 | |
| Formation | May 2000 |
|---|---|
| Type | Theatre group |
| Purpose | Magic, performing art |
| Location |
|
Artistic director(s) | David Ben |
| Website | Magicana |
Magicana is a Canadian federally incorporated not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to the study, exploration and advancement of magic as a performing art. Magicana is governed by a volunteer board of directors. Julie Eng serves as Magicana's executive director and David Ben as its artistic director.
Magicana was founded in May 2000 by magician David Ben, Canadian broadcasting icon Patrick Watson, and documentary filmmaker Daniel Zuckerbrot. Magicana is funded by donations from private foundations and individuals; and from the sales of tickets and publications on a cost recovery basis.
Magicana received official status [1] as a registered charitable organization in 2006.
The purpose of Magicana as stated in its Articles of Incorporation is:
Chairman Emeritus: Patrick Watson
Chairman: Tim Jackson
Board of Directors:
Magicana has produced a number of theatrical public performances on magic including:
Online exhibitions on magic and great magicians of yesteryear, developed, hosted and maintained by Magicana include:
Magicana facilitated the acquisition of one of the top five Golden Age magic poster collections in the world and one of the most important Houdiniana collections (renamed, the Allan Slaight Collection) for the McCord Museum in February 2015. The $3 million collection contains 600 vintage posters and hundreds of Houdini-related books, posters, unique collectibles and ephemera making it the largest magic collection in Canada, and is housed in Montreal. [27] [28] [29] [30]
Magicana has hosted a number of artist workshops and seminars by several top-rated magicians and speakers across Canada including:
| Norman Beck | Rafael Benatar | Gaëtan Bloom |
| Eugene Burger | John Carney | Jason England |
| Roberto Giobbi | Kostya Kimlat | Max Maven |
| Eric Mead | John Mendoza | Patrick Page |
| David Solomon | Jim Steinmeyer | Jamy Ian Swiss |
| John Thompson | Richard Turner |
From 2003 to 2010 Magicana hosted 31 Faces North, a four-day think-tank of thirty-one of the world's foremost magicians. The invitational conference was designed to bring sleight-of-hand experts, magic historians, and magic experts together to network, share, discuss and witness magic performances by masters of the art.
While the conference recognized giants of the magic community, it was also designed to offer promising young magicians a chance to meet and learn from magic legends. The attendees represented a who's who of magic including Guests of Honour:
Since 2010, Magicana has been responsible for the programming, administration and execution of the Magic Collectors Weekend - an international conference on magic history for 200 participants held in Chicago. The MCW has been staged annually since 1969. As of 2012, the MCW is staged on a biennial schedule.
Magicana's publications include:
Magicana also publishes Magicol (ISSN 0460-5314), a quarterly journal on magic history and collectibles which has been in publication since 1950. Magicana began publication stewardship of Magicol in 2010 starting with issue No. 174.
Magicana provides grants and bursaries related to the study of magic.
Magicana developed and runs two, community outreach programs: My Magic Hands and Senior Sorcery.
My Magic Hands, originally launched in 2005, uses the art of magic as a teaching vehicle to reach children in disadvantaged communities in order to build self-confidence and essential life skills such as communication, critical thinking and problem solving. Using the theatrical process involved in staging a magic trick, the program provides a cost-efficient and systematic way for children to learn about the arts in communities that do not normally have access to quality arts-related programming. Magicana received seed funding in 2005 followed by a multi-year grant (2006–2008) from the Ontario Trillium Foundation for the program and continues to currently operate through funding from private foundations and donors.
In addition to outreach programming, My Magic Hands is also a longstanding program staple at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, specifically in occupational and speech therapy programs. The program is recognized and acknowledged by occupational therapists, staff and parents of clients as a unique, successful and motivating tool assisting clients to reach their therapeutic goals. [35]
The program is administrated by Magicana and is a core activity of the organization.
Senior Sorcery, launched in 2006, is designed to bring live theatre in the form of magic shows to the senior citizen community, particularly to isolated seniors in remote residences and/or community centres. The program engages seniors by breaking the "fourth wall" of theatre and involving their participation in the magic. The program also empowers by giving seniors the ability to invite their family and friends to a special event. The program also aims to bridge or connect generations by offering a group activity that all can participate in, enjoy together and to discuss afterwards.
The program is administrated by Magicana and is a core activity of the organization.
The Chinese linking rings is a classic of illusion magic in which solid metal rings appear to link and unlink, pass through each other, and form chains and other complex patterns and configurations. The rings may even be handed out to audience members for examination. Sometimes an audience member is invited onto the stage to perform alongside the magician as part of a "do as I do" routine.
World of Wonders is the third novel in Robertson Davies's Deptford Trilogy.
Mentalism is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities. Performances may appear to include hypnosis, telepathy, clairvoyance, divination, precognition, psychokinesis, mediumship, mind control, memory feats, deduction, and rapid mathematics. Mentalists perform a theatrical act that includes special effects that may appear to employ psychic or supernatural forces but that are actually achieved by "ordinary conjuring means", natural human abilities, and an in-depth understanding of key principles from human psychology or other behavioral sciences.
Max Maven was an American magician and mentalist whose performances were considered erudite and intelligent. He is ranked as one of the most influential mentalists of all time, and one of the 100 "Most Influential Magicians of the 20th Century" by Magic Magazine.
The bullet catch is a stage magic illusion in which a magician appears to catch a bullet fired directly at them — often in the mouth, sometimes in the hand or sometimes caught with other items such as a dinner plate. The bullet catch may also be referred to as the bullet trick, defying the bullets or occasionally the gun trick.
John Henry Anderson (1814–1874) was a Scottish professional magician. Anderson is credited with helping bring the art of magic from street performances into theatres and presenting magic performances to entertain and delight the audience.
David Roth was an American magician widely regarded as one of the world's greatest coin magicians. Roth was an important contributor to Richard Kaufman's Coinmagic, an influential text on contemporary coin technique; his major work was chronicled in David Roth's Expert Coin Magic, a book written by Richard Kaufman. Roth was associated with Fantasma Magic, a magic manufacturing and retail company in New York City before going to work for the Conjuring Arts Research Center during the last decade of his life.
Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine is a magazine devoted to magic and magicians. It is a monthly magazine first published in September 1936, currently edited by Richard J. Kaufman and owned by Randy Pitchford. The magazine is based in Washington, DC.
Luke Jermay is an English magician, mentalist, and writer.
Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of illusion, stage magic, and close up magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural means. It is to be distinguished from paranormal magic which are effects claimed to be created through supernatural means. It is one of the oldest performing arts in the world.
John Lovick is an American magician, writer, and director. Since the 1990s he has performed as a magician throughout the United States and Canada, as well as England, Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia.
Richard J. Kaufman is an author, publisher, illustrator, and editor of books and magazines in the field of magic and amateur magicians of noted skill.
David Ben is a Canadian stage magician, sleight of hand artist, illusionist, author, publisher, keynote speaker, magic historian, magic consultant, magic collector and former tax lawyer.
John Mulholland was an American magician, author, publisher and intelligence agent.
Stewart James was a Canadian postman who became one of magic's most prolific inventors. He spent most of his life in Courtright, Ontario.
Derek DelGaudio is an American interdisciplinary artist, primarily known as a writer, performer and magician.
Carisa Hendrix is a Canada-based magician and fire eater who often performs in the persona of Lucy Darling.
John Allan Slaight was a Canadian rock and roll radio pioneer, media mogul, and philanthropist. His career began as an amateur magician before moving to radio. He was the founder of Slaight Communications, and the president and CEO of Standard Broadcasting Corporation Limited, which was Canada's largest privately owned multimedia company. He was an active philanthropist and founder of the Slaight Family Foundation. On September 19, 2021, he died at his home in Toronto, Ontario, at the age of 90.
Mysterion is a Canadian mentalist, magician, collector, comedic writer and occasional wrestling manager.
Benjamin Hart is an English magician. In 2007, he was awarded the "Young Magician of the Year" award by The Magic Circle. Hart has worked on British television and is an inventor and designer of magic tricks and stage illusions. In 2014, he starred in Killer Magic on BBC Three. Hart was a finalist on Britain's Got Talent in 2019.