Join us for Shezam’s First Virtual Magic Convention
April 30th-May 2nd
Interested in a Dealer’s Booth? Watch this video to see how they work in the OWG World!
Times tough, but still want to join? We have a few sponsored registrations available. Here’s the short application!
Who’s Booked?
Erik Tait is the 2018 IBM Close Up Champion, has appeared on Penn & Teller: Fool Us, Ships Of The Northern Fleet, and is the host of the Penguin Magic Podcast. Known for his offbeat effects and cutting-edge sleight of hand, Erik has a reputation for unusual card magic. When not working behind the scenes at Penguin Magic, he stations himself at the edge of reality defending this realm’s inhabitants from those who would try to conquer earth for their own gain.
Giliana Flore aka Magica Gilly was born in France but currently lives in Italy. She began to devote herself to magic in 2010 after having frequented the magical environment with her father Gabriel from an early age. In 2012 in Aix en Provence, she was awarded the special jury prize at the French magic championship. In September 2018 she received a lifetime achievement award at the International magic Congress in Tagliacozzo Italy. She has participated in numerous television programs in Italy, was featured in the French magic magazine “ La Revue de la Prestigiditation”, and has just published a magic manual dedicated to the layman public which has achieved considerable success.
For nearly 20 years Rory Rennick has performed professionally. For over a decade he has combined his acting, motivational speaking, and prestidigitation skills to present the incredible story of the enslaved man-turned-magic entertainer Henry “Box” Brown. Rory has performed and lectured to thousands as an arts educator with the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education and We’ve Known Rivers. He is also a member of the Ohio Storytellers Network and the Ohio Local History Alliance. He is a founding member and historian of the International Association of Black Magical Artists. Rory is the author of the book Henry “Box” Brown’s Legacy and My Life With Him.” Among Rory’s other varied interests are writing articles about the world’s largest niche collection of African diaspora/ black imaged playing cards, which he owns.
Felice Ling is a social scientist, a Boston-based magician, and an international street performer. She has performed in festivals and on the streets of three different continents but spent most of her pre-pandemic time performing in Boston’s Faneuil Hall. She’s also the Founder of the Boston Magic Lab, a monthly open mic magic show that just recently celebrated its one-year anniversary.
Fresh off of an appearance on the season premiere of Penn and Teller Fool us, Noah Sonie will deliver a fresh take on magic and mentalism. Noah is a full-time performer with advice from mistakes that he’s made in the past so you can avoid them in the future. Noah is focused on creating genuine and honest moments for his audience and is thrilled to share what he does with you.
Alba was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and became the first female magician from South America to regularly appear at the Magic Castle, to which only 3% of the top magicians get to perform. Since 1998, she has regularly been hired to perform on two of their main stages. She has also graced the stage of Monday Night Magic, the Chicago Magic Lounge, Mystique Dining in Utah, El Sótano Magico in Zaragoza, El Rei de la Magia, Barcelona in Spain, as well.
Alba has performed on international TV, has been featured in periodicals, magazines, and books like in “The Secret History of Magic” by Peter Lamont and Jim Steinmeyer. She wrote a book about restaurant magic and wrote for Genii magazine. She was a winner at Chicago´s Close-Up Magic Competition at Navy Pier and was also awarded the “Star of Magic” after 6 months of live TV competition among more than 70 contestants.
Her tools of the trade are her magnetic personality, upbeat sense of humor, theatrical training, command of English & Spanish, sleight of hand (and mind!) plus, a deep respect for her audience. This delicate combination makes her show internationally acclaimed.
Shoot Ogawa was born in Tokyo, Japan, where he discovered his love for magic at the age of 10. By the time he was 17, he had traveled to the United States and won the First Place award for Stage Magic at the St. Louis Magic Jubilee. At age 27 he became the youngest magician ever to win the Magic Castle’s Close-Up Magician of the Year award. Since then he has won countless awards for his close-up, parlour, and stage magic, and gained an international reputation as a truly legendary performer.
Cate Flaherty has been performing in circuses, on stages and streets around the world for almost 20 years. She’s been performing her own solo comedy street show, “The Cate Great Show” since 2009. She’s performed in 11 different countries. She has a minor in theater from Florida State University and is a graduate of The Quebec City Circus School.
Internationally renowned and motivationally captivating, Martika and her one-woman stunt show hail from Kansas City, MO. Raised in a military family, Martika grew comfortable constantly moving about the globe from a young age. Learning from the best instructors the world of circus has to offer, this delightfully dangerous daredevil studied circus arts, fire, escapology, and a slew of sideshow skill sets before ever taking a stage.
She is the Midwest’s only Motivational One Woman Stunt Show since 2010. Entertaining with innovative stunts such as barbed wire hula hooping and traditional sideshow stunts like sword-swallowing. All the while incorporating informative uplifting messages in her shows. Martika’s main message? No matter how terrifying a goal may be, it is achievable.
Karen Maruyama, a teacher at The Groundlings and AFI, has taught specialty workshops for Disney Orlando, Disney Animation, Paramount Parks, and Universal (to name a few). She’s the director of multiple shows, including the Los Angeles hit, “The Black Version”. You probably have seen her on your screen in things like The Campaign, Pulp Fiction, Baskets, Pee Wee’s Big Holiday, Arrested Development, Hannah Montana, The Simpsons, American Dad, Avatar: The Last Airbender, King of Queens, Nip/Tuck, Futurama, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Whose Line is it Anyway?, Dunston Checks In, The American President, Full House, and much more.
Schedule (times in PST)
Friday, April 30th
Join us for an opening game and evening jam session. Schedule TBD as the time approaches.
Saturday, May 1st
8:00am-9:00am: Opening Jam Session
9:00-10:00am: Erik Tait’s Lecture
No magic convention is complete without at least one discussion of card magic. Erik Tait will teach some of the card magic that has made him a regular performer for Honda, Bark Box, and some of the biggest companies in the world. The skill level will range from preposterously easy to pretentiously difficult. Whether you are a novice magician or an expert cardician there will definitely be something here for you. You are guaranteed to walk away with at least one card trick you’ll love to perform, as well as some new moves you’ll be excited to practice.
10:00-11:00am: Variety Arts Workshop Round A
Choose from one of the following:
Finding the Funny in You: Whether you call yourself a comedy magician or not, this workshop is for you. Taught by Karen Maruyama, find out how to hone your own persona, be funny as you, and improve your current comedy and performance chops. This workshop is hosted by one of the best comedy teachers in the industry, so you don’t want to miss out! Supplies needed: a notebook and writing utensil.
Sideshow Stunt Performance Theory and Hula Hooping Meets Magic: Join Martika, the one woman stunt show, as she talks about sideshow stunts in the 21st century. How do you bring sideshow stunts to the virtual stage? Do all stunts still look and sound the same? We will answer these questions and talk in detail about performance theory related to sideshow stunts. This is also a great time to ask any questions about sideshow performance theory. Come to the workshop ready to ask questions. We will end with learning a simple trick! This is a circus-based skillset. Martika will teach you how to add a mini hula hoop to almost any magic act. Looking to challenge yourself? Wanting to spice up an old act? Kick up that cardistry or Rubix cube act by adding a hula hoop. You will walk away with learning how to hula hoop on your hand, arm, or foot. Supplies needed: At least one hula hoop. Hula hoop should be a small to mini-sized hula hoop. Roughly 17’’ to 25’’ ID (Inside diameter of the hula hoop). A hoop smaller than 15’’ ID will be too small. A hoop larger than 25’’ ID will be too big. *Sideshow stunts will not be taught in this workshop.
Improving your Juggling Skills: Get your juggling on with this workshop by the amazing Cate Great! Learn how to take your basic 3-ball cascade to the next level. Supplies needed: 3-5 balls to juggle.
11:00-11:45am: A Show with Alba
11:45am-12:30pm: Lunch Break/Breakout Jams
12:30-1:30pm: Noah Sonie Lecture
This lecture isn’t about tricks. Don’t get us wrong, you’ll learn a few tricks. But more importantly, we’ll talk about you and how to add elements of who you are into your performances. Noah Sonie will offer his fresh takes on performance when it comes to magic and mentalism with a tip that is guaranteed to improve the impact of your performances. You’ll also learn a simple and flashy way to control multiple cards, a dead simple and casual card effect you will want to perform every day, how to turn your phone into an impression pad, and so much more. Noah doesn’t have any products to sell so all you’re going to get is real-world advice.
1:30-2:30pm: Variety Arts Workshop Round B
Choose one of the workshops (listed above).
2:30-3:30pm: Building a Street Show with Felice Ling
How do you build a street magic show? What works and what doesn’t work on the street? This lecture is an introduction to building a sidewalk magic show.
3:30-4:30pm: Henry “Box” Brown by Rory Rennick
Hear about one of history’s most compelling escapes and a life transformed. Rory Rennick shows how magician Henry “Box” Bown’s life can serve as an inspirational and motivational blueprint for greater freedom as an artist-and also as a cautionary tale. Valuable presents will be given away!!
4:30-5:30pm: Shoot Ogawa Lecture
5:30-6:30pm: Dinner break/Breakout Jams
6:30-7:15pm: Evening Gala Show
Featuring Magic Gilly, Noah Sonie, Martika, and Shoot Ogawa. Hosted by Erik Tait.
7:15pm-close: Breakout Jams
Sunday, May 2nd
7:00am-Virtual Show Technical Bootcamp with Erik Tait (Additional Fee: $20)
You’ve attended dozens of lectures on how to effectively perform in the virtual space. You’ve written a show that is the best representation of your magic in a zoom format. The digital curtain is about to go up, and you just realized you don’t have a digital curtain. Your zoom show looks bland, and you don’t know the first thing about how to set up your virtual stage. You’ve got the magic, but now you need the tech.
Time to go to Virtual Show Broadcasting Bootcamp.
Your stream surgeon for this 2 hour deep dive into the ins and outs of making a slick virtual show that will leave your audience thinking they are watching a professional broadcast is Erik Tait. He’s the technical mind and live-stream producer for Penguin Magic, he’s helped transition Tik Tok stars with hundreds of thousands of followers to high-quality stream environments on Twitch, and now he’s going to teach you the technical wizardry to make your zoom show look like a million bucks without spending a penny. Students in this workshop will be treated to an in-depth look at how to create scenes, transitions, and on-screen elements that add production value to any zoom show. This is not a magic class, this is a home broadcasting workshop for magicians. Erik will lead students through setting up their virtual stage, effective lighting and audio technique, how to create and manage multicamera setups, and most importantly both the basics of adding overlays and graphics into your zoom show and some advanced techniques that the pros seek him out for. The information in this workshop will be good for both Mac & PC users, and participants will also receive sample artwork they are free to use in their own virtual shows as well as a recording of the workshop for personal use. Level up your zoom show with the Virtual Show Broadcasting Bootcamp.