Canadian Association of Magicians
The Canadian Association of Magicians is dedicated to the promotion and encouragement of magic and magicians in Canada and the world. It was founded on March 15, 1997 by Joan Caesar. The current President is Shawn Farquhar. It publishes 4 Northern Peeks magazines and several Northern Sleights e-zines for its members annually. Members of the organization nominate and vote for the Canadian Magician of the Year.
Purpose
When the organization began on March 15, 1997, its goal was to provide a means for Canada to join the FISM so that Canadian magicians could compete under the Canadian banner at FISM's World Championship of Magic. CAM, as the Canadian representative of magic, was accepted as a FISM member in July 2000.
Presidents
- Joan Caesar 1997-2012
- Shawn Farquhar 2012-2014
- Scott Hood 2014 - resigned
- Ron Keller 2015 -
Convention
CAM hosts CAMaraderie, a Canadian national magic convention. This convention includes the announcement of awards, results of stage and close-up competitions, plus magic lectures, workshops, and performances. The stage competition and some magic performances are available to the general public.
The first 5 conventions were scheduled to take place every second year, and the first 4 took place in the Kitchener-Waterloo area of Ontario. At the 2009 convention in Montreal, it was announced that the convention would take place on a yearly basis starting in 2010, alternating between locations in Canada. In 2013, a modified single-day convention styled "CAM Jam" took place in two different locations on different days: in Niagara Falls in April, and in Port Coquitlam (near Vancouver) in June.
- 2001 – Waterloo
- 2003 – Kitchener
- 2005 – Kitchener
- 2007 – Kitchener
- 2009 – Montreal
- 2010 – Kitchener
- 2011 – Coquitlam
- 2012 – Hamilton
- 2013 – Niagara Falls (CAM JAM Spring) | Port Coquitlam (CAM JAM Summer)
The CAM convention frequently takes place shortly after an invitational conference held in New York state, Fechter's Finger-Flicking Frolic, as known as FFFF and 4-F (see Magic conventions).
Competitive Awards
Eric Leclerc was the first magician to win both the stage award and close-up award at this convention. Michael Dardant was the first magician to win both awards in the same year.
Stage Awards
| Year |  First |
 Second |
People's Choice | Junior |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Michael Dardant | |||
| 2011 | Alex Seaman | |||
| 2010 | Neil Croswell | |||
| 2009 | Patrick Reymond | Neil Croswell | Neil Croswell | |
| 2007 | Marc Trudel | Mario Choinard | Neil Croswell | |
| 2005 | Danny Alan | Michael Bairefoot | Danny Alan | Nathaniel Rankin |
| 2003 | Eric Leclerc | Dakota Rose | Dakota Rose | |
| 2001 | Derek Selinger | Ryan Joyce |
Close-up Awards
| Year | First |
Second |
People's Choice | Junior |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Michael Dardant | |||
| 2011 | Henry Tom | |||
| 2010 | Nick Wallace | |||
| 2009 | Marc-Andre Rayle | Scott Strange | Spencer Peterson | |
| 2007 | Eric Leclerc | Nicholas Wallace | Luke Murray | |
| 2005 | Michael Bairefoot / Patrick Drake | (tie) | Patrick Drake | Ben Proudfoot |
| 2003 | Rod Chow | Kelvin Kwong | Rod Chow | |
| 2001 | Dustin Crispo | Patrick Drake |
Junior (Mike Gillis Most Promising Junior)
| Year | First |
Second |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Luke Murray | |
| 2005 | Ben Proudfoot | |
| 2003 | Dakota Rose | Neil Croswell |
Charlier (One Hand) Cut Competition
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2012 | Sébastien Dagenais |
| 2011 | Zach Daniel |
| 2009 | Trent Tinney |
| 2007 | Marc Trudel |
| 2005 | Eric Bedard |
| 2003 | no competition |
| 2001 | no competition |
Non-competitive Awards
Canadian Magician of the Year
Awarded for the recipient's contribution to magic in Canada.
- 2001 – Greg Frewin
- 2003 – Shawn Farquhar
- 2005 – Murray Hatfield & Teresa
- 2007 – James Dimmare
- 2009 – David Acer
- 2010 – Shawn Farquhar
- 2011 – Richard Forget
- 2012 – Bill Abbott
- 2013 – Mike Segal
Sid Lorraine Achievement
- 2001 – no award
- 2003 – Ray Bedard
- 2005 – Mike Segal
- 2007 – Jeff Pinsky
- 2009 – Phil Matlin
- 2010 – Sandy Hobson
- 2011 – no award
- 2012 – Nick Sacco
Lifetime Achievement
Awarded for the recipient's contribution to magic in Canada and around the world.
- 2001 – Herb Morrissey
- 2003 – R. J. "Obie" O'Brien
- 2005 – Martin Nash
- 2007 – Guy Camirand
- 2009 – Joan Caesar
- 2010 – Roman Szydlowski
- 2011 – no award
- 2012 – Micky Hades
