking the usual boring pre-show announcement about turning off your cell phones and exploring different ways to make that more fun and exciting and providing more evidence that what follows is more unusual than what you were expecting.

One small part of this is by providing your own introduction. Most people don't know how to give an introduction (because it's something they rarely have to do in their every day lives). The closest they get is saying, of a person standing beside them, "This is Steve." And introductions are hard. How would you compress the decades of your life into something under 100 words? Now add the challenge of making not sound like someone was monotonously reading out an Encyclopedia Britannica article about you. Now also make sure it doesn't sound like a aggrandizing commercial written by your press agent and/or mother. 

So I wrote an introduction for the hosts, which was supposed to be a quick invisible subtle addition to the program, and in a meta-ironic twist, it became all they could talk about. So while there is a rather severe face palm moment at the beginning, we do get around to talking about some very interesting things in what I will always remember as the interview about introductions. 

Hangover Remedies

Performing Magic & Martini has caused as light shift in the questions I get from members of the audience. The classic (and groanworthy) "Can you make my wife disappear?" has been replaced with "Could you make my hangover disappear." 

In fact, I'm less qualified to address the latter question than the former. (After all, making people disappear for a while is easy, depending on what their favourite vacation destinations are and what the limit on your credit card is.) By most people's standards, I barely drink and have only managed to successfully get drunk once in my mid twenties, and only with the assistance of a relatively well-known Canadian magician several years my senior. 

But, today is the anniversary of the repeal of prohibition (in the US) and the eccentric periodical Lapham's Quarterly has offered this collection of eccentric hangover remedies. 

If you're looking for an excuse to need one of these remedies, tickets are on sale for our first round of Magic & Martini shows in 2017, now at various venues in four cities: Click for tickets to shows in Toronto, Oakville, Erin-Hillsburgh and Cobourg. Readers of this blog can use the code stirred for a discount on the price of tickets purchased online. 

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Black Friday - Special Offers

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For Black Friday, you can get a special discount on tickets for Magic & Martini. We have tickets available through the end of May at our three locations:

SpiritHouse (Toronto)

O'Finn's Irish Temper (Oakville)

The Friendly Chef Adventures (Hillsburgh/Erin)

Use the code BLACKFRIDAY today to get 60% OFF of tickets for any of the available dates. Join us for an intimate evening of magic and finely crafted cocktails. Come early for dinner and drinks and stay for the show!

Toronto

Oakville

Hillsburgh

Magic & Martini is produced in association with Grand Spirits. Promotional artwork by Kurt Firla. 

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