Showing posts with label Daniel Garcia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daniel Garcia. Show all posts

27 August 2023

The Legacy of Sorcerers Safari - part 10

Recap (click to show | hide)

From Part 1 of the series:

In lieu of a physical reunion bringing together past campers and staff, Canada’s Magic is hosting a virtual reunion of sorts.  We’ve reached out to the Sorcerers Safari community with a dozen or so questions to help bring us up to date on what everyone has been up to since our magic camp days.

If you completed our survey, keep your eyes peeled for your segment!  

If you would like to participate but haven’t filled out the survey, there’s still time.  The survey can be found here:  https://forms.gle/umg77yj9QxUzfpm76

Thank you to all that contributed!


 

Mike, Jen, Sorcerers Safari staff, and alumni, this series is for you.

 

The Legacy of Sorcerers Safari
<< part 9  |  part 11 >>

 

Part 10 features:  Luis Salas, Michael Penkul, and Lee Asher

 

  Luis Salas  
Insurance.

Attended camp in 2009 as a camper.


In his own words:

  • Favourite Sorcerers Safari memory?  
    • Performing my own routine to Aaron Fisher as my audience on the boat dock.


  • Biggest take-away from Sorcerers Safari?
    • Experience.

 

Attending Sorcerers Safari was one of the most positive experiences I had as a teenager. From the friendships, the nature, the fun and the learning - everything was superb and I feel lucky to have attended even if it was just for the one year. I do wish I had gone again though.

 

 

  Michal Penkul  
Professional magician, Professional Wedding DJ & Magician, MichaelPenkul.com.

Attended as a camper in 2009 and 2010 (Daniel Garcia &  Dan and Dave Buck were the special guests).


Since his time at camp Michal has:

  • DJ'd and performed professionally full-time (DJ Magic Mike), and 
  • Produced music as an EDM artist.


In his own words:

  • Besides the amazing things I learned from all the lectures and special guests, it was the confidence to perform in front of larger crowds; getting to perform on the Sorcerers Safari Stage helped me overcome a lot of introverted shyness.


  • Favourite Sorcerers Safari memory?  
    • Filming Aaron Fishers DVD Revolution! Daniel Garcia was also a huge idol of mine, he left me with a phrase that I've tried incorporating into all my magic to this day - 'keep magic sexy'


  • Biggest take-away from Sorcerers Safari?
    • Being with like-minded magicians, many friends that I keep in contact with to this day. It was my first time away from my family for that long which was a huge stepping stone for me, and helped me build a lot of confidence on and off stage.

 

I was a shy, quiet kid who felt unmemorable at the time, but camp was one of the most memorable experiences in my life!

 

 

  Lee Asher 
Professional magician, LeeAsher.com.

Attended camp in:

  • 2001 as Counsellor / Staff, 
  • 2002 as Special Guest, and 
  • 2003 until the end as Executive Staff.


Since his time at camp Lee has been:

  • The youngest, cutest [self-reported], and longest-running President of 52 Plus Joker (the world's most prestigious playing card collectors organization),
  • The Senior consultant for the world's most extensive and expensive magic television series, Amazing Magicians, filmed in Nanjing, China, 
  • The Director of the largest stunt ever filmed for Penn & Teller's 'Fool Us' television show, and
  • The recipient of the Dawson Lifetime Achievement Award for my extensive work in the playing card industry. 

 

In his own words:

  • Sorcerers Safari Magic Camp fostered a true sense of community. Collaborative activities and team-building exercises allowed me to forge deep bonds with fellow aspiring magicians. These friendships taught me the value of collaboration, cooperation, and mutual support—a vital lesson that continues to guide me long after the campfire's embers have faded.
  • Most importantly, meeting my wife at Sorcerers Safari Magic Camp all those years ago was my greatest accomplishment. Through late-night conversations filled with laughter and shared dreams, Christina and I discovered a profound connection, and our hearts resonated in perfect harmony. We've been happily married for over twelve years.



  • Favourite Sorcerers Safari memory?  
    • There are far too many to mention. Yet, spending time with campers who have now grown into adults is something I treasure.

  • Biggest take-away from Sorcerers Safari?
    • My biggest takeaway is that Sorcerers Safari Magic Camp harnessed the incredible power of shared experiences, collaboration, and encouragement to unlock hidden potential, all while building lasting connections.

 

Best Years Ever!

 

Thank you Luis, Michael, and Lee for sharing your memories!

Check back throughout the month to read updates from other Sorcerers Safari alumni and staff!

 

 Previously featured 

 

Learn more about Sorcerers Safari.

part 1part 2  | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10 | part 11 | part 12

<< part 9  |  part 11 >>

 

 

03 August 2021

Unconventional Fun in Space

From Unconventional.Fun:

Talent includes:

  • Dani DaOrtiz
  • Garrett Thomas
  • Daniel Garcia
  • Harapan Ong
  • Ryan Plunkett
  • Patrick Redford
  • Eric Leclerc
  • Abby Segal
  • Jason Suran
  • Trigg Watson
  • Spidey
  • Xavior Spade
  • Fritz Alkemade
  • Kaitlyn Chen
  • Evan Northrup
  • Michael Eaton
  • Jacque Swan
  • Noah Sonie
  • Chris Leuck
  • Felice Ling
  • Bri Crabtree
  • Ryan Pilling
  • Jonah Babins
  • Ben Train

Read more and register.


 

From the July 31st Instagram post by unconventional.fun:


08 April 2021

A peek behind the curtain with Big Trick Energy

A peek behind the curtain with Big Trick Energy 

In October we reported that Chris Ramsay, Eric Leclerc, Wes Barker, and Alex Boyer created a show called Big Trick Energy that is scheduled to air on April 22nd on truTV in the US.

 


The Universe knocked (for real) last week, offering us the chance to interview these newly minted "bad boys of magic" and find out more about their show.  We happily accepted.





Tell us about a memorable prank that didn't make it to air.
 
Eric: I convinced Wes' wife to have a Boudoir sexy photoshoot with me in a hotel room months before filming, with a professional photographer and the network deemed it a little too risqué because they didn't know our characters yet, they didn’t know how good friends we are. 
 
So it’s going to be up on my YouTube channel.    
The show is unscripted.  Can you give an example of things that turned out better than you hoped?
Chris: Definitely the thrift shop.  That was probably right down the last thing and we surprised you guys so bad he fell on his a$$! That was like the opposite of where the trick was going to go originally so it's just beautiful like all the minds working together and then you come up with something that no one wrote down on a piece of paper the night before.

Eric: This show is unscripted but there’s also pranks. So we're having secret meetings, secret production calls with producers and show runners where maybe one or two people aren’t involved because to we’re there to prank them.

Chris: It might be three versus one, one pranking three, one pranking two, two people pranking two other people and this  constant secrecy going around.  A lot of us are blind to that actively because we want to make the show good.  So, I'll be at table they’ll go “Chris, can you leave?”  And I’m like, “got it.” 

[SPOILER ALERT (but you may have seen it already on social)]

Eric:  A perfect example was in the show in the first season in episode one they crushed my BMW, my car, my baby, and I knew something was up but I had no idea that they brought my car down and crushed it in front of me. It was really something that I had no idea so that synergy is very interesting amongst friends, y’know to hide stuff like that.  



What unique talent or skill did everyone bring to the project?
 

Chris:  Wes is a massive jack of all trades. He learned everything so quickly he has all these crazy abilities that we're still finding out about because he keeps them secret and he practices in the dark and then all the sudden he'll show up and be an amazing axe thrower or a ride a unicycle or something. He’s got a lot of hobbies. 
 
I love putting Eric in the worst situations and watching him get out of them cuz that's his skill, it really is, he can get out of any situation flawlessly and turn it around.
 
Alex doing all the music.  All the animals actually.  We found out, there’s something we didn’t know, Alex does all the animal magic [in the show].  If you look at all the trailers and stuff you keep seeing Alex with animals and it doesn't appear that much in the show but they used all of it. So Alex is now the professional animal wrangler!
 
Wes:  And Chris talks a lot.  I don't know if you noticed.

 
 
What were the more challenging parts of the project?

Alex:  I really thought by the end of the season one we’re not going to be friends anymore because it’s hard to be with same people all the time and riffing and being like  “I like that.  I don’t like that. Who’s going to do this trick?”  But it brought us closer. 


 
Chris: I think obviously, the pandemic has been challenging to shoot through but besides all that we were in a bit of a time crunch too. We had a couple months of production leading up to this, but when you're in a position to create these magic tricks, we need professional builders, we need locations, we need all these things. With the pandemic happening nothing was super accessible. We had to really think on our feet for a lot of those things. So a lot of late-night meetings staying up till four in the morning, finalizing what we're doing the next day showing up at 7 a.m. call time. So the difficult part was really creating all of that ‘cause there is a lot of magic in the show. 

 

 

There’s a ton of magic and we wanted to make it all original. Not out of the box tricks.  We wanted to make this show as original as we could. 
That was the most challenging part.

 

Eric: We really had to rely on our bag of tricks…

Chris:  … and also on our magic consultants. We had Daniel Garcia, Enrico de la Vega, Marcus Eddie, and we also had Blake Vogt helping us out.  So we had the best, arguably The Best magic team did on the planet.  We could not have done it without them. Period.  The show would not be possible without those guys. One hundred percent are they took it on their backs and you know so like really us as a group putting our minds together every single day, every single minute, to go into the show.

  
 
What's the origin story of how the four of you came together
?
Chris: Mainly through magic conventions.  These two [Alex and Eric] have known each other because they grew up in the same place, Eric kind of took Alex under his wing a long time ago and taught him a lot of magic and business stuff.  Then we kind of all met at a magic convention. You know how magic conventions go, most people just hang out at the bar like once you're done watching the shows, going to dealers room. You go to the bar and then you find each other and we found that we really clicked.  We have the same sense of humour, we didn't get offended by each other just you know digging in each other and stuff like that so we became instant best friends.

Wes: Eric was the common thread at the beginning. I think he was holding it all together a little bit.

Eric: Wes and I worked on a show called Trick’d in 2015, Wes was a consultant on the show, we became best friends.

Chris:  Me and Wes did Wizard Wars around the same time and were in the studio together.


Who are their non-magical inspirations?

Wes:   I’m totally inspired by the world of stand up comedy just I love the world of stand up so that's that's where I get all inspiration from and then I'm a huge like Jim Carrey fan my whole life so I always try to think of that when I’m on camera and be more physical.
 
Eric: Steve Carell.  
 
Alex:  For me it’s the world of music, like the bands and stuff how they work together. 

You’ve all be YouTubing / magicianing on TV for many, many years.  How have you changed or evolved?
Eric:  I mean when I started YouTubing it was 10 years ago I did this project [Editor's note: Eric's referring to his Project 365], I did a video every day and I didn't know what audiences want I just wanted to do this for myself and now these guys are much better at it than me nowadays and much more successful at.  It's a big thing to listen to your audience, right?


Chris: But I also think it’s up to people in the entertainment industry and in magic to teach that audience where magic is going and what's happening.  Always catering to an audience can be a detriment because in you’re stagnant. You know if you give me analytics and numbers I look at them.  Then you think, forget all that.  We’ve got a vision, we think this is right, we think this is the way to go, let's see if they'll follow us instead of us following what they want. I really believe that it's up to people to push the boundaries and no matter what entertainment field you're in. Respectfully, magic on TV in the past 20 years... David Blaine changed the game up in 96, but since then I would say only probably Michael Carbonaro has done something totally different. Other than that it's reiterations of the same show over and over and over and over and over. But it took those guys for us to realize that something needs to change. 
Without them we wouldn't have come up with these crazy ideas and this crazy outlook we have today with magic. We're really trying to change it up with a vision we have for magic.


 


Thank you Chris, Eric, Wes, and Alex for making the time to answer our questions.  We hope it comes to Canada soon! 

Catch Big Trick Energy on April 22nd on truTV in the US!


18 March 2020

Online meetings and shows

Updated at 15:31 EST to add:
  • Jeff & Tessa Evason have opened up their vault to share this TV special featuring Thomas Baxter, James Cielen, Carl Cloutier, Dean Gunnarson, Gary Kurtz, Richard Sanders and Jay Sankey, with a special appearance by magician David Peck.  Watch on YouTube.


Are you itching to make it to a magic meeting from the comfort of your own home? 


Interested in catching a show?  Peter Mennie and Carisa Hendrix have you covered!







An upcoming lecture series on April 5th:



There's also consumable content from R. Paul Wilson and Mark Clearview:





From Mark Clearview:
We're all going to die and I'm going to document it. Listen to what I'm doing with all my free time. Follow my adventures through headlines and misinformation as I contribute a heaping helping of my own. Exclusively on my website until we're up and running on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!










Put the things we're missing in the comments!



28 August 2018

Toronto: Daniel Garcia lecture

Wednesday September 12th


From James Alan's Facebook post:

A note to subscribers: the content of this post is embedded from another website and is not available to preview. To view the content of the post, please visit http://CanadasMagic.blogspot.com. Some of the embedded code may be visible in this notification.

27 August 2018

Rounding the Western rings in September 2018

Confirm details about dates and locations by visiting each club's website.



CityClubEvent(s)
Calgary, ABRing 66 (Calgary Magic Circle, Les Brocklesby Ring)- Daniel Garcia lecture.
- Meeting.
Edmonton, ABEdmonton Magic Club- Daniel Garcia lecture.
Winnipeg, MBThe Magic Club of Winnipeg- Daniel Garcia lecture.
Fraser Valley, BCIBM Ring 387 (Fraser Valley Magic Circle, Celeste Evans Ring)- Daniel Garcia lecture.
- Third Monday Magic.
Vancouver, BCRing 92 (Vancouver Magic Circle)- TBA
Vancouver, BCSAM 95  (Carl Hemeon Assembly)- TBA
Victoria, BCRing 183 (Victoria Magic Circle)  - Daniel Garcia lecture.


Please leave a comment or e-mail me about corrections or omissions.

Rounding the Central rings in September 2018

Confirm details about dates and locations by visiting each club's website.



Montreal, QCRing 62 (20th Century Ring)- TBA.
Hamilton, ONRing 49 (The Doug Henning Magic Wand Club)- Barry O’Neil lecture.
- Executive vote.
London, ONRing 265 (London Magician's Guild)- Auction.
Kitchener, ONRing 235 (The Caesar Hat & Wand Magic Circle)- Executive elections.
- Derrick Finn and Romaine kick off open-mic night.
Ottawa, ONRing 151 (Ottawa Society of Magicians)- TBA.
Ottawa, ONOttawa / Gatineau magicians- TBA
Toronto, ONRing 17 (Sid Lorraine Hat and Rabbit Club)- Jeff Hinchliffe lecture. [Get your special limited edition collectible tickets!]
(also Daniel Garcia lecture at Browser's)


Please leave a comment or email me about corrections or omissions.

02 April 2016

  • Daniel Garcia mini-talk!
  • Part of the proceeds from every ticket sold for this year's Bash being donated in Garcia’s name, to Chad's charity (Spread the Magic Foundation) and to the Burn Unit at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto.
  • Daniel Garcia lecture time!
Dick Joiner is emcee for the close-up show!  

Bobby Motta,  Michael Lam, Michael Close, Daniel Garcia, and David Williamson to close!

Fabulous!

04 January 2016

More performers announced for Browser's Bash 2016

You already heard that Tom Mullica and Daniel Garcia are performing at the 2016 Browser's Bash.  And we know that Dan Morrissey will be there too.  Check out the other amazing talent recently added to the lineup:

In no particular order:
JAMES HARRISON
As Canada's pickpocket magician, James borrows pens, watches, wallets, and even belts from spectators watching. Before you can yell thief, James has returned the valuables to their rightful owners by making them reappear in unexpected places!

BEN TRAIN
Combining humor, psychology, and a little old-fashioned chutzpah, Ben Train creates an experience that will have you laughing out loud while your mind is being blown. Mystery and non-stop laughs follow where ever he goes. Luckily, he's at the Bash all day long!

LOUIE LEBETJIS
For those who love card table artifice, secret sleights, & serious advantage play - seek out Big Lou during this Bash. His chops are top-notch, plus he will astound you. Move over Charming Cheat, there's a new kid in town.

CHRIS MAYHEW
Some say Chris Mayhew is disarming, charming, and will make you laugh out loud with his uniquely entertaining brand of magic. Others say he's just plain crazy! We will let you be the judge.

JOE DENG
All the way from Changsha, China by way of Beijing, Joe Deng is a master of close-up magic. He's revered by every single magician in his homeland, and now it's time that you meet and spend time with him.

MICHAEL LAM
Multitalented and multilingual, the Hong Kong magician brings his specially honed sleight of hand across the pond specifically for our day of fun. Known for creating the illusion of impossible, be mesmerized by the artistic magic of Michael Lam.