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Vo l u m e 2 , I s s u e 2 3 , N o v 2 5 , 2 0 1 1 Story: Bram D. Eisenthal Photos: Daniel Cianfarra
Orla Johannes: Changing the tune of Montreal radio – Pass the crumpets, please! If you know anything about me from previous columns and features, you know how I feel about Montreal English radio. I won’t flog the horse here, but it’s a dying, suffering old nag and needs some rejuvenation badly. There ARE, thankfully, some promising signs, however, and one of the best things – Terry Dimonte’s return to Montreal from Calgary (he is about to become CHOM’s morning man again) and the savvy Aaron Rand’s rebound from a sinking Q-92 to grab the afternoon drive on CJAD, notwithstanding – is a personality you have heard, but know little about. That is about to change, as the vivacious and pretty lass with the dulcet Brit intonations reveals a whole lot more about herself than her radio traffic stints permit.
This issue: West End magicians fool us every time Lake Placid's hottest vacation property Our man in LaLa Land survives a dire scare
Even her name, Orla Johannes, gives you some pause… then you hear her and, wow, you think, this is a very interesting, professional and effervescent young woman. Born in Rainham, Kent, in Southern England, Johannes reveals that this idyllic spot is known as the “garden of England,” so it’s no wonder she has blossomed so beautifully after taking root here on January 8, 1998… smack in the middle of the nowinfamous Ice Storm! It was a marketing job with Future Electronics on the West Island that drew Orla here to begin with, “after an interview in London with their glamorous human resources director Charmaine Huot,” she recalls. Orla was so concerned about the lack of electricity she actually overdressed her first day at Future, thermal long johns and all: “I almost lost five pounds from overheating,” she says with a laugh. “I quickly found my way, adapted well and fell in love with Montreal.”
cont. p4
When are we going to evolve?
Solution...
Briefly Bram * Briefly Bram *
I find things particularly troublesome these days. While technologically has never been more advanced, we are not in a good place mentally. We are angry. We are rude. We are scared, despite our macho bravado. I walk on streets filled with scowls and frowns, but not too many smiles. I drive along roads (scarred as they may be) where more people are honking and swerving than the ones who are calm and polite, as if driving has become some sort of war game. WHY is this happening? I remember growing up in the sixties and experiencing a life that was fairly peaceful compared to today. You would encounter people smiling, helping one another and certainly driving more courteously. Then somewhere we went wrong. It became acceptable to curse at people, perhaps a spilldown effect of the entertainment we and our kids are exposed to daily. Pornography is rampant everywhere, violence abounds on the large and small screen and virtually NOTHING is shocking anymore. Once upon a time, a glimpse of a woman’s knee was enough to cause a scandal: Today, everything is visible, acceptable and never nearly enough. I am the farthest thing from a prude you will ever encounter. Indeed, I consider myself to be a normal adult with healthy appetites. But I cannot fathom how we got to the point where, once, a woman’s exposed bare knee was scandalous , while today images of people having sex with animals is available to anyone, of any age, via the Internet. When bestiality is merely denigrated, when your kids can flip to The Movie Network late at night and watch adults performing every sex act imaginable… what’s next? Live snuff films? Live executions? The torture of children? Funny how we can become outraged where the abuse of children is concerned, but there have never been as many pedophiles out there as there are today… because, why? The lawgivers deem medical castration too radical a punishment? AND, from what I can see, parenting has become some sort of exercise in complete permissiveness. I couldn’t say “shut up” in my house without worrying about my father removing his belt. He only hit me once, not very hard, when I was young… and that was enough for the rest of my childhood. How many parents have had children tell them to “f___ off”? Or throw endless tantrums if they didn’t buy them the latest gadget, simply because their friends had them? I’ve gotta tell you, my constant witnessing of lax parenting is likely the reason I never had kids. It hasn’t helped society one iota, but it HAS created, in my opinion, one of the rudest generations of spoiled slackers in history… the kids who will be responsible for taking care of US when they grow up. What a frightful thought. West Ender Rabinovitch participates in Recycled Art Exhibit On a lighter note, please allow me to direct you to the 14th annual Recycled Art Exhibit Nov. 23 – Dec. 4 at Galerie Ame-art, 5345 Parc Avenue (next to Milos), 514-271-3383… check www.ame-art.com for opening hours. West End artist and past Seeker contributor Carol Rabinovitch is exhibiting.
The Local Seeker, West End Montreal Edition Volume 2, Number 23, November 25, 2011 Founded by Julia Lucio and Mai-Liis Renaud 2010 Published by Local Seeker Media Group, Cornwall, Ontario The Local Seeker does not accept responsibility for errors, misprints or inaccuracies published within. The opinions and statements of our columnists are not to be presumed as the statements and opinions of The Local Seeker. Managing Editor: Bram Eisenthal
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Last Call with Sol - Sol Boxenbaum
Where will you define YOUR future this New Year’s Eve?
Find me a strip mall and I’ll find you a depanneur. If you live outside of the province of Quebec you will probably wonder what a depanneur is. It is known in all other parts of North America as a convenience store, not to be confused with the corner grocery of my childhood. I remember my mother sending me to the corner, to Garfinkles’ grocery store, where I would pick up a can of something she had forgotten to get from Steinberg’s (mustn’t omit the apostrophe) supermarket. Unlike depanneurs, grocery stores were usually family-owned-and operated and often doubled as living quarters. Today these convenience stores are owned by multi-national corporations and are represented by an umbrella organization, L'Association canadienne des dépanneurs en alimentation (ACDA). Loto-Quebec, always on the lookout for new ways to exploit the public, and quicker ways to siphon money out of the pockets of our citizenry and into the coffers of general revenue, recently announced a plan to sell lottery tickets on-line. This prompted the directors of the ACDA to bring out the crying towels and tell us how badly this will affect their retailers, who rely on ticket sales to maintain their existence. Apparently it does not suffice to reap the profits of all the vices (i.e. beer, wine, tobacco products and all the overpriced junk foods and beverages) that we pay obscene prices for in exchange for “convenience.” The commission paid to the retailer for lottery sales is six per cent. That amounts to a lot of money, considering there is no investment made by the retailer for goods or services, which is why I get offered lottery tickets whenever I purchase anything at a depanneur. I once accompanied Wendy Messley and a CBC television crew with hidden cameras and microphones through NDG, where we were offered 6/49 tickets at every stop we made among the depanneurs on Sherbrooke St. and on Monkland. In 1999 I was invited to testify in Quebec City, at a hearing in the National Assembly, on the need to enact a bill to forbid the sale of lottery tickets to minors. I recommended fines to retailers who would disobey the law. It was the president of the ACDA who complained that his employees did not have time to check IDs. We did manage to get the bill approved and I had warned the tribunal that we at Viva Consulting, after a reasonable delay, would test the system. Loto-Quebec’s president promised that they would give offenders one warning only and that a second offence would result in a significant fine. Three months later I took two 15-year olds with parental permission out to test the market. Accompanied by Lynn Moore of the Montreal Gazette and a photographer, we proceeded to purchase 6/49 tickets in 33 of 35 locations. When I delivered a documented list of merchants to Loto-Quebec, I was told that they were not prepared to penalize the merchants I had “entrapped.” These are just a few reasons that I do not embrace Loto-Quebec, nor do I sympathize with the retailers for their projected loss of revenue. A look at your friendly neighborhood depanneur, where you will never hear, It’s closing time. Please visit www.lastcallwithsol.com Sol Boxenbaum (CEO) VIVA CONSULTING (514) 486-6226
Drop by Abra’s store, open Mondays – Fridays from 8:30 a.m. – 4:45 p.m. Or shop on-line, at www.abra-electronics.com. We accept VISA, MasterCard and PayPal.
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Orla Johannes: Changing the tune of Montreal radio – Pass the crumpets, please!
Cover Stor y
(continued from cover) Get to know onetime Westmount resident Orla even a bit through radio and you get the sense that she thrives in the limelight. “While enjoying a childhood filled with life, love and the joy of family with my parents and younger sister, Sinead, I always had a passion for radio and TV. At age 5, I was given elocution lessons.” By the age of 7, whenever she was home sick from school, Orla would spend her days surfing… the radio waves, that is: “By age 7, I was calling to be on all the shows. I got a tape recorder and recorded radio shows with me as the host, then making all my friends listen to me.” Orla had already been taking lessons in dancing from the age of 3 and performed modern, tap, ballet and jazz, as well as spending untold hours watching her favourite Hollywood’s iconic actresses performing in classic black and white films, becoming inspirations for her. “But my career focus was radio and TV hosting and, after graduating with a B.A. Honours degree from Bournemouth University, I travelled to the U.S. with my friends and sold peaches, a venture organized by our university. I travelled across the States all summer and then, back in England, got my first ‘proper’ job working in the advertising departments of the Sun newspaper and News of the World. I actually saw the Future Electronics job advertised in the Times newspaper, so it was media that brought me to Montreal.” Once she decided to follow her dream of becoming a TV and radio host, however, she left the corporate world, went back to acting
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NOV 25 (pg. 4)
school, got an agent and started grabbing small movie rolls. “To support myself financially, I was a hostess at Winnies and a waitress at Mckibbins Irish Pub. After a year of pulling pints, seating punters and handling movie gigs, I landed a full time job with 940 news as traffic and weather reporter, a job offered by then Program Director Jim Connell. He said he was ploughing a lot of faith in me, as my accent would either be a huge hit or totally the opposite! I admire Jim so much to this very day for having faith in me. Soon that position was followed with an offer to become fashion reporter on Entertainment Spotlight with Mose Persico on CTV. I hung up my waitress’s apron and threw myself into the media industry. “Determination, networking, being proactive, knocking on a lot of doors, sending out demos and positive thinking got me exactly what I wanted, proof that dreams do come true if you truly believe.”
companionship. The power and sense of traditional radio has immense value.” She’s pretty persuasive, I must agree. Then again, it’s hard not to love the British, hay, mum? Orla Johannes, who is always up for a new challenge, is a fan of the soaps Coronation Street and Eastenders, British comedian Ricky Gervais, Irish comic Tommy Tiernan, and runs her own voice-over company, loves her dog Lulu and adores sushi and Indian curry. Her website is located at www.orlajohannes.com.
Orla has toiled successfully as both a fashionista and foodie. In addition to THE gig on Entertainment Spotlight, she was fashion editor at YU Magazine from 2007-2009 and hosted 940 News’s food and drink show, Table Talk. As for why this capable and successful industry insider believes there is a future for traditional Montreal radio, versus my preferred medium, digital radio: “I agree that the digital era is vastly superior, however traditional radio is called traditional for a reason! We all like to feel part of a community and local radio is about everyone: what’s happening in our place; the drama in our community; the people we actually know; the dilemmas happening with our neighbourhood; and the roads we drive on. “Digital is worldwide… that’s great, but its not personal. Personal perspectives touch our emotions and that’s good radio! I also have to add that a local talk station like CJAD800 is like a best friend to those who are, unfortunately sick, lonely or without family and rely on the radio for
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Letters From L a L a L and - Steven Goldman
spread down my chest. I took some Advil and left it at that. The next morning the pain seemed to have dissipated and I was relieved: Unfortunately, that was short lived. As the day progressed the pain got worse and by the time I was home I realized I had to call my doctor. He simply said go to the emergency room’ and added that he was going to call ahead and tell them what he needed done. That was at 7 p.m.
When the real drama becomes a bit too personal "The show must go on" is a well-known phrase in show business, meaning that regardless of what happens, the show must still be put on for the waiting patrons. Supposedly it was a traditional 19th century saying in the circus. Well, the business I am in may be like a circus at times - but so is life. I think all of us sometime feel like we are walking the high-wire without a net and, while on that wire, the precariousness of our life is abundantly clear. The only problem is that some of are trained to walk that wire, a straight line going from A to B, but life is not exactly like that. Several weeks ago, I walked a high wire that zigged and zagged and I am so happy to be sitting here writing about it, happy to simply be alive. As October rolled around I was hired to direct a new show for Oprah Winfrey’s new network. Very excited, very much in my wheelhouse… but even better that they hired me because they felt I was the best guy for the job and they were expecting me to help them make this show a hit. The producers and the network were depending on me and it felt good. A couple of weeks of prep… and I started to feel bad. Two days before our first big – make that HUGE - day of production on the Queen Mary ocean liner docked in Long Beach, a two hour drive from my home, I woke up with what felt like muscle pain on the right side my neck. It felt strange, nothing like traditional neck pain. I took note and went to work. It worsened throughout the day, but I kept it to myself. Later, it seemed to
By midnight I was finally getting a CAT scan. All the while my wife and I were there, we talked about how I had to be up at 4 a.m. to drive to work for my 6:30 start time. We laughed about my luck, or rather lack of it. If I got out of the hospital by 1 a.m., I’d only have a few hours of sleep before the very big day. I joked about this with the technician doing the scan. When it was over he quietly told me there was no way I was going to work. I had blood clots all over my lungs. The emergency room doctor informed me that there was simply no way I should go to work: This could be fatal. That being said, he also admitted to me that he would not believe the scans told the truth by looking at me. He said I was an ‘effin bull.’ At 1:30 a.m., way too late to call anyone on the production to tell them to get another director, I spoke to my doctor. He told me that he felt the hospitalization would drive me crazy and that he would just monitor me. He gave me a list of demands and told me to drive to work, but slowly, carefully and at a quarter of my normal speed. He knew how important the job was for me and he extracted a promise that if I felt dizzy or my breathing got hard - I would ask production to get me to a hospital. They gave me a shot to thin my blood and a bunch of other needles. They taught me how to administer them to my belly and sent me off. The nurses and the doctor in the emergency
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We wrapped our day at around 6:30 p.m. and I attempted to drive home. I needed a couple of pit stops to close my eyes. At one of those stops my producer called with word from the network. She wanted me to know that everyone, including her, loved me, my calm, the way I dealt with their worries and demands. I made her life easier on a tough day. The show went on, but not without a touch of irony or a simple touch of nerves. Being so physically weak actually became my strength. I know some may judge me perhaps I risked too much. The way I’m built, though, clearly my body may not agree.
Steven Goldmann is a Hollywood director born and raised in Montreal’s West End. His very personal insights into La La Land are found exclusively in The Local Seeker.
You, too, can sell or seek for FREE, with our Local Seeker Classifieds, 25 words or less. Call 514-975-7745.
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NOV 25 (pg. 5)
I got home at 2:30 a.m. I was up at 4:30 a.m., with no alarm. I traveled to the set. Got there early and slept the most fearful nap of my life. I kept thinking my breathing was off and that I might die. But I woke up on time to walk slowly to set. I couldn’t tell anyone the truth: They might replace me for the entire show!! So I went about my business, slowly but surely as they say. No one the wiser, I gave myself the shots… and continued calling the shots. As I worked, there were about 20 people sitting right behind me that were tense, fearful, and just plain freaking out. I was so tired I could only focus on my world, but as the director I was constantly being asked questions. My answers, fueled only by fumes, were soft spoken, measured and direct. It became clear that I was the calm in the storm. I was the unshakable pro. If only they knew!
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room, however, did not look convinced I was doing the right thing.
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STORY ANd PHOTOS BY BRAM d. EISENTHAL
L
ake Placid. There’s a horror movie with that title and I have to laugh, because unless there’s toxic landfill being dumped here clandestinely, this tiny New York state mountain village is likely the prettiest, most serene spot within a short drive from Montreal. I heart both New York and Vermont, but Lake Placid takes about an hour less to reach than Burlington and is about a quarter as commercially developed. If Shangri La was located in our neighborhood, this would be it.
Since the end of the 19th century, Lake Placid has been luring travellers seeking R&R, peaceful living, adventure and pretty much everything you can find in a big city by a lake, minus the stress, pollution, aggravation, bad roads, rip-off prices… get the picture? When I was a young adult, I’d stay at the rustic Mirror Lake Inn with my girlfriend. Youth and rustic lodgings seem to go handin-hand. As you get older, your hands prefer to caress silky soft bedding you just melt into, dine on fun, but delectable cuisine and slather luxurious scented soaps over your skin as you shower…. albeit in modern surroundings. In short, you want to be spoiled in 21st century style. There are spots to suit all budgets here in Lake Placid, only the third place in the world to have hosted two (in this instance, winter) Olympic Games – first in 1932 and next in 1980, the games that presented the Miracle on Ice, the cherry on the pie that deliciously cradled the US hockey team’s spectacular gold medal performances. I believe I have, however, discovered THE best accommodation here so far, however, in the guise of High Peaks Resort and I certainly challenge you to find better in this neck of the woods. Lori Fitzgerald, who handles PR and marketing for the High Peaks Resort, the former Lake Placid Hilton, was lured here from farther south. “Lake Placid possesses the best of both worlds,” she said. “It’s got the quaintness of a small village that’s been here two centuries, as well as the allure of international sports and recreation.” Indeed, one of the coolest things to do here is
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touring the Olympic sites that hosted both events, as well as the arena where the now-legendary men’s hockey match between the Soviet Union and USA took place and where they later grabbed the gold. You can also embark on such activities as a bobsled run… basically tobogganing taken to a radical, insane level. There is also an overabundance of breathtaking natural beauty to enjoy.“The Adirondack Park is the largest state park in the lower 48 states,” said Fitzgerald. “It offers a wide array of beautiful scenery and wilderness. There are 46 peaks over 4,000 feet in the High Peaks region as well as over 3,000 lakes. Much of the park is designated as ’Forever Wild’ and thus will never be developed.” A self-taught encyclopaedia of local lore, Fitzgerald loves to recount the history of the region. She tells us that when Lake Placid started as a farming community in 1800, known then as the Plains of Abraham and populated by just 200 pioneers. “After the ‘year with no summer’ in 1916, when snow fell through June and there was a hard frost in August, the population shrunk. Ten brave families returned to the area in 1820 and began the re-growth of what was then the Town of North Elba, where Lake Placid is located today.” Fitzgerald reveals that an important period in black history was literally spawned here, after Gerritt Smith donated 3,000 acres of land to the area’s free blacks and, in 1849, famed abolitionist John Brown arrived, at Smith’s request, and taught the black community to farm.
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Unfortunately, after participating in the raid on Harper’s Ferry Arsenal in Virginia, attempting to capture weapons to help free the slaves, Brown’s efforts were prematurely terminated when he was hanged. He was buried in North Elba and you can tour his homestead and burial place today. It’s far too easy to get lost in Lake Placid’s history when chatting with Fitzgerald, but I wanted to know more about the High Peaks Resort, which is a truly wonderful place to spend either a little or a lot of time. There are actually three buildings to choose from: the main, recentlyrenovated (2008), stunningly-appointed and decorated building, overlooking Lake Placid on one side and anchoring Main Street on the other; a lakeside building across the street that includes lush suites, including some rooms with balconies either overhanging the lake or featuring paths that take you from your back door right TO the lake; and the budget-minded Lakeview Motor Inn, which is reminiscent of classic, clean, older-styled motels, but without the creepy Bates Motel flavour. Overall, the property totals 177 rooms and includes exercise rooms, indoor and outdoor pools, Jacuzzis, game rooms and the Iroquois Room, the largest ballroom, that seats 325 guests and is ideal for a lovely wedding. Fitzgerald tells me that they organize about 24 weddings per year, which is a bit of a surprise - this is truly a beautiful and memorable spot at which to mark an abundance of matrimonial debuts. I guess I have stayed at far too many hotels in my lifetime, because I am generally jaded when it comes to hotel restaurant food…. Especially those named dancing Bear Lounge. Yet this festive dining destination is a village-wide spot for outstanding cuisine, drink and fun. In fact, many Olympic athletes would celebrate and commiserate here after their events and a Legends Room on the second floor is plastered with pictures of the rich and famous who have visited. I heartily recommend enjoying a meal or three here, followed or preceded by a stroll along Main Street for some terrific shopping. If you are a film buff, you also must take in a film at the town’s historic movie theatre, the Palace, built in the 1930s. Finally, a local holiday tradition is guaranteed to thrill even the most jaded of Christmas celebrants, making this THE ideal time of year to visit Lake Placid. If you peruse the website at http://www.lakeplacid.com/holidays, you will learn about the High Peaks Resort’s Yule Log Hunt, which takes place this year on Saturday, december 10. This community-wide tradition starts in the lobby of the main building at 4 p.m. If you have never been to Lake Placid before, you are in for a treat any time of year. It’s so close to home that coming and going is no trouble…. Except that leaving here is not so easy, after all. High Peaks Resort is located at: 2384 Saranac Avenue, Lake Placid, NY 12946-1105. Phone: 518.523.4411 | Toll-Free: 1.800.755.5598 | Fax: 518.523.1120 Website: http://www.highpeaksresort.com
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A n i t a B e n a b o u R o ze n b l a t
Selling your home during the winter months
Home Sweet Home -
You wouldn't necessarily choose to sell your home in winter, but there are certain extra steps you can take to really help your chances. Many homeowners pull their houses off the market by year's end if they haven't sold. That's understandable: The period from Thanksgiving through New Year's day is the slowest time of year for house hunting, as people focus on family and holidays. Weather, too, can put the chill in sales in most locations between now and spring. January and February typically see the fewest home-sale closings, with the market not fully gearing up until April and May. Plus, parents generally time their purchases so moving doesn't interfere with the school year. But sometimes a job transfer or other personal circumstances require a homeowner to try for a sale in the dead of winter. Although that means fewer buyers in most areas, it also means a thinned-out field of competitors for the seller. Here are some tips to lessen the chances your home will languish on the market: 1/ Remember the basics. In the colder months, tidying up the yard and improving curb appeal can make all the difference between deal or no deal.
you to turn up the thermostat and have a fire in the fireplace during open houses. Light some candles, bake an apple pie, learn to set the scene and enjoy your home, as it will sell someday! Staging may, in fact, be even more important in winter. If you have a vacant house in winter with the heat turned down to 50 degrees, chances are someone will make an offer as low as the temperature. 4/ Shovel the passageways. It might seem obvious that sidewalks and driveways should be kept free of ice and snow, but homeowners who have already vacated their houses aren't always as diligent about these things. If you want to sell the house, everything needs to be shovelled, clean and clear. 5/ Good lighting is essential. When there's less daylight, fight the gloom. Turn on all the lights possible for visitors - this is no time to worry about the electric bill. Open blinds, drapes, and shutters to let natural light pour in, making sure to clean any grime off the windows first. Encourage showings during high-daylight hours. Make sure you have enough outside illumination for drive-by visitors in the evening. And keep the place well-lit even when you're not there. 6/ Tasteful holiday decor helps: The holidays give you an extra chance to make your home stand out. But keep decorations conservative. A big red bow on the For Sale sign and some holiday greenery, twinkling lights and elegant decorations inside can help give buyers a dose of seasonal cheer. Happy Holidays and lots of luck selling your home!
2/ In a slow market, nothing counts more than pricing aggressively. Check recent sales in your neighborhood. If it's priced properly, it will sell any day of the year. 3/ Think warm and cozy. Home staging takes on a new focus in winter. Rearranging furniture and applying a fresh coat of paint are still important, but to convey a cozy impression it may behove
Dans La Rue - Our Official Charity Let this serve as notice that The Local Seeker West End Montreal Edition has chosen Montreal’s Dans La Rue – whose mandate it is to help homeless youth between the ages of 12-25- as its official charity and that the two entities have entered into a mutual agreement. In future issues, readers will learn about this remarkable organization, its origins, its mission and its future plans. We will exclusively promote this important cause whenever possible. “Not so long ago, I was unemployed and my biggest fear – a nightmare that terrified me endlessly - was that I was not so far away from becoming homeless myself,” admitted Local Seeker Montreal Edition publisher and editor Bram Eisenthal. “It may have been unfounded, but for the first time in my life I believed I was facing that prospect and it was more than unsettling. I began to examine the plight of the homeless from a different perspective. “Homelessness has no place in modern day society, certainly not in Western nations so obsessed with the release of the latest version of a cell phone that they are oblivious to the plight of young people who have no address and no place to sleep, no food to eat and in many cases no future. Homelessness is worse than any disease because it is immediately addressable with a modicum of good will: We HAVE the cure, we just need the will to use it.”
Dans La Rue… proudly featured in the pages of The Local Seeker West End Montreal Edition.
THE LOCAL SEEkER,
NOV 25 (pg. 9)
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85 years after Houdini’s death, The Local Seeker interviews some West End tricksters:
by Bram D. Eisenthal Harry Houdini (born Ehrich Weiss, the son of a Hungarian rabbi), who famously died on Saturday, Oct. 31, 1926, was so internationally-renowned, the crowds that gathered to see him so humungous, that to lose him must been traumatic to a naïve early 20th century populace. But Houdini’s magnificence still reaches out to embrace us 85 years later. Houdini was, in his later years, the President of the vaunted Society of American Magicians. And decades later, so was “Magic” Tom Auburn, a Montrealer many of a certain age recall with admiration and fondness, both for his multitude of appearances on CFCF-TV and for the tricks he would perform for enthralled diners at Piazza Tomasso, a onetime popular Italian eatery on Decarie. The question seems to be, what initially draws these men (and, occasionally, women) into the field of magic? To answer that, The Local Seeker conjured three West End-based magicians: Marty Kattleman; Jonathan Levey; and Todd “The Amazing Todsky” Shapiro. Magic started for Marty Kattleman when he was in high school. “I always remember being the smallest kid in all my classes and therefore the first one to get stuffed into his locker by the bullies. I really wanted to be heard and to stand out for reasons other than being height challenged. Also I figured if I could be amazing it would be a great chance to impress the girls… So I took up magic.
accidents and successes to the newspapers.” Kattleman also appreciates modern-day performers including David Blaine and Chris Angel, both magicians “of the people, for the people.” Marty Kattleman
Todd Shapiro was about 8-years old when “I realized the universe was infinite, and since that time my mind has been opened to mystery.“I was also influenced by Magic Tom. I saw him perform at Piazza Tomasso restaurant, and was a regular viewer of his TV show. Another early influence was seeing The Great Richiardi and his full stage show in a Montreal theatre in the early 1970's. A little later, Doug Henning became one of my favourite magicians, eschewing the top hat and tails for hippy-dippy rainbow coloured costumes, and the style of a little boy in wonder.“As for the luminaries of old, I greatly admired early 20th century magician Cardini. His was a 15 minute cabaret act manipulating cards and cigarettes, honed to an otherworldly perfection. “In my career as The Amazing Todsky, two of my most memorable effects have been suspending a child in mid-air on the edge of a chair and reading the thoughts of an audience member. “I am still fascinated by magic, even though I know most of the 'secrets' behind the magic: I see the magic in people's eyes when I perform for them, and this, more than anything else, keeps the magic alive for me.” Todd Shapiro
“There is a lot of trial and error, seeing what works and what doesn't work. You are working with timing, delivery, attitude and attitude changes. All elements are working together and choreographed to develop the story, toward that moment of misdirection when the magic happens. This all takes years to master. But in the beginning, as an ignorant student with, I guess, more nerve than talent, I finally got up enough courage to approach a high school teacher. I showed him one of my first tricks. I was nervous but confident. It was a simple pick-a-card type trick. And I did find the card! It worked but I didn't think my demonstration of ruefulness impressed the teacher much. Kattleman always had an admiration for Houdini. “He knew how to take apart just about every lock around… a real self taught genius who knew more about locks than any professional locksmith. And I would think he would have had to, as his life literally depended on it. He was brilliant, a master showman, still considered a genius to this day, and he played up
THE LOCAL SEEkER,
On average, Kattleman does a show almost every weekend. During the busier seasons such as Christmas, Chanukah and Purim, he gets many bookings for kids. Certain tricks star his favourite “prop,” Barney the Bunny.
Photo Credit Bram Eisenthal.
Spotlight on Sports
Photo Credit Bram Eisenthal.
Oh, oh, oh… it’s magic (wand to know more?) festival. It was cold.” Jonathan Levey was born in New York City and moved across "the Bridge" (George Washington) at age 8 to the nearby suburb of Teaneck, New Jersey. “Around this time, I had the good fortune of attending the New York World's Fair, where I witnessed a very theatrical magician performing large scale illusions and making a rabbit appear. I believe this was a well-known magician named Blackstone (Sr.). “When I was aged 10 or 11, my mom asked me to entertain some of my younger brother's friends at one of his birthday parties. So I read (and learned) a few quick tricks in a book and performed them with much success… and to the delight of the other children. Vanishing a dime inside a handkerchief was one of these tricks, and I still think that the secret to this effect is ingeniously simple, yet diabolical and PURE Magic, even today. Jonathan Levey
“This same year, I teamed up with my best friend to form a duo and, in addition to performing at school and community talent shows, we also started charging to entertain younger kids at home birthday parties, starting with $15 per 45-minutes and quickly raising this to $25 per show. We then invested our hard-earned cash, buying better and larger tricks at the legendary Tannen's Magic Store in New York… the ‘knives-through-head’ illusion was one of our biggest and most exciting effects! Fortunately, no blood was spilled .At age 17, Levey put away the tricks. “Then, after many years abroad, and after taking mime classes in Philadelphia, I pulled my aging, but still working, tricks out of the footlocker, put on some whiteface and a top hat, and performed before a very exuberant crowd at Philly's famed Headhouse Square. A few years later, after moving with my wife to Montreal, I performed my Silent Comedy act on the streets of Prince Arthur and passed the hat to pay for my upcoming tuition, as I had enrolled in McGill’s Bachelor of Social Work program.
Shapiro does about 150 shows annually, mostly children's shows but 25 or so for adults. He works “almost exclusively in the Montreal environs, although a few years back I did do a couple of shows in Iqaluit, Nunavut for their spring
NOV 25 (pg. 10)
Levey still performs today, putting on some 150-200 shows annually. For adult, corporate and private events, people can find him on the net at www.maxmagician.com.
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We hope you have enjoyed this issue of The Local Seeker and we are already working on our next issue, out November 25. Deadline Friday, November 18. Coming up in our next issue:
"The best Portuguese chicken around." Sol Boxenbaum Last Call with Sol
THE LOCAL SEEkER,
Best, Bram
Our Super Holiday Special! * Mrs. Santa * Novel gift ideas *Last Call With Sol, Spotlight on Sports, Whole Wheat Roll, Epicurean Eatz, Paws Nuze, Spiritual Seedlings, Yoga U., Read On!, Entertainment Entre Nous and the other regular columns you love.
ONLY in West End Montreal’s most unique community paper.
NOV 25 (pg. 11) FREE CLASSIFIED ADS: 514-975-7745 www.westend.thelocalseeker.com
THE LOCAL SEEkER,
NOV 25 (pg. 12)
FREE CLASSIFIED ADS: 514-975-7745 www.westend.thelocalseeker.com