I’m excited to announce a collaboration with National Circus School graduate and professional Finnish circus artist, Kerttu Pussinen. Just two years after graduating from the NCS, Kerttu is working on her first solo show — Particle # B. The show will use circus arts, magic effects and more to visualize principles of physics and quantum mechanics. […]
The first busy weeks of September have begun, but I’m often still thinking about the wonderful research trip I had in France from August 21st to September 4th. It was so inspiring that I’ll be making a few posts this month to share what I learned in Cerisy-la-Salle, Châlons-en-Champagne, and Paris. First, I’d like to thank Jean-Marc Larrue, Giusy […]
Here is the minimalist and portable magic table that I’ve been working on for months as a side project. After considering dozens of different retail tables and construction plans, I decided to build my own using strong, light and elegant material. The stand is designed to hold the weight of a keyboard and can be adjusted to various […]
I’ll be giving a public presentation based on my most recent research and magic consultation project next week. This praxis performance will include supernatural magic effects inspired by my childhood experiences at a spiritual summer camp, Harry Houdini’s 1926 anti-spiritualist exposé at McGill University, and my collaboration on the new media webseries Houdini and Doyle: World of […]
“Even a single note can swing.” — Count Bassie “Everything has a touch.” — Dai Vernon I had the distinct pleasure of watching jazz legend Oliver Jones play songs like “Gershwin Medley” at his final performance for the Montreal Jazz Festival on Thursday. A master is retiring. The hands of Jones, mentored by the late, great Oscar Peterson, […]
“The East Indian Needle Trick” is what Houdini typically called it. How to adapt it for a three-minute webisode with actress Rebecca Liddiard and magician Scott Hammell was our challenge. We had many ideas for setting the stage of this episode: filming it on-location in a tailor’s shop, a tattoo parlor, etc. Ciara Vernon, our talented […]
Good news! All ten episodes of the Houdini & Doyle: World of Wonders webseries are now viewable outside of Canada. Follow the KindaTV link below to watch host Rebecca Liddiard as she delves into magic history and various effects. Thanks to John Cox and @miss_steph42 for the update on this. You can catch the latest Houdini & Doyle TV episode […]
A McGill colleague recently sent me these wonderfully quirky posters depicting fin-de-siecle hypnotism shows. I’m not sure who penned this post at The Public Domain Review, but it looks to me like these are probably stock posters for entertainment hypnotists who couldn’t afford to have original, custom posters designed. The blank space at the top […]
At 12:30PM on October 20th, 1916, Houdini performed his suspended straitjacket escape on the streets of Toronto.* In 2016, we had the pleasure of working with Lucas Wilson who holds three Guinness world records for this escape. If you’re in Canada (or know how to view out-of-country content), click on the image below to see a dramatic […]
At least three miraculous things happened when I went to see Noah Levine’s Magic After Hours show on Thursday night. A friend-of-a-friend who didn’t like magic now loves it. We were given an intimate, after-hours tour of New York’s oldest magic shop in existence — Tannen’s. Finally, we watched Noah perform impossible feats right under […]