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Camirand Academy of Magic
The Camirand Academy of Magic is a Canadian publishing house that was co-founded in 1978 by magicians Guy Camirand and Gary Ouellet. A Harvard Business School graduate, Mr. Camirand wanted to produce books and tricks that covered "the background, where the trick came from, why it was done this way, and also introduce, if not completely new moves or methods, at least new twists that were well taught and natural. Also, it had to be something that would entertain lay public, but the structure and method had to be good enough to fool magicians." [from "Wise Guy: An Interview with Guy Camirand," The CAM Flash (a precursor to Northern Peaks), May 2001]
With this as their company mandate, the Academy went on to publish seven lavishly photo-illustrated one-trick booklets by Gary Ouellet between 1979 and 1986—Finger on the Card, Supershells, The Silver Passage, The Two Goblets, Threshold, The Homing Ring, and Eric DeCamps’ The Coin Connection—which collectively form the Masters of Magic series.
The success of these booklets (both critical and commercial) prompted Mr. Camirand to expand the Academy from its base as a publisher into manufacturing, and, in the early 1980s, he began producing tricks with gimmicks that reflected the company's ideology. Tony Binarelli's Lips, Paul Bélanger's The Bélanger Cigarette Thru Quarter, and Guy Camirand's own The Automatic Coffee Stirrer were among the first of these, all of which continue to be popular dealer items.
In 1990, upon releasing Gary Ouellet's opus, Close-Up Illusions (the Academy's most ambitious publication to that point), Guy Camirand left a lucrative career as a business consultant for large corporations and the government of Quebec to pursue the Camirand Academy full time. Now the object of his full attention, the Academy's catalogue began to grow exponentially, and has since come to include books, tricks, and DVDs by dozens of well-known innovators, including David Acer, Jean Boucher, Aldo Colombini, Marc DeSouza, Duraty, Ron Frost, Cyril Harvey, Patrik Kuffs, Olivier Macia, Phil Matlin, Joe Mogar, Hank Moorehouse, Patrick Reymond, John Rogers, Richard Sanders, Peter Studebaker, Jean-Pierre Vallarino, Boris Wild, and Meir Yedid.
The Masters of Magic Series
- (1979) Finger on the Card by Gary Ouellet
- (1979) Supershells by Gary Ouellet
- (1980) The Silver Passage by Gary Ouellet
- (1980) The Two Goblets by Gary Ouellet
- (1981) Threshold by Gary Ouellet
- (1983) The Homing Ring by Gary Ouellet
- (1986) Eric DeCamps’ The Coin Connection by Gary Ouellet
The Professional Magic Series
- (1982) Meir Yedid’s Incredible Close-Up Magic by Gary Ouellet
- (1986) ProControl by Gary Ouellet
Other Books by The Camirand Academy
- (1990) Close-Up Illusions by Gary Ouellet
- (1992) Class Act: The Magic of Tony Binarelli by Gary Ouellet
- (1994) Fulminations Plus, Vol. I by Gary Ouellet
- (1994) The Pass by Gary Ouellet
- (1996) Natural Selections by David Acer
- (1998) Fulminations, Vol. II by Gary Ouellet
- (1998) Richard Sanders: Close-Up Assassin by David Acer
- (1999) Natural Selections, Volume II by David Acer
- (2000) My Way to Mentalism by Tony Binarelli
- (2001) DeSouza’s DeCeptions: The Magic of Marc DeSouza by David Acer
- (2002) The Complete Boris Wild Marked Deck by Boris Wild
- (2004) Random Acts of Magic by David Acer
- (2005) After The Force by Ron Frost
The Master Video Series
- (1993) A Dream of Aces by Gary Ouellet
- (1994) Mamma Mia Rope Routine by Aldo Colombini (companion book written by David Acer)
- (2000) The Chain Gang by Marc DeSouza
- (2001) The Gypsy Thread by Gary Ouellet
- (2008) Enclavor Liberator by Duraty
Lecture DVDs by The Camirand Academy
- Chameleon Knives by Joe Mogar
- Classic Studebaker by Perter Studebaker
- Control Freak by Olivier Macia
- Extreme Close-Up by David Acer
- John Rogers' Best Standup Routines by John Rogers
- Jumbo Card Manipulation by Cyril Harvey
- Metal Bending: The Real Work by Patrik Kuffs
- Smokin' Candies by John Rogers
- Thimble Dexterity by Joe Mogar
Tricks by The Camirand Academy
- Automatic Coffee Stirrer by Guy Camirand
- Bélanger Cigarette Through Quarter by Paul Bélanger
- Ceremony of the Immortals by Patrick Reymond, Jean Boucher & Gary Ouellet
- Dark Card, The by Jean Boucher
- Deadlock by Patrick Reymond & David Acer
- Dynaswitch by Mehdi
- Election Night by Paul Flory & Gary Ouellet
- Hot Dog! by Nick Trost & Patrick Reymond
- House Mouse by Duraty
- Hyper Transpo by Stéphane Lemelin
- Keys to the Kingdom by David Acer
- Lips by Tony Binarelli
- Lipstick by Tony Binerelli
- Lightning Strike by Patrick Reymond & Guy Camirand
- Location Impossible by Gary Ouellet
- Money Shuffle by Hank Moorehouse
- Nomen Omen by David Acer
- On Foot by Richard Sanders & Patrick Reymond
- Pickpocket by David Acer
- Picture This by Richard Sanders
- Portent by Alain Choquette & Gary Ouellet
- Proton Deck by Patrick Reymond, Jean Boucher & Gary Ouellet
- Silver Sanctum by Phil Matlin
- Shot in the Dark by Hiroshi Kondo, Mistunabu Mutsayama & David Acer
- Spare Change by David Acer
- 2000: Three Ropes and a Baby by Richard Sanders
- Top of the Heap by Gary Ouellet
More Performances of Camirand Academy Tricks
- A DREAM OF ACES performed by Tai Chan
- DYNASWITCH performed by Gary Ouellet
- NOMEN OMEN performed by David Acer
- PICKPOCKET performed by David Acer
- RUMBA PRINT performed by Luka Wojcik
- SPARE CHANGE performed by David Acer
- SUPERSHELLS performed by Gary Ouellet
- THE TWO GOBLETS performed on television by John Houdi