David Ben
David Ben is a Canadian stage magician, sleight of hand artist, illusionist, author, publisher, keynote speaker, magic historian, magic consultant, magic collector and former tax lawyer. He has been a professional magician, performer, entertainer and keynote speaker since 1990. Ben is known for his sleight-of-hand technique, his knowledge of magic history and his collection of magic. He is one of the founders of Magicana—a performing arts organization dedicated to the study, exploration and advancement of magic as a performing art—and currently serves its artistic director. He is the publisher and editor of "Magicol", a  journal of magic history and collectibles. He is the sole protégé of a fellow Canadian, twentieth century sleight-of-hand artist, Ross Bertram, and biographer (and representative of the Estate) of celebrated magician, Dai Vernon. Early life and education. Ben was born March 5, 1961 and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His interest in magic began after receiving the book, "The Stein and Day Handbook of Magic" by Marvin Kaye from his father in 1973. Ben's childhood interest turned into a lifelong passion after he watched the television special "Doug Henning's World of Magic" (1975). Ben became a  frequent visitor to the Arcade Magic and Novelty Company in Toronto, and then Morrissey Magic Ltd. While in high school, Ben worked part-time at Morrissey Magic, learning the craft from Canadian magician and store founder, Herb Morrissey. In 1978, Ben acquired the book "The Magic and Methods of Ross Bertram" and in 1979, through Morrissey, Msgr. Vincent Foy and P. Howard Lyons, met the book's author, Ross Bertram. Ben studied magic with Bertram for six years (1980–86) and became Bertram's sole protégé. Ben graduated with a BA from University College of the University of Toronto (1983), an  LLB from the University of Western Ontario (1987) and an LLM from the London School of Economics (1988). He articled at the firm of Macdonald & Hayden, was called to the bar in the province of Ontario in 1989, and joined the firm of Goodman, Phillips and Vineberg (now Goodmans) as a tax lawyer. However, in 1990, after producing a series of conventions, lectures and magic shows, Ben abandoned the conventional lawyer's life to pursue the art of magic. In 2019, Ben was a featured alumni by the University of Toronto in a video that highlights a summary of his  work and contributions to magic. Charity and outreach. In May 2000, Ben co-founded, along with broadcaster Patrick Watson and producer/director Daniel Zuckerbrot, Magicana, a not-for-profit organization (and now a registered Canadian charity) dedicated to exploration and advancement of magic as a performing art. He also assisted his wife, Jan Howlett, an accomplished educator and former Director of Public Programming and Education for the Royal Ontario Museum, and executive director of the Children's Own Museum with the formation of her own school, the Howlett Academy, an independent school (JK–Grade 8) located in Toronto. When Howlett  died on July 14, 2013 from complications due to brain cancer, Ben assumed the role of director for the Howlett Academy. In 2004, Ben developed "My Magic Hands", an outreach program designed to teach creativity and develop self-confidence and self-esteem in disadvantaged youth through the medium of magic. The program received a significant pilot funding in 2005 followed by a subsequent multi-year funding grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (2006–2008). In 2005, inspired by his friend the late Tom Kneebone and the Smile Theatre Company, Ben created "Senior Sorcery", a program designed to bring magic shows to  immobile seniors, the goal being to create intergenerational opportunities for the old to invite the young to share the experience of magic. Magicana continues to offer "Senior Sorcery" to hundreds of seniors, their families and friends at centers around Toronto. In 2009, Ben acquired the collection of late Canadian magic icon, Sid Lorraine, adding it to his already considerable magic holdings. Ben's holdings also include the collection of Stewart James, Willis Kenney, David Drake, Bruce Posgate, and items belonging to Dai Vernon (including props from the famed "Harlequin Act"). Ben developed a number of online exhibitions for Magicana including  Ross Bertram, Master Magician 2010; "Sid Lorraine: The Magical Chatterbox" 2009; "The Life & Magic of Stewart James" 2007 (in collaboration with PhD student Joe Culpepper); "Postcards of Magicians" 2005, 2010; and "Bert Douglas: A Family Remembers" 2005, 2010). Theatre. The Conjuror (1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2014). "The Conjuror" was a theatrical recreation of a performance by a celebrated (but fictitious) Canadian conjuror at St. George's Hall in London circa 1909. The play was developed by Ben and Canadian broadcasting icon, Patrick Watson, after a chance encounter between the two at the home of Canadian media mogul and magic aficionado  Allan Slaight. "The Conjuror", with set and costumes by Kelly Wolf, had its world premiere at the Shaw Festival in 1996. The show had outstanding box office and critical reviews. Christopher Newton, Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival, "dip[ped] his imagination in the Golden Age of Magic" and invited Ben and Watson to revisit "The Conjuror" the following season. "The Conjuror – Part 2", with set design by William Schmuck and lighting by Bonnie Beecher, had its world premiere at the Shaw Festival in 1997 featuring "seven illusions accomplished with panache". At the end of the season, Ben and Watson amalgamated  The Conjuror and "The Conjuror – Part 2" into "The Compleat Conjuror" for a special gala fundraising performance for the Festival. While Ben and Watson were developing "The Conjuror", Ben became reacquainted with Daniel Zuckerbrot. Zuckerbrot, a documentary filmmaker, retained Ben to levitate David Suzuki, the host of The Nature of Things, for a Zuckerbrot film "Martin Gardner: Mathemagician" (1995). Zuckerbrot proposed recording the development of "The Conjuror". The result was "A Conjuror in the Making" (1997), which aired on the "Adrienne Clarkson Presents" on the CBC and on "Breakfast with the Arts" on the A&E Network in the United States . The film follows magician David Ben and director Patrick Watson through rehearsal, show development and finally to the opening night performance at the Shaw Festival. The documentary won gold at WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, and the Chris Statuette at the Columbus International Film & Video Festival. In 1997, Lindsay Sharp, then Director of the Royal Ontario Museum, invited Ben to stage "The Conjuror" at the ROM. Ben and his team refurbished the theatre in the Museum – a theatre that had been dormant for theatrical productions for 35 years. A 90-minute version of "The Conjuror" opened in December 1997 at  Theatre ROM and ran for four months. It then embarked on a regional theatre tour of Ontario in the summer of 1998 "deftly conjuring [a] charming show". The play was remounted to continued acclaim in Toronto in 2002, now with original music by John Lang, and ran for six weeks. "The Conjuror" was remounted in December 2014 for a limited-engagement of 12 shows for six days for Soulpepper Theatre. The Conjuror's Suite (1999, 2000). In 1999, Ben and Watson created a new 90-minute show—"The Conjuror's Suite"—an exploration of parlor magic inspired by the work of Jean  Eugène Robert-Houdin, Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser and Max Malini. With Ed Kotanen's design and Bonnie Beecher's lighting, Ben and Watson created a three-quarter surround theatre in the Garfield Weston Exhibition Hall at the Royal Ontario Museum for the show. "The Conjuror's Suite" received critical acclaim, and Ben was invited to restage the work by Curtis Barlow at the Charlottetown Festival in Prince Edward Island for the summer of 2000. Tricks (2004). Collaborating again with Watson, Ben wrote a new theatrical work, "Tricks"—a post-modern show focusing on the classics of magic. He returned to the stage  with critical success. Designer credits: set design by David Rayfield, lighting by Bonnie Beecher and an original score by John Lang. The work was presented in 2004 at Artword Theatre (Toronto) in collaboration with Magicana. Natural Magick (2011). In 2011, Ben mounted a new show, "Natural Magick" which was produced by Magicana in collaboration with the "Luminato" Festival. This show was inspired by John Baptista della Porta's 1558 scientific treatise, "Natural Magick", Shahrazad's tales, Kenneth Burke's "A Grammar of Motives" and the modern notions of magic as espoused by master magician, Dai Vernon. The new work featured  a set by David Rayfield and multimedia imagery by Cameron Davis, lighting by Bonnie Beecher and music by John Lang. Ben presented new sleight-of-hand pieces from his repertoire and received critical acclaim for his work. "Natural Magick" was a top pick for the Festival. "Natural Magick" was presented as part of the Master of Magic series for Luminato at the Tarragon Theatre (Toronto). Card Table Artifice (2014). In 2014, Ben wrote, performed and directed, "Card Table Artifice" which was produced by Magicana in collaboration with the Luminato Festival. The show was a new work based on A Man  in a Room, Gambling, originally created by Gavin Bryars and Juan Muñoz. The 2014 presentation was a performance art piece with three areas of the stage occupied with Ben performing live, sleight-of-hand gambling technique, Bryars leading a string quartet and a narrator, Canadian actor, RH Thompson, reading passages which described the technique displayed by Ben on a large video screen behind the performers. There were two performances, June 13 and 14, 2014 which received warm reviews. Producer. Ben produced a number of magic conventions, lectures and magic shows including NYCAN '83 (convention), a gathering of 300 magicians. In  the same year, he also became one of the first to produce Penn & Teller in their two-man show at the Ritz Theatre in Toronto. In 2003, Ben started producing through Magicana, and in association with Allan Slaight, a conference called "31 Faces North" in which he and Slaight invited thirty-one of the world's foremost experts and practitioners of magic and promising young magicians to participate in a four-day think-tank of magic. The attendees represented a who's who of magic including Guest of Honours: Jay Marshall (2003), Tommy Wonder (2003), Johnny Thompson (2004), Harry Riser  (2004), Billy McComb (2005), Charles Reynolds (2005), Max Maven (2006), Bob White (2006), Roberto Giobbi (2007), Stephen Minch (2007), Ton Onosaka (2008), Herb Zarrow (2008), Michael Weber (2009), Bob Sheets (2009), Gaëtan Bloom (2010) and Jim Steinmeyer (2010). Filmmaker, Daniel Zuckerbrot recorded each session, all of which is now housed in the archives of Magicana. In 2009 Ben became Director of the Magic Collectors Association, publisher and editor of its journal, "Magicol" and the convention chair for the annual gathering, the "Magic Collectors Weekend". 2010 marked the 41st conference. Ben continues to serve as producer and Convention Chair of that  event. In 2010, Ben was invited to program and produce the "Masters of Magic" series for Luminato, a festival of creativity and the arts held in Toronto. For Luminato 2010, he produced magicians Bob Sheets, "The Mac King Comedy Show", Max Maven's "Thinking in Person", and North American theatrical premiere of Spain's Juan Tamariz at the Panasonic Theatre. In 2011 Ben was again called upon by Luminato to curate magic for the Festival. He produced three shows: "Toast of the Town" (Eric Mead), "Natural Magick" and "Vodvil". While "Natural Magick" featured magic performed by David Ben, "Vodvil" involved  five magic acts by artists of international acclaim – namely, The Great Tomsoni & Company (John and Pam Thompson), Mike Caveney, Tina Lenert, Ardan James and Gaëtan Bloom (of France). "Vodvil" was presented in the historic Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto keeping in step with the vaudevillian theme of the show. In 2012 Ben produced, in association with Magicana, three new programs for Luminato. The first was "The Alpha Project" by the mentalist, Banachek; "The Cheat" by Richard Turner; and "From The Dark" by Chilean magician Juan Esteban Varela. In 2013 Ben also produced in association with Magicana, three more programs for  Luminato: "Concerto for Piano & Pasteboards" by Spanish magician, Miguel Puga; "Chamber Magic" by Steve Cohen; and "Compositions" by magician Rafael Benatar. In addition to producing these live performances, Ben produced in association with Magicana and Reel Time Images, a film "The Devil's Playthings", a short, fantasy film mixing cinema and sleight-of-hand. For 2014, Ben again produced (in association with Magicana), two programs for Luminato themed as "Transgressive Magic". The first was "Bullet Catch" a magic/performance art show written and performed by Scottish performer, Rob Drummond, about the (fictional) case of William Henderson, a magician apparently killed  in front of 2,000 people while performing the famed bullet catch in 1912. The second was "Card Table Artifice" written by David Ben and composed by Gavin Bryars and presented as a performance art piece with the simultaneous presentation of Ben performing card table artistry, Bryars leading a string quartet and narration by Canadian actor, RH Thomson. The show also included an opening act by magician, Rob Zabrecky. Consultant. Ben served as the Magic Consultant in a number of areas including: Keynote speaker. In 1990, in addition to performing magic at corporate functions, Ben started speaking about creativity, innovation and  problem-solving using the metaphor of magic to a wide range of businesses and associations in Canada and the United States. His work in this field led to his book on the subject, "Advantage Play", published by Key Porter Books in 2002 (now published by Magicana). Ben has also been a keynote speaker for the magic community providing lectures for private groups and conventions since 1985. He has been sought out to speak as an expert on sleight-of-hand magic and as a historian of magic, including unique lecture topics for The Ibidem Event (1985); the Society of American  Magicians 100th Anniversary Convention in New York City (2002); the combined Society of American Magicians and International Brotherhood of Magicians conference in Louisville (2008); and multiple appearances in Hakone, Japan. Awards and Achievements. Ben has received numerous awards and recognition for his achievements in magic including: Writer, biographer and editor. Ben is the author of: Ben is the co-author with Patrick Watson of: Ben has edited various works including: Publisher. Ben, in partnership with Magicana, is the publisher and editor of: He became the publisher and editor of "Magicol" () in 2010, a quarterly journal on magic history and collectibles  that has been published since 1950.