Rooted is all about the people, places, and events, that make us proud to call our community home.
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The Capitol Centre will be the host site for the premier performance of ‘Aces of Magic’ 5 Magicians 1 Incredible evening.
“This will be the first time we perform this format with this group of performers,” says Ken Margoe, who specializes as a Close Up Artist and was a VIP headliner at Illusionarium in Toronto.
“We wanted to cover everything, so we have illusionists, we have a mentalist, we have an escape artist and a close-up artist,” he says. “That encompasses the majority of what’s possible in magic and it’s a nice value, a good bang for your buck.”
The artists include mentalist, Buzz Collins, who is a clinically trained hypnotist as well as one of North America’s leading psychological entertainers. Margoe says, “I've worked with Buzz before many years ago and he's just great at what he does, he's a pro. He has some comedy to his act and it’s really entertaining. He has held live performances everywhere from the resorts of the Caribbean to multiple headlining runs at Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas.
Aaron and Caroline Matthews are the Illusionists who have performed at renowned Canadian attractions such as the Calgary Stampede, Canada’s Wonderland, and the CNE and were semifinalists on Canada’s Got Talent! Margoe says they do some jaw-dropping illusions, as well as making a child levitate with their adorable magical dog!”
The show also includes an escape artist named Mind Bender. “He recently performed an escape from Kingston Penitentiary, beating Houdini's Prison Break record,” says Margoe. “He does the straitjacket and other escape stunts.”
Last but not least, Margoe, who is the close-up artist and holds the current world record for the most dangerous trick – The Bullet Catch, with 26 bullets caught in a single day.
“At the Illusionarium, that wasn’t a trick they initially wanted, but after COVID they reopened and retooled and we started doing that trick 12-13 times a day,” says Margoe.
“I got the opportunity to break the world record at 26 bullets caught in one day. So, I'm thankful I got that and I'm thankful I never have to do it again. But part of the illusion area, one of the main rooms I was headlining, was the VIP room. If you pay a few extra bucks, you get to see me doing very intimate 15 minutes of close-up magic in a small room with, 10 or 12 other people and as part of the show in North Bay I'll be demonstrating all my really good close-up work,” he says.
Margoe says the show is family-friendly
“It’s very clean. No blue humor and no danger to the audience.”
Margoe says the opportunity to debut this show in North Bay is something the entire crew is excited about. He says the idea came to them after visiting the city about a year ago.
“We were staying at a hotel near the Capitol Center, and I saw the theatre and I just thought to myself, “I need to see this place.” I took a walk over and started reading everything about it on the windows and on the platform and I got to check out the inside as well. That really got me thinking about what to do with this group and how to make it a great show to perform at this theatre,” says Margoe.
He says shortly after they got the ball rolling on putting together the concept which turned into the Aces of Magic show.
“The more and more I looked into the history of the theatre, the more I was driven to want to bring a show here. I called my producer and said this is one of the spots I'd like to do at some point, and the promoters and the bookers made it happen. I’m really excited to perform there. It should be a great show.”
Aces of Magic hits the stage on Friday, April 5th at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available here.
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