Magicana is pleased to announce a forthcoming, online exhibition – in conjunction the release of the next issue of Magicol No. 191 – on Dale Harney and The Magic Palace.

A Canadian television series, The Magic Palace was an inspiration for a generation of magicians. Filmed in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the late 70s and early 80s, the show featured an enormous roster of performers from Canada, the United States and Europe including many whose names are still well known today. The show was conceived and hosted by Canadian stage illusionist, Dale Harney.

Thanks to the efforts of many magicians who were able to provide us with VHS copies of various episodes, we have been to recover over 220 performance clips. As a sneak peek, and to introduce you to Dale and his inventiveness, SEE a clip http://www.magicana.com/read/blog/magic-palace of him performing one of his signature illusions, a variation of Houdini’s Water Torture Cell.

We plan to release the full Dale Harney & The Magic Palace online exhibition soon. If you haven’t already, please join our eList www.magicana.com/elist and be the first to know when it goes live!

In addition to developing and hosting this online exhibition and archive, we will be working with the new Art of Magic www.artofmagic.com team who will also be providing commentary on the various performances.

So for now, enjoy this sneak peek ... and for more sneak peeks, check out the new Art of Magic website (launching this Friday May 20).

Wow! I ended up with about 29 episodes of The Magic Palace it seems. Didn't know you were searching for these. Some truly great magic in there!

Wow I can't wait to see more episodes.Will bring back a lot of memories. I built many of the illusions that were featured on the show and assisted Dale for many years including most of the Magic Palace Series.Was an honour and a huge learning experience to work with him and Lynda. Not to mention to see a who's who of magic guests every week. Those who have not seen it will be amazed at the guests we had on the show. Some classic performances by many stars of magic.

A small preview of the exhibition is now up at www.magicana.com/magicpalace

Scott, watch out. There's a certain 6-minute dove act that's going to be up there as well.

The exhibition is now open. Just go to www.magicana.com/magicpalace and enjoy.

There are over 25 hours of video from over 60 performers, including but not limited to:

Albert Goshman
Johnny Thompson
Charlie Miller
Patrick Page
Billy McComb
Bruce Cervon
Daryl
Paul Harris
Harry Blackstone Jr
Jay Marshall
Karrell Fox
Marvin Roy
Max Maven
Ricky Jay
Topper Martin

If you have some time to spare this long weekend, go take a look.

I was surfing this weekend, and, I'm very happy to hear this.

I've mentioned Dale and Lynda in another thread awhile ago. I was touring schools in North Dakota, and spent a weekend visiting a SHRINE CIRCUS in Minot. They were working all three rings! --and, doing a fine performance. We had never met, but, enjoyed a very pleasant weekend!

The late Karrell Fox who passed away in 1998 was one of the finest magical entertainers I have had the pleasure to know.

His books, which cover all aspects of magic from close-up to stage have pride of place on the "workers" shelves of my library where they sit alongside those of Billy McComb, Faucett Ross, Pat Page and Ken Brooke.

You could be guaranteed that with Karrell's name on any convention bill, it would be a success.

At the Hastings, 1978 British Ring convention, Karrell was MC'ing the two Saturday gala shows both of which overran considerably. There were numerous technical hitches with Karrell ready to introduce the next act only to have a whisper coming from backstage, "Do another four minutes." That happened many times during the second house gala that I was at. (Max Maven can verify this as he was on the bill). If you have ever MC'd a show, you'll know that will put a shiver down your spine, never mind it happening between nearly every act.

Only those of us out front had no idea there were such problems. Karrell was a total pro and kept everything moving along. It was only in talking with him afterwards, I heard about the problems and he said it was the hardest gig he had ever worked in his life.

His routines always had original touches and presented with good humour, and he could also bring the house down with real belly laughs.

Here he is with some close-up magic from Dale Harney's Canadian TV show, The Magic Palace, early 1980's. Enjoy.

Thank you Dale Harney and Magicana for making this available.

http://www.magicana.com/video/karell-fox-close-magic