David "Baldini" Grosfield (1966-2021)

Remembering our colleague David “Baldini” Grosfield, who passed away suddenly last weekend. Baldini was a force of nature. His enthusiasm for magic - and for life - filled the room from the moment he walked in and there was no hiding from it.

We worked together several times over the years. He performed and hosted on shows that I produced and was a master networker who was often able to find just the right venue for whatever our next project was.

He went on to host a long-running series of performances at the Ontario Science Center presenting on The Science of Magic. Those later spun off into a series of extracurricular workshops offered to schools through the GTA. In addition to performing and teaching magic, he also had a profound impact mentoring a number of young performers.

His influence and enthusiasm will be deeply missed.

A Magician and an Economist walk into a Bar

Although these days, it’s probably not a bar, it’s just a zoom call. The University of Chicago economist, Steven Levitt, who wrote the wildly popular Freakonomics and its various sequels, recently started a podcast: People I (mostly) Admire. His most recent guest was magician Joshua Jay.

Joshua plays a prominent role around the world bringing magicians together. For over a decade he was the editor of the tricks column for one of the largest magic magazines in the world. Later he co-founded a magic publishing company which shares secret material around the world and organizes conferences both in the US and the UK. (Picture a hotel filled with nine hundred magicians for a weekend….)

I enjoyed the discussion about how magicians think and create. Many professions are known entirely through cliches and stereotypes and magic is certainly one of them.

A Person Sized Optical Illusion

Happy New Year!

It was certainly a strange holiday season but hopefully everyone found some safe enjoyment and an opportunity to connect with loved ones, even if that might not have been in person.

Here’s a little bit of magical “eye candy” in the form of a person-sized optical illusion from Derek Muller and Veritasium:

Optical illusions present some of the most magical experiences. That’s because the magic remains even after they’ve been explained. That whole thing about magicians swearing never to reveal the secrets? That’s usually because most magic secrets trigger a response of “Wait?!? That’s it?” which generally leads to disappointment and also pretty much guarantees that you’re never able to enjoy the same trick in the same way. (Unless, of course, you learn to do it yourself, then you derive enjoyment from giving that sense of wonder to others, even if you can’t experience the “magic” yourself.)

Bring Magic Home Friday Nights

It’s been a while, but we’re thrilled to announce a new weekly show, this time happening virtually. While my last long-running show, Magic & Martini, was all about getting all fancy dressed up, this new show is meant to be enjoyed curled up on the couch with a snack, and possibly with a cat jumping up and upstaging me… we’ll see.

The shows will take place every Friday night (minus Xmas Day and New Years Day). To accommodate for the fact that we’re virtual, there will be two separate performances at 8PM Easter and 8PM Pacific, although you can reserve for whichever show is more convenient for you no matter where in the world you are.

Design by Kurt Firla

This is a brand new show, with a mixture of close-up magic (that you can now see up close on screen from thousands of miles away) and interactive magic where I play with you, your mind and possibly even cause strange things to happen in your own home. The shows have been a tremendous amount of fun so far and we hope you’ll come and enjoy them as well.

We’re starting this week and tickets are now available. Readers can use the code secrets for a little bit of a discount.

Fundraising Update

It’s nice these days to be able to post good news!

Just writing briefly to share that the virtual fundraiser show that I hosted last week, Conjuring for a Cure supporting the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, has passed its goal of $5,000 and is now sitting at over $7,000. Thank you so much to everyone who tuned in to watch the show and everyone who donated.

The show is still up a little longer if you’d like to go and watch (use the chapters to skip past the countdown clock at the beginning). And if you feel like it, it’s never too late to donate.

The show was put on by the Sid Lorraine Hat & Rabbit Club and featured over a dozen magicians performing from Toronto and around the world. Additional video jiggery pokery by Chris Mayhew.

Conjuring for a Cure Virtual Fundraiser

Last night, I got to host Conjuring for a Cure, a virtual fundraiser put on by the Hat & Rabbit Club of Toronto raising money for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.

In the end, twenty magicians from age two-and-a-half to age ninety-six teamed up to share magic virtually safely from home. While we were in the middle of planning earlier in the fall, they instituted stricter safety measures (ending indoor dining, limiting gathering size) and everything online is so different, so we didn’t know how things would go and we set a very modest goal of $500.

We ended the evening at over $5,500 and people to continue to see the archived broadcast and donate.

I want to thank all of the magicians who donated their time: Jonah Babins, David Ben, Ian Crawford, Matt DiSero, Shawn Farquhar, Gerry Frenette, Robert Herd, Lulu Lin, Patrick Nemeth, Marty Papernick, David Peck, Jeff Pinsky, Gordon Precious, Khanya Rubushe, Ari Soroka, Ben Train, Glenn West, “Brookalini” Westfall, Mark Wicken, Andrew Woo.

You can still watch the show for the next ten days here:

And of course donations are still being accepted.