JUNE 2014
TONY BRENT
MAGIC - UNITY - MIGHT
Editor
Michael Close
Editor Emeritus
David Goodsell
Associate Editor
W.S. Duncan
Proofreader & Copy Editor
Lindsay Smith
Art Director
Lisa Close
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June 2014
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Volume 104 • Number 1
THIS MONTH’S FEATURES
28 I Left My Cards at Home • by Steve Marshall
30 Hit the Road • by Scott Alexander
32 Nielsen Gallery • by Tom Ewing
34 Cheats and Deceptions • by Antonio M. Cabral
36 COVER STORY • by Christian Painter
42 Illusions of Grandeur • David Seebach
43 Magic in the Middle East • by Dr. Sanad Rashed
44 Messing with your Mind • by Christopher Carter
46 Not Just Kid Stuff • by Jim Kleefeld
50 The High Road • by Mick Ayres
52 For Your Consideration • by George Parker
54 Ebook Nook: L.I.N.T. by John Luka
58 Informed Opinion • New Product Reviews
67 Tech Tricks • by Bruce Kalver
68 Salon de Magie • by Ken Klosterman
69 Inside Straight • by Norman Beck
70 The Dean’s Diary • by George Schindler
70 Basil the Baffling • by Alan Wassilak
MAGAZINE
M-U-M
June 2014 - M-u-M Magazine 5
cover story
page36
S.A.M. NEWS
6 From the Editor’s Desk
8 From the President’s Desk
11 M-U-M Assembly News
21 Good Cheer List
22 Broken Wands
24 National Council Minutes
48 Newsworthy
69 Our Advertisers
68
6
70
32
43
Editor’s Desk
The subject of this month’s cover story is Tony Brent, a performer whose name may not be familiar to you. Tony is a very busy professional magician who has a long-running show in Orlando, Florida. Christian Painter brought Tony to my attention, and he wrote the cover story on page 36. (Incidentally, Christian has written quite a few cover stories for M-U-M, and I thank him for all his efforts.)The I.B.M./S.A.M. combined convention is rapidly approach-ing, and I’m looking forward to it. If you haven’t already regis-tered for it, you may be out of luck, but it would be worth your time to check the website (www.ibmsam.com) to see if any reg-istrations are still available. I’m especially looking forward to seeing the Fat Brothers (Dani DaOrtiz, Christian Engblom, and Miguel Angel Gea) again. The last time I saw all three of them together was quite a few years ago backstage at the Penn & Teller show in Las Vegas. If you have an interest in close-up, card, or coin magic, you will want to spend some time around these three gentlemen. They are world-class performers.
Incidentally, I’ll be around the entire time at St. Louis. If you have comments or suggestions about M-U-M, please come up and talk to me. This is your magazine; your input is appreciated.
Over the years, I’ve attended a lot of magic conventions. After a while, they all start to blur together, but one of them stands out in my memory – the I.B.M. convention in Evansville, Indiana in 1976. This was not only the first large, national magic convention I had ever attended; it was the first one that I worked as a hired performer.
At that time, I was working on my master’s degree at Butler University in Indianapolis. Once a month I’d make the trek up to Lafayette to attend the magic meetings that were held at Ron London’s magic shop. I wasn’t performing magic professionally; in fact, I had no interest in doing that. Most of my time was spent figuring out ways to fool my magic club buddies. I had three routines that seemed to do the job and were entertaining. The first was an All Backs routine that was based on Harry Riser’s The Practice Deck (The Feints and Temps of Harry Riser, pages 77-85). The second routine was an Okito coin box routine that was inspired by Ed Marlo’s S.O.C. routine.
I worked out the third routine with my friend Rick Swaney; it was called The Invisible Thumb Tip. This was a goofy routine that played very well for magicians. (In fact, it was really only good for magicians, since it openly discussed thumb tips.) The idea was that I brought out an old, really beat up, metal thumb tip and touted its quality as a completely invisible thumb tip. This got a laugh, because you could spot this tip a mile away. But when I put it on my thumb, it disappeared; both hands could be shown completely empty. Then I apparently pulled the tip off my thumb and it reappeared. I then used the tip to vanish a silk. Each
time, the tip (and the silk) vanished completely. The kicker was that at the end of the trick I pulled the invisible tip off my thumb and threw it away, whereupon it made a loud clank (even though it was invisible) when it hit the floor. This got a big laugh.
I have two vivid memories of the Evansville convention. The first is of the dealer’s room. I think there were sixty dealers at that convention, and when I walked into the room it was like being six years old again and walking into Stoner’s Magic Shop in Fort Wayne. I was simply overwhelmed; there was just so much... stuff. It was a great feeling. The other thing I vividly remember is that the final close-up show was on Saturday morning. I’m not sure about the time; it was probably at 11 a.m. or so. At 6 a.m. that morning, five of the six close-up performers were still up doing tricks for each other in the lobby of the hotel. Friends of mine who saw my performance that morning said I didn’t have any of my usual “tells.” I guess they were obliterated by fatigue.
(I just took a break from typing to run up to my library to check my notebooks. I started keeping a notebook of tricks back in 1975. The All Backs routine I did is #67, dated 11/3/75. The coin box routine is #79. Unfortunately, I cannot find any notes for the Invisible Thumb Tip routine. It may be lost forever, which probably is not a bad thing.)
Rick Johnsson was one of the other close-up performers. I remember this quite well, because Rick was always working the room next to the one I was in, and the noise that came from that room was overwhelming. At the time, Rick had a great presenta-tion for Nick Trost’s Horse Race (The Card Magic of Nick Trost, pages 99-103). Rick turned this trick into a full-room, shout-at-the-top-of-your-lungs, audience-participation trick. And in case the audience wasn't making enough noise as they cheered for their horse in the race, Rick hopped up on a chair and honked an old horn to goose up the enthusiasm.
In the dealer’s room I met a young man who was working the Hank Lee booth. He had created a number of packet tricks that sold well for Hank. This was none other than Phil Goldstein, soon to become Max Maven. Phil saw my close-up show and was very complimentary about it.
Through my association with Harry Riser, I had been able to meet a number of “name” magicians before I went to the Evans-ville convention, so I had several names to drop as I introduced myself to people. This is one of things that makes going to a con-vention so much fun – the people you meet and the friendships you establish. There’s nothing like it, and the memories will stick with you for a long time.
(There is sort of a P.S. to this story. The I.B.M. went back to Evansville for their 1980 convention. Unfortunately, this conven-tion was plagued with some problems, the worst of which was the fact that Evansville had been soaked with a serious rainstorm that produced a dampness that permeated the hotel. I also performed at this convention, but as a musician. At the time I had a jazz trio in Indianapolis and we accompanied the acts at the cabaret show and played for a cocktail party. My most vivid memory of this convention is of Inez Blackstone Kitchen coming over and yelling at us for playing too loud.)
Michael Close
Photo by fivebyphotography
Dal Sanders
President’s Desk
Soon I will pass this column, the gavel, and the title of National President to Kenrick “Ice” McDonald and will return to my proper place in the back of the room. When I took over this office and this column eleven issues ago, I had everything planned out. I had already written all of my articles and thought I knew in what direction I would be heading during my year as the president of The Society of American Magicians. Clearly, I was delusional. This year has been an amazing year of activity and I felt the need to share much of it in this column. The good news is that I have twelve inspirational articles already written that will surely show up somewhere else. This last article will also be filled with news, but first I need to say thank you to some people.
It was inspirational to serve behind Past Presidents Mark Weidhaas, Vinny Grosso, and Christopher Bontjes. I learned a lot from these guys that not only helped me through the year but will help me as I move forward and become a PNP. I also want to thank the officers in line behind me, Kenrick McDonald, David Bowers, and Jeff Sikora. The Society of American Magicians is in great hands with these people. I also want to thank Eric Lampert for being a great treasurer with a great sense of humor. Finally, I have to say thank you to the heart and soul of The Society of American Magicians, Manon Rodriguez and Marlene Clark. As National Administrator, Manon keeps all of us on target and focused, and as the National Secretary, Marlene keeps us organized. We all owe a great debt of gratitude and respect to these two women. Without them I’m not sure that the S.A.M. could survive. I know that I haven’t said it often enough or loudly enough but I’ll say it now: thank you for all that you have done.
SCIENCE AND MAGIC
Now we go on to the news. First of all, I want to thank Chris Bontjes for putting together the Science behind the Magic booth that The Society of American Magicians had at the USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C. PNP Bontjes compiled a special magic book that employed STEM princi-ples; we had over a thousand downloads of this book over the three-day conference. Our display included the demonstration of several of the tricks included in the book; other close-up magic was performed by 1st VP David Bowers, 2nd VP Jeff Sikora, PNP
Christopher Bontjes, and me to help gather crowds. This was a fantastic promotion to introduce the S.A.M. and the S.Y.M. to people interested in magic.
LEADERSHIP TRAINING SUMMIT
You may have read about a fantastic training experience for assembly leaders on the horizon; now we have a little more in-formation to share. This November, Las Vegas will host a one of a kind gathering of magicians with a focus on improving your magic club experience, The S.A.M. is working with Stan Allen from MAGIC magazine and Brian Daniel South (formerly
of Creative Magic) to present a summit for assembly leadership. It will be a weekend full of activities, workshops, and keynotes focused on making magic clubs more fun and more effective. We would really like to have your assembly represented.
We would like two representatives from every assembly to attend, but of course, it will not be limited to just two. In fact, this won’t even be limited to S.A.M. members. The goal is to elevate and advance the art of magic, so anyone will be welcome. The S.A.M. is exploring ways to subsidize the cost for two members of each assembly and give other pre-registration opportunities to S.A.M. members.
Similar to a MAGIC Live! convention (after all, Stan is working on this), there will be surprises you definitely won’t want to miss. Due to the unique nature of this summit, there will be a very limited capacity. RVPs will be reaching out to assemblies soon with registration information. In the meantime, if you have any questions you can email Brian at ([email protected]).
AND FINALLY…
As you will read in the Newsworthy section of
M-U-M (page 48-49), on
April 28, 2014, Congress-man Pete Sessions recog-nized in remarks for the Congressional Record that magic is an “Art.” Since the 1960s the S.A.M. has been trying to get congressional recognition of “The Art of Magic.” With the help and guidance of another S.A.M. member, Mayor Eric Hogue, we were finally able to get congressional recognition of the art of magic.
Why is this important?
When considered for grants, magic has been seen as a hobby or at best, a craft. The S.A.M. has been looking for recognition of the art of magic for more than fifty years. Doug Henning won a grant from the Canadian government to study magic by convinc-ing a panel of government officials that it could be considered an art form.
I encourage all of you go to The Society of American Magicians website and download a copy of the Congressional Record document. Make it a part of your grant requests; post it on your websites and social media sites. Spread the word that (as we all have known all along) magic is an art.
In 1902 the founders of The Society of American Magicians stated that our goal is to elevate and advance the art of magic; this should be the goal of all magicians. We have finally received recognition from the U.S. Congress. It is in the Congressional Record. Anyone can look it up. It is up to all of us to be excellent, to be artists, and to elevate and advance our art. However, we must live up to the high standards that come with this recognition. Otherwise, we will betray ourselves, our audiences, and those who believe that we deserve to be called artists.
Of course, this is just my opinion; I could be wrong. Dal Sanders & Mayor Eric
S.A.M. National Officers
Dean: George Schindler, 1735 East 26th St.,
Brooklyn, NY 11229, (718) 336-0605, Fax (718) 627-1397, [email protected]
President: Dal Sanders, 3316 Northaven Rd,
Dallas, TX 75229 (214) 902-9200, [email protected]
President Elect: Kenrick “ICE” McDonald, P.O.
Box 341034, Los Angeles, CA 90034, (310) 559-8968, [email protected]
First Vice President: David Bowers,
(717) 414-7574, [email protected]
Second Vice President: Jeffrey Sikora, (402)
339-6726 [email protected]
Secretary: Marlene Clark, 274 Church Street,
#6B, Guilford, CT 06437, (203) 689-5730, Skype: marlene.clark, [email protected]
Treasurer: Eric Lampert, (215) 939-5555,
Regional Vice Presidents
New England: CT MA RI NH ME VT Joseph Caulfield (603) 654-6022, [email protected] North Atlantic: NY NJ Eric DeCamps, (718) 896-5861, [email protected]
Mid Atlantic: PA DE MD VAWV DC
Phil Milstead, (703) 481-5271, [email protected] South Atlantic: FL AL GA MS NC SC Debbie Leifer (404) 630-1120 [email protected] Central Plains: KY TN OH IN MI Steven A. Spence, (317) 722-0429 [email protected] Midwest: IL MN WI MO ND NE KS SD IA Shaun Rivera, (618) 781-8621 [email protected]
South Central States: TX AR OK NM LA
Michael Tallon, (210) 341-6959 [email protected] Southwest: CA AZ NV HI Ron Ishimaru, (808) 428-6019, [email protected] Northwest: WA OR UT ID CO AK WY MT James Russell, (360) 682-6648 [email protected]
Canada: Rod Chow (604) 669-7777
Society of Young Magicians Director:
Jann Wherry Goodsell, 329 West 1750 North, Orem, Utah 84057 (801) 376-0353. [email protected]
Living Past National Presidents
Bradley M. Jacobs, Richard L. Gustafson, Roy A. Snyder, Bruce W. Fletcher, James E. Zachary, David R. Goodsell, Fr. Cyprian Murray, Michael D. Douglass, George Schindler, Dan Rodriguez, Dan Garrett, Donald F. Oltz Jr., Craig Dickson, Loren C. Lind, Gary D. Hughes, Harry Monti, Jann Wherry Goodsell, Warren J. Kaps, Ed Thomas, Jay Gorham, John Apperson, Richard M. Dooley, Andy Dallas, Maria Ibáñez, Bruce Kalver, Mike Miller, Mark Weidhaas, Vinny Grosso, J. Christopher Bontjes
ASSEMBLY NEWS
Society of American Magicians Monthly News
June 2014 Volume 104, Number 1
GO TO:
WWW.MUM-MAGAZINE.COM
and use the easy submission form to file your report
2
HONORING BOB KUHN
SAN FRANCISCO, CA— The evening’s performances were dedicated to Bob Kuhn, our 101-year-old dean, who recently has been unable to attend the monthly meetings. Tamaka video recorded the performances and the recoding will be given to Bob for his viewing pleasure. Most of the routines presented were either inspired by Bob or taught by him.
Corky LaVallee gave tonight’s teach-in: thread magic using invisible thread with and without a reel. Utilizing a crumpled dollar bill, he caused it to levitate and move from one hand to the other. After the bill routine, he levitated playing cards and then a spinning quarter. During his demonstra-tion he provided props to inter-ested members for their learning purposes. He commented on the importance of lighting placement. We also found out that a slow movement of the levitating object is more elegant and magical than quick or jerky movements.
Hippo Lau began the regular show with several card sleights Bob loved to do, including bringing the chosen card back to the top of the deck. For his second effect Hippo told a story of a blind magician who liked flowers. Hippo opened a plastic case, showed it empty, and then closed it. When he reopened it, a picture of a rose appeared. Corky returned with several sleights. He dealt four cards face down as the members called out numbers. When the cards were turned over, they were the four Aces. Then, with Cynthia Yee’s assistance, Corky placed the two black Aces face down on Cynthia’s palm; when they were turned up, they had become the two red Aces and Corky now held the black ones.
Rich Seguine showed a shallow wood box with two sections. One held a photo of Houdini and the other a piece of chalk hanging from the top. After asking for a number from the members, Rich placed a silk cloth over the box and, saying some magical words, pulled the cloth away.
Amazingly, the chosen number had been written in chalk on the inside of the box. Adeptly assisted by Corky, John Caris staged Jim Steinmeyer’s Princess in a Crowd, an effect Bob had inspired John to learn. The mage made one change in the routine by using Tarot cards instead of regular playing cards. Terrie Cardoza and Mary Caris participated in vanishing the delicious cake Corky had brought. —John Caris
Golden Gate Assembly 2 meets first Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Community Room of Taraval Police Station, 2345 24th Avenue, San Francisco. Contact Tamaka [email protected] (415) 531-9332 https://www.facebook. com/groups/249018441875771/ for more details.
4
BOB SOLARI LECTURES PHILADELPHIA, PA— We are saddened to report the recent passing of our friend Ed Berg, who passed away on April 22, 2014, leaving us all too soon at the age of fifty-nine. Ed, who was a former Assembly 4 president, had been a member of the club since the mid 1980s. He loved to perform chil-dren’s magic. When not working as a substitute teacher in the Phila-delphia public school system, he found time to donate his services as a volunteer ambulance driver. He was a gentle soul with a heart of gold; we extend our condolenc-es to his many friends and family.Our April meeting featured an excellent lecture by Bob Solari.
Prior to the lecture, Peter Cuddihy presented a most informative half hour mini-lecture on the art of children’s magic, during which he discussed the psychology of per-forming for children of different ages and taught some wonderful time-tested effects that he had created over the years. The pre-sentation was further enhanced by commentary from Jane Armstrong, Dick Gustafson, and Donna Horn, among others.
Following Peter’s presentation, we were treated to an extremely entertaining lecture by Bob Solari from northern New Jersey. Bob’s lecture included a wide mix of close-up magic and stand-up magic with cards, coins, paper money, business cards, and matches. Every effect taught was commer-cial in nature and would prove priceless to a “worker.” One of the highlights of the lecture was Ultra Match, in which Bob’s prediction inside a sealed envelope correctly matched the identities of cards that had been freely selected by three different audience members. Another great effect, Business Minded, involved reading the mind of a spectator who had drawn an image on a business card and then buried it in a stack of cards that were rubber-banded together. Bob’s take on the Tossed-out Deck, which he calls the Peek-A-Boo Deck, was worth the price of admission alone. Also, Bob’s Knife through Borrowed Bill, which created the illusion of a bill penetration through a borrowed bill that escaped unscathed, was extremely visual. Bob taught so many excellent effects that everyone in attendance agreed his lecture was well worth the trip. Any assembly looking for a lecture chock-full of practical magic need look no further than Bob Solari. It was a great night of magic for all. —Peter Cuddihy
James Wobensmith Assembly 4 meets third
Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at the Bustleton Memorial Post, 810 (American Legion) 9151 Old Newtown Road Contact Information: www.sam4.org/ for more details.
6
SPRING HAS FINALLY SPRUNG!
BALTIMORE, MD— The
assembly expressed its wishes for a speedy recovery to member Mike Schirmer, convalescing at home. Peter Wood started the magic with a book test he claimed to have performed at a prison, using a huge copy of Shakespeare and three “prisoner” volunteers. Can we really believe him? Re-gardless, he successfully divined all three randomly chosen words. Andy London then demonstrated card “sleight of hand you will all aspire to.” Mentalist Oneil Banks somehow predicted a selected U.S. president’s name, from randomly chosen odd and even digits. Howard Katz amazed us by putting into a cube a wand that was clearly bigger than the cube; the wand then turned into a pencil.
Craig Feinstein showed his vintage three traffic light cards... an oldie but goodie. Guest Jared Raitzyk followed with a nice two-pair card match. Joe Bruno, while looking away, somehow matched drawings made by our four Hopkins guests based on “their personality traits.” Eric Hoffman had hoped to perform Die of Destiny (a Mike Schirmer favorite), but could not locate his props in time, so he substituted Prophesy Pack. Mark Wolfire patiently showed Jeff Eline “how to be a magician,” using a card box.
Dennis Hasson made our heads spin with a “sobriety test” followed by a rope that knotted, unknotted, and finally ended up with a red section. Guest Ronann Carrero showed the tiny wallet he carries, with its even tinier contents. He then performed a card trick learned from the Bill Malone VHS tape he won at last month’s raffle. Guest Ghen Ferguson, Hopkins materials science student, dem-onstrated magic “at the atomic level,” mysteriously linking and unlinking rubber bands. Guest Mike Bledsoe, asking his spectator to “pick not just any card, but a random card,” took a shot at a spelling trick. Guest
June 2014 - M-U-M Magazine 11
Bob Solari teaching the Peek-A-Boo Deck
Assembly News
Les Albert showed a fine face-up reveal (his version of Cheek to Cheek) and his Spectator Cuts to the Aces (using “approximate” cuts); he graciously tipped both. Jay Silverman performed an in-teresting reveal using two specta-tors and two decks of two colors. Finally, Jeff Eline surprised us all by performing two effects, neither involving cards! First he demonstrated making decisions “by gut reaction,” using two bags, one filled with dangerous broken glass. He then divined the small items (cash, coin, candy, or cap) held secretly by four spectators, even after they traded back and forth. —Eric Hoffman
The Kellar/Thurston Assembly 6 meets every first Thursday at 8:00 pm at the Magic Warehouse, 11419 Cronridge Drive suite #10 in Owings Mills, Maryland. 410-561-0777. Contact Andy London [email protected] or www.baltimoresam.com for more details.
8
USING THE FORCE
ST. LOUIS,MO— March 27th -
Skype2: The first Skype conver-sation was the pure magic of Dal Sanders, our national president. Meet him at the SAM/IBM con-vention here in July! Second, Ricky Lax from Wizard Wars on the SyFy channel taught a two versions of an impromptu effect with a dollar bill and then with a playing card. George Van Dyke taught an effect from our M-U-M and noted a move he gleaned from the book
Simon Says by Simon Lovell, who
has performed at the Midwest Magic Jubilees.
Dan (the Great) Todd used Mc-Grip’s for card shooting. Andy Leonard caused a ring to end up inside a locked box from his pocket! PNP Harry Monti explained how Bicycle playing cards are made.
John Davit gave us a lesson on great card magic with cards as-sembling with some helper cards. In Columbus Smith’s words, “Chris (Korn) did a four-Jack production from a shuffled deck. Followed by a card vanish using the Jacks. Then he reached in his back pocket to produce the card only it to be the four Jacks and the vanished card in his hand where the Jacks were.”
Ron White performed the card through glass and explained how we can perform this effect. Joseph Lortz came to visit and performed a great, signed card to pocket effect. Joey has expressed interest in joining.
April 10th: Use the Force.
Vice President Steve Barcel-lona presided over the meeting
in the absence of the President, Secretary/Treasurer, and the Sergeant at Arms. We saw the Doc Eason’s Profound Influ-ences coming full circle on You Tube. And PNP Harry Monti told a story of touching the lives of others and having a positive impact on those we meet and touch through our performances. Columbus Smith taught us Elbow, Knee, and Neck by Daryl, from the book Spectacle by Stephen Minch, which was an Ebook Nook selection in the February
M-U-M. Steve performed and then
walked us through his version of the Chicago Opener. Then he did his version of the Devin Knight’s 1972 Flying Kiss effect.
Steve taught another force. Columbus chose an object supplied by the audience after Sandy wrote down her own selection; they matched! Adam Putman, Columbus, Joseph Lortz, and Harry Monti taught their favorite card forces. Rocky, Sandy Weis’s dog, performed. Chad Jacobs performed a card effect and Joey was inspired to produce Elvis shades from an empty newspaper. —Dan Todd
Assembly 8 meets at Mount Tabor United Church of Christ located at 6520 Arsenal in Saint Louis, Missouri 63139. Contact Dick Blowers [email protected] (213) 846-8468 http://Assembly8. com for more details.
13
FRIENDLY COMPETITION
DALLAS, TX— The April meeting started with voting for 2014 officers. These officers will be installed at the Dallas Magic Clubs banquet in May: Joe Byers (Sgt. at Arms), David Knight (Vice President), Frank Seltzer (President), Dal Sanders (Secretary), and Reade Quinton (Treasurer). Following voting, Dal Sanders presented Frank Seltzer a special certificate from the Society of American Magicians, celebrat-ing Frank’s twenty-five years of membership.
The April meeting featured the Dallas Magic Clubs first Magician of the Year contest. The first
performer was Daryl Howard, who started with a ring and necklace penetration and then a ring and wand penetration. He then produced a magic “gift box,” which started empty but subse-quently produced many items. Derrel Allen performed at a table for John Greene and Jennifer Gracy. Derrel had John remove a deck of cards and select a suit and a value. He then asked him to look for that card in the deck. When John stated that the card was not in the deck, they discovered it was still in the card box. Then, Derrel showed off his “cheat detector,” which was a small gadget with four lights that indicated card suits. Four cards were arranged in front of the machine (one of each suit) in random sequences, but the lights on the machine always correctly identified the location of each card.
Mike Squires took on a challenge presented to him by Dal Sanders. Dal randomly selected a volume of Tarbell (in this case, Volume 4), and Mike had to perform effects limited to that volume. Mike started with an effect using blocks labeled with the letters D, M, and C representing the Dallas Magic Clubs. He then performed a bottle effect in which the liquid contents of a soda bottle remained in place when the bottle was inverted. He finished with a card effect in which cards were placed into a wine glass and mysteriously trans-formed into selected cards.
Joey Byers performed a mentalism effect in which the club members were asked to organize next year’s big conven-tion. Members chose a location for the convention, the date, the reg-istration cost, and the headlining magician. It was then revealed that a balloon contained a folded piece of paper that predicted correctly each of these decisions.
Wrapping up the performances was Kendal Kane, who performed an energetic act set to music. Effects included silk productions, umbrella productions, and flower productions. The winner of the
competition will be announced at the banquet in May.
The Dallas Magic Clubs meet at Crosspointe community center, Theater 166, in Carrollton TX on the third Tuesday of the month at 7:00 PM. Check out www. dallasmagic.org for directions. Contact Reade Quinton reade. [email protected] (972) 400-0195 for more details.
17
APRIL FOOLS OF MAGIC
SPRINGFIELD, MA— Comedy was the theme for the evening and Ed Kazar, aka the World’s Worst Magician, began with his comical routine of passing a coin and silk through a solid drinking glass. He surprised us when he asked if we were hungry and he showed us his chicken sandwich (a real chicken in the center). Later he brought out some old photos of famous actors. He had placed a prediction in an envelope and got the volunteers free will choice correct. Bob Carroll, the World’s Most Famous Unknown Magician and Ventriloquist, showed us his take of twisting the Jacks called Shock Twist. Bob always keeps us laughing every meeting. We will miss him when he moves away. Tom Gentile, alias Santa, brought his fortune teller cards. Rick Meyer had to choose a card to see what his future held. He looked at Tom, who was now wearing a red clown nose. The card read, “You will make passionate love to a clown.” Rick was a good sport. However, no kiss for Santa.
Peter Lennis, who is always full of surprises, impressed us with his own card trick called Mind Perception. He took and shuffled a red deck and a blue deck. He then passed out three white envelopes (one to each person). They wrote their names and placed a card from the red deck in a separate brown envelope and placed that inside the white one. He was able to match each of their cards by taking them from the blue deck. He had us all guessing on that one.
Signed Card Through Glass
Dal Sanders presents Frank Seltzer a 25-year S.A.M.
certificate
PJ Pinnsonault receiving Presidential Citation from
June 2014 - M-U-M Magazine 13
Assembly News
All too soon the evening ended as usual. If you are in the area, drop in and visit with us for a spell. —Karen Gibson
Dr. I.R. Calkins Assembly 17 meets the first Friday of every month at 7 pm at RP Magic Shop/ Moto X Equipment; 69 East Street; Ludolow MA Contact Rich Gilbert rgilbertmagic@ yahoo.com (413) 210-5725 www.assembly17.org for more details.
19
ERIC ROUMESTAN LECTURES IN HOUSTON
HOUSTON, TX— April’s meeting date was set aside for a lecture by Eric Roumestan. We had an opportunity to have Eric lecture on this single day, so we took advantage of it. The lecture was free to paid-up members, so we had a good turnout. Our business meeting was very short in order to get directly to the magic. Eric shared some of his fine coin magic. His routines were well thought out and, of course, audience tested. I especially liked the use of his shirt Topit, which was cleverly made and well explained. His Coins Across routine with the use of a drinking glass and a shell was well done and also well received. He finished the evening with his Matrix routine that left us all wondering, but came back and explained it in great detail. Overall it was a very good lecture that you should not miss if you have the op-portunity to catch it.
We have Martin Lewis coming to Houston on May 22, which starts off our new lecture series. —Miles Root
Assembly 19 meets the first Monday of every month at the International Alliance of Theatrical State Employees Local 51 Meeting Hall, 3030 North Freeway, Houston, TX. A teaching lecture begins at 7:30 pm with the meeting beginning at 8:00 pm. Contact Miles Root [email protected] (281) 334-7508 houstonmagic.com for more details.
21
IMPROMPTUHARTFORD, CT— The theme for tonight was “Impromptu Magic,” and since our theme captain was out sick, we had to improvise even more than usual. Dan Sclare started by showing a tent card labeled “Iitycidamtfy?” and waited for somebody to ask... (If I tell you, can I do a magic trick for you?) The trick was to borrow a deck and have a card selected
and returned. After a shuffle, he showed the wrong card, saying “Is this your card?” Well, of course it was my card; it came from my
deck.
Dana Ring did a quick mentalism with packets of sweetener that are in every restaurant, hiding a duplicate of one of the choices under a plate and using the Ma-gician’s Force to get a selection of the right color. Norman St. Laurent suggested a variation in which seven packets are numbered and eliminating all but the force number (which is the only one numbered on both sides.)
Dan asked two people to pick a number (one odd, one even), and showed them a card with objects listed next to a number. Both his guesses matched the selected objects. He then showed us how to do it, using a special card. Rick St. Pierre, saying cards are the basis of computers, twice found a triple match (color/number/match).
Dave Garrity sent a link to Norm’s cell phone, which resolved to a set of ESP symbols. Norm concentrat-ed on a symbol, and Dave could tell which it was! This reminded Dan of Mind Lister, which he performed for Kat Lovell. Peter Lennis passed out to three specta-tors: a marker, a coin envelope, and a business envelope. Three cards were selected from a red deck. The cards went into the coin envelope, then into the business envelope, signed and sealed. Peter then drew three cards from a blue deck, and all three matched the selections. —Dana T. Ring
Angelo’s on Main, 289 South Main Street, West Hartford Connecticut meets on second Mondays except December. Contact Dana T. Ring [email protected] (860) 5239888 www.ctmagic.org for more details.
22
STAGE & PARLOR MAGIC COMPETITION
LOS ANGELES,CA— The April 21 business meeting of Assembly 22 included a second reading and unanimous election into mem-bership for David Chen. Con-gratulations, David. It was then time for the scheduled program, competition for several of the assembly trophies available for stage and parlor magic presenta-tions. Producing the program was John Engman, who also emceed the show, presenting his magic between acts.
Opening the show was Steve Jennings, who replicated a magic act he presented fifty years ago for his high school senior talent show. Included were routines with the Die Box and the Chinese
Wands. The second act was Henry Springer with a manipulation act that included the Miser’s Dream, production of a champagne bottle, and a Benson Bowl routine that ended with the production of dozens of large sponge balls from under the bowl. Kent Morgan then produced a bouquet of flowers in an empty flowerpot and presented Andrew Mayne’s torn and restored newspaper and his self-levita-tion while standing on a chair. Harrison Lampert next presented a high-energy card routine using an audience member to play the part of the magician who divined a selected card. Jim Callen was our sixth performer. He presented Martin Lewis’s color changing pencil and a successful predic-tion of the amount of change in the pocket of an audience member. Jim Militello next performed several effects in which selected cards matched his prediction cards from a different deck. Jim finished with a carnival game in which three participants each won a stuffed animal.
The seventh performance was a character act by Brian Regalbuto. He did a great job as Mark Twain, presenting a humorous monologue illustrated by a few magic effects, including the produc-tion of a goblet of burgundy silk and a chewing gum packet that changed into a cigar. Closing the show was Magic Castle performer Bob Bolivar debuting a torn and restored newspaper effect of his own origin. The tabloid-sized dou-ble-page sheet was cleanly torn, restored in a flash, and directly handed out to the audience for in-spection. This was a very surpris-ing effect and had the audience of magicians baffled as to his method. It’s a secret. Another great night of magic in Southern California. —Steven L. Jennings
Southern California Assembly 22 meets the third Monday each month at 8:00 PM, St. Thomas More Parish Hall, 2510 South Fremont Avenue, Alhambra, California. Contact Ed Thomas [email protected] (213) 382 8504 for more details.
23
SPRING CLOSE-UP SHOW
WASHINGTON, DC— Noland Montgomery, president of Larry West Assembly 23, opened an annual spring close-up show at the National Press Club in April, performing a sponge balls routine and a slick cut-and-restored rope effect. He is a full-time magician who performs around the Wash-ington area, including the White House. Lars Klores, an award-winning actor and magician,
offered a six-bill money counting routine and a torn-and-restored newspaper using the Washington
Post. Arnie Fuoco delivered a die
box routine and a Chinese sticks effect.
Dwight Redman, a past president of the assembly, did Aldo Co-lombini’s ring-and-rope routine as well as several popular effects using jumbo cards. Augie Arnstein offered a clever quiz show routine based on a mentalism theme. Larry Lipman, another former assembly leader, incorporated clever sound effects in his act as he did a cards across assembly and several other routines. Jim Flanigan, also a former assembly president, was the evening’s emcee.
Assembly 23 meets at the National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, DC 20045 Contact Jim Flanigan [email protected] (202) 494-7302 for more details.
30
A MILESTONE IN ATLANTA MAGIC
ATLANTA, GA— Our 900th meeting was held as a celebration of magic at the Georgian Club in Marietta. We enjoyed a buffet dinner and a display from our archives by Bob Stultz. One of the items on display was the wand used by Julian Boehme, one of the founders of the Atlanta Society of Magicians.
A brief historical program was presented by John Miller. Emcee Joe Turner led us on a magical journey with performers Jim Driscoll, Bob Stultz, Martin Baratz, and Mal Simpson. It was a lovely and meaningful evening enjoyed by all.
Our 901st meeting was hosted by emcee Mark Hatfield. Debbie Leifer presented a Professional Development lecture on Silk Magic. Debbie demonstrated how to fold a silk and make a false knot. She performed and explained silk through glass and the use of a hank ball and Palmo ball for pro-ductions. She finished with a silk from apple. She displayed several colorful Rice silks.
Merle Harmon performed an effect using three piles of cards. A predictor card was chosen and with magical dexterity, the top card of each pile was the predictor. Merle performed this for member-ship and was accepted.
Dan Garrett used a light bulb to channel energy and made it light on command. He also removed the glow from the light and put it back into the bulb. Very enlightening. West Evans performed a very nice Cups and Balls routine.
Gene Hendrix had three “crook” cards selected and used his
Assembly News
“ace” detectives to find the cards hidden in the deck. Rick Hinze presented a voodoo card effect. A card was chosen and a sympathy card also. With a flame under the card a burn appeared on the back of the sympathy card. A skeleton card held the chosen card. —Carol Garrett
Assembly 30 meets the second Tuesday of the month at Piccadilly Cafeteria, I-85/North Druid Hills Road, Atlanta, Georgia
31
IT WAS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY
INDIANAPOLIS, IN— Our April theme was “Money Magic.” It turned out that the magic for the evening was right on the money! But first we discussed our plan for inviting all clubs within a rea-sonable distance of Indianapolis to join us at our annual Magic Picnic on June 22. It is always a great event with food and magic in a beautiful outdoor setting at one of the largest city parks in the country. Feel free to check our website for details.
Our second “on the money” event was the formal initiation ritual of new member, Doug Jave. We all know Doug as a superb magician and he proved it to us with some astounding money magic later in the evening. We are proud to welcome Doug into our Assembly 31.
And then it was time to move on to multiple miraculous effects with coins and bills. Daniel Lee showed us his take on the Extreme Burn 2.0. President Taylor Martin shared a “Brief History of Money,” including a description of the origin of the picayune. He also did a nice four coins and a card, and taught us the “Taylor Twist,” his method of moving coins through his hand one at a time.
Jim Croop asked for a dollar bill, but it turned out to be counterfeit; using the Scottie York Counterfeit Bill routine he was able to save the owner from embarrassment and jail. However, the owner of the bill clearly imagined it was a dollar and four quarters were produced from the remains of the counterfeit bill, which allowed Jim to move on to the Garrett Thomas Imagina-tion Coins routine.
Very long time member Tom Winterrowd did his version of a half dollar traveling invisibly from one hand to the other which he termed “Very Costly.” With two half dollars in his right hand, he tossed one invisibly to his left hand. Unfortunately, he missed, leaving him with only one half dollar. He commented that he had been working on this effect for
some time and that every time he misses, it costs him fifty cents!
Finally, it should be noted that newly inducted member, Doug Jave, taught us how to transition a borrowed bill into a bill divided into four quarters. To top it off, he used his membership pin box which was presented to him earlier in the evening as the prop for his magic!
Assembly 31 meets the first Monday of the month at 7:00 pm. If the first Monday conflicts with a holiday weekend, we postpone the meeting by one week. Unless otherwise announced, the meeting location is the Irvington United Methodist Church, 30 Audubon Road, on the east side of the city. For more information contact Taylor Martin at kazoo23@aol. com or 317-413-1320
32
BRINGING OUT NEW “OLD” MAGIC
LYNCHBURG, VA— April’s theme was “Magic Out Of The Drawer,” meaning effects and props that have been stored away and are not being used or seldom see the light of day. Lynchburg’s magicians must generally have drawers crowded with magic as all attending had something to offer, many with multiple tricks. Patrick Hubble got things started by magically twisting the end of a key and the shape of the key was transformed. This, like some other tricks to follow, is too good to be tucked away in a drawer for any extended time.
Glen Rae performed next and presented a series of effects, including a premonition effect by Richard Osterlind, Sid Lor-raine’s 1-2-3 card effect, Eye of the Beholder, and a real fooler using ESP cards. He finished with a nicely handled Lazy Man’s Cards. Mike Kinnaird demonstrated a prediction of the future with four queens he had in an envelope and also performed another very clever Tenyo mental effect called The Elite Fortune Sticks.
Trevor Albright performed his version of the 21 cards. John Jennings had a turn and first shared a brass Nut and Bolt prop that was more a puzzle than magic. He also had a comedy Finger in a Box and presented an ESP Box with cards that dated back nearly fifty years.
Bob Staton shared an in-teresting effect using states and discussed variations. This was a meeting with consider-able participation by all, a factor that adds interest and enjoyment anytime these wizards get together. —John Jennings
The Hersy Basham Assembly 32
meets the third Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at Tharp Funeral Home, 220 Breezewod Drive, Lynchburg, VA. Contact John Jennings [email protected] (434) 851-6240 for more details.
35
MIND GAMES
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY— Our meeting this evening began with a broken wand ceremony for long-time member, Mr. George Post, who first joined the club when Dwight Eisenhower was president. Mr. Post loved giving shows for children, many times doing several shows in the same day. He even graced the cover of
M-U-M in March of 1966. A video
of him performing was shown, so that newer members could get but a glimpse of what the older members vividly remember.
Afterwards we had a presentation of mentalism effects by our own Harvey Berg. A card was selected; several permeations were made, with the card to be revealed by a phone call to Mrs. Berg who was at home. The effect ended with an unexpected result.
Another effect demonstrated was titled Possible Impossibil-ity. Mr. Berg was assisted by Gayle Alexander, “Dr. Platypus,” Rebeckah Curry, and John McMorrow. The cards were cut several times, each person being dealt thirteen cards. Yet every time a card was called out from Ace to King to be put onto the table, each person turned out to have exactly an Ace through King each time. This was repeated several times with the exact same result.
Mr. Berg went on to tell us a story of someone that he knew in school years ago, someone who inspired him to seek to better himself. This friend eventually became a U.S. Supreme Court justice. Mr. Berg performed a few times for the justices. Were they able to figure out how he did his effects? Ap-parently the jury’s still out on that one. —Darryl Bielski
Assembly 35 meetings are held at Milanese Restaurant in Poughkeepsie, NY. Typically, meetings are held every 2nd Tuesday of each month. Meetings begin at 7:30 pm. Contact Joel Zaritsky [email protected] (845) 546-1559 www.sam35.com for more details.
37
AUSTRALIAN MAGICIAN TIM ELLIS TAKES DENVER
BY STORM!
DENVER, CO— April in the Mile High City was magic! Thanks to past president and
devoted member Chad Wonder, Jeff McBride was in town and provided a stellar mini-camp to our membership for a minimal fee. He then was featured in a public show at one of Denver’s hot cabaret-style theaters. A week later we hosted a magic flea market to provide our member-ship with an opportunity to sell their excess magic wares and to provide an opportunity for magic enthusiasts from around the state to buy magic items at a discounted price. Several members were on hand to sell, including Larry Betz, Mark Strivings, Chris Manos, and Denver’s own creative coin master Dave Neighbors. Buyers were not only from the Denver metro area but our neighboring clubs to the north (Ft. Collins and Greeley) and to our south (Colorado Springs), not to mention our local clown cousins. We also had a couple brave souls make a 100-mile trek up from Pueblo, Colorado.
A couple who are one of our club’s greatest assists Bruce and Kitty Spangler celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary with a lavish party thrown at their television celebrity son Steve Spangler’s family home. They are celebrating in grand fashion their upcoming cover story for M-U-M magazine.
The month then ended in down-under fashion with a fun and educational lecture from come-dy-magic icon Tim Ellis. Tim is an artistic and creative soul who deeply cares about others, espe-cially his audience. His lecture was centered on making people care about magic. What better way to start the caring then to eat a few razor blades in tune with a nifty ditty. Then Kitty Spangler got to play chicken with a rat trap or two. Andrew Bates received a photograph of his palm holding the chosen card inside and Lewis Peacock’s Seven of Hearts spelled out the word C A R E.
Colorado’s magic-storyteller Autumn Morning Star helped Tim
Tim Ellis and Autumn Morning Star pose after
June 2014 - M-U-M Magazine 15
Assembly News
out with an ambitious card trick done to a charming music box melody. Delightful club member Glenn Prouix offered his ring for a brilliant rubber band trick while member Mike Townsend looked on. Tim’s best was saved for last as our group of a lucky thirty-five was treated to Tim’s awesome signature piece, Run around Sue. He later joined Theatre of Dreams hosts Joe and Carol Givan for two back-to-back sold-out shows the next evening. Tim is brilliant! —Connie Elstun
Assembly 37 meets at the Riverpointe Senior Center in Littleton Colorado. Contact Connie Elstun connie@comedymagicbunny. com (303) 933-4118 www.milehighmagicians.com for more details.
38
A VARIETY OF MAGICKANSAS, MO— Assembly 38 met on March 25, 2015, and, following a repost of the board of directors, launched into a multital-ented and multifaceted evening of magic. It was led off by member and regional vice president, Shaun Rivera, who regaled us with several of his usual fine card effects. He was followed by Bob Goodin, a regular at several Kansas City res-taurants, who, assisted by Leatha La Guardia, also provided us with his customary blend of skill and entertainment. John Hicks, another card aficionado, included a version of Triumph in his pre-sentation.
Then it was time for Daniel Jackson to entertain us with some of the material that has insured him a spot among the top of the city’s street performers. Ropes, Cups and Balls, borrowed bill in kiwi (use a kiwi; it makes the bill so messy that the spectator who loaned it will usually not want it back), and the production of a bowling ball from his floppy hat. Surprised the heck out of everybody!
Dr. Bill King, did some work with a Stripper deck that was also marked, showing us how when
used properly, such devices can me most effective in producing real magic. Korso (stage name) did a portion of his act, which included the discovery of a chosen card stuck on the back wall. Israel Rivera did a portion of his stage act, including pouring color-changing liquid into and out of a folded newspaper which somehow managed to remain perfectly dry. Neat!
Don Becker showed us a 1950s model of Forgetful Freddie, a trick which many of the younger members had never heard of. He also treated the members to a dem-onstration of an apparently 1930s model of a “Forgetful King Kong,” a steel (and really noisy) version of the lost and rediscovered head guy.
And Laremy Schulze proved that his lucky matchbox was really lucky (fortunately for the owner of the bill that was stashed in it).
Good evening with lots of magic. Good time at the local af-terhours hash house, too, where a local pool player showed us a “card trick” and asked if it was a good one. Creative hemming and hawing followed. All in all, a great evening! —Don Becker
Assembly meets at The Improve Coffee House and Theater, 4010 Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas City, MO on the 3rd Tuesday of every month. Contact Don Becker [email protected] (816) 886-6780 for more details.
47
NOMINATIONS & CLOSE-UP CONTEST PT. 1
ROCHESTER, NY— Our April meeting brought on the close-up contest as well as nominations for officers for the coming year. Nom-inations for officers are: JP Lacey and Mike Ihrig for President, Nick Young for Vice President, Joel Greenwich for Secretary, and Jeff Blood for Treasurer.
The close-up contest was a huge success, due to the tremendous work of JP Lacey. Eight members performed for $175 in prizes. Dan Grayson performed literally for the first time in a group environ-ment and was well received. He took a borrowed ring, vanished it, and made it reappear inside of three silk handkerchiefs rubber banded together. A nice card rev-elation followed; he ended with a gypsy thread routine using dental floss.
Mike Ihrig did a tribute to his four-month-old granddaughter, Ondine by performing a Hello Kitty magic show using not only the tricks exclusive to Toys R Us, but also his own innovations. It was well received.
Joel Greenwich used cards to tell the story of his life and dreams so far. Numbers picked always produced a Queen. Basically, his mantra was to pursue your dreams and stay true to yourself and you will find the treasure in your life. The routine and ma-nipulation were flawless.
Professor Rem used his origami skills and added
a magic touch. A paper was cut into a heart, which changed into two squares, which became separate, but linked! Another favorite of mine was a wandering hole routine on a piece of card with my neighborhood drawn on it. Rem of course, added his well known quips and jokes. A fun ride.
JP Lacey stunned the crowd with a piece of paper that, when lit, burst into flame to reveal a silver dollar. Two more appeared, vanished, and switched hands. This was pleasingly masterful magic that had to be seen. He then made the coins pass one at a time through a transparent silk; the last one done in a spectator’s closed fist! As he left, he produced a glass of water! Beautiful to watch and admire! —Mike Ihrig
Assembly 47 meets the third Tuesday September thru May at St. Joseph’s School, 39 Gebhardt Rd, Penfield, NY 14526 Contact Mike Ihrig [email protected] (585) 377-1566 www.sam47.com for more details.
51
APRIL IS ALIVE WITH MAGIC IN PEORIA!
PEORIA, IL— Our March meeting was called to order by President Rodney Nordstrom. There were thirteen members in attendance. The topic was “Present your favorite magic trick or discuss your favorite magician.” It was interesting to get feedback on the most popular tricks and favorite magicians.
We will be doing twenty per-formances at the Heart of Illinois fair in July. Also in July will be a performance at the Riverfront Museum, in conjunction with their exhibit theme of “Believe it or Not.” In the same area of town, every other Saturday throughout the summer, we will have a tent at the Riverfront Farmer’s Market, where we will perform close-up. We are also planning a “Tribute to Houdini” for October and will be
performing at the men’s Bradley University basketball game later this year in front of over six thousand people!
On April 5, we had our annual shows at Expo Gardens Opera House, with two shows that day, an hour long matinee and a full evening show that night. Stage performers included emcee Jay Zentko, C.J. Diamond, D’Nordo, Jerry Tupper, Yort, J-Mysterio, Grant Golden, Kyle Bassett, Mr. Illusion, and Michael Baker. Close-up performers included Michael Couri, Brock Cassidy, D’Nordo, Yort, and Mr. Illusion. Our apologies, if any performers were overlooked.
Regis Kormick did a fine job handling our ticket booth, while Mr. & Mrs. Peacock served as greeters. Thanks to Steve Spain at The Costume Trunk for helping with advance ticket sales. Thanks also to all who contributed to the planning and execution of this event in any manner. The shows were considered a success!
April began our new incentive program. Any member who attends three consecutive meetings in any calendar quarter will be entered into a drawing for a $50 cash prize.
Our theme for the evening was on the topic of “patter.” Partici-pants included Regis Kormick, Troy Keefer, Rodney Nordstrom, Jerry Tupper, Dr. Ron Sumner, Grant Golden, Michael Baker, and Betty Giacobazzi.
There was more discussion following the meeting, and several of us looked over and purchased some books and other items from Gordon Snow’s estate. —Michael Baker
Assembly 51 meets the third Monday of the month, beginning at 7:00pm at Schnucks Grocery in the Metro Center, University and Glen. Contact Michael Baker themagiccompany@ aol.com (205)612-3696 http:// peoriamagicians.com for more details.
Bob Gooden does magic for Leatha La Guardia
Front row: C.J. Diamond, J-Mysterio, Yort, Maralyn Keefer Back row: Grant Golden, Kyle
Bassett, Michael Baker, Jerry Tupper, Jay Zentko, D’Nordo, Mrs. & Mr. Peacock
Assembly News
52
PAYING YOUR TAXES
SAN ANTONIO, TX— April 3, 2014, Brother John Hamman Assembly 52 held its monthly meeting at La Madeleine Res-taurant. We had a great turnout tonight with fifteen in atten-dance, including members and wives. With April being tax month, tonight’s suggested theme: currency, bills, coins, or even an effect that is particularly “Taxing!”
President Don Moravits started off the open performances by doing a rope trick to music. Ray Adams told a great story while doing the Hundy 500, and Doug Gorman told a story about the Tax Code Simplification Act using an Okito coin box and five coins. Joe Libby did a hilarious vent act using a puppet representing his brain. Michael Tallon entertained us with Misled and Paul Mims performed Pen through Bill and Traveling Cash. Ed Solomon presented a wonderful mini-lec-ture on storytelling. Ed spoke about why you become a storytell-er; which comes first, the magic or the story; the importance of perception; and told a wonderful story as an example of the points he previously made. His talk was followed by an extensive question and answer period. The number of questions and their insightful-ness served to illustrate just how very much we all appreciated Ed’s efforts. We were all privi-leged, indeed, to hear these gems of wisdom from a genuine inter-nationally revered master of the art. Door Prize winners were Ray Adams, who won Tom Craven’s Blue Collar Aces; Joe Libby, who won Daryl’s lecture notes, 4FXII and Sponge Egg; and Michael Tallon, who won David Stone’s Rewind 2.0.
Brother John Hamman Assembly 52 meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month at La Madeleine Restaurant, located at 722 N.W. Loop 410. The restaurant is inside Loop 410 on the access road between Blanco Rd. and San Pedro. For more information, contact [email protected].
56
APRIL MEETING
DAYTON, OH— Our April meeting was well attended. Compeer Scott Miller called Compeer Bill Alexander who now lives in Louisville, Kentucky via FaceTime so everyone could say hello and wish Bill well.
Our Theme of “Rope Magic” was
brought to us by Carl Day. Carl started us off followed by Dave Davis, Paul Burnham, Jo Ann Kinder, Scott Miller, John Love, Fred Witwer, Millie Witwer, and Oran Dent. A great time was had by all. —Matthew David Stanley
Assembly 56 meets at various Locations Contact Paul Burnham [email protected] for more details.
59
LEO HAGLUND’S CARD CONTEST
PORTLAND, OR— Greetings compeers. My name is Andy Turner and I am your new Assembly 59 secretary. This is the first of many club reports that I will be writing. I look forward to the many challenges that I will conquer in my new position.
April’s meeting title was “Leo Haglund’s Most Entertaining Card Trick Contest” and was sponsored by Dave’s Killer Magic Shop. It was a dark and rainy April night – a night that all who attended will remember in the future. The meeting was kicked off by our new president Mel Anderson, covering a few issues of business and then we went into this much anticipated annual contest.
The contestants who wowed the crowd were: Bob Eaton, Tom Waldrop, Jay Fredericks, Randy Stumman, Mel Anderson, Larry Seymore, John Edsall, and finally Jorjan Plimmer. The grand winner for this year’s contest was none other than our own Randy Stumman. It was a great night of magic shared by all! We had several guests for the contest, including Jack Buchalter, Jorjan Plimmer, and returning visitor Frank Dudgeon. Everyone who attended was amazed, entertained, and baffled by all the great acts of the night. We then were addressed by President Mel Anderson with a few old business notes followed by new business, which included a shout-out from Art Manning recruiting stage assistants for the upcoming show for the Elks Lodge on May 24. It was noted that this show, which will include at least six members performing, is going to be another great show put on by the club for the purpose of paying our rent to the Elks. Upon ad-journing, off into the rainy night we went.
—Andy Turner
Assembly 59 meets at the Beaverton Elks Lodge 3500 SW 104th,Beaverton,
Oregon 97005. Contact Andy Turner mysteriesofmagic@ gmail.com (503) 975-6139 sam59portland.org for more details.
61
NEW OFFICERS ELECTED AND A FUN NIGHT OF COIN
MAGIC!
MILWAUKEE, WI— Assembly 61 elected new officials at the February meeting and the March get-together went off with a fun and educational night of coins! Newly elected president Mark Martinez set the stage for the March meeting by declaring it coin night. Members, each with
a unique coin effect, gathered and shared their art. We were educated on a non-gaffed Coins Across routine from Mark that sent everyone home with practice material for a month! VP Mario Gayoso dazzled with a Matrix effect, and Treasurer Robert Rath supplied a flurry of sleight of hand that kept us all guessing. We saw coin productions and vanishes and even had a coin appear in a sealed sugar packet from an effect created by new secretary Jeremy Scheifflee.
Magic is alive and well in the Brew City! With a great group of magicians already on board, we are looking forward to growing and sharing great magic in 2014! —Jeremy Scheifflee
Assembly 61 meets at Dicken’s 9646 W Greenfield Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53214. Contact Jeremy Scheifflee thegreatsavill@ gmail.com (991) 3003 www. sam61.com for more details.
88
SILK MAGIC
ANN ARBOR, MI— Coming out of a brutal winter, we kicked off spring with a fantastic April meeting! The theme this month was silk magic and our members came prepared. A standing-room-only crowd was mesmerized as nine members performed feats of silken sorcery. After welcoming three guests (Tim Miller, Shabier Raffee, and Jeff Boyer), the fun began.
Jim Placido kicked things off with a smooth rendition of Silkola.
Magic Joe (Fusco) followed as one of three colored boxes was freely selected by a spectator. She also randomly selected a playing card. After some comical byplay, the selected card was found inside the box previously chosen. Jim Folkl penetrated a silk hank with a sword, then produced two (very small) “rabbits” from a “tube of mystery/genii tube,” culminat-ing with the appearance of a large Rabbit in the Hat silk.
President Bill Brang pulled out all the stops. In rapid succes-sion, Bill magically rearranged numerals on a silk streamer, trans-formed red/white/blue silks into an American flag, produced an Olympic flag, did a funny bit with a “UNIQUE” silk, presented the classic effect “Blendo silks,” and concluded with the appearance of a 36” THE END silk.
George Honer proceeded to transform the colors of various silks in a mysterious bag. The kicker came with the change of the bag’s color from black to multi-color! After showing a green silk with a white rectangular center, Marvin Mathena had a freely selected card vanished and its denomination appeared within the center of the silk to audiences’ amazement.
Jim Ruth demonstrated one his restaurant routines employing the thumb tip: the appearance and subsequent disappearance of a yellow silk from within a blue silk. The trick was simple and direct with maximum impact, ideal for dining venues. Always comical, Scott Kindschy recounted his frequent globetrotting vacations while producing the flags of many nations. His patter lead to the con-clusion of being happy to be back in the USA, as an American flag was produced! Scott handled his magical adventures with aplomb to the merriment of the group.
Tim Miller closed the show by performing an effect previously demonstrated and with a prop that was used repeatedly throughout the night – the Change Bag. What made the trick hilarious was his impromptu patter regarding the duplication of the trick itself and its principal gimmick. It is the
SAM 61 Coin Night
Jim Placido performing Silkola
