Crime doesn’t pay … but some thieves do get away with things.

Well it didn’t take long for the police in sleepy little Maillardville to find the villains responsible for the “vanishing” Jet Ski. In fact they had also “vanished” another Jet Ski, six outboard motors and an aluminum boat! Now they get free accommodations courtesy of the Province!

I got an email today that a magician was arrested for robbing a cash register from a bar while he was drunk. The bummer is that he is a great magician and is a super creative guy who apparently is just down on his luck. The photo that accompanied the article was really shocking and it made me think just how important it is to have friends around you when you decide to let your hair down. Not that letting my hair down includes robbing a bar. SEE ARTICLE

I’ve been asked many times what magic inspire me. Well I love this video by Darren Hayes called “words”. The song is outstanding and the magic is incredible. I hope you are inspired as I am. Inspired to create your own magic and not to just copy as so many have done recently with my “shape of my heart” routine.

Now that you have seen someone interpret a song and apply it to magic, I ask you why do people like Keelan Leyser have to take the song Shape of my Heart and try to do my routine. I point this person out for several reasons. First and foremost he is presenting it on a Norwegian Cruise Ship, the Norwegian Jewel, where I spent the Summer presenting the real version. Secondly when I contacted him to ask him to stop he said he would as he knew I was performing at Blackpool, where he was last years winner, and didn’t want me to make an issue of it while I was on stage and had the audiences attention. Finally because his reasoning is that he had heard of my routine but had never seen me perform and that he got the idea from watching another magician do the routine, who by the way was inspired by my performance. So stealing the idea from someone who stole the idea makes it OK …

Well that said let the comments begin ….

What an odd day it was …

Started my day a wee bit early as jet lag has me in it’s trance all over again! I went to the golf range and hit a couple of buckets of balls. Yup, me golfing. It’s actually lots fun and I have sore arms and back which means I’m kinda even working out!

Not much else happen today, well expect when I took a short nap on the couch and the jet ski in my drive way which is chained to the fence was stolen!!!!! That’s right, little old me slept right through people driving into my driveway, cutting a huge chain and lock, hooking it up to whatever they were driving and then leaving while hauling away the jet ski. Oh the “new” jet ski! It’s magic!

Tomorrow will be a better day … really …

Did I mention I fly a lot?

OK, I travel a lot and expect things to not go well, but we can always hope for the best. In my most recent memory I have had flights with people next to me who were large enough to occupy two seats, others with elbows that liked my ribs, no food, entertainment screens that select their own movies, delayed departures and even a forced landing at a different airport when the electrical instruments all failed while in the air! This one was no different.

Our first flight had only 90 passengers so there was plenty of room to spread out and sleep. I wonder if it was just this flight crew or that American Airlines doesn’t request passengers to close the shutters of the windows on overnight flights. Most people have a clue and close them to allow others to watch the movie of the “community screen” and to make the cabin darker so we can catch a few winks. My row was of course the row with the elderly lady who apparently never needs to sleep as she kept the shutter up for the entire trip. This meant a piercing beam of sunlight directed in my eyes for the entire trip. Yes, there was plenty of room to spread out and I eventually moved … as did the beam of light! This was the least of my problems.

When we arrived in Chicago around 2 PM and was surprised to see a poster for “Wicked” that had just started in town! After clearing customs and immigration we headed off to recheck our bags when we discovered our connecting flight had been canceled by the FAA. Seems there had been weather issues earlier in the day and to make everything better they just canceled some flights! A very kind lady from American Airlines, Sherri, told us there was another flight in 6 hours or we could switch to another airline if we prefer. We switched to United which had a flight departing at 5:25 PM which was just a couple hours away! Sweet! We rechecked our bags, got new tickets and headed for the new terminal. Oh wait, when you change your ticket within 24 hours of your flight you get the full and special security check … that was special!

The flight loaded late as there was no one scheduled to operate the gate. When we did get someone, it was just one person and he rocked. He was full of humor and was quite efficient. We were loaded and ready just 40 minutes late when the Captain came on the intercom to tell us we had a technical problem. The generator in the tail was not responding and a repair crew was on route to diagnose the problem. We sat in the plane for about an hour while they switched on and off the power, all the while the flight crew tried desperately to keep us happy by playing the movie “Wild Hogs”. Not the best idea as each time the electric shut down … the movie did too!

Now after an hour of waiting they asked up to exit the plane and head to another gate as they were going to locate another plane. We waited another hour or so and then loaded the new plane and finally were on our way to Seattle, Washington. We left Chicago about 8:30 PM which was about thirty minutes after the other American Airlines flight had left! What a joke!

Arriving in Seattle we found “Murphy”, my van, and loaded it for the two and half hour drive back to Canada.

I opened the door to my house at 2 AM which meant the journey home was around 27 hours in duration. I plan to sleep in and then head off with my friend Ray for my first golf lesson. I have two weeks to get “my game” together before filming my episode of Fins and Skins for TSN and Fox Sports in the Dominican Republic…

Manchester, England

I awoke early for the final time in Blackpool and headed for Manchester. I was to be provided with a Taxi but due to a misunderstanding the Taxi was booked for a day after I was scheduled to leave the hotel. I booked my own transport and headed for the majestic Britannia Hotel in Manchester.

The drive seemed quick and checking in was a breeze. They even had free internet in the room! We went for a walk and did a little shopping and ran into Lennart Green and Shoot Ogawa in the food court. It seems I am always running into Shoot in odd places outside of conventions. I returned to the room to have a nice hot shower and get ready for dinner.

That evening we went to Sapporo Teppanyaki restaurant and had a little sushi and a whole lot of teriyaki chicken. It was great meal and the chef was quite entertaining. We headed off to find a club and a party. Not such an easy task in Manchester on a Monday. We did find a cool/hip club called Revolution with a few people and a whole lot of Vodka. They featured shooter boards of vodka in many flavors. We had a ten shot board and a few drinks on top and grabbed a Taxi back to the Britannia. It was 3 AM and in just a couple of hours we had to be at the airport to catch our flights home. Sure hope this time there is electricity, audio and food…

Day Three of the largest magic convention in the WORLD! (final day)

Well it was hard to sleep last night as the nightmare that was Stu Francis (please note I’m calling him by his name … why couldn’t he use mine?) kept me awake most of the evening. I was a bit embarrassed returning the next day to the convention but so many people were kind with their praise of my performance and joined me in making light of the fact I was called anything but my own name. I think what bothered me even more than being introduced by the wrong name was that this ass never even took me off as he was once again changing his shirt. I had walked completely off stage when I saw him once again at the piano off stage left so I walked over tapped him on the shoulder and told him I was done. He looked quite surprised and ran past me to share himself some more with his adoring fans!

I had a couple of hours at the booth and business was incredible. Simon and Lori were almost completely sold out of everything I had brought! I think the only thing I can say it we were “simonized”. If I ever get a booth again I would hope my friend Simon would come.

It was now time for me to present 12 shows of close up. Each set would consist of four performance of about 10 minutes and there would be three sets. The whole affair was organized by Alan Mylecraine, who was brilliant. His staff of host were all great and they made me feel super comfortable. The only issue I had with the whole thing was their choice of venue. It was very intimate for the close up but I think I would prefer less intimate for the ability to actually hear the performance. The performers all performed at the same time in a horseshoe shaped, high vaulted ceiling hallway with a mere partition dividing us all. I had the thrill of being the neighbor to David Stone who is quite loud. I thought I was loud! David is an outstanding performer and his routine is filled with dozens of applause cues which would drown my voice out each time. By the third performance I was actually listening to David’s act and timing my jokes to be between his applause cues. I’m sure there must have been somewhere else to do this session. If it can’t be moved, even if they had four performers spread out more doing their acts followed by the other four directly appear and presenting it would have spread out the “neighbors” more and less noise would have been generated making for a better show all around.

I did the best I could and the response was great but I know I could have done a much better job if there had been better performing conditions. I do this for a living and can only think of one place where the conditions are worse … Abbotts. They hold it in a gymnasium with four acts presenting simultaneously to an audience seated in bleachers! Maybe that’s where the organizers of Blackpool got their idea?

Well I was done and there was just a few minutes left before the vendors room were shutting down. I returned to my booth to find I had not completely sold out … I still had three items! Ha… On my way out of the hall a magician stopped me a bought one which attracted another vendor who bought the other two items. Wow … sold out … how cool.

I took a short nap, found the internet in Blackpool (a task in itself) and got ready to watch the final gala show. Yes, I got tickets. Lori had asked Derek Lever, the convention chairman, if it was possible to get tickets as ours were apparently on route to Canada. He radio to the kind ladies at the reception desk and we were given outstanding tickets to see a really good show. The show had it’s highs and lows but I will leave that to someone else to review. All I will say is that Adrian Walsh was a great MC/Compere and I wish I had been on a show with him instead of what’s his name… Stevie Franklin (or something like that)

Both of these blogs have reviews: Naquada Blog or Tim Ellis Blog

In the morning I am packing my bags and getting out of Blackpool. I had a blast meeting the other people attending the convention and made some really great friends. I hope one day to return to Blackpool but next time I’m coming as a guest and will wear a big badge with my name on it …

I would especially like to thank my friend Guy Barrett for looking after me the whole time we were in Blackpool. He’s a busy professional and he found the time to wine, dine and just hang out with Lori and me. He took me to electronic shops, fabric stores, printing shops and more. I would never have made it through the weekend without his help.

Day Two of the largest magic convention in the WORLD!

I was up at the crack of dawn today as the jet lag just won’t give up. Our hotel is now full of guests and the heat has been turned on so I took a warm shower and headed down for another delicious English Breakfast. I was pleasantly surprised to find Obie O’brien and Joan Caesar in the breakfast room and had a great chat before dining on some eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, toast and fried tomato!

I decide to drop by the Vendor booth and see if anyone was really interested in visiting me. Wow! What a fun day it was hanging out at the booth. I am really happy to have the booth as so many people came by to compliment me on my lecture and to purchase lecture packages. Most had wanted to buy them the night before but had been shoved out of the room by security. I spent most of the morning in the booth. I have never had a booth before so the idea of demonstrating my magic and selling it was really quite foreign to me. My friend, Simon, on the other hand is quite the sales man and basically did everything for me while I just hung out and played! Fun!

In the afternoon I was expected to perform for a VIP close up show. This time someone actually came to talk to me about the show and I really wish I had gotten his name as he was super nice. In the room I met Bob Wooding who was a gracious host and made me feel very comfortable before my performance. The room was large and so was the crowd but with the aid of the video and a microphone it was a great show. I was especially pleased and surprised by the rapturous round of applause at the commencement of my act. All in all the best event I had at the convention as it was without incident. But there was still the evening show and that was “Craptacular”!

I spent a bit more time in the booth and then headed back to “Chez Gresham” to prepare for the evening gala/competition of the UK vs the World. As I had said early in this blog if I had know it was going to be billed as a contest I would never have agreed to perform. But I am a man of my word so I loaded up my gear to present “Shape of my Heart”.

Had I known what and ass Stu Francis was going be as the compere (master of ceremonies) for the evening I would have never have even gone to the show let alone be a part of a 4 and half hour production! I can only say that I knew it was not going well when I indicated to the gentleman that the act on stage, Raphael, was ending and it was time for him to “take off the act” and he responded by running over to a grand piano off far stage left and proceeded to change his shirt! Yes, change his shirt! By the time he had done his quick change the act had already left the stage to no farewell bow … what a joke. I had noticed earlier how he was presenting acts so I had already taken time to direct him on how to introduce me and my act. I think it is rather simple to just say “Please welcome 3 time FISM award winner from Canada … Shawn Farquhar”. Go ahead try it … I’ll wait. No really try it! See it wasn’t hard at all was it? Well Mr. “it’s all about me” Francis went out on the stage and started chatting up my Wife on stage and then forgot what to say so he returned to stage left and asked Lori what he was supposed to say. Yes you read that right. Then came the crowning moment for me that told me just how much I was loved … he introduced me as Derrick … then corrected himself and called me David!

I was so embarrassed and angry at the same time. Who hired this unprofessional clown to host a gala at the world’s largest magic convention? What were they thinking? I did my act but to be honest I just wasn’t “in the moment” and just went through the actions and I am sure many of the 3500 audience members would agree. I am so sorry I could not shake the feeling … I just have never been treated like this before … anywhere.

For a full review of the show you can visit Naquada’s blog or Tim Ellis’s blog which has been written by Craig Mitchell of the College of Magic in Capetown, South Africa.

Day One of the largest magic convention in the WORLD!

Well I didn’t get to my vendors booth all day. I had some fun trying to get registered for the convention. Turns out the organizers mailed the package to my house in Canada. Those of you who know me, know my house is not exactly the place I often visit! So without a package I asked the charming ladies of the registration counter to perhaps get me a badge and tickets so I could start enjoying the convention. They were very nice and tried their best to find out anything but after an hour of waiting I went in search of additional help.

I headed over to the VIP desk, but they told me I was just a performer and the other desk would look after me. Back I went to meet Arthur Casson, the convention registration chairman. I told him my name was Shawn Farquhar and that they did not seem to have a package for me. His reply was that the package was mailed and if I didn’t have it then I would most likely be without tickets to the Sunday Gala. He gave me tickets to the Saturday Gala and I told him I wouldn’t need those as it was my understanding I was on the Saturday evening show. His reply, “oh you’re performing here?”. I have never felt so much love. Now with badge in hand I headed off to the hotel to take a nap as the event up to now had been quite stressful and I had just a few hours before I had to lecture.

I was an hour into my “jet lag” induced nap when the front desk called my room to tell me I was late for my “stage act rehearsal” in the Opera House. I am never late for a rehearsal and besides he show isn’t until tomorrow night so why would they need to rehearse today? Turns out I was late for a rehearsal. I was later to find out someone just left a note on the chair of my vendors booth earlier in the day with a schedule of rehearsals …

The rehearsal was quick and to the point and the crew of the theatre and club members backstage were outstanding. I was less than totally coherent during the run through as I was still half asleep. I did however get the understanding that the Saturday Gala was billed as a competition of the UK vs the World. What an odd idea for a gala. If I had known it was going to be billed as a competition I would not have agreed to perform.

Now with that out of the way I headed back to the fabulous Gresham Hotel to prepare for my evening lecture. I was even more thrilled to hear my event was up against the British Close Up Championship. This I felt meant I would have a very small audience and not much exposure for my magic.

I was so wrong… My lecture was standing room only with people out in the hall ways looking in to see what all the fuss was about. I was only given an hour to lecture and the traditional 30 minutes to sell following. I had a great group of tech working for me and the video projector they set up made the lecture perfect. I always travel with my own projector and camera but having professional working their own made it “Easy”. My lecture last 1 hour and one minute and they really seemed to like the stuff. I wish I could have done everything and explained things better but I just didn’t have enough time. I think the organizers should seriously consider extending lecture to 90 minutes to allow for better explanations and more material to be covered. As I said my thanks and left the stage the table where Lori and Simon were standing was mobbed and my effects were being snatched up very fast. I tried to make my way to the crowd and got stuck signing autographs and taking photo’s. I love this part of my job. That people like my magic is the true mark of my success. I would love to have basked in the moment but 10 minutes into it the security guard started shouting that everyone had to leave now. Within 13 minutes of finishing my lecture everyone was out of the hall and I was even in the hallway with out my lecture material. I explained I needed to get back in to get my stuff and the security guard was annoyed as he was in a hurry to be done. What a glorious way to end my first day at the Blackpool Convention.

Another persons opinon of my lecture can be found at this blog by Naquada. Don’t be thrown off that he begins by calling me Steve. Calling me names other than Shawn became a theme of this convention ….

Day before the largest magic convention in the WORLD!

We were awake quite early and went for a traditional English Breakfast. Normally these breakfast rooms are full of guest. We were the only ones in the hotel! This would explain the lack of heat. Richard, cooked us an outstanding breakfast and sat with us for a chat. We then headed over to the Winter Gardens to see where the whole convention would take place. We had a great spot in the magic vendor area … which we thought was odd as we didn’t want a vendors booth.

While wandering around saying hi to old friends we met a member of the Blackpool Magic Club, which I was surprised to find out was just 38 guys! Alan Coventry, the treasurer, was an absolute delight. He and I chatted for quite sometime and I was even paid in advance for my services! He and I were both surprised to find out the Taxi from Manchester was paid for by the magic club so I was not supposed to have paid 70£ myself.

I then headed off to buy material to cover the tables of my vendor booth as they weren’t supplied. You remember, the booth I didn’t want. Guy Barrett took us to his favorite shop where the owner gave us a deal! I like a deal!

The convention wasn’t scheduled to start until Friday so we basically just hung out, made a trip to JB Magic to see if he had any replacements of the items stolen from my luggage, and had a great evening of food with Guy, Jill and Lisa.

Once again we were off to bed as the jet lag was still killing me….

Off to Blackpool, England

Today we packed and headed off to Seattle, Washington to catch a plane. Normally I would fly from Vancouver but the producer of the event asked me to try to get a cheap flight so I drove for three hours to the US, booked a hotel room for the night, rented a car space and then caught a flight at 6AM to help the producer save a few dollars.

The flight was with American Airlines and it was quite an adventure. This is the first flight I have ever taken that ran out of food. That’s right, I was on the plane for nine hours and was offered a yogurt for Dinner! When Breakfast came around I was lucky enough to offered another yogurt. Well you don’t pay for the meal on a flight, right? Then I settles in to read my new pocket book, Wicked, as I am now a huge fan. Oh wait, The reading light would not work as the electric on the right hand side of the plane was broken. Well you don’t pay for the reading light on a flight, right? I put the book away and decide to watch the movie. Unlike most of the newer planes this was the style where there are several small TV screens down the middle of the plane which makes it hard to see. Well you don’t pay for the movie on a flight, right? Wait it gets better. Once I decide I would still try to see the movie I found out the headphones didn’t work on the right hand side of the plane either. Well you don’t pay for sound on a flight, right? Now I’m not sure what I was paying for on this flight … I thought it was customer satisfaction!

Arriving in Manchester we found our luggage without incident. That’s because we didn’t use British Airways! Once we collected our luggage a friend I had not seen in years approached me to show me his suitcase had my luggage tag attached. Why or how this would have happened I will never know. Later when I open my case I found it had been inspected and several items were stolen from inside. Bummer!

We met our taxi driver, Fred, and we were off to Blackpool! It was a fun drive and Fred had just returned from a cruise so we had lots to talk about during the journey. When we arrived at the hotel it was closed. Richard, our host was woken from his sleep and we were given a corner room in the Gresham hotel. Not exactly up to western standards, in fact a bit of a dive, but the staff was so good it made up for the fact there was no heat or hot water. We went to our room to take a short nap and basically miss the rest of the day!

As evening approached we called a dear friend, Guy Barrett, who drove over and gave us a guided tour of Blackpool and it’s “Golden Mile”. We also went to a casino where I donated a few hundreds Pounds to the local economy. With jet lag getting the best of me, we called it a night.

Home for a short time …

Well my trip home was less than perfect. On arrival at Heathrow I discovered that I had somehow not pre-booked our seat allocations and was going to have the joy of a middle seat. Not so bad if the guy next to you wasn’t one of those people who dig their elbow into your ribs in an attempt to gain more arm rest space. He was one of those arrogant people who does not even notice or speak to anyone on a plane unless it is to get something for free. Add to that the fact my “personal entertainment screen” wanted to select its own features like audio books and Enya!

I never slept a wink and ate my meals sitting half sideways in my chair. Seemed every time I tried to sleep the guy would get out of his seat and toss his seatbelt onto me to make room to get out. Well it’s over and the best part was seeing Hannah bouncing around at the ariport tryng to find a way around the security barrier to give me a hug!

Two days of jet lag and I had to start getting ready for my next trip. Oh yeah, I’m off to the UK again on Monday, February 18th. This time I’m flying to Manchester on route to Blackpool. Blackpool hosts the largest magic event in the world. It all happens on a single weekend and will attract 3500 magicians from around the globe. I will be doing 12 sleight of hand shows in a single day, lecturing on the opening night and performing my “Shape of my Heart” routine on the final gala show. Should be a fun weekend.

After that I get a short break to learn how to golf. Ok, I’ve played before but this time I need to look good! I will be filming an episode of “Fins and Skins” for TSN, FOX Sports and Global TV. Other guests for the show have included Booby Orr, Celine Dion and Eric Clapton. I love to fish and have had fun golfing so this should be a fun week. Did I mention I’m filming it in the Dominican Republic!