My friend in magic Shawn Farquhar will be appearing on Ellen this Thursday (January 14th 2010). Check your local listings for the exact channel and time. Dodd over at TMNW has reported that its possible that Shawn will be making several appearances on the show, kind of like Justin Kredible on RachelRay’s TV show.

If a recording of the show makes its way online, I’ll be sure to post it here along with on my FB page.

Break a leg Shawn. I can’t wait to see what you decide to perform!

Chris Yuill will be putting on a lecture for magicians on January 17th, 2010 from 1:00-3:00 PM in Vancouver. For more info please visit the facebook group. I’ve never seen Chris perform before, but from the info on the facebook page it sounds like its going to be a nice mix of close-up magic, stand up, and parlor magic- Something for everybody.

If any of you see the lecture, let me know how it went.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a91eiu_eer4

If you’re a fan of optical illusions, you should get a good laugh out of this little sketch.

This optical illusion is crazy! Follow the directions in the video.

If you do it properly you should be able to see an image of Jesus. Look at anything white after and just blink a few times and you’ll see it. It sticks around for a long time too. One of the best optical illusions I’ve seen in a long time.

In this video I talk about Newsletter Marketing for Magicians 101. I discuss:

-Various programs for sending emails
-Plaintext vs. html
-Building your list (Sign up boxes, draws, evaluation forms, permission marketing)
-Creating newsletter content

Links that appear in this video:

www.gmail.com
http://www.mailchimp.com/
http://www.constantcontact.com/
http://www.icontact.com/a.pl/270864

http://www.alikzam.com/newsletter.html
http://www.hasslefreebirthday.com/partytips.html
http://www.magicalweddingstory.com/

http://www.onlinemagicclub.com/
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
Permission Marketing Book

Reasons to my Newsletter for Magicians:

1. I’ll update you with free video content as its created
2. You won’t need to check a website for updates
3. Access to ask me any questions you may have
4. Your personal information will never be sold or shared. I hate spam too.

Email Marketing You Can Trust

Please add your comments below!

When I was going to Okanagan College to get my diploma in Telecommunications and Networking Engineering I used to read the Schneier on Security blog daily. Its been like 3 years since then, and I don’t read it anymore… But its still a great blog, and he’s a brilliant man. A few days ago the world between security and magic crossed when he posted an article about how con artists exploit human behavior and a magician Paul Wilson was part of the project.

Read the full story on the Schneier Security blog.

I just came across this really awesome performance piece by Simon Drake done entirely in Silhouette.

I love the moments of bizarre magic with the flames, the skeleton face, and the transformation of the woman. Very fun to watch.

Our Kids Have Talent – Okanagan competition for 8-18 year old’s who can play an instrument! Great prizes for top 10.

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. Life has been super busy, but in a good way! The Christmas season is going to get absolutely insane starting this weekend for the next few weeks. I’ve been booked for the usual Family Christmas events, Company banquet events, birthday parties, pre-schools, and even a funeral home. The funeral home is a repeat booking from last year, and I had a blast performing for a group of people who needed a smile in their lives.

Thanks for stopping by, I’ve got magic to practice. ttyl.

PS: Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends.

Tim Ferris, author of ‘The 4 Hour Workweek’ and body-hack master, met up with David Blaine for a breath holding teaching session. Initially Tim was only able to hold his breath for 40 seconds, but after some advice from David Blaine he was able to up that time to 3 minutes and 33 seconds. Quite impressive stuff.

You can read all about Tim’s experience on his blog which I highly recommend.

Here’s an interesting article about a school that will teach you 10 magic tricks in 2 hours that you can use to supposedly help you pick up girls at the bar. I have my doubts, but the article is interesting none-the-less.

(Via my friend who found it on Fark)