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Special edition newsletter for the Kelowna Magic Club.

Next OSM meeting:
Tuesday June 3rd 2008
6:00-8:00pm
We’ll meet in the backroom at Moxies Bar and Grill
1730 Cooper Road, Kelowna, BC

Did you know???

Did you know that we currently have 30 people subscribed to the OSM monthly newsletter? Thanks to everybody who’s helped keep the magic scene alive in the Okanagan!
(Please forward this email onto anybody with an interest in magic!)

edit: the newsletter subscription has been taken out. I’m moving the newsletter service to a different company.

Download the files of pictures from the 2008 Valley Wide Afterhours

This past week I performed some mingling magic at the Valley Wide Afterhours event at the Cove Lakeside Resort. Once a year all the Okanagan chambers get together and host a networking event with trade show style booths, wine tasting, and entertainment. This years theme was “A New Beginning” to mark the birth of the newest city in the Okanagan Valley.

As you can see by the photo’s below, it was gorgeous out with approximately 600 people!

I also helped setup for the event, which was fun because I got to help people bring in their equipment with a golf cart. I had never driven one before, so it was kind of exciting.

This week I was fortunate to perform on Kelowna’s Executive Houseboat The Boardroom once again. I was hired to perform some mingling close-up magic during the cruise on Okanagan Lake for a group of Lawyers and Accountants from all over Canada who were in town for a conference.

As soon as I started performing I knew it was going to be a great group. Everyone was in such a great mood since it was absolutely gorgeous out. A perfect day to be out on the lake for sure. Right at the start of the cruise we went up along the new bridge construction and I took a few photo’s for my dad to see. He loves that kind of stuff. These photo’s don’t really do it justice. It was a perfect day to be out on the lake.

Here’s a testimonial from the event coordinator, the event manager, and some of the guests.

What a great show. I’m looking forward to working on Kelowna’s Boardroom again!!

Back on may 8th I posted some questions for Celebracadabra’s Chris Martin to answer. To listen to the podcast with all the answers to the questions check out the iTricks website for the full interview.

It even looks like he’s going to send me a limited edition DVD of all the Celebracadabra episodes! woohoo! I’m super excited, especially because only 200 copies were made. I feel so special.

If I had a picture of Chris Martin I’d make a wallpaper for him too. I wouldn’t set it as my wallpapper, thats still reserved for Kim, but, still.. I’d make one.

I decided to create a Kimberly Wyatt wallpaper, with a Celebracadabra theme. Well, I searched online and I couldn’t find any, so I’m the first! woohoo.
(more…)

Derren Tries to get a girl to kill a cute little kitten!

Part 1 / 4

2 / 4

3 / 4

4 / 4

I forgot that all this week its been “Magician Week” on David Letterman’s Late Show. Tomorrow night is Pen and Teller. If I come across any clips of the magic acts I’ll try and post them.

I’m a huge fan of Derren Brown (Who isn’t?) and he’s just come out with his new season of “Trick or Treat”.

Trick or Treat S02E01 Part 1

Trick or Treat S02E01 part 2

Trick or Treat S02E01 part 3

Trick or Treat S02E01 part 4

I’m glad I found it online, this show only airs on Uk’s “Channel 4″.

Over at iTricks today there was a wicked interview with Chris Martin who’s the creator and executive producer of Celebracadabra. If you’re interested in the show at all check out the interview, its quite funny and he even reveals some information about upcoming shows.

I was sad to hear that they snuck in some decoy footage into the opening to mislead you on who stays or gets eliminated. I was totally checking it to see if I could tell who was going to get eliminated

Chris said that he’d answer any questions about the show, so I’ve sent an email to him with the following questions:

• Who were other possible celebrities?
• Who were other possible judges?
• How did Ellusionist become the sponsor for the show?
• Do you have future projects in mind?
• I’m amazed by the quality of magic that has been performed and the thought that the judges put into it. The judges have been brilliant and come up with effects that are both visual/powerful for TV, and yet can be taught with very little time. Did the judges ever get together before shooting the show to share ideas?
• What’s a funny story that happened on set when cameras weren’t rolling?
• Will the series come out on DVD? Will there be bonus material on the DVD’s?
• Can you send me some Celebcadabra stuff for free?
• What was the biggest obstacle in putting together the show?

I’ll post the answers once I get them back. They might do another interview apparently, so I’ll post the link once its online

Here’s some clips from Celebracadabra S01E02: (SPOILER ALERT! You find out who was eliminated in the clips below)

Here’s a clip from Celebracadabra Episode 2 speak peek: Ant’s clown freakout. As with all the clips from the VH1 site you need to be in the USA to watch them.

video.vh1.com

I’ve been a part of the magic community now for 14 years and I’ve come to learn that magic isn’t about the tricks, or the props, but about the audience and the different people who contribute to magic. For me its never been about Houdini, Dai Vernon, or any of the past legends, but the people who have contributed to magic during my lifetime.

Tony Eng was a magician from Victoria BC and he owned “Tony’s Trick and Joke Shop”. I first met him at the IBM convention that was in Kelowna when I was 8 years old. I remember him encouraging me and spending time with me at the convention. We crossed paths again when I visited his shop, and at IBM conventions in Calgary and Vancouver. I didn’t know him very well, but I always knew that he played an important role in the magic community of North West Canada.

R.I.P. Tony. Your contribution to our world will never be forgotten.

When people book me for a birthday party magic show, I send them a PDF that they can print off, fill in the information and send out. Its great because everybody needs invitations, and printing them off yourself at home is so fast, so easy, so cheep, and can be fun too.

I’ve decided to share that joy with the entire world by putting my birthday party invitation online. Just click the download link to open up the PDF. I hope to design more and when I do I’ll post them up on that website.

Actually, the invitations aren’t even on my Birthday Guide right now, but once I make a few more I’m going to include a link there as well. My guide is a work in progress! I did a birthday party just a few days ago for an 11 year old girl and at the start of the party the girls were making crafts with beads. It was the perfect activity for a birthday party so in a future edit of my guide I’m going to include that as well.