The Art of Magic

This week I will be appearing on The Art of Magic, a special magic variety night put on by the Toronto Magic Company. We take over the Super Wonder Gallery (College & Bathurst) and have a blast, bringing together diverse magical talents.

From the TMC:

“The Art of Magic is more than just a show. It’s an entire evening filled with beautiful art and mind blowing illusions that’s taking Toronto by storm!

The fun begins at 730pm inside the Super Wonder Gallery. Enjoy delicious drinks and paintings from some of Toronto’s best local artists while close up magicians dazzle you with sleight of hand.

Then at 8pm SHARP the show begins, and for the next hour and a half you’ll witness professional magicians from around the world performing magic so incredible that you’ll be gasping in disbelief!

In order to ensure every seat in the house is a good one, only 65 tickets are available for this intimate theatre experience. Make sure you order yours before they disappear forever!”

Due to increased demand we are repeating the same show for two nights, Wednesday and Thursday, at 8:00 PM. I’ve been informed that there are a handful of tickets left.

Also appearing are Ryan Brown, an award winning sleight of hand manipulator, and Michael Craig Francis, a multiple Guinness World Record holder.

Ryan Brown

Michael Craig Francis

 

Photos from Magic at the Marienbad

Last week, I appeared in London at the Marienbad Restaurant in a special monthly show. Also on the show was the great Canadian comic, Glenn Ottaway (now retired, but who occasionally pokes his head out to have some fun and make people laugh.)

Thanks to everyone who attended. Here are some photos of the event courtesy of the Amazing Corbin.

The Science of Magic - Talk at Google

Recently, Gustav Kuhn gave a talk at Google about his book Experiencing the Impossible: The Science of Magic. The talk begins with a demonstration of one of my all-time favourite tricks, “The Cups & Balls” and goes into a discussion of perception, blindspots, memory and how the mind puts it all together.

There is one great comment he lets slip casually that pretty much sums it all up:

“Intuitively we believe that if we’re looking at something, we should be able to see it.”

The questions period at the end is remarkable with the audience offering some wonderfully insightful questions with great answers as well.

Gustav Kuhn is the director of the MAGIC lab at the Department of Psychology at the Goldsmith University of London, where he uses magic to study a wide range of psychological questions, around consciousness, attention, perception, magical beliefs, deception and free will.

Experiencing the Impossible is available from fine booksellers everywhere.

Photos from The Newest Trick In The book

Still getting caught up from a busy summer. Here are a few photos from The Newest Trick In The Book courtesy of David Fulde.

L to R: Dan Stapleton, LEO, James Alan, Ajay Goldin, Rob Testa

Ajay Goldin

Dan Stapleton

Rob “Peace Man” Testa

Ajay Goldin

Rob Testa

Dan Stapleton

LEO

James Alan

Ryan Goldin

This was back on July 30. I was joined by Dan Stapleton, LEO, Ryan Goldin and Rob Testa. The Newest Trick In The Book is a weekly open mic put on by the Toronto Magic Company at See-Scape, a nerd-themed bar in the Junction.

Ordinarily the show is hosted by the lovely and talented Jonah Babins, but he was off on his summer holiday. The show is continuing through the fall on Tuesday nights. It’s free to attend and tickets can be reserved online.

The magician and the CIA

An adorably animated extended interview with paranormal investigator Ray Hyman:

Dr. Ray Hyman, with the Department of Defense, investigated psychic claims during the Cold War working at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) studying Uri Geller, an alleged psychic. He was later hired by the CIA to investigate psychic claims under the now declassified Project Stargate. In this interview, Dr. Hyman talks about his time with Geller and why he had reasons to be skeptical of Uri Geller's paranormal claims.

The Newest Trick In The Book

Tuesday night I’ll be appearing on The Newest Trick In The Book. It’s a fun and informal night of magic put on by the Toronto Magic Company. We use the delightfully nerd-themed bar See Scape (Keele & Dundas, Toronto) filled with games both of the video and table-top variety.

This week features guest host Patrick Nemeth, also features Chris Mayhew, Michael Penkul and Jacqueline Swan. This is a free show to attend but you can reserve seats through Eventbrite.