This past week from August 19 to 22, Magicana – in association with Allan Slaight – hosted the eighth, and final, 31 Faces North Conference.
For four amazing days (and nights) magicians from around the globe gathered to share, explore and collaborate on all things magic. The conference was originally limited to 31 attendees, hence its name. However, this year, the group swelled to 43 participants marking not only our largest group, but also one of our most successful gatherings to date.
We were thrilled to have Jim Steinmeyer and Gaëtan Bloom as our 2010 guests of honour. Jim provided an amazing and in-depth historical research presentation, which clearly outlined his passion and commitment to discovering the past. His engaging, methodical and systematic approach demonstrated Jim’s success as a creative consultant, magician and guest speaker. Gaëtan Bloom gave a jam-packed, non-stop, two-hour presentation! He energetically shared his prolific ideas and revealed his unorthodox methods of solving classic problems. An eye-opening experience to say the least.
And, thanks to the 31FN gathering, Magicana was able to present both guests of honour to the greater magic community by producing two separate lectures, which bookended the 31 Faces North weekend.
An additional highlight for this year’s event was the participation of card-handling expert and gambling consultant, Steve Forte. Steve gave an intensive and in-depth look into gaming and gambling, and provided some (almost unbelievable) insights into this mysterious world. His expertise resonated strongly with the group – a group which holds Steve in high regard as one of the finest sleight-of-hand experts in the world. Beyond all of his knowledge and sharing, we also found Steve to be an extraordinary generous individual, always giving his time freely to others.
At the end of formal programming at 31, participants are asked to cast their vote for the “Marshall Award” (named in honour of the Dean of Magic, Jay Marshall) – an award given to the individual who participants believe contributed the most to making the conference a success. It was no surprise when Steve Forte was named as this year’s recipient. Congratulations, Steve!
While the 31 Faces North tradition has come to a natural conclusion, its spirit of sharing, brokering knowledge, building relationships, and contributing to the art of magic certainly lives on. We are seeing more and more of this at gathering such as Magic-Con and the Essential Magic Conference.
So what’s next for us? Well, stay tuned as we move on to our next adventure in the exploration of magic as a performing art.