Bring Magic Home for Thanksgiving

It’s been a very stressful few months, and as we head into the fall, we’ve been hearing about new restrictions about gatherings and getting together. Thanksgiving weekend is coming up and I know that many people across the country will be unable to travel to be with family for the long weekend. So I thought I would do something nice in the virtual space for anyone who is feeling the strain of continued social distancing.

Need a break from cooking this Thanksgiving weekend? Grab a warm drink and get comfortable for a fully inteactive live magic performance on Zoom. 

James Alan is one of Canada's premiere sleight-of-hand magicians. For over three years he starred in the acclaimed show Magic & Martini with over two hundred sold out performances. Now his entire show has been reimagined for virtual, physically distanced world.

Note: Each ticket allows one device to log in to the show. You can purchase multiple tickets to invite family and friends to participate from anywhere in the world.

Sunday, October 11 & Monday October 12
1:00 PM (Eastern)

This year has been stressful for so many of us, being told it's not safe to travel get together with loved ones for the holidays. You can participate with family and friends together at home, or from multiple screens anywhere in the world.

The show is fully interactive. No need to mute your microphone or type in a text window. There is even magic that will happen through the screen at home in your own hands.

Math, Magic and Testing

I was out walking, catching up on podcasts when I came across this episode from BBC’s More Or Less. Its focus is math and statistics issues that come up in the news and (unsurprisingly) a lot of that has been about statistics surrounding COVID 19.

I was surprised when the episode contained a magic trick!

The trick in question is a math/mindreading trick which is quite old. It’s not uncommon to find it in children’s math sets. It’s most commonly known as the “Age Cards”. The way it works is that the magician has six cards with a bunch of random numbers printed on them, usually from one to sixty-four. You think of a number and look at the cards one by one and say “Yes” or “No” depending on whether or not you see your number. And that information is enough to determine what number you’re thinking of.

What’s really cool is that this concept is being applied to the technique of “Pool Testing” which is a method of grouping together multiple virus tests so you only have to run the test once but can still sort out who (probably) has the virus.

I was at convention some years ago with the legendary British magician Paul Daniels (who probably performed more magic on TV than any other person in history). He said that it was performing the “Age Cards” for someone randomly on a train led to his first TV show.

Derren Brown: TedX Vancouver

What’s he doing here?

Derren Brown is one of the world’s most well-known mindreaders. For years he was a star in his native England with multiple specials and touring shows. More recently, some of the programs became available in North America on Netflix. Soon he’ll be heading to Broadway to perform his new one-man show.

Apparently, he stopped off in Vancouver, Canada with white tie and tails to show off some good old fashioned mind reading:

Paul Wildbaum: 1957-2020

Sad to report the passing of Paul Wildbaum, the Toronto clown, mime, magician, and generally unpigeonholeable person. We first worked together in 2012 when I was producing a magic night at the Toronto Centre for the Arts headlined by American magician Eugene Burger.

Doctor-Professor Faux Pas and the Human Glockenspiel, Toronto Centre for the Arts, September 2012

Later, when I went on to host the weekly show Magic Tonight (2013-16) he was a regular guest:

Paul’s material was unique. Much of it was accomplished entirely silently, conveying so much without saying a word. I’m happy to have been able to work with him so often and grateful for the enthusiasm, creativity and joy he brought to our shows. He will be deeply missed.

The Newest Trick in the MacBook

Last night, I got to participate in a live streamed show put on by the Toronto Magic Company. Since the two hosts of the show happen to be in my 10-person social circle, I was able to sneak over and appear in the show live:

The show is based on their live open-mic magic show, “The Newest Trick in the Book” which was held weekly in Toronto for several years. It offers people a chance to see virtual performances from various magicians ranging from enthusiastic hobbyists to full time professionals. This episode included performances from Denis Kim, Jacque Swan, David Sutherland, Gordon Precious, Wonderphil (Phil Pivnick) and Ryan Brown.

You can watch the full stream above for free!

Every Martini Ever (Almost)

When you host over two hundred performances of a show called Magic & Martini, everyone starts to send you drink recipes! Here, a YouTube channel, “The Educated Barfly” does a retrospective of the different recipes for the martini going back to the earliest recorded ones from the 1880s.

I agree with what he says that probably no other cocktail has a higher level awareness in popular culture, not just because ordering it was one of James Bond’s catchphrases — shaken not stirred (which everyone will almost invariably tell you is not the way to order your martini) — but the huge number of other old films that featured it.

So if you’re looking for a project while spending lots of time social distancing at home, trying five different versions of the martini to compare and contrast might be a fun passtime!