New year, new magic! To ring in the new year, Jonah sits down with Ben Train, Chris Mayhew, and Jacque Swan to discuss their magic highlights and lowlights from 2018, and what they plan to change for the upcoming year.

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Ben: The shows he put on through the Toronto Magic Company were highlights for him. He is proud of what they were able to accomplish and how the company developed throughout the year. As a personal highlight, he was honoured to have been able to perform at the Chicago Magic Lounge.

Chris: Consulting on his first TV show, called the Thrillusionists, was the biggest highlight for him this year. Not only did he get to marry his passions of filming and magic, but he was able to see how to execute a major project. His second highlight was finally seeing the fruits of his labour come to fruition, as he finally released his deck of cards: Leon Playing Cards.

Jacque: Taking up coin magic was her highlight in 2018. It helped her further her studies of magic, and she doesn’t believe she would be as into the community if it wasn’t for coin magic.

Jonah: Newest Trick becoming a weekly show was his highlight this year. Not only did it allow him to up his number of performances, but it helped foster a magic community that has allowed him and other Toronto magicians to grow.

Ben: Over the past year, he spent a lot of time focusing his time and energy on projects outside of his personal show. Due to this, he feels like his personal show has fallen behind in terms of quality, and he isn’t exactly excited to perform it now.

Chris: In a sense, taking a year off performing was a lowlight. It was odd not performing after doing it for so long. This decision came from him feeling like his old character was not working for him, and he felt like the effects were married to this character. However, by taking a step back he was able to realize that he loves performing and gained a new perspective on who he is as a performer.

Jacque: She regrets not showing people the material she has been working on and regressing back to her social anxiety tendencies. When she does show her material, she often only shows effects that she is confident in performing rather than new material.

Jonah: He didn’t take seriously the sheer amount of creativity required to complete all the projects he took on this year.

Ben: Last year, his goal was to focus on creating more original magic. However, he didn’t perform a lot of the material he developed. This year, he vows to implement his changes rather than just talk about them.

Chris: He plans to start performing again now that he’s taken time off.

Jacque: Her goal is to figure out who she is and how this relates to her performance.

Jonah: He feels that his character has developed over the past year so some of the magic he is currently doing doesn’t necessarily fit with who he has become. In the new year, he plans to look at who he has become and what magic better suits this new character.

Ben: “I don’t have to be here, I get to be here.”

Chris: “Just enjoy doing things.”

Jacque: “Don’t be afraid to show people what you’re working on.”

Jonah: You need to actually do more than just read and watch magic. You need to actively implement your ideas and what you’re learning to actually grow in your magic.

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