In this episode, David Peck chats with magician James Alan and director James Biss about their upcoming show Mysteries and Lies at the Toronto Fringe Festival. They talk about creativity, philosophical issues surrounding truth, illusion and lived experience and explore the intersection of magic, AI, and technology and how their performance challenges perceptions of reality.
For more info about James and the show: www.jamesalan.ca
James Alan proves that magic really is for grownups. Performing for over fifteen years, he has earned a reputation for producing experiences which are “thought provoking, astonishing funny and thoroughly entertaining.” For seven years he was the star of his own shows, Magic & Martini and James Alan’s Magic Tonight, which ran weekly in Toronto with over four hundred sold out performances. His one-person show Lies, Damn Lies & Magic Tricks was featured at the Summerworks Performance Festival. During the pandemic he crated Bring Magic Home, a live interactive online magic experience which was presented for audiences in twenty-six countries, as well as hosting and co-producing a series of virtual fundraisers that raised over $22,000 for local charities including North York General Hospital, the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation and the Daily Bread Food Bank.
In addition to performing, he works with Magicana, a charitable organization with community outreach programs organizing performances for seniors and workshops for children in hospitals. His writing and original magic have been featured in the world’s largest magic periodicals, M.U.M., The Linking Ring, Genii - The Conjurer’s Magazine, Magicol and MAGIC Magazine.
James Biss is a Canadian theatrical creator, mentalism author, and director whose work blends psychological illusion, storytelling, and immersive audience experience. Over the past three decades, his original ideas and performances have been presented across five continents within the worlds of magic, mentalism, and unusual theatre. Mysteries & Lies is Biss’s fifth theatrical production, following The Demon Haunted Cottage, Mental Telepathy for Dummies, The Ghost Experience, and Lies, Damn Lies & Magic Tricks, which he also directed. His productions are known for combining mystery, humour, audience interaction, and psychological themes in ways that challenge perception and blur the line between truth and performance. With Mysteries & Lies, James Biss continues an exploration of deception, belief, memory, and human behaviour through a theatrical experience designed to leave audiences bewildered and intrigued.
David Peck is a writer, speaker, and award-winning podcaster who works at the intersection of storytelling, social change, and meaningful dialogue. As the host of Face2Face and former host of Toronto Threads on 640 AM, he has published over 800 in-depth interviews with some of the world’s most compelling thinkers, artists and storytellers, including Viggo Mortensen, Sarah Polley, Raoul Peck, Werner Herzog, Chris Hadfield, David Cronenberg, Jason Issacs, Gillian Anderson and Wade Davis. With a background in philosophy and international development, David brings a thoughtful, globally aware perspective to every conversation.
He’s a published author and experienced keynote speaker, known for creating spaces where complexity is welcomed and ideas come alive. Whether moderating panels, hosting live events, or speaking on issues ranging from ethics to media, David’s work is grounded in a deep curiosity about people. At heart, he simply loves good conversation — and believes it’s one of the best ways we grow, connect, and make sense of the world.
For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.
F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.
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