Congratulations to my friend in magic, and fellow BC magician Shawn Farquhar! This year Shawn took home the Grand Prix award at FISM the “Olympics of Magic”. On StreetofCards.tv Shawn teased us by explaining that he would be performing a combination of his “Shape of my heart” routine and his signed card to sealed card case effect. Hopefully Shawn will release some footage of the effect for us who couldn’t make it out to FISM.

PS: Soma won as well. He’s pretty good too

You can read other blog posts about the win on itricks, and on the magicnewswire.

Recently The Pendragons have been in the news a lot in the magic community, but rather than focus on the negative, lets focus on the positive. Charolette is now performing her solo act! Here’s a clip of some classic Pendragons in action…

Below is some footage I recorded for my monthly Magical Moments newsletter (You can sign up for it here).

Kelowna Magician Leif David from Ali K. Zam Productions performs Magic on the Streets.

Many people are afraid to use a microphone. Somehow the sound of their own voice amplified terrifies them to their core. You’ll hear excuses like “I know how to project” or “I’ll just talk louder” but inevitably either end up shouting, or they speak loudly for the first few minutes but eventually tone fall back to a conversational level and nobody can hear them anymore losing the attention of the audience. Both are terrible situations and its especially sinful when there’s a microphone available. Here’s a few rules to using a microphone:

Rule #1: If you haven’t taken vocal training then you don’t know how to project your voice properly. If you have taken vocal training, then you already know to use a microphone. If there’s a microphone available, USE IT. You should be able to speak in a normal conversational tone and have the audience hear you.

Rule #2: Do a sound check. Remember that your sound check won’t be perfect because the acoustics will change once the room is filled with people. You’ll need to do a second sound check moments before the presentation begins to make sure that the levels are correct.

Rule #3: Know how to turn the microphone on , off, muted, and un-muted before you go on stage. Turn your microphone ON and to the Un-Muted position before you get on stage so you can start your presentation swiftly without fumbling.

Rule #4: When using a handheld microphone don’t hold it so close to your mouth like it’s an ice cream cone. Your voice should project towards the microphone but not directly into it.

Rule #5: When walking around with a microphone avoid going directly in front of the speakers. Walking directly in front of speakers is likely to cause annoying feedback.

Rule #6: Remember, a microphone is going to make your voice LOUD. Embrace it, love it, and use it to your advantage to create powerful presentations. If they can’t hear you, they aren’t paying attention and then you’re wasting everybody’s time.

And please… don’t go upon stage and tap the microphone and say “Is this thing on?” I hate that.

By following these few simple rules you’ll look like a pro the next time you have to stay a few words… or a lot of words!

In this months issue of “MAGIC Preview” from MAGIC Magazine it looks like David Copperfield is going to be featured in the next issue based on the cover. (Click “more” to read the snippet):

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I originally posted this years Westside Daze Photo’s on my Facebook account, but from my stats it looks like lots of you want more Westside Daze stuff! Here’s some photo’s taken at my performance at the Okanagan Business Excellence booth and my stage show sponsored by TD Canada Trust.

I had a great time performing at Westside Daze 2009. The weather was perfect for all the guests, but honestly it was too hot for my stage show! It was quite uncomfortable, but I made it through the show just fine. Those 30 minutes on stage usually go by so fast, but in really hot heat it felt like an hour! Its shows like that where I’m glad I have solid material that I know inside out. The audience was great with a nice mixture of adults and kids.

Here’s a few photo’s taken from my performance yesterday at Peachland’s Canada Day Celebration down at Heritage Park on the beach. The weather was fantastic and the audience was even fantastic-er!! (I know that isn’t a word, but they were awesome).

Next year I’m going to set myself up so that behind me is the lake instead of the gazebo. Those photo’s will be killer. Plus it will give the audience a nice view too