In order to be more productive (and magical) we are switching over to Google Apps to handle all email requests. This small technical detail may result in slow email delivery this Sunday, but no worries, I’ll get to it by tomorrow.
Cheers
By Alexander the Great Magician
Ottawa, Ontario
I just finished performing for a fantastic crowd in Quebec. This is a group of adults, young and old, that meet every few months to share food at a local restaurant and share in some local entertainment.
These fun-loving art patrons hired me in February for one of their lovely dinner parties and Victoria and I were lucky enough to be invited for the meal and pre-show entertainment as well.
To start the night there was lots of conversation and new people to talk to, but the big entertainer was Bouchon le clown (contact Bouchon at his website) who provided music from his accordion and entertainment from his balloon sculpting.
After the meal I was to perform my act. I began with a few card effects that do a good job of demonstrating why nobody should play poker with me. I shifted my performance by performing some of my fire effects which always gets a reaction and a shock. After some ropes and a few more miracles I shifted into some of my more complex effects.
By the end of the night I had already spent a fair amount of time with this lovely group and they were more than receptive towards my magical entertainment.
If you’re planning a dinner party or similar event in the Ottawa Gatineau area consider hiring local entertainers; the mood of a real artist always improves the mood of the party.
By Alexander the Great Magician
I’m very excited today! I just booked the last part of my trip to Toronto to see a very special magician.
Juan Tamariz will be performing shows in Spanish, French and English, all on separate nights. I will be attending his English performance on June 19. I’m super excited to be able to see this legendary trickster as I was blown away at his performance and lectures at Magic-Con 2010 in San Diego last March.
If you ever get a chance to see this man perform don’t miss out. I’ll be sure to post a review after the event.
Until then I must be off practicing magic in Ottawa.
By Alexander the Great Magician
There are many reasons why you might want to hire a magician.
Some people who hire my services were browsing for sweet 16 party ideas, or just looking to rent entertainment in Ottawa. Very quickly they are drawn into the mystery and prestige that is intrinsic to the conjuring arts.
If you are looking to rent a magician in Ottawa, or just looking for any type of entertainment consider how much fun a magician would be at your next event or kids birthday party.
By Alexander the Great Magician
Well its 9:56 San Diego time, 10:56 here in Denver and 12:56 according to my bodies own circadian rhythm. Ive walked up and down the airport (not true, I actually only got about halfway before I decided there IS no end to this airport in that direction), checked out the over priced “Red Carpet Lounge.” At $50 bucks a pop, I checked it out from the outside.
Interestingly enough, in the land of fast food, the “Red Carpet Lounge,” features comfortable seating, quiet waiting area and fruit, which is ostensibly not found at any other oasis in this airport. I get to use free internet here, but only after agreeing that my personal information is being read (possibly out loud) and after watching a 30 second commercial. Ironically enough the ad was for one of those rocket internet sticks. Such is life.
UPDATED Photo upload soon, boarding starts soon!
Not many people know, but this airport continues on forever in that direction.
By Alexander the Great
I took a quick snap of this photo during one of my shows this year. I love seeing my name in print, even if it is only on the schedule for the week. But as a side note, this day care is rockin, beads, crowns and swords for art projects. Way Cool!
By Alexander the Great Magician
March 17, Ottawa
I’m sitting at the airport looking out at the tarmac. The morning sun is shining across the spiffy United Express aeroplane that I will be boarding in 20 minutes. The customs officer wanted to know if I had a trick to show. But since I’m in a t-shirt I clearly have nothing up my sleeves.
Security wasn’t too much of a big deal, the xray guy asked me if I had books in my bag, my carton of bicycle cards must have looked odd at the side of my bag. I hardly packed any magic tricks with me, but there is a good reason for this. First, there is going to be no shortage of stuff to watch. Second, the more I can do with less the better.
If I can walk into a room and do a trick with whats on the tables then I can certainly perform magic with props. Last year I often said during my act “I like to twist reality with words first, then sneak in some magic with props; it comes as a surprise that way.” (credits: Lennart Green)
Well, I better wrap up this message, and change my voice mail message for the week! 
By Alex the Great
Hey everyone, I have just come back from picking up some new cards that advertise my job as an Ottawa magician. I started my business in the summer of 2009 with 500 business cards and I have now run out completely. I got 2000 this time because I tend to go through them quickly.
I started giving my business cards to the kids when I used to do my magic over 10 years ago and I stopped for a few reasons this year. Thee first is that I actually didn’t want to be too busy until 2010 so I have time to work on school. Luckily now I can focus all my attention to getting the word out: This is one magician who is ready to work.
Feel free to contact me if you are looking for an exciting Ottawa Magician
By Alexander the Great Magician
I just finished off my most successful year doing magic in 2009 and I’m extremely excited to continue running this business throughout the year. This originally started as a summer job for me this year after I was finished classes at Carleton University.
There are a lot of jobs that I could do, but I decided, what could be better than working for yourself? Now that the holiday rush has subsided I have had a chance to work on some passion projects of mine that I’d like to tell you about now.
The first is my passion for good food. While this isn’t remarkable news to share, those in Ottawa might be interested in something unrelated to magic: http://www.ottawarestaurantreviews.ca/ which is my site that does reviews of places I have visited and felt critical about (good and bad).
By Alexander the Great Magician
December 25, 23:30
Toronto, Ontario
This note will have nothing to do with the magic that I perform, but about the magic around us every day if we are looking hard enough, with pure enough intentions.
I am out of town for another few days because I am spending christmas with my family. I have been so fortunate and lucky over these holidays. I have been spending the holidays with some of the greatest influences in my life and I hope that all of you have been able to be with the most positive forces in your lives. Warm conversations, warm food and a (slightly) warm house (my parents).
For me, Christmas has been an evolving tradition over the years. With half of my family across the ocean it has always been centred around the wonderful relationship that I have with my parents and that we all have together. This is one part of my life that I am very proud of.
Being proud of my family extends to my own self-confidence and pride; I am a Massaad. And with that comes all the sensitivity towards people that my father taught me and all the life skills and love that my mother passed down as well.
I am especially proud of one Massaad initiative, and this one should be a global philosophy. Over my high school years, with all my experience travelling in the third world, I became very sensitive to consumer waste and greed. This sensitivity turned into disgust, followed by anger. I prompted my parents to put a modest limit on holiday spending. None of these big ticket items for Christmas, thats not what Christmas is about! Talk about a distasteful twist of tradition.
Small items, gifts from the heart, and being with those who care for me and vice versa (the “Golden Rule” has gotten me everything positive I could have ever dreamed of!!! 
As I became more mature and more experienced with relationships via my friends and peers, I really became aware of how special this tradition is.
Merry Christmas and don’t buy too much; it probably isn’t needed. All I could hope for is sitting at my dinner table talking the night away. On that note, I’m going to run back down and enjoy the conversation.
Love from Alex Massaad, signing off for 2009.
