If you're in Toronto and into that sort of thing, I'll be performing at Nerd Night Toronto for their event Nerding Out at the Glenn Gould Studio downtown. Tickets are available online at nerdingout.eventbrite.ca. You'll notice the evening is divided into two segments; a free portion and a paid portion. I'll be performing in between. Come join us and Nerd Out!
This week on Magic Tonight
We have just one show at Magic Tonight this week on Sunday at the Crimson Lounge in Toronto (stay tuned to find out what I'm up to this Thursday). My guest his the hilarious and bewildering Rob Testa. So for a fun night of comedy & magic, join us at the Crimson Lounge (inside The Cage 292, 2nd floor) for Magic Tonight. Readers of this blog can use the code reality for a discount on the price of tickets and dinner when booking online.
October 4 Rob Testa
The Irritatingly Photogenic Keith Brown
Last week on Magic Tonight was a week of Keith Brown. Back from a tour of Fringe festivals which took him across most of Canada and parts of the US. We had two sold out shows, one at the Franklin House in Streetsville and another at the Crimson Lounge in Toronto. If you missed the shows, you can take a peek at what you missed. We have tickets available for our upcoming shows through the end of November. Readers of this blog can use the code reality for a discount on the price of tickets and dinner when purchasing online.
Knowing things in your heart
It's a shocking thing when you start to ponder a question silently to yourself, wondering if anyone knows the answer, and a few days later, someone in your RSS feed points you to a four-part video series answering it. I was thinking about scripture and how most people today agree that scripture is a mixed bag. Some of it is true in the literal sense and other parts are vaguely metaphorically poetically true, in the sense that the play Romeo and Juliet can teach us "truths" about the human condition and maybe even inform our decision making about how to lead more prosperous lives even though the events in the play are themselves fictional.
Side note: the problem with this point of view is that once you admit that, you acknowledge the necessity of turning to an outside source for determining which parts are which (usually the scientific method) then you can dispense with the scripture entirely and still be just as well off when it comes to knowing how the world actually works.
I was especially curious about the phrase "God hardened Pharaoh's heart" (Exodus 9:12) which had popped up a few times in different places. The problem seems to be that it implies that our hearts make choices, and not our brains as modern science teaches us. And I was extremely curious to know if the authors of these books actually believed what they were writing as literally true or if they were using the word heart as a vague substitute for soul or personality in general, since that tradition continues linguistically to this day.
Enter TruthSurge to answer for me. I was hoping the answer would be vague and open to interpretation, but it seems crystal clear. These authors had no clue whatsoever that the brain was the part of the body that did the thinky bits. Go ahead and take a look:
h/t Friendly Atheist.
This week on Magic Tonight
This week, we're oozing mystery and charm out of every pore with two shows featuring the irritatingly photogenic Keith Brown. He's back from a tour of his show Exchange which took him across Canada and parts of the US and generated rave reviews. He'll be performing Thursday at the Franklin House in Streetsville, and Sunday night at the Crimson Lounge in Toronto. Update: This weeks shows are currently sold out. Tickets for upcoming shows are now available. See our upcoming special guests and book online.
September 24 - Keith Brown - Sold Out
September 27 - Keith Brown sold out
Last week on Magic Tonight
Last week on Magic Tonight, we had two new guest performers, never before seen on the show. Ryan Brown is a sleight of hand manipulator, which requires countless hours of practice locked inside a room, which explains his lack of a tan. He's the winner of the "Toronto's Best Magician Contest" and also "Mississauga's Got Talent". How someone can win both is a mystery that legal scholars will continue to debate for centuries.
Zack Mirza is the star of Illusions of Grandeur* which is currently airing on CityTV. The audience had the chance to see what he could do up close and personal.
Thank you to everyone who attended our sold out shows this weekend. This week's shows are already sold out (again, thank you). We've opened up a block of new shows and tickets are now available for dates through the end of November. Readers of this blog can use the code reality for a discount when booking online.
If you didn't get a chance to see the show, take a tiny peek at what you missed:
*Which has nothing to do with our show Illusions of Grandeur from 2013. Our title made more sense but Zack and I have kissed** and made up.
**Metaphorically speaking. I don't think he's into that sort of thing. Not that there's anything wrong with that.