Mosquitoes Suck

This is a shameless piece of promotion for some colleagues who deserve it. In particular, this is directed to anyone who works in the field of education, especially Ontario high schools. My friends, Matt Disero and David Peck, who between them are a magicians, comedians, philosophers and teachers (I'll leave you to sort out who's what) and have created a fantastic school program: The Mosquitoes Suck Tour. The program blends magic and comedy with an important message about the importance of social justice and the means to eradicate malaria.

If that weren't cool enough, they shows also contain contributions from Rick Mercer, Fefe Dobson and the boy band Neverest. There are also spinoff programs including curriculum materials about social justice and malaria for social/science teachers. There is also a fundraising program they run for both schools and mosquito nets involving fair trade coffee which is quite good.

The program originated a few years ago in the Halton/Peel region and built itself up slowly. Most of their performances have been in that region, but they are starting to expand their territory outwards into the rest of Ontario.

I know that because of labour disputes, this has been a particularly strange year for education in Ontario. But if you're in the field and could benefit from some exception programming, I can't recommend this program highly enough.

Magic Workshops for Children

I recently completed work designing a series of magic workshops for children. The workshops are being offered by a company, UGOT Canada. UGOT began as a company offering after four and extracurricular dance programs over five years ago and has since expanded to include a number of other programs in the realm of art, fitness and education including magic. At the moment, we have two programs ready for delivery, designed for children ages 7-12. We created a sixty-minute one-time workshop which explains and teaches three simple magic tricks and includes some extra tricks performed but not explained. The learning is hands on with a set of materials for every participant. (There are extra fees if you want the kids to be able to take the material home at the end of the workshop.) These workshops are intended for schools, aftercare programs and community groups and are acceptable for groups of up to 35 children with proper staff supervision.

We also crafted an extended workshop which consists of five to eight sixty-minute workshops. These are usually spaced a week apart. The course includes 8-15 tricks with each participant getting a complete set of the material to keep. These extended workshops are recommended for groups of up to fifteen participants.

Currently, the workshops are offered in the GTA. I'm teaching about fifty percent of the workshops personally, but we've begun the process of training additional instructors to offer the workshops outside the GTA as well.

Interested groups should contact UGOT Canada directly.

Cups & Balls on TV

This is an excerpt from my appearance on Toronto's Talent (Rogers TV) in 2011 hosted by Quinn Martin.

Lies at the Winchester

Later this month, my show will be at The Winchester Kitchen & Bar in Cabbagetown in Toronto.

January 18, 19, 20 at 8:00 PM. More information at www.abracadabaret.com 

Ninety-Nine Fabrications

I'm pleased to announce a special publication written in conjunction with Dr. Sammy Jakubowicz and the P. Howard Lyons Ring of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. The P. Howard Lyons Ring meets at a regular location on an irregular basis in Toronto. The membership comprises a motley crew of magicians, mentalists, comedians, psychics, university students, philosophers and general dilettantes. Topics of discussion include advancing the art of magic and techniques for the vanishment and disappearance of liquids.

Reports of the activities of the Ring are chronicled in The Linking Ring, the official organ of the IBM. These reports are based on facts only in the loosest way possible.

I became involved with Ring 99 as its secretary in 2008 and was elected to the Presidency in 2010. In the spirit of the late P. Howard Lyons, we have assembled some of our Ring Reports in a special eBook now available for purchase on Kobo, Kindle and iTunes for the appropriate sum of ninety nine cents.

Goldfinger - a new eBook

For those interested in sleight of hand with coins, one of my favourite tricks with coins was recently published in an eBook edited by John McLachlan. When I say favourite, I mean favourite! This is probably the the piece I currently perform more often than any other when I'm doing close up magic.   Goldfinger: Stand Up Coin Mysteries features contributions from magicians from the Toronto area including Luiz Castro, Ariel Frailich, John McLachlan, Mysterion the Mindreader, David Peck and Phil Pivnick. The focus of the book is coin magic that can be done without the work of a table. If you're taking time off before the new year and want something to read and some material to practice, check it out.

118 Pages, PDF, $25 - available from Lybrary.com.