A Secret Magic Party

Last night at NightOwl in downtown Toronto, a group of magicians hosted a super secret invitation only magic show... which they then blabbed about because magicians are far worse at keeping secrets than you might think. 

A newly minted magic company, aptly named Toronto Magic Company, helmed by Jonah Babbins and Ben Train (who has made many appearances on this blog) wants to carve out a space for young and aspiring performers to share their magic with a broader live audience. It's much in the same vein that Magic Tonight was for nearly three years and Friday Night Magic was before that.

I was asked if I would get really dressed up and do just one trick along with a group of eight magicians for a standing room only crowd. Here are some photos from the party provided by Eli Green. For discerning viewers: Yes, that is supposed to be Justin Bieber. For slightly more discerning viewers: Yes, that is a roasted chicken... Magicians are weird.

Sigmund Freud performs magic

From Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal by Zack Weinersmith

Help Feeling More Awake

A very important lesson that magic taught me is that the best tricks are rarely based on a single secret, but rather on multiple overlapping and interwoven smaller secrets. That's why most people have a lot of trouble figuring out how magic is done. 

If you are looking for the secret, you are not only at a disadvantage logically, you're also thinking at the wrong scale. If you're looking for a single secret, you are looking for big secret (whatever big means in terms of information) while smaller secrets are sneaking in past your notice. Generally we want big problems to have big solutions, but often a number of smaller solutions is more effective in the aggregate.

Here in a video from ASAP Science (coincidentally based in Toronto) they offer advice for feeling less tired. Notice that all of the solutions offered are small. This also has the advantage that any one of them is easier to implement. 

And having done my fair share of keeping strange hours to perform magic shows (and before that go to school and teach karate) I've felt this kind of fatigue and many of these solutions have been effective. 

Reasons for Pessimism

Author and theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss thinks their are reasons to be pessimistic, but that's no reason to be gloomy. Here in a short little insight on BigThink, he explains why the universe doesn't care about you... and that's a good thing. 

I love the part at the end where he emphasizes the importance of knowing how the world actually is. After all, I'm a magician. Some people say I spend my time trying to convince people of things which aren't true. Rather, it's better to say I spend my time trying to get people to to question and doubt what they see and realize that not everything around them is the way it appears intuitively.

Anyways... off to go create some meaning and purpose... and magic.

Photos from Magic & Martini in Toronto

Last night, at SpiritHouse in Downtown Toronto, we hosted another sold-out Magic & Martini. Thank you to everyone who came out to see the show. We had several very large groups celebrating special occasions so it was a lot of fun. Here are some photos from Tyler Williams, including two brides to be.

We have several upcoming dates in Toronto, Oakville and Hillsburgh. Readers can use the code secrets for a discount on the price of tickets when purchasing online. 

Photos from Magic & Martini in Oakville

Last night at O'Finn's Irish Temper in Oakville, we had another sold-out Magic & Martini. Here are some photos from the show from Tyler Williams. 

We have several upcoming dates in Toronto, Oakville and Hillsburgh. Readers, if you live nearby, can use the code stirred for a discount on the price of tickets when purchasing online.