Photos from Magic & Martini

We hosted another sold-out Magic & Martini at SpiritHouse in Downtown Toronto. Here are a few photos from what we got up to.

We are sold out for the next couple shows with select dates available in May. Readers of this blog can use the code SHAKEN for a discount on the price of tickets when you book online. 

Photos by Tyler Williams

On Practice

Before being a magician, I studied math at the University of Toronto and in those days, I also made most of my income as a martial arts instructor.

Suffering for art - Photo by Michael Kostiuk

Through math I learned how to break down tasks into smaller manageable parts; to problem solve. Through martial arts, I learned how to practice.

In a recent article, master jazz musician Wynton Marsalis offered up twelve tips on practice to be employed by musicians, but also athletes or just about anyone. The list is fairly straightforward but the full article helps put it into perspective:

1. Seek out instruction: A good teacher will help you understand the purpose of practicing and can teach you ways to make practicing easier and more productive.
2. Write out a schedule: A schedule helps you organize your time. Be sure to allow time to review the fundamentals because they are the foundation of all the complicated things that come later.
3. Set goals: Like a schedule, goals help you organize your time and chart your progress…. If a certain task turns out to be really difficult, relax your goals: practice doesnʼt have to be painful to achieve results.
4. Concentrate: You can do more in 10 minutes of focused practice than in an hour of sighing and moaning. This means no video games, no television, no radio, just sitting still and working…. Concentrated effort takes practice too, especially for young people.
5. Relax and practice slowly: Take your time; donʼt rush through things. Whenever you set out to learn something new – practicing scales, multiplication tables, verb tenses in Spanish – you need to start slowly and build up speed.
6. Practice hard things longer: Donʼt be afraid of confronting your inadequacies; spend more time practicing what you canʼt do…. Successful practice means coming face to face with your shortcomings. Donʼt be discouraged; youʼll get it eventually.
7. Practice with expression: Every day you walk around making yourself into “you,” so do everything with the proper attitude…. Express your “style” through how you do what you do.
8. Learn from your mistakes: None of us are perfect, but donʼt be too hard on yourself. If you drop a touchdown pass, or strike out to end the game, itʼs not the end of the world. Pick yourself up, analyze what went wrong and keep going….
9. Donʼt show off: Itʼs hard to resist showing off when you can do something well…. But my father told me, “Son, those who play for applause, thatʼs all they get.” When you get caught up in doing the tricky stuff, youʼre just cheating yourself and your audience.
10. Think for yourself: Your success or failure at anything ultimately depends on your ability to solve problems, so donʼt become a robot…. Thinking for yourself helps develop your powers of judgment.
11. Be optimistic: Optimism helps you get over your mistakes and go on to do better. It also gives you endurance because having a positive attitude makes you feel that something great is always about to happen.
12. Look for connections: If you develop the discipline it takes to become good at something, that discipline will help you in whatever else you do…. The more you discover the relationships between things that at first seem different, the larger your world becomes. In other words, the woodshed can open up a whole world of possibilities.

Magic on the Tonight Show

Magician Dan White appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and performed a neat short piece of close-up magic backstage for The Roots. It has a really interesting twist which I did not see coming (which is particularly odd, because I know the trick.)

Tips for Poker

From BigThink and Champion poker player Liv Boeree

An interesting read... literally

New dates for Magic & Martini

Due to the overwhelming popularity of my show Magic & Martini, we have added additional performances in the coming months. We are currently sold out in Toronto through mid-May. We've just added additional performances at SpiritHouse in Toronto for Friday, April 28 and Friday, May 5. 

Readers can use the code olive when purchasing online for a special discount:

Tickets for SpiritHouse in Toronto by #Eventbrite

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We also have tickets available for upcoming performances in:

Oakville:
Friday, April 21
Friday, May 19
Buy Tickets...

and

Hillsburgh
Saturday, May 13
Buy Tickets...