Celebrities and People

As many of you know, Dr. Joe Schwarcz, head of Chemistry and Society at McGill University, my Alma Mater, has a 2 evening Conference sponsored by Lorne Trottier, every year in Montreal. It’s open to the public and its free. Phil and I have been going since it started. Its entertaining as well as educational. The topics are fascinating. This year Dr. Amir Raz from the department of Psychiatry at McGill and Dr. Marla Shapiro, physician, who many of you must have seen on CTV, were his guest speakers.

Dr. Joe, a customer and a friend, always invited us to the meet and greet before the show, where wine and hors d’ouvres were served. It was full of professors, scientists, scholars, and important people. Of course we’re all important, but these were celebrities. It was here several years ago that we had the pleasure of meeting Julie Payette who is now Her Excellency, the Right Honorable Julie Payette, Governor General and Commander in Chief of Canada.

Phil was star-struck when he saw her way back then. Normally shy, he took his courage in hand and went over to her and said, “I just had to meet you. I’m not a doctor or professor or scientist …” and she said, “Don’t tell me what you’re not, tell me what you are.” And Phil said, “I’m Joe Schwarcz’ magic dealer.” “Really? How exciting!” And from there they got into a conversation and we’ve been friends, always happy to see each other and catch up on what each other was doing etc. She was director at the science centre at the Old Port  in Montreal for a while and had magicians there so we had something in common. We usually sat together in reserved seating. Not this year.

We sat in reserved seating but Julie was nowhere in sight until everyone was seated and an announcement was made that Her Excellency, the Right Honorable Julie Payette, Governer General of Canada was entering and everyone stood up and applauded. It was moving. She had an official escort with her.

When she sat down Dr. Joe went on to the stage and started to introduce Dr. Marla when someone came up to him, whispered a few words and stepped away. He went back to speaking and said “It seems I didn’t have the correct protocol. I’m supposed to introduce the Her Excellency The Right Honorable Julie Payette and she is going to say a few words. He continued with  something like “I never thought about introducing her because she comes here every year and I never introduced her before. Just because she’s an astronaut, and plays in a symphony orchestra, and is a super athlete,” and he went on and on about her achievments, “why would I introduce her?” He got a good laugh. He introduced her and she came up and gave a heartwarming speech which I’m sure everyone enjoyed, and then the speakers were called upon and we had a wonderful evening. We did have a chance to speak to her after. As she says “I’m still Julie”!

 

Phil Matlin, Magic Dealer

When you come to Perfect Magic 99% of the time you will find owner, Phil Matlin at his computer. I will usually get up to welcome you to our home away from home, but most of the time Phil won’t even know you are there. Don’t be offended. He is engrossed in his computer and he isn’t playing games. He usually manages to greet you as well and sometimes even chew the fat as he did yesterday with a customer from Newfoundland. They had a lot to talk about and it was a good break for Phil.

You have no idea what goes into keeping a magic catalog up to date.  Where oh where are those olden days of paper catalogues when every year we would send you an up to date one? Now as soon as Phil is finally through with the new items he is working on, a new batch comes up. Everyday, thanks to the world wide web there are new tricks, new books, new DVDs. But all work and no play makes for Phil a dull day, so I thought I would show you another side of Phil.

Here he is with his beloved grand dog in the Laurentiens on Lac Noir. Zoe is watching the ducks that kept coming to visit. It was a lovely day, with no computers in mind.

P.S. One of my other grand dogs. One of Brian’s dogs. She’s much bigger than she looks in the photo. He has two Great Pyrenees dogs. Brian and his wife are involved with rescue dogs so if you’re looking for one, let me know.

Perfect Mates, Magic and Halloween.

Are you ready for the monsters? We were chatting in the car. We had our grandchildren with us. I said how wonderful the weather was. My granddaughter, 9, said she loves the snow, especially the first snow fall. She wished it would snow now. My grandson, 11, said, ” What? You want snow for Halloween?” No, she did not. And here I thought they might be getting too old for Halloween, but it’s that bag of goodies I bet they’re thinking of.

As magicians you have the chance to make it more than just candies, or I might say you have the obligation to make it more. Here’s one. How about asking them if they have a nickel, then turn it into a dime (as in Coin Slide) before their eyes. It will only cost you a nickel. Of course you can also turn it into a quarter, depending on your budget. You can slip them a business card too. Doesn’t hurt. They will remember you long after the candy is gone. If you work with coins there are lots of things you can do. Any quick trick will leave an impression, if you do it right of course! The Sixth Little Finger is eerie enough for Halloween and so is the Creepy Hand and Voodoo  Doll.

For a Halloween party, it’s a whole other ball game. The Zombie Ball comes to mind, and seems to be making a comeback in general, but a Halloween its especially appropriate.

Whatever you do, have fun!