The website for Abracadabaret just got a major facelift. It's now much easier to navigate, particularly if you're visiting on your phone. Go take a look at www.Abracadabaret.com!
Coming up on Magic Tonight
This Sunday, I'm off at the Soulo Theatre Festival, so filling in for me on stage at Magic Tonight is a dynamic duo the likes of which the world has never seen! Combining forces, we have the incredibly funny Chris Mayhew (who recently appeared as part of his own two-person show, Sketchy Magic, and as a guest at the world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood) and the ridiculously tall virtuoso sleight of hand performer Brian Roberts. They've assured me that while the boss is away, they'll be out to play. So anything could happen. Grab your tickets now for this exciting (and potentially catastrophic) experience.
Magic Tonight is performed weekly at the Crimson Lounge in Toronto and the Franklin House in Mississauga. Readers of this blog can use the code reality for a discount on the price of tickets and dinner when reserving online.
May 24 Brian Roberts Chris Mayhew
A Surprising Twist on a Science Demonstration
I stumbled across this while watching the Walter Lewin MIT Physics lectures. Fortunately, it also appears as a stand alone video (isn't YouTube wonderful?) so you don't have to watch an hour on kinetic friction coefficients. But you could if you wanted to. In magic there is a dramatic device known as the "kicker ending", which involves adding on an additional incongruous climax following the apparent ending to a trick. For example, you remove a pack of cards from its box, perform a brief trick and when you try to return the cards to the box, you discover that it is now filled with a block of ice. Essentially, you turn your magic show into an episode of Family Guy.
Magicians will sit up in bars and coffee shops for ridiculous amounts of time debating the merits of this type of dramatic structure. But I never thought I would see it used in a physics demonstration. Just trust me when I say, you will not see this ending coming:
Last week on Magic Tonight
I had a wonderful time performing last week on Magic Tonight. Typically I have friends and guests on the show but this week I was flying solo. I got to do some material from my old one-man show, Lies, Damn Lies & Magic Tricks and develop some new material (there's a Playboy Magazine in there for some reason!) If you haven't seen the show, take a look at what goes on.
Magic Tonight is performed weekly in Mississauga and Toronto. Readers of this blog can use the code reality for a discount on the price of tickets and dinner when purchasing online.
The New MagicTonight.ca
We've got a brand new website for our show, Magic Tonight! Before it was a sub-domain of Abracadabaret.com and now it's off on it's own (*sniffle*) Readers of this blog can still use the code reality for a discount on the price of tickets and dinner when purchasing online!
Norman Beck in Toronto
Coming up at the end of next month, Sunday, June 28, I'll be co-hosting a special event here in Toronto - a lecture with one of magic's best kept secrets: Discover one of the best kept secrets in all of magic, Norman Beck:
"Norman Beck fools me every time I see him. He was kind enough to let me put one of his effects on my last TV Special. He is very clever." -David Blaine
“Stormin' Norman Beck is of my favorite people and magicians. He’ll make you laugh with his zany humor and that good-old-boy twang, and he’ll fool you with his diabolical thinking, methods, and routining." -Steve Forte
"There are only a few people in the world that I would consult with, share ideas, get advice, and their critique about magic, such a man is Norman Beck." -Asi Wind
Norman is brilliant. He has created some of the seminal tricks in Magic and you should listen to what he has to say and use his ideas. Some of the biggest names in Magic already do!" -Peter Samelson
Lecture Tickets are $25 at the door (just $20 in advance online) Workshop tickets are $60 - very limited seating Buy Tickets Now
We will be at the Crimson Lounge at College & Spadina (the same space we host Magic Tonight in Toronto.)
The Lecture (2:00 PM)
Considered a working man's lecture, you will learn close-up effects to be used in the real world for real people. Not a dealer's show nor a lecture on hard moves and/or effects, everything Norman Beck teaches is simple (but not always easy), direct and entertaining.
After seeing Norm Becks' magic lecture at The Magic Castle recently, world-renowned mentalist Max Maven said it was one of the best lectures he has seen: funny, clever, skillful, and very well presented.
The Workshop (6:30 PM)
(3-hours, extremely limited seating)
An in-depth look at one of Norman's favourite tools for fooling magicians (and everyone else). This is a prop nearly all magicians own and very few use. Norman has re-engineered it from the ground up with mind blowing results.
Normal will also discuss his creative process. Learn how to create magic for yourself which is simple to perform and "fools the pants off of people."