What are the ethics of claiming to possess psychic powers? The “Cold Read” episode of Houdini and Doyle’s: World of Wonders was inspired by these two gentlemen’s real-life encounters with individuals who seemed to know impossibly personal information about people they had just met. Harry Houdini and his wife Bess experimented with the combination of hot reading techniques […]
One of the highlights of consulting for Houdini and Doyle: World of Wonders was working with Banachek and Rebecca Liddiard to engage in some Houdini-inspired debunking. Years ago, I wrote a review following the premier of Banachek’s one-man show The Alpha Project when it came to Toronto. Ever since, the work of Banachek, James Randi and others who […]
A whimsical article about Martin Gardner and dice was published today in The New Yorker. Flipping through Ricky Jay and Rosamond Purcell’s Dice: Deception, Fate, and Rotten Luck, while reading Gardner’s Scientific American article “Mathematical Games” is highly recommended:
Houdini and Doyle: World of Wonders has launched! As the magic consultant for this web series, I had the pleasure of working with Shaftesbury, Smokebomb Entertainment and many talented performers this winter. I’ll say something special about each of the magicians who performed with host Rebecca Liddiard, who stars in the new fictional TV series Houdini […]
The brick and mortar magic shop plays a unique role in the education of a magician. I was reminded of this yesterday when I popped into Phil and Evelyn Matlin’s store Perfect Magic. They found the secret items that I desired in a few minutes. We then chatted about Montreal’s magic history, the latest news in the […]
It’s good to have friends like Shakespeare expert, Dr. Jennifer McDermott. Today, I had the pleasure of giving a sixty-minute guest lecture and performance for her Witchcraft and Magic literature course. What a wonderful excuse this was to thoroughly work through one of conjuring’s earliest and most important works in the English language: Reginald Scot’s The Discoverie […]
As co-founder and magic consultant for Ars Mechanica, I’m excited to announce that our troupe will be in residence as part of the HATCH program at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre. This April, we’ll be working on a new performance titled SISI. I’m working on some magic inspired by Empress Elisabeth of Austria for this. If you’d like to […]
Those who work in the arts often have to choose between watching and creating. I watch a wide variety of shows (magic, circus, theatre and more), which is an important part of being in touch with the artistic trends and communities that inspire me. And, of course, I try to plan as carefully as possible […]
This looks like a fascinating virtual reality collaboration between experimental theatre creator Robert Lepage and one of my favorite Borges scholars: Alberto Manguel. The name of the site-specific performance is la bibliotèque, la nuit / The Library at Night. Visitors must book in advance and pay a very small fee before participating at the National Archives of Quebec. The […]