Skip to content
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • PodBean
  • Subscribe To My Pal Sammy Newsletter
  • ABOUT
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms

My Summer Lair

Think NPR's Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: My Summer Lair with host Sammy Younan: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.

  • Home
  • Podcast
    • My Summer Lair
    • Space Station Oddity
  • Set The VCR
  • New Book Alert
  • True Sammy Stories
  • Toggle search form
David Ben (Illusions: The Art of Magic) and Sammy Younan in My Summer Lair

146 | David Ben (Illusions: The Art of Magic)

Posted on March 3, 2020March 6, 2023 By Sammy Younan 2 Comments on 146 | David Ben (Illusions: The Art of Magic)

My Summer Lair Chapter #146: Do You Know What The Council For National Policy Is?

This magic moment is brought to you by the AGO: The Art Gallery of Ontario. One of my all time favourite AGO exhibitions was David Bowie Is… back in the fall of 2013: basically Bowie’s work and life and books and clothes and photographs of the sonic illusionist.

Similar to David Bowie Is… Illusions: The Art of Magic on right now is a show business exhibition celebrating the Golden Age of Magic (roughly 1880-1930) featuring more than 55 colourful posters from the Allan Slaight Collection plus photographs, films, documents and cool magic gear like handcuffs and Houndini’s straitjacket. Yes!

Before talking to David Ben I visited the AGO during lunch: that’s right I decided to get all cultured (it happens occasionally…don’t tell anybody or else my street rep will be ruined…).

In the second wing from the entrance there’s a LARGE Harry Houdini poster really simple; really stylish of just his face with some marketing blah blah at the bottom. As I gaze into Harry’s fiery eyes an older woman (fine…a senior) shuffles up behind me and to my left exclaiming: “Oh My!”

Thinking she must be equally mesmerized by Harry Houdini she turns to me: “He’s so handsome! And talented. He is so handsome and talented.”

And that right there is a totally different type of magic. Though he died in 1926 it’s great to see Harry Houdini is still making magic happen in 2020.

What’s amazing about Illusions: The Art of Magic at the AGO is that you get to see real magic as part of your admission! The magic is supplied by the Toronto Magic Company; one of the performing magicians is Jonah Babins…you have to go when he is performing!

Jonah was my guest on My Summer Lair Chapter #118. Jonah is delightful and generous and witty and magical all in that order. Like David Ben he is an avid magic enthusiast; like if you listen to that interview I did with him it concludes with him performing a magic trick; you can follow along at home. Like he prepared that for the podcast. So cool.

Take your time with this exhibition: enjoy it…go through it slowly. The My Summer Lair episode following this is with Joe Posnanski for his outstanding book The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini which you can buy in the AGO’s giftshop.

David Ben @ W • T • F

Host & Photography Sammy Younan

Recorded: Wednesday March 4, 2020 at 1:00pm (at AGO)

Stress free pop culture tastefully harvested for your divine delight. Once a week a carefully curated edition of My Pal Sammy goes directly to your inbox. Sign up for my newsletter so we can have some fun…Hang Time!

My Summer Lair, Podcast Tags:AGO, Art Gallery, Illusions:, Magic, The Art of Magic, Toronto

Post navigation

Previous Post: 145 | Anne Nelson (Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right.)
Next Post: 147 | Joe Posnanski (The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini)

More Related Articles

289 | Harrison Xu & Ivan Leung (Extremely Unique Dynamic) My Summer Lair
Mark A. Altman (Greatest Geek Year Ever: 1982) My Summer Lair 257 | Mark A. Altman (Greatest Geek Year Ever: 1982) My Summer Lair
Dead Dicks & Majic (Blood In The Snow Film Festival) 135 | Dead Dicks & Majic (Blood In The Snow Film Festival) My Summer Lair
The Sentimentalists (Mysterion & Steffi Kay) My Summer Lair 91 091 | The Sentimentalists (Mysterion & Steffi Kay) My Summer Lair
Cara Yeates (Gone Before Your Eyes) My Summer Lair 262 | Cara Yeates (Gone Before Your Eyes) My Summer Lair
Chris Herring (Blood In The Garden: The Flagrant History of The 1990s Knicks) My Summer Lair 226 | Chris Herring (Blood In The Garden: The Flagrant History of The 1990s Knicks) My Summer Lair

Comments (2) on “146 | David Ben (Illusions: The Art of Magic)”

  1. Pingback: Hot For Harry Houdini - My Summer Lair
  2. Pingback: Sammy Younan - Girth Radio, Red Letter Nights, My Summer LairHot For Harry Houdini - Sammy Younan

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • #SetTheVCR: June 23-29, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    Here's a Countdown of TV Recommendations. For those who're Young Werther or those with an Ironheart this is #SetTheVCR.
  • #SetTheVCR: June 16-22, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    TV Recommendations for a Magic Lover you can watch week down by The Waterfront just watch out for Sharks. I'm not a Liar...look it's #SetTheVCR.
  • #SetTheVCR: June 09-15, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    Without a TV Guide TV Recommendations can quickly go FUBAR quickly like checking into a Hell Motel. To avoid that Trainwreck #SetTheVCR is your TV Revival.
  • #SetTheVCR June 2–8, 2025 TV recommendations image from My Summer Lair, featuring a retro-style television graphic promoting a weekly pop culture column by podcast host Sammy Younan.
    #SetTheVCR: June 02-08, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    Your Presence is required for these TV Recommendations which range from Power Moves to a Resident Alien. #SetTheVCR for Good Night, and Good Luck.
  • #SetTheVCR TV recommendations cover for May 26 – June 1, 2025, from My Summer Lair podcast, highlighting curated weekly streaming and television picks by Sammy Younan.
    #SetTheVCR: May 26 – June 01, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    Here stories from Birbiglia to Bono: it’s a Brave New World filled with TV Recommendations. Wanna Live The Good Life? Enjoy this week’s #SetTheVCR.
  • #SetTheVCR cover for May 19–25, 2025 from My Summer Lair podcast, featuring weekly streaming and TV recommendations curated by host Sammy Younan.
    #SetTheVCR: May 19-25, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    From Pee-wee Herman to Sherlock Holmes this week’s TV Recommendations are loaded with comedy, angst and drama. Plus for this week’s #SetTheVCR you get to shake it like a Polaroid picture.
  • #SetTheVCR TV guide cover for May 12–18, 2025 from My Summer Lair podcast, with curated streaming and broadcast recommendations by Sammy Younan.
    #SetTheVCR: May 12-18, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    Do you have Heart Eyes for fresh TV Recommendations without all the Overcompensating puns? The puns are here to stay that’s what makes it #SetTheVCR.
  • #SetTheVCR: May 05-11, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    Even with your Poker Face I can tell you’re seeking TV Recommendations for your Safe House. No worries with this week’s #SetTheVCR I got it in The Black Bag.
  • #SetTheVCR: April 28 – May 04, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    April showers bring May TV listings: these TV recommendations cover all Four Seasons. It’s #SetTheVCR where I put the On in Conan.
  • #SetTheVCR: April 21-27, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    TV Recommendations can be Havoc; You need help. Well Babygirl: I got you; it's your TV Companion: #SetTheVCR.
  • #CouchWorthy: Barbara Walters: Tell Me EverythingJune 22, 2025
    Exploring the pioneering career of Barbara Walters. Delving into her influential role in broadcast journalism and the challenges women face in achieving success.
  • #CouchWorthy: Bono: Stories of SurrenderMay 29, 2025
    Bono: Stories of Surrender is a vivid reimagining of his one-man stage show Stories of Surrender now streaming on Apple TV.
  • #CouchWorthy: Super Team CanadaMay 16, 2025
    Super Team Canada follows six lesser known and underrated Canadian superheroes, tasked with saving the world.
  • #CouchWorthy: Murderbot: Season 1 May 15, 2025
    Murderbot a private security cyborg hides its acquired autonomy, while completing dangerous assignments is simultaneously drawn to humans.
  • #CouchWorthy: Ernest Cole: Lost and Found April 29, 2025
    Raoul Peck's portrait of South African photographer Ernest Cole offers a harrowing history of Apartheid and chronicles an artist in exile.
  • #CouchWorthy: 2025 Key Midseason & Premiere Dates – April 2025March 28, 2025
    #SetTheVCR is your weekly TV Guide by Sammy Younan to help you plan a fantastic TV schedule from must-watch TV shows to fun discoveries.

  • Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 1: Gotham Nocturne: Overture
    Under-Review: Detective Comics: Gotham Nocturne: Overture
    by Sammy Younan
    My Summer Lair host Sammy Younan reviews Batman - Detective Comics: Gotham Nocturne: OvertureL Volume 1,
  • New Book Alert: California Bear
    by Sammy Younan
    New Book Alert is just that: A useful Yo for a fresh book. from your pal Sammy. What Are You Reading?
  • New Book Alert: The Music Was Just Getting Good
    by Sammy Younan
    New Book Alert is just that: A useful Yo for a fresh book. from your pal Sammy. What Are You Reading?
  • New Book Alert: The Ascent
    by Sammy Younan
    New Book Alert is just that: A useful Yo for a fresh book. from your pal Sammy. What Are You Reading?
  • New Book Alert: Fantastic Four by Ryan North Volume 2
    by Sammy Younan
    New Book Alert is just that: A useful Yo for a fresh book. from your pal Sammy. What Are You Reading?

Copyright © 2025 My Summer Lair.

Powered by PressBook Premium theme