“He was my hero, charming, charismatic, the life of a party,” Darcy Oake, the Winnipeg magician, said of his older brother, as TalentRecap reported. In the act ITV posted, he said “his name was Bruce.” Even “well into our 20s,” he said, the two of them would walk around town holding hands; they told each other it was a joke, but it “meant so much more than that.”
But Bruce was fighting addiction. In 2012, in a story about their father, Scott Oake, the host of Hockey Night in Canada, The Globe and Mail wrote of “the loss of his eldest son Bruce to a fatal spiral of addiction”: “Thirteen months ago, Bruce died in Calgary of an accidental drug overdose at the age of 25.” “On March 28, 2011 at 7am I got a phone call from my mum, and it’s one that replays in my head daily,” Darcy said, as TalentRecap reported. “She didn’t have to say a word, I already knew. Bruce was gone,” he told the judges, TellyMix wrote.
Darcy set out to help others. In 2012, The Globe and Mail reported an effort “to help raise awareness and money for an as-yet-unnamed addiction facility in Winnipeg,” with Darcy, “an acclaimed illusionist,” performing a charity magic show at Manitoba Theatre Centre. In 2014, when he competed on Britain’s Got Talent, HuffPost Canada wrote that “Oake raises money for a memorial fund he started in his brother’s name aimed at helping those struggling with addiction,” and Global News that “The performer has committed to trying to establish a drug treatment centre in Winnipeg.”
On Saturday, October 5, 2019, in the final of Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions on ITV, he performed “an emotional tribute to his late brother,” as TellyMix put it, “taking us back to his childhood,” in ITV’s words. “Losing someone you love is like living with a brick in your pocket,” he said; the weight never goes away, he went on, you just get used to carrying it around. “If I could turn back time and go back to when we were kids,” he said. On stage, TalentRecap wrote, “Oake stood and pulled a sheet over himself, he suddenly disappeared and was instead replaced by a young boy.” And he said: “If I could relive one moment, it would be that one.”
Ground had been broken on August 22, 2019, “on what would have been his birthday,” Global News reported, for “a long-term, residential treatment centre for men suffering from drug and alcohol addiction,” with Scott Oake as “its co-founder.” In May 2021, the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre “accepted the first participants into the program,” CTV News reported, in a centre “which includes 50 beds.” “The non-profit program held its grand opening on Sunday – the day Bruce would have been celebrating his 36th birthday,” CTV wrote on August 22, 2021; by then, “the centre is full and there are more than 200 men on the waitlist.” “This is not the finish line – this is the start line,” Scott Oake said. “The point at which we can begin saving lives.”
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- He couldn’t bring his brother back, so he turned back time with magic. ITV’s title: “Darcy Oake turns back time to honour his brother.” ITV: “illusionist Darcy is taking us back to his childhood in an emotional performance dedicated to his late brother, Bruce.” Darcy, in the act: “if I could turn back time and go back to when we were kids.” 1
- His name is Darcy Oake, a Canadian magician. Global News: “Winnipeg magician Darcy Oake.” HuffPost Canada: “Canadian Darcy Oake”; “The Winnipeg native.” 76
- His big brother Bruce was his hero. Darcy, as TalentRecap reports: “He was my hero, charming, charismatic, the life of a party.” Darcy, in the act (ITV): “his name was Bruce.” 31
- Even in their twenties, they walked around town holding hands. Darcy, in the act (ITV): they would walk around town holding hands “well into our 20s,” a joke that “meant so much more than that.” TalentRecap: “He revealed a story of how they would walk around together holding hands.” 13
- But Bruce was fighting addiction. The Globe and Mail: “the loss of his eldest son Bruce to a fatal spiral of addiction.” HuffPost UK: “his brother died three years ago after a long struggle with drug addiction.” 45
- Early one March morning in 2011, their mom called. TellyMix: “‘On March 28, 2011 at 7AM I got a phone call and it’s one that replays in my head daily,’ he tells the judges.” TalentRecap: “‘On March 28, 2011 at 7am I got a phone call from my mum, and it’s one that replays in my head daily,’ Oake said.” 23
- “She didn’t have to say a word,” Darcy said. “I already knew.” TellyMix: “‘She didn’t have to say a word, I already knew. Bruce was gone,’ adds Darcy.” 2
- Darcy raised money for a recovery center in Bruce’s name. HuffPost Canada (2014): “Oake raises money for a memorial fund he started in his brother’s name aimed at helping those struggling with addiction.” The Globe and Mail (2012): “to help raise awareness and money for an as-yet-unnamed addiction facility in Winnipeg (Darcy, an acclaimed illusionist, is performing a charity magic show at Manitoba Theatre Centre June 14 and 15).” Global News (2014): “The performer has committed to trying to establish a drug treatment centre in Winnipeg.” 647
- Then in 2019, on Britain’s Got Talent, he told their story. TellyMix (October 5, 2019): “In tonight’s show, Darcy performs an emotional tribute to his late brother”; “The Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions final starts tonight at 8:30PM on ITV, Saturday October 5.” 21
- “Losing someone you love is like living with a brick in your pocket,” he said. Darcy, in the act (ITV): “Losing someone you love is like living with a brick in your pocket”; the weight, he went on, never goes away, you just get used to carrying it around. 1
- Under a sheet, he vanished, and a little boy stood in his place. TalentRecap: “Oake stood and pulled a sheet over himself, he suddenly disappeared and was instead replaced by a young boy.” 3
- “If I could relive one moment,” he said, “it would be that one.” Darcy, in the act (ITV): “If I could relive one moment, it would be that one.” 1
- And in 2021, the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre opened. CTV News Winnipeg: “The Bruce Oake Recovery Centre accepted the first participants into the program in May”; “The centre, which includes 50 beds.” Global News (April 29, 2021): “its co-founder, Scott Oake”; “It was created in honour of Oake’s son, Bruce, who died in 2011 …” 109
- Its grand opening fell on what would have been Bruce’s 36th birthday. CTV News Winnipeg (August 22, 2021): “The non-profit program held its grand opening on Sunday – the day Bruce would have been celebrating his 36th birthday.” 10
Sources
- Darcy Oake turns back time to honour his brother | BGT: The Champions (October 5, 2019) Britain’s Got Talent (ITV), on YouTube
- Darcy Oake’s emotional tribute to his late brother in Britain’s Got Talent: Champions final (October 5, 2019) TellyMix
- Illusionist Honors His Late Brother Through Magic on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ (April 16, 2021) TalentRecap
- CBC’s Scott Oake shares story of his son’s fatal addiction (April 30, 2012) The Globe and Mail
- ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ Magician Darcy Oake Reveals Agony Over Brother’s Fatal Drug Overdose (June 2, 2014) HuffPost UK
- Canadian Darcy Oake Wows Britain’s Got Talent. His Reason For Performing Will Move You (April 21, 2014) HuffPost Canada
- Winnipeg magician Darcy Oake falls short on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ (June 7, 2014) Global News
- Bruce Oake Recovery Centre slated to open in spring 2021, construction past halfway mark (October 13, 2020) Global News
- Bruce Oake Recovery Centre weeks away from first residents (April 29, 2021) Global News
- ‘This is the start line’: The Bruce Oake Recovery Centre celebrates grand opening (August 22, 2021) CTV News Winnipeg
Notes
The call: in 2014 he told The Sun, as HuffPost UK reported, that “my mum rang me at 7am and told me he was dead”; in 2019 he said, “She didn’t have to say a word, I already knew” (TellyMix). The Short quotes the 2019 words, from the performance it is about. TalentRecap prints “mum” and ITV’s captions “mom”; Darcy is Canadian, so the Short says “mom.”
In Bruce’s name: HuffPost Canada says Darcy raised money for “a memorial fund he started in his brother’s name,” and in 2012 The Globe and Mail described the facility the money was for as “as-yet-unnamed”; the center that opened in 2021 bears Bruce’s name. The Short says he raised money “for a recovery centre in Bruce’s name.”
The act: ITV’s own article couldn’t be read, so only what TalentRecap describes and ITV’s upload shows is used: he vanished under a sheet and a young boy stood in his place. Fan accounts of a second boy appearing as Bruce aren’t used, as no reliable text source confirms them. The act didn’t bring Bruce back; the Short says he “turned back time,” as ITV’s title does. His words are from ITV’s upload; the two lines the Short quotes read the same in our own transcript of its audio.
The cause of death: The Globe and Mail says “an accidental drug overdose”; another outlet names the drug. The Short names none, and neither does this page.
Darcy Oake and his father, Scott Oake, are alive. Only their public roles and their own published words are used. Bruce’s addiction and death appear only as the family has told them in public; the drugs, his treatment and other private details are left out. Their mother and the young boy in the act are not named or shown.
Pictures: there is no free photo of Bruce Oake, of the brothers together, of the 2014 or 2019 shows, of the boy in the act or of the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre; news, ITV and family photos are all copyrighted, and no TV images are used. Bruce is never shown, and no one stands in for him. Darcy Oake himself is in seven photos of him performing with doves and cards at the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada’s “All That Glitters” gala on May 7, 2010, the year before Bruce died (Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada – Manitoba/Saskatchewan Region); the Moulin Rouge poster behind him is the gala’s decoration. Scott Oake is seen speaking in about 2012 (Ryan Van Horne). Downtown Winnipeg is seen in snow on March 23, 2025, and across the river valley on March 24, 2025 (two photos by Quintin Soloviev). The empty picture frame (Dejan Krsmanovic, 2022), the brick (Krugglesuvu, 2016) and the antique pocket watch (nic, photo-nic.co.uk, on Unsplash, 2016) are generic objects, symbols in the Short, not the family’s own.
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Schumann, Kinderszenen, Op. 15: No. 1 'Of Foreign Lands and Peoples (Musopen, public domain); Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition: IV. Bydlo (piano) (Musopen, public domain); Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 'From the New World': II. Largo (Musopen, public domain).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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