Category: Magic of Canada

Latest Magic News, Magic of Canada, Magician Feature

Sorcerers Safari Magic Camp 2013 Special Guest, Justin Flom!

Inside Magic Image of Sorcerers Safari Magic Camp LogoAmidst the rampant Facebook and Twitter speculation, Sorcerers Summer Safari Magic Camp just announced bringing in famed Las Vegas-based Magician Justin Flom as the special guest at Camp this summer.

With several best selling DVDs, a cover of IBM’s magazine and a ton of great unpublished ideas – Justin Flom has lots to offer the campers. Famous for his Ellen appearances,  Justin Flom’s YouTube channel has also received international acclaim. The campers are going to love him!

The inspiration for asking Justin Flom to spend time at Sorcerers Safari, explained Mike Segal, owner of the performance art camp, “He simply loves magic and would be a perfect fit for camp and the kids.”  Segal continued, “And there really is no better way to spend quality time immersed in the art of magic than with one of your heroes. Who doesn’t love Justin Flom? He’s awesome!”

The idea of having the ‘rising stars of magic’ as special guests at camp is always one of the hot debates at the annual executive staff meetings.

Sorcerers Summer Safari Magic Camp chooses only the best of the best to come up as their special guest. After unanimously agreeing Justin Flom was a perfect fit, they asked and he gladly accepted. Continue reading “Sorcerers Safari Magic Camp 2013 Special Guest, Justin Flom!” →

Magic of Canada, Magician Feature

Prof. Vincent Sacco Links Magicians, Politicians

Inside Magic Image of Dr. Vincent Sacco - Sociologist and MagicianDr. Vincent Sacco of Queen’s University’s Department of Sociology is the go-to guy when it comes to criminology, the deviant mind, the suspicious motives and what sociologists would call “other.”

So of course, the first words out of his mouth upon meeting a reporter for Kingston EMC would be “Want to see a magic trick?”

The esteemed professor believes there is a similarity of method — if not motive — between magicians and their evil counterparts in the non-magic world, politicians and advertising executives.

“The basic principles of how a magician fools you are the same ones that the advertiser and the politician use to fool you,” said Dr. Sacco.

In a recent presentation to the Toronto Alumni Association titled “Nothing Up My Sleeve: What I Learned from the Great Magicians,” Dr. Sacco performed magic in support of his thesis.

“I’d never performed magic in public before,” he said. “I even included the bending-a-spoon trick.”

Like many of us addicted to this profession of deception for entertainment’s sake, he was hooked as a preteen.
Continue reading “Prof. Vincent Sacco Links Magicians, Politicians” →

Magic of Canada, Magician Feature

Canadian Magician Anthony Lindan Attacks Autism

Canadian Magician Anthony Lindan and his friends, Shaun Fergus, Alex Kazam and Bill Abbott perform next Monday to benefit Autism Ontario’s efforts on behalf of Autism’s victims.

Niagra This Week features Mr. Lindan’s story and personal involvement in the cause.

Mr. Lindan and fellow magicians intend to entertain guests of  Ridgeway’s restaurant  from 6 to 9 p.m.  with close-up effects.

He told reporters the style will be like The Magic Castle.

The magicians will accept no tips and they are not being paid for the work.  They will encourage their table-side audience to contribute to Autism Ontario.

“They gave us donation boxes,” Lindan said. “We’re what is called a third-party fundraiser. We do all they work and the autism people get all the money.”

There’s two things that are close to magician Anthony Lindan’s heart – magic and the fight to find a cure for Autism Spectrum Disorder ASD.Lindan, along with three of his magician friends will be at Ridgeway’s Restaurant in Ridgeway next Monday to help raise money research to help unlock the mysterious condition, a complex neurobiological disorder that impacts normal brain development.

The magician’s 12-year-old son, Harvey, was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome as well as Tourette syndrome, both part of the autism spectrum.“So yes, we went through the flapping, kicking stages,” Lindan said. “He’s at the very high functioning end of the spectrum.”

Mr. Lindan makes a profound point to close out the article:
Continue reading “Canadian Magician Anthony Lindan Attacks Autism” →

Escape Artistry News, Latest Magic News, Magic of Canada

Dean Gunnarson Survives ‘Pure hell’

We told you about his plan to survive two days below ground.  Locked in a coffin, buried under tons of dirt, and, to make it harder, a committee would bind his arms and legs with shackles before placing him in the aforementioned coffin in the ground.

He hoped to escape where many have failed.  Even Houdini believed the escape was too dangerous.

Well, he made it out alive and convinced he does not want to be buried when the time comes for the divine recycling.

“I know one thing for sure, when my soul is done with my body I don’t ever want to be buried again,” Dean Gunnarson said. “I’m going to see Pete (Kilcollins) to cremate me and they can sprinkle my ashes on some flowers.”

Pete Kilcollins brought Dean to the Buried Alive stunt site in a hearse used in the Kilcollins’ cremation business.

Dean wanted to erupt from the freshly packed soil at precisely 1:26 p.m. on October 31st to link his emergence from the grave with Harry Houdini’s passing from this life in 1926.

According to The Sun, after Dean dug through the topsoil to daylight, he collapsed momentarily.

His estimation of the stunt matched Houdini’s: “It was pure hell digging my way up,” a dirt-covered Gunnarson said. “The weight was crushing and I couldn’t breathe. It was tough.”

Continue reading “Dean Gunnarson Survives ‘Pure hell’” →

Latest Magic News, Magic of Canada

Gunnarson Dodges Death Again

Dean Gunnarson RestrainedThe Prince Albert Daily Herald reports that we can stop worrying.

Dean Gunnarson survived to escape another day from one of the more dangerous escape stunts a trained expert can perform.

First, he was handcuffed and wrapped in chains, with a padlock around his neck.

Then, he was dumped in a 208-litre tank of water, with a lid placed on top and chained down, with a padlock on the outside.

He was able to escape in just under two minutes after cracking a combination padlock with water soaked fingertips.

Phew!

Read the full article here  The Prince Albert Daily Herald – Handcuffs and padlocks no match for Ex performer.

We have not yet seen the video but will be checking in at Dean’s incredible web site, Always Escaping for its release.

Latest Magic News, Magic of Canada

CAM Award Winners Announced

CAM BannerThe Canadian Association of Magicians convention has wrapped up in beautiful Montreal.

The meeting, also known as CAMaraderie, received great coverage in the Canadian press.  Typical of the positive perspective is an article in The Globe and Mail.

We read on the constantly updated MagicConvention feed from Twitter that CAM announced this year’s award winners.
By the way, if you don’t subscribe to the MagicConvention tweets, you need to.   At first, we thought it would bring just scheduling details for this summer’s conventions but we were wrong.
Andrew Webb serves as Editor and works with incredibly talented and prolific writers to bring a stream of breaking news throughout the day.  If you are not ready for Twitter, at least visit the Magic Convention Guide web site to see what you are missing.
The big news was the selection of the very talented David Acer as Magician of the Year.  Joan Caesar received a very well-deserved Lifetime Achievement award.

Continue reading “CAM Award Winners Announced” →

Latest Magic News, Magic of Canada

Brice Thrills with Escape 40 Feet Up!

Nick Brice Struggles for Freedom High Above CrowdFifteen year-old Nick Brice had an exceptional view of the overflow crowd gathered beneath him on the hot asphalt parking lot of the Swift Current Mall.

The excited, curious, and skeptical over-flow audience had an equally fine vantage point to watch the young man struggle with the canvas straight jacket as he swayed and writhed in the 10 mile-per-hour winds dangling some 40 feet above last Saturday.

No straight jacket escape is automatic or easy.

But Nick Brice was not looking for “easy” when he agreed to perform the dangerous stunt.

If he wanted to be safe, or to perform an “easy” escape, he would have stayed planted on terra firma (likely indoors), donned a heavily gimmicked, unexamined straight jacket, and conducted his escape behind an opaque curtain.

Perhaps it is a tribute to his youthful energy and enthusiasm that he was able to fend off fatigue and vertigo to slowly and painfully work his way free of the weighty garment before he would have certainly collapsed from heat exhaustion and his inverted position.

Like many of us, Mr. Brice was inspired by Houdini – someone who never took the “easy” route.

“Probably the most famous magician, Harry Houdini, is the one that really inspires me. He was the first one to do this one at the turn of the 20 century. He was my inspiration to do the straight jacket escape,” Master Brice told reporters.

His usual performance venues are more stable, less dangerous.

“I have done a couple at the library. Actually I normally do it at schools. I am always entertaining the other kids at high school.”

How does he intend to top his latest public exhibition next year?

Continue reading “Brice Thrills with Escape 40 Feet Up!” →

Magic News, Magic of Canada, Magician Feature

Dean Gunnarson – Certifiable

Dean GunnarsonWhat do we do to help the insane in our business?

What do you say about someone who is insane?  One can be solicitious.  One can grin nicely and say, “well, he is just adventurous,” or “it must be a magic trick — after all, he is a magician.”

But those words fail.  They neither diagnose nor treat.

True, Dean Gunnarson is a magician who does magic and performs magic effects.

But the methods of producing a rabbit from a hat or making silks change color do not help one attempting to escape from a straight jacket whilst hanging by one’s toes from a trapeze bar 726 feet over Hoover Dam.

Mr. Gunnarson is crazy about our art as well.

Continue reading “Dean Gunnarson – Certifiable” →