Lorette native reads minds at Winnipeg Fringe

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This article was published 20/07/2023 (693 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s been many years since a young Patrick Gregoire was “instantly hooked” by his parent’s gift on his seventh birthday. Called ‘Houdini’s Hat Full of Magic’, the gift he opened up that day at his family’s Lorette area dairy farm became the inspiration that would turn into a career.

Known as ‘The Astonisher’, Gregoire is a Winnipeg corporate magician with over 20 years of experience.

But he’s taking a break from his corporate gigs to perform at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival, and said he’s looking forward to the experience.

“My gigs are usually corporate events with as little as 50 guests to as many as 1,400 guests in banquet rooms with employees who often have been through a long day of training or such, and I’m the guy that has to grab their attention and reenergize them. It’s no easy task,” he said. “So, it’s always fun when I get the opportunity to perform for groups of people who are there to see me and who are excited to experience the show.”

Gregoire grew up in Lorette, attending Ecole Lagimodiere and then College Regional Gabrielle-Roy in Iles des Chenes for high school. He moved to Winnipeg in 2006 but said he still has family in the area.

He still recalls showing off his magic skills at a young age.

“I had lots of energy to burn, loved attention, and was a natural showman so I started performing little magic shows at family gatherings, for my classmates, and eventually at the library in Ste Anne as my first paid performance,” he said.

That first performance at the age of 13, earned him $20, marking his first gig as a “professional magician”.

Since then he’s performed in well over 500 events in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario, winning multiple titles including three consecutive Magic Club of Winnipeg Magic Competitions from 2016 to 2018.

He’s also no stranger to the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival.

Gregoire’s previous Fringe Show called Dangerous Magic sold out all eight dates in 2017.

But this year’s show, Mindreader, is very different from that 2017 debut.

“Dangerous Magic was mostly some fun and some dangerous magic tricks, whilst Mindreader is specifically 60 minutes of astonishing mind reading,” he said. “The show is not focused on comedy, though there is some sprinkled throughout, it’s focused on that visceral feeling you get when you experience something you thought you knew was impossible, yet you start questioning that belief because what you’re seeing seems so real.”

That wonderment that Gregoire remembers feeling at witnessing magic at a young age is something he hopes to continue to provoke in his audience, giving them a glimpse of the mysterious and the unknown.

“It’s also really rewarding when you can put on a performance that people really enjoy and when it comes to mind reading and other mentalism, I enjoy pushing people’s limiting beliefs,” he said. “A lot of people don’t believe in this stuff, and I’m not here to convince anyone, but we must be willing to admit that we don’t know what we don’t know.”

“Magic, and even more so mentalism, is a great vessel for that message,” he added.

Mindreader will play on eight dates from July 19 to 30 at Theatre Cercle Moliere on 340 Provencher Boulevard.

For more information go to winnipegfringe.com.