JENNIFER ANTONIO Winner of the 2010 CAM Contest

 

She’s off to see the wizards…

On February 26, 2010 Winnipeg magician Jennifer Antonio, age 15, received a phone call informing her that she was off to see the wizards.

Magicana, the administrator of the Tony Eng Youth Fund (TEYF), had called because Jennifer had entered the TEYF CAM Contest and her application had won the grand prize. The impressive prize package was a free trip to the 2010 CAMaraderie in Kitchener/Waterloo including convention registration, hotel and return airfare for both her and her guardian.

Alongside Magicana, the contest was co-sponsored by Kent Wong (Edmonton) and the Canadian Association of Magicians (CAM). Thanks to another generous donor, while she attends the convention, the winner will also have some spending money specifically for purchases in the dealer’s room.

Magicana’s Tony Eng Youth Fund

The TEYF was created in 2008 to honour both its namesake, Tony Eng (1946-2008), and to create a new youth-oriented initiative for young Canadian magicians.

As Tony Eng was a life-long resident and active magician in British Columbia, the fund was developed with an underlying desire to link Western Canada into its programming
For nearly twenty years, Tony was also the owner/operator of Tony’s Trick & Joke Shop (now, Murray’s Trick & Joke Shop) in Victoria, BC. Tony became known as the ‘Ambassador of Magic’, and he certainly earned this self-proclaimed title. Tony didn’t just sell magic - he also promoted the craft, taught magic privately and in community centres and supported young magicians by leading Society of Young Magicians (SYM) meetings for several years. For many, Tony was responsible for getting their start in magic. Tony’s deep commitment to supporting and sharing magic with young people is the heart and soul of this funding program. The TEYF was formed to support young people in magic with the same generous spirit Tony always manifested.
Today, the TEYF promotes and supports youths in Canada as they pursue the art of magic.

Sponsorship by Kent Wong and CAM

Soon after the fund was created, there were several private donations – a loving tribute from those who wanted to honour Tony’s memory. One donor, in particular, is magician Kent Wong of Edmonton, Alberta. Kent is also a dedicated supporter of youth in magic and expressed an interest in contributing to Magicana through the TEYF. After some initial brainstorming, the idea of sending a young person to the CAMaraderie was born.

To meet the involvement of Western Canada criteria, it was decided that the TEYF should find an opportunity to send a young magician from Western Canada to attend this national conference in Ontario. But to do so would be tricky. Firstly, it was clear one could not simply send a young person away without supervision or support, so the package had to include some kind of guardian supervision. Next, there was the cost of sending not one, but two people to the convention. Costs of air travel, hotel accommodations and ground transport were adding up quickly and the cost of the convention hadn’t yet been included.

So, co-sponsors Kent Wong and the CAM organization sealed their commitment by giving generously to create the winning package that Jennifer Antonio won.
When a reader learned of the contest, he spontaneously offered to provide spending money for the dealer’s room! The TEYF was generating exactly the kind of giving it was originally developed for.

The Contest

With a prize defined, a contest was created for young magicians living in Western Canada. Applicants - between the ages of 13-18 years - living in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba, were invited to submit through the Magicana website, explaining their interest in magic, why they wanted to attend the convention and what they hoped to gain. Applications came in between September 15, 2009 - January 15, 2010. A total of ten eligible applications were received from Manitoba (3), Alberta (2) and British Columbia (5).

After the contest closed, three judges were asked to review each application, anonymously, and to score them. Judges identified three top finalists and each of those top applications was, again, put through a rigorous round of judging.
Our winner, Miss Jennifer Antonio, was unanimously selected on Feb 20, 2010.

Winner: Jennifer Antonio

Jennifer’s application was up against nine others. All applicants had written in expressing their interest in magic, why they wanted to attend the convention and what they hoped to gain by attending. (Parents of each applicant were also contacted to ensure that the applicants had permission to enter the contest and to attend the convention if they won.)

After the contest closed on January 15, judges carefully reviewed each application. Each entry was judged on the merits of its submission, with the applicant’s name and place of residence removed. Overall, Jennifer’s submission scored the highest through both rounds.

“Not only is Jennifer a very talented and intelligent young woman, but she is also someone with a kind heart and adventurous spirit.”

Sandra Eng, Judge
Daughter of Tony Eng

“The difference for me was her attitude, charity work and winning the Lieutenant Governor’s Volunteer Award.”

Nick Sacco, Judge
Board Member of Magicana, Advisor to CAM

“This was an extremely detailed and well-written application. I am very impressed by the maturity level of this young magician. Her volunteer work and performances at various charity events speaks volumes.”

Kent Wong, Judge

Program Sponsor

Judging for the contest was difficult. Many of the ten applications were very thoughtful and compelling. Here are some of the things that made Jennifer’s application stand out:
“I would practice magic all the time and before you knew it, I would be performing at different events with the S.Y.M. I started performing for different charities at age seven and before long I would be hired to perform at birthday parties. My little brother followed my footsteps and when he was old enough he officially joined the S.Y.M also. People would ask the both of us to perform magic at different events so we decided to perform as a magic duo and call ourselves: “The Magic of Jen and Zac”. I’m now fifteen and my brother is thirteen and we still perform together at fairs, festivals and parties. We still help charities raise funds by volunteering our shows.

In my short career I have had the opportunity to win some magic scholarships including the Philip Hornan Scholarship of Magic which is a scholarship awarded to young magicians in Canada who use their magic skills to do good deeds in their community. I have also been awarded the S.A.M. magic camp scholarship two years in a row. I’m most proud of the award my brother and I received for the City of Winnipeg which was the Lieutenant Governor's Volunteer Award which was awarded to us for helping many of the charities in our city raise money by us volunteering our magic performances.”

… And for those in Eastern Canada?

With CAMaraderie becoming an annual event, and thanks to the generosity of our co-sponsors, the TEYF CAM Contest is expected to become the first of many.
Next year, a young magician from Eastern Canada (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, PEI, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland) will have the same opportunity to attend the 2011 CAM Convention to be held in Vancouver, BC. Details are posted here.