Wine & Wizardry

In the summer of 2021 my magic has been BIG and small: a city-sized magic event followed by wizardry at a small wine-tasting soiree

Daniel Greenwolf headlined Waterbury Harry Potter Day
Photo by Jim Shannon of the Republican-American

Hello and Happy Summer! The magic of my summer reached a pinnacle in two special events back-to-back. As producer for “Waterbury Harry Potter Day” I worked with dozens of local businesses, community members, officials, artisans and magicians to transform the downtown streetscape into a wizardly wonder. Hundreds of witches and wizards flooded the sidewalks. They visited Spirit Cafe for butter beer lattes, bought Fascia’s chocolate frogs from Grand News Deli, answered trivia questions at the office of Congresswoman Jahanna Hayes. These and other food & fun were listed on the “magic map” that eventually brought them back to the Silas Bronson Library for a fire-breathing magic show by Celtic Magician Daniel Greenwolf. Daniel was not alone as a magician in conjuring up fun. Bella Greenwolf joined Daniel in his shows, Michael OJ performed street sorcery throughout the day, and the Witchcraft and Birth of Modern Magic evening show at the Mattatuck Museum featured Andy Morgan, Joe Cabral, Michael DiFlorio and Michele Jacome. And, as Cyril the Sorcerer, I enjoyed sharing enviromagic and more with attendees throughout the day.

The host of the wine tasting provided a great number of wine-related quotes which I offered along with my own

Wine combined with wizardry the following day as I provided conjuring and calligraphy for guests at a tasting for wine enthusiasts. I have found that many enjoy the novelty of quill and ink calligraphy in a world of automated printing. I enjoy bringing it to them at events in the form of quotes, charms and even writing out “fortunes”. We followed this early evening fun with a formal performance of Water Wizard, my show about our planet’s most precious resource. It was fitting to share water magic with a group of winelovers!

This summer also marked the launch of Green Magic, a column I will be writing monthly for magicians in The Linking Ring magazine. Changing the world with enviromagic is something I hope many other magicians will do with the advice and suggestions I provide in this column. Our world needs more green magic!

My wish to bring tips, tricks and ideas to other magicians on how to perform enviromagic has come to fruition this summer with a new column

#enviromagic #enviromagician #waterburyharrypotterday #harrypotterday #cyrilthesorcerer #causemagic

Who Will Save the World?

Sharing MAGITRICITY with attendees at the Connecticut Science Center

Legend, folktale, fantasy novel and magic-themed epic movie all agree:

It will not be an old wizard who saves the world.  It is the role of old wizards to help the younger heroes of these stories to do that job.

Merlin schools young King Arthur.

 Gandalf guides Bilbo & Frodo.

Dumbledore trains Harry Potter.

Following this tradition I seek to enchant, educate and empower my audiences so that they have the confidence, knowledge and skills to protect our planet.

Let us work together!

I am offering a number of enviromagic shows this year!

All shows are suitable, or adaptable, for audiences of any age:

MAGITRICITY

MAGITRICITY introduces the basics of energy and climate change.  It teaches that everyone has the power to save energy, save money and save the planet.  It began as a companion piece to an exhibit on climate change at the Yale Peabody Museum.

WATER WIZARD
WATER WIZARD uses Vegas-level water magic to share important information on conserving and protecting our planet’s most precious resource.  It incorporates the master level wizardry that my teacher, Master Magician Jeff McBride, used to best Penn & Teller on their TV show “Fool Us.”

RECYCLING IS MAGICRECYCLING IS MAGIC has been my mainstay show for more than 15 years.  In a story of monsters, magic & too much trash, a wandering wizard learns that recycling is the best magic to cure the woes of a village beset by messy ogres.

LITTLE FAIRIES, BIG MAGIC

LITTLE FAIRIES, BIG MAGIC teaches the importance of humans, animals (and fairies) sharing wilderness. It was created for fairy festivals but succeeds in providing its fun and important message in all settings.

RESOURCERY

RESOURCERY presents environmental magic and environmental learning on a variety of topics in a TED Talk fashion.  While Resourcery is usually shared with professionals and other adults as part of training programs and conferences, it can be adapted for younger audiences.

Let us work together to empower this,

and the next, generation of heroes!

203-737-0475

cyril.may@aya.yale.edu

www.cyrilthesorcerer.com

www.betterworldmagic.com

Helping the Planet Through Vegas Magic: Environmental Magician Learns the Secret that Fooled Penn & Teller

Master Magician Jeff McBride bested Penn & Teller on their Fool Us TV Show with his most recent version of “Rainmaker”, his water bowls routine. He has shared his secrets with Cyril May to aid him in greening the planet one magic show at a time.

November 15, 2017

Environmental magician and Resourcerer, CJ May recently returned from a residency at the Vegas “House of Mystery” where he studied the secrets of the Water Bowls with Jeff McBride, the master magician who bested Penn & Teller on their network TV show “Fool Us”. May seeks to use this groundbreaking magic routine to help the planet by teaching his audiences about the wonder of water.

Before his appearance on the Penn & Teller hit series “Fool Us”, Jeff McBride had experimented and refined his water bowls routine over more than 30 years. Having welcomed Connecticut native CJ May to his House of Mystery, and the Magic & Mystery School for which it serves as home, McBride invited May to learn the water bowls. McBride loved May’s use of magic for environmental education in his shows on recycling, energy and, of course, water.  McBride and May began preparations for this sharing of secrets long before McBride took his beloved water bowls routine, named “Rainmaker”, to national television.

May now has the training for the routine as well as two gleaming “magic bowls”. Anyone is welcome to examine them, however, for as May says “the magic is not in the bowls, it is in water.  That is the most vital lesson and magic I can ever share.”

Master Magician Jeff McBride schools environmental magician Cyril May in The Water Bowls.  – McBride’s Magic & Mystery School. Las Vegas

In addition to the McBride Magic & Mystery School, Cyril John “CJ” May has studied at another venerable institution key to his role as “spokeswizard” for the planet. May graduated with a Master’s degree in Environmental Management from the Yale University School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

May performs his environmental magic around the country as well as internationally. When performing environmental magic shows for children he assumes the role of “Cyril the Sorcerer”. When giving his TED Talk style presentations and training programs, with magic included, to professionals and other adults he is “Cyril John May – The Resourcerer.”

Supporting May in taking his magic to “The Vegas Level” has been TOMRA, North America. TOMRA is a manufacturer of recycling sorting equipment. May met representatives of TOMRA in 2016 when they shared the podium in presenting at a professional development event for classroom teachers. In partnership, TOMRA funded May’s water bowl studies in exchange for environmental magic and related work.

Keywords: Environmental Penn Teller water magic Las Vegas McBride recycling Yale

Of Water & Wizardry

Happy World Water Day! (March 22nd)

Photo by Lisa Kereszi

In 2017 I will travel to the desert to study the magic of water with a master wizard who runs a school of wizardry.  Literally.  I will take on this quest not only in pursuit of grand adventure and better magic but also so that I can use what I learn to inspire audiences with the importance of water.

The school to which I will return is McBride’s Magic & Mystery School of Las Vegas.  The Master Magician, and school’s Founder, is Jeff McBride.  Although I may look more like Hogwarts Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, youthful-appearing Jeff McBride has acclaim in the real world equal to that of the great wizard in Harry Potter novels.  I have been fortunate to receive Jeff’s support of my magical studies and my use of “enviromagic” (Jeff’s term) for environmental education.  When the opportunity arose to learn one of his master work routines, The Water Bowls, we both agreed that the time was right.  My “Magic of Water” magic show already shares the wonder of water and the power we all have to conserve and protect it.   Jeff’s Water Bowls routine will improve this show, bringing it to the “Vegas Level”.  The Water Bowls routine is wordless but powerful for the story it shares of human interaction with water as the source of life.  It will bring a very important and perhaps spiritual lesson to a show which already delivers messages of fact and science.  I look forward to learning this routine and to the time spent studying closely with a master magician.

  As a sustainability professional I must also offer thanks and gratitude to the environmental educators and officials who work tirelessly to ensure our waters remain abundant and clear.  This year I was able to partake in a unique training day in which the ties between waste and water were demonstrated for classroom teachers in Waterbury, CT and elsewhere.  TOMRA and Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) hosted Project WET, a national training and curriculum provision program, that brings water-focused activities to classrooms and nature centers nationwide.  Their efforts may not be magic shows in the strict sense of the word, but the fun and enlightenment that they bring to children can literally make all the difference in the world.

Enjoy World Water Day as well as the blessing, and magic, of water!

#worldwaterday #magic #water #enviromagic #spokeswizard #brasscitybuzz