My Fellow Magicians & Friends,

I hope that you are well. Here in Toronto we are enjoying beautiful weather after what was a very mild winter. Naturally it was a mild winter because I bought winter tires; no need to send me Thank You cards.

I arrived back in Toronto on Sunday morning at 3:30am from the CAM Convention.  Before I go into all of the details of the convention I would like to publicly thank Mr. John Michalson for his stupendous help during this and all past conventions that ‘Browser’s Den’ has attended.

At the conclusion of the convention John and I loaded our cars up with all the magic goodies that did not sell and drove back to Toronto.  When we arrived in the early hours of Sunday morning we emptied out our cars and talked for a little while. Accompanying me was my good friend and wonderful customer Ivor Jones from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Ivor was very kind to help unload the cars. Afterwards I drove Ivor to the airport and then I drove home.  Len and Herb Pinsky (my cats) were waiting to greet me. I had not seen them for four days.

Also before your read the highlights for me of the convention I would like to also publicly thank some very special people who make the convention possible. First and foremost is Joan Caesar. Another special person who Joan always recognizes at the Awards Banquet is Mr. Nick Sacco.  Besides Nick working so hard behind the scenes at every CAM convention, Nick is a very trusted advisor to Joan and sits on the CAM board.  In fact Nick is a trusted advisor, coach and truth be told mentor to many who are willing to listen and learn including me. Thanks must also go to the tremendous hard work of Sandy Hobson and Dan McLean Junior. Sandy duly won the 2010 Sid Lorraine Achievement award at the convention. Sandy is also a board member and besides his hard work at the convention donates his time and skill to manage and design the CAM website.

And of course thanks to all the others who helped and donated their time in so many different ways!!

The 2010 CAM convention was another grand success. Even during these still tough economic times it was so nice to see so many familiar faces from the provinces of Quebec, Maritime, and some from the west too.

There were so many attendees who traveled great distances to attend and take part in this Canadian run convention.

There were excellent lectures and close up shows galore with the like of J.C. Wagner, Henry Evans, Marc Oberon, Mark Mason, Bill Abbott, Bob Sheets, Shawn Farquhar, Mike Robinson and more. Of course there were stage shows too. And they were good. But since this is supposed to be my personal journal truth be told I am more a fan of close up magic than stage. Having said that the Gala Show was very good and filled with top performances.  Wonderful to see illusions by Ryan Joyce. And a special highlight was the juggler/magician Charlie Frye & Company. For those of you who did not attend, if you ever get an opportunity to see Mr. Frye…Don’t walk…Run to see him!

As I am reminded by Gerry our webmaster this journal is supposed to focus on my personal thoughts, observations and dare I write…feelings.

So along those lines the focus of my time at the convention was in the Dealer’s Room. This convention had without a doubt the overall toughest competition in the Dealer’s Room of all past CAM conventions. And though during these tough economic times it was more important than ever to have strong sales I decided before I arrived to just make the best of it and to learn.  And the truth is I really believe that it is you the customer who should be happy. And the fact is that you can see me at ‘Browser’s Den’ anytime. Therefore, you should be treated to at a convention to lots of variety and good demonstrators.

You see the truth is that I love watching strong demonstrators. There were many tables with a variety of magic and information for you. In the room there was Harry Allen of ‘Daytona Magic’, Paul Richards of ‘Elmwood Magic’, Gerry Frenette of ‘Magicmakers’, Mark Mason of ‘JB Magic’, Guy Camirand of ‘Camirand Academy’, Mike and Jen Segal of ‘Sorcerer’s Safari Magic Camp, J.C. Wagner, David Ben/Julie Eng/James Alan of ‘Magicana’, Ben Train for ‘Bill Abbott Magic’, Henry Evans, and myself.

Nothing to take away from the others but the strong demonstrators were in no particular order…Mark Mason, Harry Allen, Paul Richards and Henry Evans.

It was just great to see them all in action.  And though I concentrated on maximizing my sales I was also trying to watch them. 

Paul Richards has attended I believe all or almost all of the CAM conventions. Paul is an excellent demonstrator. And he combines being a gentleman and his nice sense of humour and style to colour his demos.  Paul is one excellent close up man.  It’s too bad that he only does mail order.  He’s a young guy but I suppose that is the world we live in now and Paul has to do what is best for him and his family. So, the next time CAM convention comes around make sure to visit his booth. And buy something from him!

And of course there was who is universally recognized as the best demonstrator in the world Mark Mason. I loved watching him do his demos.  He has what I consider the most important quality a demonstrator can have…And that is…He makes it all look easy. In fact that is what a good magician should possess…That is he hides his skill from the audience; that way it looks like magic. For a demonstrator when you make it look easy then the fact is it improves the chance of making the sale. And nobody does it better than Mr. Mason.

He and I had a few nice conversations. And I will treasure some of our exchanges and his observations.

But for me the real treat was seeing and spending time with Harry Allen of Daytona Magic. You see when I was a youngster he had a big influence on me. In fact a very big influence.

Back in the mid 1970’s when I was a kid my grandparents spent the winter at Daytona Beach. They rented a hotel room complete with mini kitchen. But what was really great was that the hotel they stayed at was right across from a mid-size strip plaza. And tucked away in an awkward corner of the strip plaza was a tiny magic shop, Daytona Magic.

I cannot remember for sure but I believe that I flew down with my sister for about five times during the Christmas break to visit my grandparents in Daytona.

My father always gave us a weekly allowance starting from when we were very young. And of course as a child you get monetary gifts from time to time. My sister would be always broke spending all of her money. But I was always a saver as a kid. And pretty much the only thing I spent my money on was magic.  So, I would take some of my savings (not all) down to Daytona to buy magic.

And Harry Allen was for me then and now a wonderful demonstrator. Sure some may consider him aggressive but as a youth and even now I feel he is more enthusiastic than aggressive. But no matter your opinion of him…He has chops and his demos make all of the magic look easy.  He is also very good at routining.

Like many who get into magic as a child I was very shy and quiet.  Now Daytona Magic is a big shop. But back then it could not have been more than 300 square feet. But to me when I walked in for the first time it felt like I was walking in to the Eaton’s Centre! And not only would Harry Allen do demo after demo for me and fool me…He would sprinkle  his patter with tons of one liners.  Stuff like  ‘Are you with me?’, ‘Shuffle the cards but don’t mix them.’.  He even wrote a book on those one-liners.

I would walk out of his shop with a purchase or two every couple of days during my visit to Florida. I would take them to the hotel and learn them. In those days we read directions and there were no expectations that the demonstrator would teach you the tricks. In fact in part because I was so shy I would not have wanted that. And truth is…I like learning them by myself. That was for me sort part of the value in the trick.

When my dear father would visit his parents in Florida for a week by himself he would visit  Daytona Magic and buy me some tricks.  My dad liked magic but he was never really into it. However, in this case he would have Harry Allen or Harry’s partner Irv Cook teach him the trick. And before he arrived back in Toronto he would practice the trick. So my dad would actually perform the trick for me.  Nice memories for me of a great father.

So getting back to the CAM convention last week. I had the great pleasure of not only watching and competing with Harry Allen all these 30 years later but I spent time with him.  Harry is only ten years older than me. Of course when you are 9 or 10 and someone is 19 or 20 the age feels very wide.

Harry and I went for a couple of dinners and a coffee. It was just great to talk with him about the magic business. And though our time was short together I learned some new things about the magic business from him.  Too bad I did not have more time.

I suppose the lesson here is that we never really know how we will affect people in large or small ways.

Until Next Time,

Jeff.