Photos from Magic & Martini in Toronto #pride Edition

Last night, we had another Sold Out Magic & Martini at SpiritHouse in downtown Toronto. Thank you to everyone who attended. It was a special night for the show because it is Pride Week/end in Toronto.

On stage I walk a fairly narrow tightrope. I've always tried to make being gay something which defines how I behave in a show. I like that it's under the surface; something that people who are paying attention can discover on their own. The great Chicago close-up magician Eugene Burger said that good magic has extra details hidden inside of it, just for those people who are willing to pay attention. Or, as he put it, "If they don't pay attention, they don't deserve to know."  

In an earlier version of my show Lies, Damn Lies & Magic Tricks, which I did at a number of theatres and festivals in 2012, there was a lovely moment, about half way through the show which was very appropriate, and very cleverly constructed public coming out moment. I was quite pleased with it and felt very proud of it. Now I tend to delight privately that people can't tell unless they're willing to pay attention. There's a more mystical magical quality to it which I appreciate more.

In any event, here are a few photos from last night's show, by Tyler Sol Williams. We are on hiatus in Oakville and Hillsburgh for the summer, but do have a few Toronto dates scheduled with tickets available. My readers should use the code pride for a discount on tickets when reserving online. 

Mystic Halloween

Last year I performed at the Craftsight "Mystic Halloween" show. They recently shared the video online (eight months does seem to be the usual turnaround for creative unless you're willing to kidnap the videographer's children and hold them ransom.) 

It was a short performance followed by a Q&A:

The full video of the evening is available here. Unfortunately, I was the only one actually performing. The balance of the guests were assorted woo merchants that couldn't really be taken seriously (unless you desperately wanted your horoscope read.)

When Film Met Magic

When the TIFF Bell LIghtbox Opened in Toronto in 2010, I was invited to perform as part of that celebration. As part of their opening season, they wanted to explore the earliest origins of film and that led them to magicians. 

In fact, it was a particular magician, George Melies, who is widely regarded as the father of film editing (and therefore camera tricks.) Before Melies, films were recorded in one continuous take. A feature that we all take for granted now, the ability to take multiple pieces of footage and  cut them together to form a coherent narrative, was something he discovered by accident.

Crash Course, an interesting YouTube channel that produces educational contact, did a wonderful piece summarizing this history. 

Of course, magicians typically work in the opposite way, going to extreme lengths to produce feats which look like camera tricks. But ultimately, they all come from the same place. 

Random Martini Trivia

The British quiz show QI remains one of my favourite programs to watch. They have redefined educational entertainment. Their name is short for Quite Interesting, and the main rule of the show is you get points "for being interesting."

After a year of Magic & Martini I get sent lovely clips like this. Here is some interesting background on Martinis in general, and how James Bond prefers them in particular:

If you're a fan of things British, you will recognize the original host of Whose Line Is It Anyway, Clive Anderson and one of the world's most delightful all around humans, Stephen Fry. 

Manipulating Memory

Many years ago, when I had more free time to peruse online magic forums (fora?) there was a topic of conversation that came up fairly often. It went along the lines of, "If you had twenty people stranded on a desert island, would you want one of them to be a magician?" Ergo, ipso facto, magicians are useless... and so on.

I'd be hardpressed to get a magician into the top twenty. I'll admit there are higher priorities like shelter and food and medical care. But there is one public service that I think magicians deliver almost better than any other profession. We demonstrate how our perceptions and memories are not as reliable as they feel. 

You, like me, probably feel most of the time that your eyes are more or less like a video recorder, but what's actually going on (and I'll be the first to admit we only have a superficial understanding of it) is pretty far removed from that.

Take this simple test to see how your memory is and whether it can be manipulated:

Hidden Messages

Have you ever wondered if you could be persuaded to do things against your will by subliminal messaging (messages which are delivered so quickly that they sneak pass your conscious awareness and feel like thoughts that come from within your own mind.)

Here, a man with a British accent explores the history and science behind them. (Warning, video may contain subliminal messages.)