Back to School!

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Today I had a blast visiting John Wise P.S!

I love visiting children in a classroom. It’s alot of fun and the children are often very appreciative, attentive, and well behaved with a teacher in the back of the room. I know I looked forward to every visit and assembly and special event that they had at my school. Anything to get out of schoolwork! This morning I had the pleasure of visiting two classes at John Wise P.S. in St Thomas ON. The children were great fun. One group was a full day kindergarten class, and the other were grade threes. The Kindergarten class was fun, they threw me for a bit of a loop though. They loved the magic, and pirate jokes, so I brought out a pirate story to read them. As soon as the cover of the book came into view they all shouted “We read that one!” and pointed to it on the shelf. Always the prepared pirate, I smiled and pulled out another book. The back up book. As soon as the cover of that one came into view another cheer of “We read that one too!”  What I did not know was all the little pirates had spent the last few weeks doing their homework preparing for a visit from a magic pirate ( me ) and besides reading every pirate book they could, they decorated the classroom, Built a pirate ship in the corner and put a treasure map on the wall! I put down the book and pulled out a larger magic trick I had set up for the older kids in the next classroom. The children loved it and were very happy.

Thank you Captain Corbin

The Grade three classroom visit went well also. This class was not expecting me, as the visit was set up at the last minute. The children were thrilled when I walked in the room though! I was not sure if they knew what to expect from me, so I asked how many of them had seen me before at a fair or a show at the library and they surprised me as just about every hand went up. Out of a class full of kids I don’t think there were more than two children who had not seen me before. It was wonderful to visit them and show them some new tricky bits of business! Both classes wrote me wonderful thank you letters as well. Definitely a day I’ll remember.

I love visiting schools and having fun with the kids. Big show in the gym, or a small show in the classroom I would love to come to you children’s classroom and visit them. Have your child’s teacher give me a call!

A Treasured Visit

they treasured the visit

Restaurant Magic

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The past few weeks I’ve been busy performing at restaurants all over Southwestern Ontario. Kelsy’s, Montana’a, East Side Mario’s, ect, ect. Restaurant work is always a lot of fun and a bit challenging. I have a blast performing my close up magic for dining guests. Most of the time patrons in a restaurant do not expect to see a magician at their table It’s interesting as i wander the restaurant to see the looks, people wondering who I am and why I’m there.

I love performing my favorite close up magic tricks, but a restaurant also provides the opportunity to try new effects and different routines. These past few weeks I challenged myself to bring a new bit of magic to each restaurant and to go “off script” as much as I could whenever I presented my standard effects. A magician often scripts his routines out, and of course after presenting the same piece of magic over and over again thousands of times, you A- Get really good at it. and B- you begin to sound like a recording. So these past few weeks I’ve come up with some new and very funny different ways to present some of my magic. It was a great success and I believe my presentations are much better now! The new magic I performed was good too. A new card trick, a new “mind reading” effect, and a few other close up routines. As expected the first few times I presented them they were a bit rough, but by the end of the run, all the kinks were worked out and the presentations were smooth!

Next time you visit a restaurant, if you see a magician wandering around, be sure to call him over or ask you waitress to have him come over. It’s a great bit of entertainment, and beats small talk while waiting for your meal to arrive!

 

Eating on the road

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I have been lucky enough to be able to travel all over Ontario. Traveling is something I love to do, the drive can be fun ( on the way there anyways ) But the locations are the best. Often I try to plan my trip to include extra time at the city, just so I can visit other locations and look around. One of my favorite things to do is to discover the best places to eat in different city’s, here are a few of my favorites. Let me know if you have any “special restaurants’ and where they are!

Best Italian food – Zappi’s in Niagara Falls 6663 Stanley avenue (corner of Dunn) It’s kinda hidden in Niagra falls, but worth looking for (don’t bring the kids)

Best Buffet -Frankie’s Tomato 7225 Woodbine ave. Markham ON. I love the buckets of olives hanging from posts all over the restaurant. alot of great atmosphere.

Best Cheap pizza – Stobies pizza on Dufferin st. in london. This is one of those things that defy explanation. It’s a flat cheap slice of pizza, but it’s very good!

Best Chain restaurant – Appleby’sYes it’s a chain restaurant, but I have to admit I’ve never had a bad meal or bad service here. Good for a night out with your lady or a family dining experience.

Best Fast food restaurant
Ha ha ha ha, LOL – your kidding right? why would you even ask.
Best Fish / Fair Vendor Craklin’s Fish on a stick ( from lucan, but they are mobile!) You can find them on the east end of dundas street in London ON. Great and crispy fish, worth the drive.

Best Burger – Old Marina restaurant mcClintock drive Punslinch lake
5 mins. off the 401 on Punslinch lake. This burger is huge and covered with melted cheese that smothers the burger, runs down the sides and gets fried with it, giving it a crispy ring of fried cheese. That’s how it’s served and it’s wonderful

Best Gyro – Admiral Submarine Dalhousie st. Brantford. The restaurant looks like it’s seen better years, but the staff is friendly fun and they load your plate. (and it tastes great!)

Quick bits
Best dessert -Triple brownie at the great canadian food booth at “family shows canada” fairs or at the london ON western fair market building -Get it dipped in chocolate if you can!

Best apple fritter – Dutch bakery on Wellington street in St Thomas ON. (covered in cinnamon sugar with fresh apple wedges and an amazing filling!)
Best frys – Mackies in Pt. Stanley a large fry is good, but what makes it special is the secret home made chunky sauce, pile it on your frys high and grab one of their orangeades to wash it down

Best hot & sour soup -House of Gourmet 484 dundas st, east of spadina-

So that’s where I go to eat. Have you gone to any of these places? do you plan to? Let me know your favorite restaurants and tell me who you think are the best. Also Where should I go to eat in Windsor or Chatham? I need a good restaurant to go to in those towns!

Bathroom problems!

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If I ever write a book for the traveling entertainer, bathrooms would take one of the first chapters!

I used to have a rule about bathrooms on the road, the less I have to touch the better. I’m not an obsessive compulsive germaphobe, but some rest stop bathrooms have bugs that cast a shadow, and mold that moves on its own. So I thought a “hands free” bathroom could only be a good thing.

Unfortunately some businesses figured out that the less that I had to touch, the less they had to clean, repair and maintain. They liked that very much and of course have taken it to the extreme. Now the new “hands free” bathrooms have faucets that are gone and replaced with motion sensitive taps that have one temp- Hot! the paper towels have disappeared to make way for a hands free hot air hand blower (mostly useless) and doors have been removed, to be replaced with a windy curvy entrance!

I want comfort, cleanliness and privacy in the washroom on the road and I don’t want a useless hot air machine! give me a door and paper towels nearby to open that door with! give me a tap with water that won’t burn the germs off and make sure everything is well stocked! is that too much to ask?  I know the real reason for the hot air machine is that it’s cheaper then paper towels. I’m just hoping the next rest stop I visit has not found a “hands free” way to replace the “expensive” toilet tissue!

A Suprise from and for the Captain!

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One fine day a few summers back I was heading out to perform at a birthday party in Hamilton Ontario. I travel all over Ontario and Hamilton is not that far from my home port, however it is far enough that I left plenty early in case of traffic and to do a bit of treasure hunting at the local antique shops. Upon arrival in the fine town of Hamilton I found many of the antique shops closed fer the day (twas a Sunday yarr!) So with plenty of time on me hands and nothing to do I went to the park nearest my afternoon show and thought I’d sit on a bench and play me guitar for a while. Upon arrival to the park I noticed a group having a party. There were three dad’s and a ton of kids that seemed to be running and jumping and generally driving the fathers crazy. It was a large park, surrounded by trees and utterly devoid of playground equipment, no swings, slides or anything fer these wee kids to do. I figured I had nothing better to do fer a while, so I hatched a plan to head over and perform a magic show for them, I had lots of time. I slipped my pirate garb on in the van ( luckily I parked in a secluded spot and brought no attention to myself) then I hopped out, grabbed me trunk on wheels and headed to the group of confused dads.

As I figured as I’m marching to the group in full pirate regalia the kids attention turns to me and I was swarmed. I head to the picnic tables and immediately get the kids to sit down fer a magic show. This is when one of the dads approach. Before he could ask who the heck i am I say, ” Hello I’m Captain Corbin the magician. Sorry I’m late, I’ll just need a minute to set up and I’ll begin.” The dad just said great and asked if he could help in any way. I smiled and told him to relax a while ( the three dads looked like they could use a break) The dads took a seat on a picnic table and I began my show. Kid’s love it and I had a blast performing for them. A free surprise show. I had no idea what the dads were thinking, I just assumed the main dad thought his wife had set something up. Or perhaps he was just happy to get a break. After my show I really had to get going fast! My time was running out and I knew I would not be able to get to the actual birthday party early enough. ( I’d get there on time, just not as early as I would like) So I packed up quick and then the father who spoke with me at the beginning comes to me and asks if I’d been paid. It briefly flashed across my mind to say no and try to get some $$ for the show, but instead I just said yes, that the cheque had arrived in the mail a few days ago. That seemed sufficient enough for him and I quickly ran to my van loaded up and drove off having done my good deed for the day!

It took me a while to find my afternoon show. I knew I

A surprise show?

was nearby, but had to stop at a Tim Horton’s to freshen up and there were a ton of one way streets that really got me turned around. I was supposed to arrive at 1:30 for a 2:00 show and it was already 2:00 when I pulled into the driveway and ran up the front steps to the door. My client let me in the porch and I apologized to her for running late (I blamed traffic ) That’s just about when I noticed through the hallway poking around in the kitchen a guy who looked very similar to one of the dads from the park. My client, a lovely lady said “that’s okay Bill called me from the park and told me what a great job you did with the kids there” You could have knocked me down with a feather. I was surprised to say the least. My client showed me to the back yard where all the kids I had just performed for were playing and I began my second show for the group! I never told them what had happened, and i had to customize a second set on the spot, but I must admit I laughed to myself all the way home!

P.S. I just remembered ~ I actually hadn’t been paid for the show yet. That was just something I said to the dad at the park. After the “second set” I asked the mom for the cheque and I noticed the dad overhearing me. I mentioned to him I was mistaken when I said it had arrived before and that I was thinking of another payment. It could have gone very awkward at that point however!

Captain Corbin teaches Magic on ROGERS Cable

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Captain Corbin be a Magical Pirate no doubt, and sometimes the crew wants to learn a magic trick or two. A while back while sailing the Thames in London Ontario I dropped into Rogers Television and taught the hosts of Rogers Daytime a wee bit O’ Magic. Shiver me timbers….. the cameras were running and all my crew members in London got to learn it at the same time.  The captain doesn’t get cable on his boat because … well the cable keep snapping when I pulls away from the dock don’t cha know. Well at least I can watch it on   youtube whenever I wants. And you can too!

Enjoy!