British comic and magician Phil Butler has passed away at the age of 51. Tributes are pouring in for the performer, who was mainly known in the United Kingdom, but you can read more about Phil and some of the tributes in this New York Daily News article.
Allan Slaight, Canadian media magnate and namesake of the Allan Slaight Magic Awards, has passed away at the age of 90. You can read (or listen) to his obituary on the Globe and Mail website.
The video above is Gordon Lightfoot paying tribute to Mr. Slaight at the 2005 Juno Awards. I chose this video because, despite of Allan Slaight’s extraordinary impact on arts and media in Canada (and beyond), I could find no video, no interview, no feature on him. Put Allan Slaight in a YouTube search and you will get hundreds, probably thousands, of results. But they all are associated with the many awards and programs endowed by Mr. Slaight… and honestly, that is probably the greatest obituary for him.
FFFF co-founder and former IBM International President Obie O’Brien has passed away according to a statement on the FFFF website.
To learn more about O’Brien’s career in magic watch episodes two, three and four of the series on his life posted by magician Tim Ellis.
The Express has confirmed Tony Junior, popular South Shields’ Ampitheatre magician who appeared in the reality series The Seasiders, has passed away after contracting Covid-19.
Scott Wells posted this video yesterday of Lance Burton at the broken wand ceremony for Walter “Zaney” Blaney at the Abbotts Magic Get Together.
Performing as The Great Tomsoni and Company, Johnny and Pam Thompson. They will be missed.
Paul Emmick passed away last week of natural causes, according to his former employer WDRB. He was best known as a meteorologist, having appeared on The Weather Channel for several years. iTricks could not find footage of his performing, so we offer up a clip of his weather forecasting as a tribute.