Bao Magic

Last week, I had the honour of performing at ’s 8th Annual Lunar New Year Gala in Montréal, celebrating the Year of the Fire Horse.

Nearly 600 guests gathered for the celebration.

It was great to see continuing to invest in events that celebrate and support the Asian community, and an honour to contribute to the evening.

I started the night with close-up magic and mentalism during the cocktail hour, before sharing the stage with the and , and closing the event with a magic and mentalism show created especially for the occasion.

For the performance, I built the show around the theme of welcoming fortune for the new year, with several pieces written specifically for this Lunar New Year celebration, including an opening moment with Marjolaine Hudon, RBC’s Regional President for Québec.

The finale involved a randomly selected guest whose $20 bill transformed into $100 as a symbol of prosperity for the year ahead.

Then something unexpected happened.

After receiving the $100 bill, the guest shared that in Chinese culture, when someone brings you wealth, you return the gesture. He then reached into his wallet and handed me another $100 bill.

A beautiful and completely unexpected moment that captured the spirit of the evening better than anything I could have scripted.

Thank you to Charles-Émile Desbiens for the invitation and coordination, and to the RBC team for trusting me with this performance.

Shoutout to  for the excellent audiovisual production that brought the show to life.

Thank you as well to my backstage manager , who coordinated the technical moving pieces behind the scenes so I could stay focused on the performance.

And finally, a big shoutout to  from .mtl, who masterfully commanded the room and delivered a four-language introduction that set the tone for the entire show.

Grateful to have been part of such a memorable night!

Photos by 📸

I hunted down ALL the playing cards used in F1 The Movie 🏎️

If you spotted them and wondered what decks they were, here’s the full list and where (or if) you can still get your hands on them:

🃏 MGM Grand Hotel (Vintage)
🃏 Gemaco Alpha Wynn Casino in Purple (Vintage)
🃏 Mirinos (Rare, sold out at most retailers)
🃏 Mirinos Standards (Rare, sold out at most retailers)

Most of these are hard to find or already sold out. I know some of you who collect or perform with cards would love these, so I wanted to share while they’re still floating around at a few remaining retailers or on ebay.

Which one’s your favorite?
Let me know if you’re hunting any of these too!