The Linkig Ring Apr 2015

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The International Brotherhood of Magicians Founded in 1922 by Len Vintus, Gene Gordon,and Don Rogers. HEADQUARTERS OFFICE INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE SECRETARY Sindie Richison 13 Point West Blvd., St. Charles, MO 63301 (636) 724-2400 • FAX (636) 724-8566 [email protected] I.B.M. Website: www.magician.org

ASSISTANT EDITORS Dale Salwak, Rolando Santos, C. Dennis Schick

INTERNATIONAL OFFICERS BOARD OF TRUSTEES INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT Shawn Farquhar 21885 River Road, Maple Ridge, B.C., Canada V2X 2B9 (604) 936-1234 • [email protected] INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT ELECT Joe M. Turner • [email protected]

RING REPORTS EDITOR T.J. Shimeld 1129 Allman Ridge Road, Morganton, North Carolina 28655 Phone/Fax: 828-391-6934 • E-mail: [email protected]

WEBMASTER Simone Marron E-mail: [email protected]

INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY Don Wiberg 10472 Brookridge Creek Dr., Frankfort, IL 60423 (815) 464-0414 • [email protected]

WEBSITE EDITOR C. Dennis Schick E-mail: [email protected]

INTERNATIONAL TREASURER Charles Arkin [email protected]

GRAPHIC DESIGN Jessica Friend, Matthew Sharpe, Régis Sudo

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Oscar Mu˜noz • (956) 781-8442 Becki Wells • (540) 463-5406 Bob Patterson • (703) 490-1222 Ken Cook • (248) 643-7089 Scott Hood • (905) 849-5677 Roger Way • (919) 272-6465

PRODUCTION AND ART SERVICES Tony’s Studio E-mail: [email protected] OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER Michael Messing

PAST PRESIDENTS Dr. Richard O. Mossey, Royal H. Brin, Jr., Earle Christenberry, Jr., Bill Pitts, Jr., Dr. William A. Wells, Donald E. Wiberg, Dr. William E. Spooner, June Horowitz, Edward A. Morris, Michael J. Gorman, Jim Nagel, R.J. Obie O’Brien, Dr. Jep Hostetler, Ken Klosterman, Bev Bergeron, Abb Dickson, John R. Browne III, Jack K. Greenberg, Michael Stratman, David Sandy, Tony Wilson, Roger Miller, Fred Casto, Joan Caesar, Jack White, Rolando Santos, Vanni Pulé, John Pye, Bill Evans

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ASSOCIATE EDITORS Malcolm Campbell, Gary R. Frank, Jason Goldberg, Scott Humston, Chip MacGregor, Dr. Steven Schlanger

ADVERTISING MANAGER BJ Hickman 623 Sixth Street, Dover, New Hampshire 03820 Phone: (603) 970-1045 • E-mail: [email protected]

INTERNATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT Terry Richison [email protected]

LEGAL ADVISOR Bill Evans

EXECUTIVE EDITOR • BUSINESS MANAGER Samuel Patrick Smith Post Office Box 27, Eustis, Florida 32727 E-mail: [email protected]

PROOFREADERS John H. Doyle, Tony Dunn, Carole Greenberg, Jack Greenberg, Roger Miller, C. Dennis Schick, Dr. William A. Wells, Don Wiberg THE LINKING RING (ISSN 0024-4023) is published monthly by the International Brotherhood of Magicians. Office of Publication, 13 Point West Blvd., St. Charles, MO, 63301, for members only. Annual dues, $60.00, includes $20.00 for 12 issues. PERIODICALS postage paid at St. Louis, MO and other places. ©2015 by the International Brotherhood of Magicians. All rights reserved under international and Pan-American conventions. Reproduction of THE LINKING RING magazine in whole or in part is forbidden without prior written permission. For airmail, address changes, and other official business, contact our International Executive Secretary (see above). POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE LINKING RING, 13 Point West Blvd., St. Charles, MO 63301.

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22 OUR COVER: MIKE POWERS

Volume 95 Number 4 April 2015

Read all about one of the world’s top experts on card magic, Mike Powers – The Linking Ring’s own “Card Corner” columnist. And don’t miss his One-Man Parade!

28 DO THE SPIRITS RETURN?

If they did, it would certainly be to a place called the Morbid Anatomy Museum in Brooklyn, where a new Howard Thurston exhibit opens this month.

31 THE MAGIC OF JACKSONVILLE

Learn comedy, stagecraft, and amazing magic during this year’s special interest lectures at the I.B.M. Annual Convention. Simone Marron reports.

34 COMMITMENT AND PASSION

Dr. Steven Schlanger profiles Past International President Roger Miller’s years in magic and service to the I.B.M.

37 TRUE TO FORM

The Fellowship of Rotarian Magicians is a small but dedicated group using magic to serve others and brighten their corner of the world.

38 MY TIME TRAVEL EXPERIENCE

Dennis Schick explores the nineteenth century through the Victorian Popular Culture database – available free to I.B.M. members who receive The Linking Ring.

42 THE FASCINATIONS OF MAGIC HISTORY

Why attend a magic convention where very little magic is actually performed? Jason Goldberg reflects on The Yankee Gathering experience.

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Columns 20 21 48 52

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Departments

FROM THE EDITOR 47 THERAPY OF MAGIC THE PRESIDENT’S PAGE 50 YOUTH TRIVIA CONTEST POLISHING THE RINGS 103 HOCUS IN FOCUS CUTTING UP JACKPOTS 112 BROKEN WAND 117 RING REPORTS 159 APPLICATIONS/ REINSTATEMENTS

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Miscellaneous

MIKE POWERS PARADE 22 PICTURES FROM THE PAST THE CARD CORNER 40 IN MEMORIAM: AMY DAWES WAYS AND MEANS 55 TVP PROFILE NUMISMAGIC 56 RING EVENTS SIMPLE DIVERSIONS 63 WINTER CARNIVAL EXPERT AT THE 66 SICK & CONVALESCENT TECH TABLE 161 INDEX OF ADVERTISERS 101 SITUATIONALLY YOURS COVER PHOTO: “THE CARD CORNER” – A SELF-PORTRAIT BY MIKE POWERS

April 2015

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LIABILITY INSURANCE THE COMPREHENSIVE GENERAL LIABILITY FORM $1,000,000 PER OCCURRENCE $2,000,000 PER EVENT AGGREGATE

AVAILABLE TO I.B.M. MEMBERS IN A SPECIAL ASSOCIATION INSURANCE PROGRAM THROUGH A NATIONAL INSURANCE BROKER AND AN A.M. BEST “A” RATED CARRIER POLICY PERIOD RUNS AUGUST 15, 2014 TO AUGUST 15, 2015 PREMIUM PAYMENT SCHEDULE: (REGARDLESS OF WHEN INSURANCE IS PURCHASED) Gross Receipts less than $25,000/year $ 116.00 Gross Receipts $25,001 - $50,000/year $219.00 Gross Receipts $50,001 - $75,000/year $296.00 Gross Receipts $75,001 - $100,000/year $348.00 Gross Receipts $100,001 - $125,000/year $399.00 Gross Receipts $125,001 - $175,000/year $500.00 Gross Receipts $175,001 - $250,000/year $686.00 Gross Receipts over $250,001 refer to carrier for underwriting FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL: 610-868-8507 • FAX: 610-868-7604 WRITE: HAMPSON MOWRER KREITZ 54 South Commerce Way Suite 150, Bethlehem, PA 18017-8619 www.hmk-ins.com E-MAIL: [email protected] Mastercard and Visa accepted.

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Support the magic dealers who support the I.B.M. Buy from The Linking Ring advertisers! 18

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“Blessed is he who has found his work.” –Thomas Carlyle

In his book, Past and Present, the great historian Thomas Carlyle wrote that a person who “actually and earnestly works” always has hope. A genius with an insatiable appetite for work, Carlyle was well acquainted with the joy found in a labor of love. Throughout history, the most creative among us have thrown themselves with complete abandon into their fields of fascination. I think of Thomas Edison at his “invention factory” in Menlo Park, New Jersey. So intent was he on unlocking the mysteries of nature that Edison often worked through the night with his equally absorbed and dedicated team. I see Charles Dickens, immersed in his work – standing before the mirror in his study, reciting dialogue between characters to see the expressions each would make when speaking; then, dashing to his desk and taking up a quill pen to preserve his ideas in ink. Whether a labor of love is a hobby or vocation does not matter. It is not money, but a desire to contribute, to perform with excellence in an area of compelling interest, that inspires dedication. This the world does not always understand. The indefatigable Albert Schweitzer, pouring himself into work, studies, and music, was advised, “You can’t burn the candle at both ends.” Schweitzer replied, “You can if it’s long enough.” The light created by his labors of love beamed brightly into his ninetieth year. Is it possible to become so infatuated with one’s fascinations that health, as well as social and family obligations, are neglected? History says yes. Yet we have 20

examples of people deeply engrossed in work or avocations who also live healthy, balanced lives. In some cases, though, the credit goes to a supportive family. We see Carl Sandburg in his upstairs study in Flat Rock, North Carolina, stomping his feet on the floor in frustration to notify his boisterous family below that he requires absolute silence while he writes. In old age, Sandburg admitted that without his wife Paula to keep him on course, “I would have been a bum.” Called by one biographer “a serene, deeply contented woman, fulfilled, sparkling with vitality, rejoicing in her life,” Sandburg’s wife is rightly credited for much of his success. Yet without his own intense passion for writing, the stories, poetry, and masterful biography of Lincoln would not have seen the light of day. Labors of love are not, of course, restricted to intellectual pursuits. My grandfather, a South Georgia farmer, worked more than sixty hours a week until shortly before his death at age ninetyseven. He continued not from necessity but out of love for his calling. One day in the field, well into his nineties, he bent down and scooped up the soil in his hands. “I love the smell of the earth,” he said. He had found his life’s work, and he followed it until the end. While Carlyle was teaching the blessedness of finding one’s work, his friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson, was writing along similar, if more forceful lines. “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment,” he wrote. “Dare to live the life you have dreamed.”

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It’s a small world, but I sure wouldn’t want to paint it. For years, I have used this funny expression and thought nothing of it, other than it made people smile. These past few weeks have made me rethink what I’ve been saying. Yes, the world really is small, and the magic community is even smaller. I took a moment to count the number of magic friends I have as a direct result of the I.B.M. and discovered it was too many to count. Many I have known for years, while others are relatively new. Most are from other parts of the world, and some I am unable to carry on a conversation with due to language issues; but they all love magic, and somehow we are able to communicate and share our love of the art. In the past two weeks, I have been to Hungary, Austria and Russia; and I write to you today from Bulgaria. I speak about a dozen words in each of these languages, yet I was up most of the nights talking and performing with magicians and really understanding what we were discussing. I talked so much at one point I lost my voice! Three nights ago, while in Moscow, I peeked out through the curtains from backstage to view my audience and saw what could only be described as the perfect doppelgänger. No, I don’t mean the ghostly kind, just a perfect double for a person I have known for many years. When it was my turn to take the stage, I made a point to walk over to him just to see, up close, how perfect a duplicate he was, only to discover I.B.M. member Don Greenburg from Pittsburgh sitting in the crowd – in Moscow! The world really is small. April 2015

My time in Hungary was awesome. The convention by Joker Magic was a ton of fun. I had lunch with the TVP for the country, Gabor Szabo, and was treated to a tour of the city by FISM champion Soma. We were having so much fun, he forgot to pay for parking and ended up with a hefty fine! In Austria I was thrilled to visit Ring 240, and my host and TVP, Robert Busina, was so kind. Robert and I were having so much fun, he parked in the wrong place, and when we returned, the car had vanished – thanks to a tow truck! The local members of Ring 240 really are proud to be part of our organization. You can feel the pride when you arrive at the beautiful Kalanag Salon, their own private theatre where they do shows for the public. Outside, on the wall of the cafe that houses the Salon, is a brass plaque with our emblem announcing to the world, the home of Ring 240. I would suggest anyone visiting Vienna make certain to visit the Ring. They are a warm and welcoming club. Now I am in Bulgaria where we don’t have an I.B.M. Ring, but that will soon change. Jordan Belev, aka Dani Magix, is a young and energetic magician with the new goal to form the first I.B.M. Ring in his country. He believes, and rightly so, that for his fellow countrymen to grow, they need to see outside their own walls. He can see the value of this amazing magazine, including the information it can deliver to his fellow magicians and the exposure it can give them. Too often, magic publications feature only the huge names of magic; and most often, have articles centered on one particular region.

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This dapper expert in card magic also had a lesser-known interest: he loved the history of the Old West. With a fascination about such figures as Jesse James, he built a collection of Western ephemera and memorabilia. Who was he? Turn to page 160 for the answer. 22

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President’s Page – from page 21

This is not the case with The Linking Ring. Sammy Smith is amazing. He does his best to find interesting stories featuring magicians from around the world – and our past – to enlighten, entertain, and educate us all. Finally, I want to draw attention to a new benefit of membership: Access to every past issue of The Linking Ring using “Ask Alexander” from the Conjuring Arts Research Center for free. This feature alone is worth your annual membership fee. If you haven’t tried this new benefit of membership, do it today! I would personally like to thank the trustees of the Endowment and Development Fund for this tremendous new addition to the many benefits of being an I.B.M. member. And now, I’m off to meet the future members of the I.B.M. in Bulgaria. After a few days here, I am headed for home where Lori and I will celebrate our twenty-sixth anniversary of the day we told the world we’d love each other until the end. After that, we have JAMs in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and St, Louis, so I hope to see you at one of the stops along the way. Until next month, keep well and busy.

International President Shawn Farquhar in Moscow.

April 2015

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OUR COVER

In the Corner with

Mike Powers

BY DR. STEVEN SCHLANGER

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n the foreword to Mike Powers’ book Top Secret Stuff, Jon Racherbaumer advises the reader to “Experience Mike’s vision quest.” If you will pardon the pun, those four words speak volumes about this multi-talented man. Mike is a magician, an artist, a teacher now retired, and a musician. Moreover, he is very much a visionary, a life-long learner who describes his years in magic as “a journey.” And what a fine journey it has been and continues to be.

Many of you know Mike through his monthly column in The Linking Ring. “The Card Corner” is where you will find his work along with his many talented contributors. Mike certainly knows his way around a deck of cards; he has “the chops” as some would say. But the journey he took to get to this point in his life is a tale worth telling. Mike remembers seeing The Magic Land of Allakazam as a youngster, and then years later, seeing a guy pitching Svengali decks. He remembers begging his father to buy him one of the Svengalis and how he used it to amaze his friends right up to his years in college. (Mike reminds us, at that point in the 1960s, people were not familiar with TV Magic Cards.) Mike joined the I.B.M. in high school, and in addition to his trusty Svengali Deck, he was the proud owner of a Die 24

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Box, Chinese Sticks, and a Drawer Box. His first magic book was Henry Hay’s The Amateur Magician’s Handbook. Mike had graduated high school and gone on to college at Notre Dame, teaching himself how to back palm cards and to classic palm coins. Though he gained proficiency in these and other techniques, he acknowledges that he had only one routine back then: the old coin disappears and reappears behind your sister’s ear trick. Nonetheless, his passion for magic continued unabated. In the early 1970s, Mike saw Doug Henning on The Tonight Show and recalls that Henning’s performance had a major impact on him. He was astonished by the close-up effects that Henning performed – Matrix and a Copper-Silver transposition in particular. Mike had become a teacher, and during Christmas break, he visited some friends in New York City.

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Mike Powers performs at Obie’s 4F Convention in Batavia, New York, April 2014. PHOTO BY DALE FARRIS

He describes “stumbling upon” Tannen’s Magic Shop, a fortuitous moment if there ever was one, when one of the demonstrators showed him Ronay’s Sympathetic Aces. He had already purchased an Invisible Deck and some flash paper; but by the time he was through witnessing the ace routine, he walked out of Tannen’s with a smile on his face and not a dollar in his wallet. The Invisible Deck was a hit that week at a New Year’s Eve party, and the flash paper was an entertaining way to celebrate at midnight; but when Mike got back to school and tried to learn Sympathetic Aces, he struggled. The effect called for an Elmsley Count and a Jordan Count, and the instructions were confusing. Mike realized that if he were to successfully do the trick, he would have to devote hours to practice. And that’s exactly what he did. He worked and worked with those cards, and when he finally felt he had mastered it, he showed it to his wife. She was blown away and Mike was elated. “I was hooked,” he recalls, because he was now free from depending on a trick deck for his

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magic. He had entered the realm of sleight of hand and realized that it was time for him to find a teacher. In just days, Mike stumbled upon another piece of good fortune. He was in a local grocery store, and a man was doing cigarette magic for the guy behind the meat counter. Mike approached the fellow, inquired about lessons, and the man suggested he call Dick Lutz. Dick Lutz turned out to be the perfect teacher for Mike. He was knowledgeable, versatile, and skilled. Before long, Mike was developing his own proficiency with cards and coins. Lutz also shared some books with Mike, including two of Frank Garcia’s: Million Dollar Card Secrets and Super Subtle Card Miracles. He also shared Ever So Sleightly by Martin Nash; and while Mike readily mastered Garcia’s work, he found the Nash book especially challenging. But Mike was up for the challenge and before long, Lutz turned Mike on to the works of Ed Marlo. Again, Mike diligently worked his way through ever more challenging lifts, shifts, changes, and moves while also hearing the names Racherbaumer, Aronson, Solomon, Draun, and D’Amico. Not long afterward, he knew it was time to go to Chicago to meet this circle of magicians who met with Marlo every Saturday. As Mike tells the story, it was Saturday, November 18, 1978. He had gone to Magic, Inc., and in walked Ed Marlo. Mike introduced himself and asked Marlo if he would be willing to answer a couple of questions. Marlo, whom Mike revered, suggested that he join him for lunch, and a stunned Mike Powers climbed into Marlo’s car. Mike admits to being intimidated by such a legendary and accomplished magician; but once they arrived at the restaurant, Mike demonstrated one of the things he had learned about the Pass from reading Marlo’s Magazine, Vol. 2. Marlo gave Mike some pointers, but best of all, he treated Mike “like a peer.” Then Marlo proceeded to blow Mike away with a couple of tricks. Much to Mike’s great

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Top: Mike and Maria enjoy some free time at a Fechter’s Finger Flicking Frolic convention. DALE FARRIS PHOTO Bottom: A 1980s stage performance.

fortune, they spent an hour alone together before “the crowd” (Simon Aronson, Dave Solomon, Steve Draun, Jack Pyle, Frank Shank, Bill Malone, and others) arrived. After this momentous visit, Mike spent time with Marlo on a number of occasions and also became friends with many of the other guys. He remembers getting phone calls from Marlo and recalls the richness of their conversations. Mike notes that when Marlo died in 1991, it was the end of an era. Another significant moment in Mike’s journey in magic occurred at the 1980 Desert Magic Seminar. Mike was walking through the res 26

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taurant with a deck of cards in his hands when none other than Roger Klause invited him over and introduced himself. This was Mike’s first magic convention, and the stars weren’t just aligned for him, the stars were actually there! Dai Vernon, Slydini, Johnny Paul, Jimmy Grippo, and many other fantastic magicians, including young upstarts like Michael Ammar and Daryl were all in attendance. Mike was also writing and publishing along the way. His first book, Powerful Magic was published in 1983. In 1990 he released his first hardbound book, Top Secret Stuff. This exceptionally rich text not only demonstrates Mike’s creativity and talent with cards and coins, but it also shows how gifted he is artistically. Mike did all of the writing, all of the illustrations, and even did the typesetting and ads. As he said in the introduction to this wonderful work, it was literally an “in-house” project.

Mike and Maria in a publicity photo, circa 1995.

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The following year, Mike went to Nashville to film his video, Top Secret Close-up. Then in July 1993, he was invited to lecture at the Hollywood Day of Magic and then perform for a week in the close-up room at the Magic Castle. It was at the Castle where he had the good fortune to spend time with Larry Jennings. Again, Mike was treated as a peer, and Jennings generously shared his ideas, including some things that at the time were “underground.” In 2006, Mike published Power Plays, another impressive tome. Power Plays was voted “Book of the Year” on the Magic Café website and was runner-up in the Magic Industry awards. All of Mike’s books have been commercially successful, and all have sold out. Good news for all of us – he is currently working on a new one.

Mike describes this as his first attempt to perform the Zombie.

In closing, Mike notes that his journey in magic has been greatly satisfying. He met his wife, Maria Schwieter, a magician held in high regard in her own right, at the 1993 Abbott’s Get-together. Together, they have made many friends in the magic community over the years. Maria is a graduate of the Chavez School of Magic where she studied under Neil Foster, and she has been invited to the 4F (Fechter’s Finger Flinging Frolic) Convention on multiple occasions. Mike remembers the time Jon Racherbaumer told him, “Spouses don’t always appreciate that magic is a disease.” “Well, if magic is a disease,” Mike observed, “my wife and I have a pretty bad case of it!”

Author photo from Mike Powers’ second book, Top Secret Stuff.



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Dr. Steven Schlanger is a retired educator and longstanding member of the I.B.M. He is also the author of the children’s book, The Magic Act: A Mystery by S. Roy Stevenson.

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do the

Spirits Return? BY DR. STEVEN SCHLANGER

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Rory Feldman’s extensive Thurston collection will be the basis of a ninemonth exhibit at Brooklyn’s MorbidThe Linking Ring www.magician.org Anatomy Museum.



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n exhibition of early twentieth century magic including artifacts, photographs, personal items, and ephemera is coming to one of New York’s newest and most unusual museums, The Morbid Anatomy Museum. “Do the Spirits Return?” will focus on the great Howard Thurston and include a vast array of memorabilia from the collection of Rory Feldman. The subtitle for the exhibition is “From Dark Arts to Sleight of Hand in Early 20th Century Stage Magic,” which promises to be an exploration of “the intersection of spiritualism, life and death, demonology, dark arts, and stage magic.” The Morbid Anatomy Museum in Brooklyn, New York, has garnered a great deal of interest and attention. You can tell from the name of the museum that this is not your usual collection of art and artifacts; and that’s exactly the point. The Morbid Anatomy Museum specializes in the kind of materials and objects that will pique the interest of many a magician, and not just those who lean toward the more macabre side of our art. The museum houses a large collection of curiosities as well as a research library replete with thousands of books, photographs, works of art, ephemera, and artifacts relating to the history of medicine, natural history, death and society, and more. For those of you who might think this is not your kind of museum, think again, and particularly in light of the anticipated Thurston exhibition. The relationship between magic and the world of spirits may very well be at the foundation of what we now know today simply as magic, and there are those who argue that our art is deeply rooted in shamanism and other early religious practices. Thurston (and others) themed many a show and performance around the notion that spir

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its were at work in our world. Indeed variations on the spirit cabinets of old are still a staple in the shows of many of our contemporary stage magicians. While we magicians know the inner workings behind our effects and illusions, we still strive to conjure up the notion in our audiences that magic and mystery are alive and well. For early twentieth century magicians, this was very much the practice. A sampling of posters announcing Thurston’s performances frequently contained images of ghosts and demonic figures whispering into the great magician’s ear. Like many of his contemporaries, Thurston cultivated the impression that dark forces were at work in his shows, in part capitalizing on the public’s fascination with mediums and spiritualists. While the name of Houdini still resonates loudly, part of the focus of this exhibit is to remind the general public of Thurston’s extraordinary popularity in years past. (Readers of Jim Steinmeyer’s book about Thurston, The Last Greatest Magician in the World, know well how prominent Thurston was in his day.) Rory Feldman is a magician, a collector of magic, an historian, and an author. He has the largest collection of Thurston memorabilia in the world numbering over 50,000 individual items. He was on the cover and featured in the February 2010 issue of The Linking Ring and was also the subject of an article in our journal celebrating his efforts to preserve Green Lawn Abbey, Thurston’s final resting place. He has been featured in multiple articles in The New York Times and also been written about in M-U-M, Magic Magazine, Genii, and the Yankee Magic Collector. More than likely, you have also seen photographs taken of items from his extensive collection. In fact, images

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attributable to Mr. Feldman’s collection have appeared in publications and on online sites too numerous to mention. (You can see an impressive listing by checking out his résumé on his website at www.roryfeldmanmagic.com.) Mr. Feldman’s collaborations with William Rauscher can also be found on DVD and in print, and you may have seen one or more of the many television programs on which he has been a consultant. The Morbid Anatomy Museum is a nonprofit organization that grew out of a blog started by Joanna Ebenstein that focused on the history of objects, artifacts, and ephemera that in some ways fell through the cracks of time. Over the years, Ms. Ebenstein built up a substantial private collection of esoterica dealing with medical history and funereal rituals among related areas of study, and with the help of others, created the museum. The museum is now open to the public six days a week and in addition to its exhibitions there are weekly lectures and workshops on a variety of topics. Hopefully, the arcane nature of the museum in general and the Thurston exhibition in particular, will rouse your curiosity. The exhibition will run for nine months starting on April 11, 2015 and will be accompanied by public programs relating to the collection and other topics. The exhibition will feature different themes selected from Mr. Feldman’s enormous resources. Magicians should also be aware that the Morbid Anatomy Museum will also be holding a symposium September 18 through 27 titled the Congress for Curious People. The symposium, which will be highly interactive, will again have magic at its core. For more information about the exhibition and the museum 30

The exhibition will feature material from Mr. Feldman’s enormous resources. please visit the website at www.morbidanatomymuseum.org. By the way, the title of the upcoming Thurston exhibition comes directly from one of Thurston’s posters that asks: “Do the Spirits Return?” Well, in a sense they must because The Morbid Anatomy Museum and Rory Feldman will be bringing back the spirit of Thurston starting on April 11. Dr. Steven Schlanger is a retired educator and longstanding member of the I.B.M. He is also the author of the children’s book, The Magic Act: A Mystery by S. Roy Stevenson.

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The Linking Ring

The Magic

of Jacksonville BY SIMONE MARRON

Six-Pack Lectures

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popular staple at the I.B.M. Annual Convention is the series of lectures known as the Six Pack – six lecturers presenting simultaneously in six different breakout rooms. Each lecture takes place twice. Attendees can select two of the six offerings: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. This year the Six Pack offerings include sessions that teach comedy, creativity, stagecraft, and amazing magic. Eric Buss says that he loves to lecture, as long as he doesn’t have to lecture about chemistry to MIT students. He says that was a very awkward afternoon that he would like to forget. He apologizes to the

entire chemistry department and reminds them that bologna is highly flammable. Eric prefers to lecture to magicians. He actually prefers not to call it a lecture – it’s more of an informal chat about magic creativity, character development, improvisation, as well as a few routines performed, taught, and sold. But since that’s way too many syllables and words, he’ll call it a lecture. Eric discusses many different methods and formulas for creating original magic and adding theatrical strength to your act. It’s a casual atmosphere, and questions and discussions are always welcome. John Shryock’s comprehensive lecture is taught in a “let’s have fun” manner

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with plenty of room for questions about any aspect of magic, from “What makes a trick work?” to “How do I get booked on a cruise ship?” to “Where do you find the right kind of music?” Also covered in this entertaining and informative session are topics ranging from act structure to the proper use of various sleights and stage presence. John will share several of his favorite card and coin effects with you, as well as his “Ring to Walnut” that he performed on the David Letterman show. Ted Outerbridge’s “A Day in the Life” lecture teaches the inner workings of a large touring illusion show. He shares a few bulletproof routines that he uses for media appearances on television and radio. The logistics of a touring illusion show are discussed, including the set-up, running, and striking of the show. Ted’s thoughts on marketing, making the most of media appearances, the creative process, and originality will be of interest to all. By focusing on the small details

that make a big difference, Ted is able to deliver a fascinating lecture of interest to every type of performer. If you are looking for new close-up or stand-up material, marketing information, or are just interested in a behind-the-scenes look at a touring illusion show, you will find what you are looking for here. Paul Cummins will present his “FASDIU” lecture. FASDIU is an acronym for “From a Shuffled Deck in Use,” meaning that all of the card magic taught in this lecture may be done with any deck, anywhere, at any time. Paul Cummins has been performing and honing these routines and tricks for over forty years. The routines will range from nearly self-working, or sleight-free, to others that are a bit more advanced. Come and learn some devastating impromptu card magic! Suzanne the Magician will be presenting her lecture on restaurant magic. Suzanne has been performing in this venue for over three decades. She will share the

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Suzanne

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dos and don’ts that will help you get and keep work in this industry. You will learn how to increase your tips, the importance of forging a great working relationship with the servers, and how you can make yourself a necessary addition to the restaurant team. Learn how to increase your bookings for private events. If you work restaurants or have a desire to do so, don’t miss this invaluable opportunity to learn from Suzanne, one of the most knowledgeable restaurant workers of the present day. Our sixth option is Kenrick “ICE” McDonald, National President of the Society of American Magicians. His “Drop the Mic Moment” lecture asks, “Do you know when your audience has reached their maximum entertainment potential? Do you know when you should leave the performance area for both stage and close-up, or when you still have work to do?” He will show

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you a different way of looking at entertaining. Also in this lecture, during his “Worse Case Scenario” section, “ICE” will present and teach some effects that will get you out of a difficult situation. All of these lectures sound fantastic, and it will be a difficult choice for most of us to pick only two. There will, of course, be plenty of other lectures from some amazing performers that you will have the opportunity to attend both during the day and at night. The Jacksonville I.B.M. Convention is shaping up to be a stellar event. If you have not yet registered, be sure to do so at www.magician.org or call the I.B.M. Headquarters Office at 1-636724-2400.

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Roger Miller

Commitment

and Passion BY DR. STEVEN SCHLANGER

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hen asked what started his interest in magic, Past International President Roger Miller spoke about growing up in Wathena, Kansas. His parents were in the entertainment industry, his mother was a singer, and his father was a musician. But once the magic bug bit Roger while in Cub Scouts, he realized that he was “more magical than musical.” Roger loved performing and at the age of eleven adopted a stage name, “the Great Rogero.” To this day Roger still has the cardboard suitcase that he carried his props in as a little boy. “Prestidigitator Extraordinary” is written on the side – a moniker that still fits this remarkable man. As Roger’s interest in magic evolved, he of Rotarian Magicians, a group that links had the good fortune of meeting Faucett magicians throughout the world because Ross. Ross lived in St. Joseph, Missouri, of the passion they have in common for all which is just five miles across the Missouri River from Roger’s hometown. Roger remembers seeing Faucett Ross perform. As Roger puts it, this was the first “real VOLUME 85 NUMBER 7 JULY 2005 magician” he had ever seen. He still can recall sitting in the front row during one of Ross’s performances and being asked to assist. Ross was also active in a local magic club that Roger eventually joined. It was inspiring to be in the presence of such a well-known and accomplished performer, a man whose mentor was the great T. Nelson Downs. Roger became a pharmacist after college, but his love of magic continued unabated. He performed for the local Kiwanis, the Scouts, churches, and schools. But what makes Roger’s life so magical has been his service to comRoger Miller munities far and wide. Roger has been INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT a member of Rotary International since 2005-2006 1964, giving freely of his time and energy to promote goodwill worldwide. Roger is also a member of FORM, the Fellowship Presidential cover for Roger Miller, July 2005. 34 www.magician.org The Linking Ring FRONT COVER

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Roger and Sheila Miller. things magical and the commitment they have made through Rotary to contribute positively to their communities and the world as a whole. Roger joined the I.B.M. in 1960 and is a member of the Order of Merlin Excalibur. He continues to be an active member of Ring 129. He was the president of Ring 129 in 1967 and again in 1987, and he jokes that when 2007 rolled around people said, “Well, it’s been another twenty years so it’s time for you to be president again.” Roger declined, but not for any other reason than his role in the I.B.M. had evolved into a very significant commitment. In 1997 Roger became the treasurer of the I.B.M. As the story goes, Bill Tadlock, the sitting treasurer, decided it was time for a change and the Board of Trustees sought someone to fill the position. Past International President David Sandy, also a resident of St. Joseph, Missouri, had known Roger for years. In David’s opinion Roger was the perfect candidate; he had the acumen and character to take on the responsibility. The Board agreed, and Roger readily proved that he was the right choice. Over time, Roger moved up through the hierarchy of the organization, becoming International Vice President in 2003 and later International President for the April 2015

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Top: Performing at a special needs school in San Jose, California. Bottom: Promotional photo from the 1980s.

2005–2006 term. It was a wonderful time for Roger in part because of the opportunities to visit Rings in different parts of the world and to advance the core of the I.B.M.’s mission: “To promote the art of magic, to facilitate the exchange of magical ideas, and to promote harmony among those interested in magic.”

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Left: First publicity shot, taken in Pratt, Kansas, when Roger was in his mid-twenties. Roger ordered a custom-made white top hat to use in producing a black rabbit. Right: Fifteen-year-old Roger performing the Multiplying Billiard Balls from a magic set.

Roger also continues to perform Roger and his wife Sheila were able to visit China (which at the time was vying magic, referring to himself as a “magical for the opportunity to host a coming humorist.” At one point he combined his FISM), Spain, Sweden, Canada, and the pharmacological background with magic, United Kingdom. But best of all for Roger creating shows that combined health and was that the experience brought him in humor. He still performs shows for a varicontact with others who share the same ety of groups and organizations, including passion for magic. He developed many McDonald’s when they open new restaufriendships along the way and, in doing rants in the vicinity of his home. Roger so, fulfilled his responsibility as that year’s notes with a smile that once when he was scheduled to perform at a local church, the leader of the International Brotherhood. Once he had finished his Presidency, sign outside said, “Soup, Chili, and a Real Roger did not sit idly by. He went back to Magician.” And a real magician he is, because being the treasurer from July 2009 through Roger manages through his genial perJuly 2014. Also, in 2011, he and David sonality and love of magic to transform Sandy co-chaired the Eighty-third Annual the world around him and make it a better I.B.M. Convention in Dallas. They dubbed place. From the I.B.M. to Rotary to every it the “Reinvention Convention,” introducmagical endeavor, Roger carries a smile on ing the idea of having smaller workshops his face and a can-do attitude in his heart. on a variety of topics, a practice that continues to this day. And as with all Past Dr. Steven Schlanger is an Associate International Presidents, he is a member of the Board of Trustees responsible for guid- Editor of The Linking Ring. Reach him by e-mail at [email protected]. ing our organization into the future. 36 www.magician.org The Linking Ring

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TRUE TO FORM The Fellowship of Rotarian Magicians

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little over twenty years ago a group of Rotarians came up with a unique idea. Realizing that they shared a passion for By Dr. Steven Schlanger magic, they decided to form a fellowship under the auspices of Rotary International. There are many different types of fellowships under the Rotary International umbrella; the one constant is that they come together around a particular topic or interest and give participants opportunities to share ideas and make friendships. FORM currently has twenty members from six countries. That may seem like a small number considering that there are 1.2 million members in Rotary. And yet it is interesting to note that of those twenty members, three have received Rotary’s highest honor, the Service Above Self Award. It is hoped that by spreading the word through this article other Rotarians who share the same interest in magic will consider becoming members of FORM. Of the current members of this fellowship, about a third are professional magicians. The rest are hobbyists or collectors and several are I.B.M. members. One notable member of the fellowship is none other than Past International President Roger Miller. Jim Lang is the current president of FORM and a past president of I.B.M. Ring 59 and its current treasurer. Over the years Jim’s commitment to Rotary has been exemplary. He is a Past District Governor of Rotary District 7980 in Connecticut and is the recipient of the Citation for Meritorious Service from Rotary International. Jim has also been a professional magician for over thirty years, performing at venues including schools, libraries, parties, corporate events, and of course, Rotary functions. It makes a lot of sense that people like Jim Lang and Roger Miller are passionate about both Rotary and magic. Both endeavors are predicated on connecting with people and having a positive impact on society. Rotary International, like the I.B.M., is a highly diverse organization. It is also the oldest and second largest service club in the world. It was formed in Chicago in 1905 and gained international status when a Canadian club was chartered in 1915. Today, there are 1.2 million members who come from 197 countries worldwide with slightly more than half being in countries other than the United States. The men and women of Rotary come from all walks of life, united by one primary mission, to make the world a better place through service projects that build on community needs and interests. Rotary’s signature project has been to completely eradicate polio from the face of the planet. Working with the Gates Foundation, the CDC, and the World Health Organization, Rotarians have accomplished their mission in all but two countries. It is a remarkable achievement and one that demonstrates why support for the efforts of Rotary is so important. If you are interested in learning more about Rotary International please visit its website at www.rotary.org. If you are already a Rotarian and wish to join the Fellowship of Rotarian Magicians (FORM), you are encouraged to either contact Jim Lang directly at [email protected] or to visit their webite at www.rotarianmagic.org. Dues for FORM are $15 a year, the cost of which goes primarily to maintaining the website and the publication of a newsletter through which members can share their biographies, tricks, news, resources, and more. In a world as complicated as ours, it is reassuring to know that there are so many people trying to have a positive and lasting impact on today and tomorrow. The members of FORM, though few in number are doing exactly that, using their skills as magicians and their desire to serve, to brighten whatever corners of the globe they occupy.

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MY TIME TRAVEL EXPERIENCE to the Nineteenth Century

By C. Dennis Schick

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ecently I had such a marvelous time travel experience that I must share it with you. A similar journey awaits any member of the I.B.M. who receives The Linking Ring in either digital or printed format. As such a member, I am privileged to have free access to a rich treasury of information in the Conjuring Arts Resource Center’s Ask Alexander databases, including nine decades of The Linking Ring, going back to 1922. This is because of the generosity of the I.B.M. Endowment and Development Fund, which pays for the privilege. Of course, the primary reason for making this arrangement was to allow I.B.M. members instant access to all back issues of The Linking Ring, as well as past I.B.M. Convention programs. But a fringe benefit is access to other databases at Ask Alexander, as well. And that’s where I had my time-travel experience. I logged onto the I.B.M. Website (www. magician.org), went to my personal dashboard and clicked on the second item, “Access to The Linking Ring Collection.” That took me to the Ask Alexander opening page. I pulled down the Browse tab to get to The Linking Ring archives, but went too far and clicked on the other choice there instead. It is called Victorian Popular Culture. Now what the heck is that? I was going to retrace my steps in order to get to the magazine, but decided to do what an early computer guru friend advised me to do to learn something new – I “jumped in and took a look around.” Boy, am I glad I did! The opening page says, “Adam Matthew Digital presents a Portal for,” then in large, 38

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ornate letters, VICTORIAN POPULAR CULTURE. Listed down the middle are four major subjects, whetting my appetite as I read each one: (1) Spiritual, Sensation & Magic, (2) Circuses, Sideshows & Freaks, (3) Music Hall, Theatre & Popular Entertainment, and (4) Moving Pictures, Optical Entertainments & The Advent of Cinema. I have an interest in all of these, so where to start? Across the bottom of that first page were helpful tabs: Introduction, Contents, Further Resources, and Help. I followed the “jump in and look around” advice and clicked on the first one. More options: Introduction, Nature & Scope, User Guide, Essays, Participating libraries, and Editor’s Choice. Under Introduction is this explanation of the site: “An editorial resource for the study of popular entertainment in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This innovative portal invites users into darkened halls, small backrooms and traveling venues that hosted everything from spectacular shows and bawdy burlesque, to the world of magic and spiritualist seances.” The “Contents” tab gives an alphabetical listing in chart form of Titles, with Author, Date, Document Type, and Section for each one. There are one hundred and eighty-seven pages of these. Also there is a search bar in which to enter a specific topic of interest. I typed in “advertisements with magicians” and received a long list of The Sphinx magazines. Yes, every lead I followed led to what I was looking for. I decided to try another search: “Houdini.” Up came the results, with a notice: “This search generated more than 500 hits. Would you like to refine your

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search criteria?” So I re-entered “Bess Houdini.” Eleven sources appeared. The first one was a pamphlet with the title: The Houdini Messages; the facts concerning the messages received through the mediumship of Arthur Ford.” Given were the Author, Date, Place of publication, Topics, Source, Collection, and the Document Sub Type. I clicked on the first one, and it gave me a long passage of text, with the word “Houdini” highlighted in yellow throughout. Could I stop? No! I tried one more: “Linking Rings.” Again I got a message saying there were more than 500 hits. Among the sources were: The Sphinx magazine; Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring, a book; Wehman’s Wizards’ Manual; and Light: a Journal of Psychical, Occult, and Mystical Research,” a periodical. Also, the cover of each item is shown. Next I moved to the “Further Resources” tab and found yet another listing of choices: Exhibition-moving pictures, Video, Audio (Music Hall), Gallery, Chronology, and Popular Searches. I clicked on several just to see where they went, and in one instance got so lost that I had to start over to find my way back to the original list. Each click was a new adventure, and I had to force myself to move on, reminding myself that I was researching the research process, not some specific topic. I tell you all this in order to (1) show you the detail the records go into, and (2) to encourage you to do your own exploration.

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What a terrific research tool for writing an article or a book, giving a lecture, or just gaining a deeper understanding of our history. So where did all this information come from, and why? I went back to my search engine and typed in “Adam Matthew Digital.” I was directed to their website. There I found that “(The) Adam Matthew Company publishes unique primary source collections from archives around the world. (Their) award-winning collections span the social sciences and humanities and cover a multitude of topics ranging from medieval manuscripts and Victorian moving images to ephemera from the 1960s and confidential government documents. (They) collaborate with leading libraries and academics throughout the world in order to produce powerful research and dynamic teaching collections.” Adam Matthew Publications (www. ampltd.co.uk) was started in England in 1990 by two men who named it after their sons. They had a passion for preserving history and making it widely available. The company grew into a successful microfilm publishing business with over six hundred titles. They published their first digital collection in 1998. In 2007 they founded Adam Matthew Digital to focus solely on the development and production of digital collections. And that’s how I accessed them. In 2012 the company was purchased by the SAGE Company, but it remains an independent subsidiary of SAGE. The company has offices in both the United Kingdom and the United States (Chicago). Well, I’m back from my time travel to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I wanted to stay longer, but I have a deadline to turn this in. Now I know – and you know – that an intriguing journey awaits the click of a mouse. Remember what makes it possible? Membership in the I.B.M. with access to The Linking Ring – that’s the ticket! C. Dennis Schick is an Assistant Editor of The Linking Ring and editor of the I.B.M. Website at www.magician.org.

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IN MEMORIAM

AMY DAWES March 16, 1929 – December 30, 2014 By Dale Salwak

“It is hard to believe that British Magic’s most respected couple are no more.” These words, written by a fellow magician, perhaps capture best what all of us felt upon learning of the passing of Amy Dawes. For more than six decades, Amy and Eddie Dawes seemed omnipresent and invincible. They attended, performed, and lectured at hundreds of magic conventions around the world, made lifelong friendships, collected magic, and produced an astonishing number of articles and books on the history of our art that will be read and appreciated for generations to come. Their award-winning Victorian Conjuring Act – “Only Make-Believe: A Plethora of Prestidigitation” featuring Professor Bluffman and Madame Patrice – was described by one reviewer as a “brilliantly devised, coloured blend of baffling effects with many original touches, presented with superb stagecraft.” “True collaborators in all things,” said their younger son, Adrian, at A Celebration of Her Life on January 12, they shared “a passion and focus.” Eddie had said as much at their Golden Wedding Anniversary in 2000: “Whatever I have managed to do in Magic would never have been possible without Amy’s wonderful support.” The youngest daughter of Roger Dunn and Jane Rogerson, she was born March 16, 1929 at Sheriff Hill, Gateshead, Glasgow, and later attended Gateshead Grammar School. On September 1, 1939, however, like many children, her schooling was interrupted by wartime evacuation to Northallerton. She came back after a few weeks, only to be evacuated again in 40

Amy and Eddie Dawes, 2014.

Eddie and Amy Dawes in Charles Bertram’s 1903 Renault.

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the spring of 1940 as the Tyneside industries and shipyards were bombed. She wasn’t able to return home until eighteen months later in 1942. At seventeen, she left home again to study at the Yorkshire Training College of House Craft in Leeds. There at a social event on November 29, 1946, she met Eddie, then a biochemistry student researching for his Ph.D. and for whom (in those hungry times of rationing), said elder son Michael, her “access to sources of food, as a cookery student, was doubtless an added attraction!” They were married on December 19, 1950 at St. John’s Church, Gateshead. Upon graduating as a Domes- Amy Dawes, creator of the act, “Magic Ragtime.” tic Science teacher she taught at a variety of schools including two of the toughest in Gateshead and Renfrewshire. It is there, according to Adrian, that Amy honed her survival skills: “the Medusa stare, the one that rendered all resistance futile and all excuses redundant; and the Smile, the one that comforts, encourages and inspires one to strive to do one’s best.” In 1963, when Eddie was appointed as founding Reckitt Professor of the new Biochemistry Department at Hull University, they relocated to Anlaby where she later became a Chief Examiner for Domestic Science for the Joint Matriculation Board. All her adult life Amy was generous with her time and organizational talents. For over twenty-five years she was involved with Action Medical Research, a charity helping disabled and developmentally challenged children, latterly as Chairwoman. From 1971 until the mid-1980s Eddie and Amy Dawes performing in 1963. her training and talents went on display as the Costume Designer for dramatic pro- years, creating the magic-themed table decorations. Her exceptional hospitality in ductions at Hymers College. She also served as an Honorary Vice- their home at Dane Hill to over 4,000 visitPresident of the Hull Magicians’ Circle, ing academics, students, members of the helping for over forty-eight years to organ- magic community, friends, and family is ize their annual Dinners and, for fifteen (continued on page 91) April 2015

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The Fascinations of Magic History Reflections on the

Yankee Gathering By Jason Goldberg Photos courtesy of Gary R. Frank When an international and eclectic group of magic history devotees came together late last year, magic’s deepest roots were investigated, some mysteries were laid to rest, and thoughts about the future of our art were pondered. The occasion was the New England Magic Collectors Association (NEMCA) convention, known as the Yankee Gathering, held November 6-8, 2014, at the Doubletree Hotel in Westborough, Massachusetts. It admittedly sounds odd to attend a magic conference where very little magic is actually performed except during the evening shows. No one was seen with so much as a deck of cards in the hallways. Why attend? What draws us together? For some, it’s the collecting side: the admiration of the attention to detail in a carefully constructed prop, the colors that still pop in a lithograph, or the feel of an old book in our hands, all indicating promises of a strange mystery or adventure about to be witnessed. For others, it’s history and the hidden story behind a trick or character. It may be the opportunity to revisit our childhood: I saw someone purchase an early Mysto magic set because it was the same model as the first one they had ever owned. It’s also a chance to daydream, if perhaps a little romantically, about a life on the road, gathering mud in the wheels between each show. For others, it’s a chance to do research for upcoming shows by exploring

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the past; knowing what happened a hundred years ago can influence tomorrow evening’s show and be important to understanding what the face of magic will look like a hundred years from now. As David Haversat, one of the organizers, noted, maybe we just attend “for the art of it.” The Yankee Gathering has a format similar to all magic conventions: talks, a dealers room, and performances. Being a gathering for collecting and history, an additional room was added for exhibits, and time was carved out for an auction. In between, there was plenty of time to jawbone and compare notes. As usual, the conversations at the bar usually lasted well into the early morning hours. The Gathering also brought together a very unusual assortment of characters. At breakfast one morning, I noticed that a photographer, full-time magician, biologist, dentist, and window specialist were sharing a table. At lunch, we might pick over long-lost scrapbooks of vaudevillians and marvel at the hectic pace of their traveling schedules. Yankee Gathering XV was held in honor of George and Sandy Daily, and they kicked off the festivities with a lecture on Mildred and Harry Rouclere, performers from the 1890s. Echoing the theme that past performances pave the way for the future, the Roucleres not only were novel in that they gave Mildred top billing, but in the fact that their assistant, Major Jumbo,

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was given a major role in the show, helping to lead the way for African Americans in entertainment. Michael Claxton also covered the theme of diversity in one of the best lectures of the weekend. For the last eight years, he has been researching Dell O’Dell, a very strong (literally and figuratively) and charismatic female performer from the early 1900s, and one of the most popular and complicated performers of her day. He received his book hot off the press at the Yankee Gathering! Mr. Claxton’s talk was a strong blend of humor and erudite research about a performer who curiously hid much about her past during her lifetime. Surprisingly, his lecture and book have given me much to think about in my office, where diversity in employment is a critical issue. I’ve often wrestled with how my magic interests should connect with my professional career, and Michael has given me something new to consider. Bill Rauscher also had a new book he discussed. Silent Mora may have been, well, silent, but Bill certainly wasn’t. His talk was another hit of the weekend and perfectly captured both the era of the times Silent Mora performed in, as well as the flavor of the act. Bill has written seventeen books, and his reflections on writing fueled some interesting insights into the psyche of a researcher. As Bill said, writing gives the people you’re writing about the chance to take over your mind for a little while, and gives someone who’s unknown the opportunity to come out of the shadows. I’m not certain if Bill was talking only about writing, or whether he was offering additional insights as to what happens when we as magicians take the stage and adopt a different persona, allowing the act to become us for a little while. The organizers did a great job ensuring April 2015

Mildred and Harry Rouclere.

Silent Mora.

that the talks covered a wide range of topics. Everyone who collects has some story about how they acquired their collection or how they found a great piece. Such was the

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(l to r): George Boston, Dell O’ Dell.

theme of Phil Temple’s talk; he was sincerely emotional as he talked about what it was like to work with the objects he has found over the years. In an era where many newcomers to magic are learning from the Internet (and hopefully from the I.B.M.!), Gabe Fajuri put forward a hypothesis about the most vital magic shops from the 1860s to the 1960s and their contributions to our art. Terry Roses followed with a lecture that could only be described as overwhelming as he reviewed the seemingly inexhaustible number of devices that gamblers have used to cheat at cards, dice, dominoes, and other games, even bingo. Terry’s talk, and the demand for his services by casinos and law enforcement, offered vivid proof that understanding magic history (and its allied fields) is vital to not only magical entertainment, but even to protecting today against criminal fraud. The last day of the Gathering featured three lectures. Dr. Eddie Dawes shared some of the highlights from his work on 44

John Henry Anderson, “The Great Wizard of the North.” Through his new research, Dr. Dawes set the record straight on a few of the more sordid details of Anderson’s life by examining a detailed history of his relationships. Georges Naudet spoke about the conjurer in nineteenth century popular imagery, and whether magicians were more commonly seen as popular performers or as petty thieves. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I saw “The Magic of Ronald McDonald” on the bill, but Steve Thomas gave a surprisingly touching and funny talk about his career in magic and his thirty years of portraying Ronald McDonald, offering insights for anyone interested in performing full-time or for companies looking to use magic as part of their public outreach. In a first for the Yankee Gathering, each evening featured a performance, not just one as has been the case with past Gatherings. Tom Ewing, the master of ceremonies did a masterful job warming up the

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John Henry Anderson. (Inset): John Henry Anderson book cover. COVER COURTESY OF THE BRITISH LIBRARY.

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crowd, not to mention one of his spectators, especially when he kept pouring Irish whiskey from a Lota Bowl into an endless supply of shot glasses with the refrain, “Let’s have another!” Larry Stangel, Mike Caveney, Leland Faulkner, The Gustafsons, Torkova, and Doc Swan all took the stage over the course of three evenings, each demonstrating a very different style of performing, but all based in some way on magic’s history. The Gustafsons recreated a lovely silk performance from Ade Duval, showing an act that probably hadn’t seen the light for decades. Mike Caveney shot a selected card in midair, Torkova astonished the crowd by mysteriously filling bowls with oranges, and Doc Swan carried a spectator on his back while he walked barefoot on broken glass. For three days, each evening offered at least one show that would fit someone’s taste. Of course, it wouldn’t be a collector’s weekend without something to collect. Objects were on display in an Exhibits Room, the Dealer’s Room was always busy, and the auction and flea market gave participants a chance to search for bargains. The Exhibits Room offered a number of rare collections for viewing, including items from Houdini, RobertHoudin, McDonald’s, and Silent Mora. I attended the Yankee Gathering four years ago, and it seemed that the auction offered a wider array of items this year. More pieces were available that newer collectors and those of more modest means could acquire. While many of the higher end pieces did not make their reserve, such as a Kellar poster that failed to sell at $2,000, there was spirited bidding on other items. Whether this is a quirk in the economy or some sign of the future of the magic market is unknown. While some collections have 46

Ade Duval

certainly increased in value over the years, it is also apparent that most NEMCA members collect because of a fascination with magic more than as an investment. They know their history and, more importantly, they all genuinely want to share that knowledge. As I did last time, I left the Gathering with many new friends and a list of new ideas for my upcoming performances. The organizers deserve congratulations for continuing to put on a great weekend. The Yankee Gathering is an invitation-only meeting, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to join. If you would like to join us in 2016, please e-mail David Haversat at [email protected] and ask to be added to the invitation list. In the immortal words of Tom Ewing, “Let’s have another!”

Jason Goldberg is an Associate Editor for The Linking Ring. Contact him by email at [email protected].

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“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” – Cynthia Ozick So far in this series of articles, I have been looking at the effect that your magic has on patients, yet there is another set of people that we need to keep in mind – the families of the patients. We often forget how stressful things can be for the parents and siblings of a seriously ill patient. Ronald McDonald House Charities is a significant support mechanism for the these families. Ronald McDonald Houses provide a home for out-of-town families to stay near their children while they are being treated at a nearby hospital. Recently, Rick Del Vecchio, a Past I.B.M. Ring Coordinator, Past TVP, and Past Ring 45 President, sent me a story about a special young magician, Jolie Harley Dreiling, at Ring 45 who is giving back to the families of seriously ill children in Miami. It’s Monday night, and the Little Lighthouse Foundation is providing pizza, soda, and ice cream to the residents of the Ronald McDonald House in Miami. The

April 2015

residents include parents and their children, all of whom are patients at Jackson Memorial Children’s Hospital. In addition to the pizza dinner, they will be entertained by “The Princess of Magic,” Jolie Harley Dreiling. A Miami Beach resident, thirteen-yearold Jolie Harley Dreiling is an honor student at Ransom Everglades where she excels in French and plays the tuba. Jolie is also a champion dog handler, having won numerous ribbons throughout the USA showing her three Chinese Crested show dogs, Ace, Trooper, and Hercules. Jolie, a member of the Syd Bergson Ring, I.B.M. Ring 45, often performs for the Little Lighthouse. Her favorite trick is making smiles appear on the faces of the children, parents, and staff. The Little Lighthouse Foundation (LLF) is a non-profit charitable organization that positively impacts the lives of terminally ill children and financially (continued on page 98)

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALEXANDER BARTOLE, WITH PERMISSION OF LLF

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Invisible Riches This column takes the form of an editorial plea for our young, youngish, and everyoung-at-heart magicians. And, yes, this means you. In 1799, a young North Carolina farm boy named Conrad Reed found a shiny seventeen-pound rock while playing in a nearby creek. The family used this rock as a doorstop for three years until a local jeweler recognized the rock for what it was – a massive gold nugget. The jeweler bought the rock from the family for $3.50, a week’s wages in those times. The family thought no more of it until they found a larger twenty-eight-pound nugget on their land a year later. That discovery led the family to form one of the most productive Eastern gold mines and kicked off the first U.S. gold rush. Just as the Reed family spent years blindly farming over a vast fortune in gold, our young and not-so-young magicians are overlooking – or worse, ignoring – incredible enrichment opportunities within our art. There was a time when we turned to our elders for guidance and instruction. Young magicians apprenticed with masters to study and become proficient in this art. We counted on our mentors to lead us past the errors and pitfalls that hindered them. Today, the absolute independence and confidence of youth, blended with the advent of lightning-fast global networks, have diminished the perceived intellectual net worth of our elders. Instant access to nearly any answer or skill set imaginable is no further than our smartphones and the Internet. This results in many of our young 48

and youngish magicians overlooking the wealth of skill and knowledge held by our older magicians. My friend and mentor, Phil Willmarth, often shared the story of a group of young magicians at a convention arguing over the best way to do an Elmsley Count. Phil and an older gentleman approached and offered to help. The young men politely refused their offer, stating matter-of-factly, that they could figure it out. The older gentleman smiled and walked away as Phil pointed out to the young men that they had just refused the help of Alex Elmsley, the inventor of the Elmsley Count. I noticed a similar situation while exploring the halls of the 2014 Combined I.B.M.-S.A.M. Convention in St. Louis. Scattered throughout this incredible convention, I watched small groups of young magicians form compact clusters to share their latest acquisition of skill and effect, while older magicians seemed content to watch and pass by in silence. The younger group was careful to offer no invitation, while the elders kept their distance. Talk about missed opportunities! On the other end of the generational spectrum, a valued friend who was once a well-known actor on stage and screen recently told me, “No one in the world sees me anymore since I’ve become an older man.” He isn’t alone. I have talked to other elders who describe this experience of feeling invisible. We see it as we walk down the street, and younger people don’t see us. Not a glance, not a smile, none of the customary friendly gestures we’re used to

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from our more neighborly – and older – peers. But are the youthful entirely to blame for this invisibility? Of course not. If our elders choose to accept a back seat as our art passes them by, they have none to blame but themselves. Our young magicians are enamored with the flashy and new. They naturally seek out that which appeals most to them. Wisdom and experience, like any valuable commodity, must be presented in a manner that appeals to and attracts the younger generation. We elders may need to set aside lifelong insecurities and preconceived expectations to make ourselves more approachable by the younger generations. Unlike gold from a mine, this invaluable treasure carries a definitive expiration date. Vast decades of collective skills and knowledge are lost forever each time one of our magic elders heeds the call of the Divine Master of all Mystery. The time to begin mining this grand treasure is now. My dear young friends, as members of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, you have an incredible wealth of magic knowledge and experience well within your reach. This knowledge is sitting there waiting for you to open your

minds, extend your hand, and pluck the years of experience from the minds of those who have lived it. My dear older friends, as members of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, you have an obligation to step out from behind that veil of invisibility and share the skills and knowledge you have spent a lifetime mastering. By paying it forward, your legacy will benefit future generations. Even as life looks and feels very different between the generations, it is by dwelling on the roots of wisdom rather than the branches of change that we continue to reach skyward. Take a moment from your busy day and read the short story, “Young Man Axelbrod” by Sinclair Lewis. An open mind and an inviting smile opens doors. Skip Way has served our magic youth as a member of the Youth Committee since 2007. He is the Director of Magic Youth Raleigh, the I.B.M. Youth program sponsored by the Lee-Snavely I.B.M. Ring 199 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Skip welcomes your comments and inquiries via [email protected].

Moving? Please notify the I.B.M. Headquarters Office at least four to six weeks before you move. By notifying the office ahead of time you will receive The Linking Ring at your new address and avoid paying a five-dollar per issue charge to resend the missed issue to your new address. This charge is merely what it costs the I.B.M. to resend an issue, which includes the USPS charge for sending the cover of the misdirected magazine back to us, plus the cost of resending the issue to your new address. This does not include the cost of the extra issues or the office staff’s time. Plan ahead and save the extra cost for all of us – and get your issues of The Linking Ring coming to your new address right away. Please see page four of every issue of The Linking Ring for the contact information for the Headquarters Office.

Due to illness in his family, Peter Scarlett’s column will not appear this month. We expect “The London Eyes” to return in the May issue. April 2015

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April 2015’s question: The concept of black art has been used by magicians for a very long time. Until the middle of the twentieth century, the requirements of the technique limited its use to large venues, such as the stage. Then, someone came up with something that removed those limitations and made black art feasible in parlor settings. Who did it, and what was it? Answers must be postmarked by May 20, 2015. January 2015’s question was: In the first half of the twentieth century, there appeared a prop that depicted an animal capable of identifying and locating an audience member’s selected card using its mouth. In early models, the “mouth” mechanism was actually something usually found in the kitchen. What was this trick, and what was the kitchen item? Back in the middle to late 1800s, a magician and craftsman in England named Professor William Norris is known to have performed with a piece of apparatus intended to look like a swan that could pick up an audience member’s selected card by pinching the card in a clip built into the swan’s bill. But the swan’s “mouth” was fixed – it did not open and close to grab the card. In the early 1930s, magician and magic dealer Laurie Ireland (of the L. L. Ireland Magic Company) began searching for a way to make a similar prop, but one with an articulated mouth, or “bill.” It’s possible that Ireland never saw or heard of Professor Norris’s swan. He may have come up with the idea in another way. In any case, his solution was to position a springloaded tea-infuser as the bird’s bill, paint a racquetball as the head, and link the opening and closing of the mouth mechanism to the movement of the neck and head. He called the critter, “Otto the Automaton 50

Duck,” and it first appeared in Ireland’s Magic Catalog in 1936.

A spring-loaded tea-infuser, identical to Otto’s bill.

Otto, the Automaton Duck.

DAVID LINSELL PHOTO, COURTESY OF POTTER & POTTER AUCTIONS

Ten years later, at the first I.B.M. Convention to take place following World War II, Harry Blackstone, Sr., performed with one of Laurie Ireland’s card-finding ducks. Blackstone’s clever routining and gags included blindfolding the duck to prevent cheating, as well as a few other bits that have become standards. The audience, comprised of magicians and laypeople, responded well to the master’s performance, and sales of the prop climbed. Several other manufacturers produced versions of Laurie Ireland’s “Otto” over time, some with significant advancements. Around the time of Blackstone’s I.B.M.

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Convention performance, Warren Hamilton began marketing “Jo Anne Duck, an improved card duck.” The duck’s head and mouth were manufactured specifically for the prop, not adapted from other products. The shape and movement were more appealing to many magicians, and “Jo Anne Duck” became enormously popular. Other card ducks, such as Senator Crandall’s “Gwendolyn,” soon appeared. Crandall also published a booklet detailing his routine and presentation tips. In the U.K., Jack Hughes marketed a duck similar to Professor Norris’s swan, without an articulated, opening bill, called “Dippy Duck.” The card-duck is still one of the most popular tools commercially available. It has been entertaining audiences for nearly eighty years, and it will probably be used for many more. We owe a special “thank you” to Pedro Nieves at Magic Inc., Gabe Fajuri at Potter & Potter Auctions, Scott Penrose at The Magic Circle, Rhett Bryson, and Lisa Cousins at The Magic Castle for all of

their knowledge and generosity. If you didn’t get the correct answer, don’t give up – keep trying! These questions aren’t intended to be answered without effort. Take your copy of The Linking Ring to your local Ring meeting and ask the experienced (that means older) members to help you find the answer. Show the world how much you know, get your name printed in The Linking Ring, and win some great prizes from one of our finest brickand-mortar magic shops!

Collection of card-ducks at The Magic Circle in London; Norris’s original swan is at the center.

Attention, all Youth Members! Do you think you have a fitting question for the I.B.M. Youth Trivia Contest? Send your question and the answer, along with your name, age, membership number, telephone number, and address to: I.B.M. Youth Trivia Quiz c/o Don Greenberg 4450 Peace Valley Road New Waterford, Ohio 44445 USA

Try to include a reference or two. If we use your question, we’ll send you either a refurbishable 1992 Club Car® golf cart or a really cool magic book – our choice. See if you can win! Follow the Contest Rules on page 158, and mail your responses to address above. Answers must be postmarked by May 20, 2015.

April 2015

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The Great Lester – Ventriloquist The Man with the Magic Voices

As I have mentioned in my past Jackpots, when the name “The Great Lester” came up, either the speaker or those who were listening would add: Magician or Ventriloquist? The Great Lester, Ventriloquist (18791956) was famous for his many voices and especially his ability to seemingly “throw” his voice. I would like to point out that Lester performed in the days when there was no amplification – he did it the old fashioned way, he projected his voice to the back row. Like a lot of magicians in the early days of our lives who lived in Texas and the Chicago area, we were influenced by the people who frequented the Joe Berg magic shop in Chicago and friends of Ann and Doc Mahendra, then of San Antonio, Texas. Ann and Doc Mahendra were professional magicians touring the diminishing vaudeville circuit with a mental and “exploitation” act. (Doc would break a large stone on Ann’s chest with a sledge hammer.) They settled in San Antonio in the 1930s with a health food store but kept very active with the magic community by writing a column for The Linking Ring and performing an occasional professional show. They were close friends of most of the well-known professional acts. The Great Lester was a friend and many-time visitor of the Mahendras. 52

Though I never met Lester, I felt that I knew him from the scores of stories that were told to me and listening to conversations of many of his friends. He was the talk of Joe Berg’s “gang” in Joe’s Chicago magic shop. When Joe moved to Hollywood, Lester was soon to follow, and the stories continued. Joe loved to pick up a telephone in his shop and tell Lester that he had a call. Lester, having fun with the small group of magicians that were always present at Berg’s shop, would then, using several different voices, carry on conversations with different people over the unconnected phone. His phone act at Berg’s shop was just part of what he did across the world in his ventriloquist act. Lester was born in Poland in 1879. The family first moved to Milwaukee, then later to Chicago, living where there was a large Polish community in both cities. The family name was Czajkowski, which he soon changed to Lester after his brother took the name. The master ventriloquist soon became Harry Eugene Lester and just used The Great Lester as his professional name from then on. Working out of Chicago by the turn of the century, vaudeville was reaching its peak. Lester found very good employment with the many agents and circuits that serviced these theatres. He was soon recognized as a “headliner” and began building a

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The Great Lester

following. Always returning to the Chicago area when his tours were over, he soon found that he had a following of young men who wanted to learn what he had developed over a very short period – the art of “throwing ones voice” or ventriloquism. He decided to teach a few of them. One such student who years later would

April 2015

become world famous on stage and a new medium called radio, was Edgar Bergen. Both the student, Bergen, and his dummy, Charlie McCarthy, were one of the highest paid and viewed acts in the history of showbiz. Lester could have been a bigger star with his act, but he had health problems

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with depression. Besides vaudeville, he was headlined in Chautauqua and Lyceum circuits that were the showbiz of the small cities and rural areas. Often he would cut his tours short to return to Chicago to continue teaching the art that he loved. Lester had a very religious upbringing in the Catholic Church, and at one point he was studying to become a priest. He soon learned that he was not cut out for that life, and that the call of the audiences was just too much. As the vaudeville theaters died, first radio and then movies pushed the live entertainers into a new field called the “nightclubs.” Lester was soon to find that the audiences were smaller to work to and inattentive, with waiters delivering food and drink. In 1937, Lester moved to New York City hoping that there would be work for his act. But, New York proved fruitless, as well as his next move to San Francisco. He got to thinking about his ventriloquist course that he started writing when he was in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. The logical place to continue his work on this project was in the Los Angeles-Hollywood area where his former student and friend was finding great success with radio. By 1951, with Joe Berg moving west, Lester, too, decided to join his friend and set up a studio of ventriloquism. I doubt that it was an accident that Lester opened his studio within walking distance of Joe Berg’s magic shop on Hollywood Boulevard and Edgar Bergen’s offices around the corner from there. Lester wanted to get Edgar to endorse and finance his course in ventriloquism. Within a few months of writing and setting up his studio, Lester called on Edgar and laid out his plans for his course. At that time, Bergen was all over the new medium of radio and was considered a superstar with his guest appearances and his own weekly radio show; plus, the motion picture industry was calling on him to make movies. He told Lester that he was willing to help him with writing, publishing, and 54

endorsing the ventriloquist lessons, but he wanted it in book form. After months of recordings made by Lester and changes by Bergen’s representatives, the manuscript was partly finished, but the book was never published. Lester would continue to make changes. Lester’s act with his figure was a big hit in vaudeville and other early theaters because he had a powerful character voice. Without amplification, he could do his numerous voices and be heard on the last rows of the large theaters. When he picked up a telephone on the stage and pretended to be talking to the operator who would then connect him with another “person,” the conversations would continue, and the audiences would break into big applause. His voices were truly magical. The Great Lester has had a profound impact upon ventriloquism for the past ninety years. The list of hobbyists and professional ventriloquists he influenced is very long. Beginning in 1960, David Erskine decided to collect as much of Lester’s writings and recordings that he could find and write a book on the man’s life, The Great Lester: Ventriloquism’s Renaissance Man, available in paperback on Amazon. In the book, David goes into the early life of Lester in developing his act and the scores of ventriloquists that he taught his techniques. David also listened to hours of recordings that Lester used to teach students and included transcripts of them, too. Lester’s life story is a good lesson in trouping a show, even today. He covers the problems that he encountered and the solutions he used to move forward. There is a section that tells of his first meeting with Edgar Bergen and the advice he gave him about being a performer. That advice should be printed out and put on every performer’s bulletin board, then read over and over, every day. Whether you wish to be a “voice thrower” or just a better entertainer, David Erskine’s book should help you. Bev Bergeron [email protected]

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Bruce Walstad TVP – Alabama

Bruce Walstad started performing magic at age eight. During his high school years, magic was put on hold, but in his late teens, his interest in magic returned. He started performing at birthday parties for family and friends. Bruce joined the International Brotherhood of Magicians and the Society of American Magicians in the mid1970s. He was fortunate to live in the Chicago area and was able to meet and learn from many of the great Chicago magicians, including Jay Marshall, Billy Bishop, Don Alan, John Shirley, Hank Moorehouse, Ed Marlo, Sam Berland, Marshall Brodien, and many others. Living in the Chicago area also provided Bruce with the opportunity to perform on the Chicago Bozo’s Circus several times. As the years passed, Bruce found his niche in school assemblies. For over twenty-five years, he performed at elementary schools, averaging seventy-five appearances per year. Over time, the show grew and several illusions were added. His favorites were the Zig-Zag Lady, the Hindu Basket, and Chair Suspension. Bruce’s magic has been influenced by Jay Marshall, David Ginn, J. B. Bobo, Hank Moorehouse, Gene Gordon, John Booth and Edwin Hooper. In the real world, Bruce worked the night shift in a steel mill for six years after high school. In the mid-1970s, Bruce went to work for the Franklin Park Police April 2015

Department. He remained there twenty-six years and spent his last sixteen years as a detective and youth officer. During the mid-1980s Bruce began conducting in-service training seminars around the country for law enforcement personnel on fraud, con games, and missing children. He continues presenting these seminars, which always include the performance of a few magic tricks. (continued on page 100)

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Ring 21 Ends Year with Two Major Events in Hollywood, California Wrapping up 2014, Ring 21 members enjoyed a gala banquet and installation of new officers with two guests: pianist David Silverman and magician Paul Green, who wowed the crowd with some classic magic. December meant our annual holiday

party with food, holiday magic, and a toy collection for the needy. On a sad note, it also meant our final meeting at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater since the building has been sold and theater founder Bob Baker recently passed away. Gerry Schiller

Paul Green installs new officers: Don Kenney, Lois Harmeyer, Wendy Sobel, Gerry Schiller, Robert de la Guerra, Nicholas Garcia, and Bill Turner.

(l to r): Skillful pianist David Silverman entertains banquet attendees. Paul Green magically “hypnotizes” his audience. Ring 21 members show off some of the toys collected for the holiday toy drive at their final meeting at Bob Baker’s Marionette Theater.

Annual Banquet and Awards for Ring 45 Miami, Florida This year’s banquet held on January 17 was a tribute to our younger magicians. Skill and dexterity was showcased by four 56

of our junior magicians: Carlitos Huici, Edward Enrique Ulloa, Danny Hernandez, and Jolie Harley Dreiling, all of whom

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amazed and entertained with their magical mysteries. Carlitos performed a marvelous effect, pouring different colored liquids together, mixing them all in a bucket, and then pouring the separated colors back into small glasses. He showed the bucket empty and ungimmicked. Among other tricks, he performed a silk production with an endless supply of silks, ending with a fountain of silks. Danny entertained with a great rope routine, cutting and restoring a rope multiple times to the amazement of all. He then borrowed three rings from the audience and made them vanish and reappear. Edward Enrique dazzled with a great dove routine, with doves appearing from silks and balloons. The final performer was the pretty Jolie Harley. She did a number of fine effects, one of which was producing multiple silks from a “Square Square.”

The glue that held all the entertainers together was the performing and masterof-ceremonies work of the marvelous Billy Byron.

(l to r): Officers Ron Olmsted and Jeff Silver. MC Billy Byron.

A number of our club members were awarded plaques based on their service and achievements. In addition, all the performers were given a certificate for their excellent performances. Richard Curren

(l to r): Carlitos Huici. Danny Hernandez. Edward Enrique Ulloa. Jolie Harley Dreiling. Performers (l to r): Jolie Harley Dreiling, Edward Enrique Ulloa, Danny Hernandez, and Carlitos Huici.

Ring 129 (Kansas City, Missouri) Holds Banquet and Contest Ring 129 held its annual banquet and contest for stage magician of the year on January 17 at the Roeland Park Community Center. We began by honoring our longterm caterer, Margaret Singer. The contest itself is named for the late H. Claude Enslow, and we were pleased that Claude’s daughter and great granddaughter were both in attendance. Ten of the eleven members who qualiApril 2015

fied in our quarterly contests were eligible to compete. Victor Le’yon qualified but was unable to attend due to a family emergency. Lance Rich was a first-time winner with some nifty card manipulation and a classic Metamorphosis. Pete Walterscheid, who earlier in the year won our close-up contest, finished second with a hole-card routine and the Chinese rice bowls. Steve Steiner, no stranger to the podium, finished

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(l to r from top): MC Rod Sipe (in character) with Jane Fields. Chuck Replogle. Korso and Ziggy. Steve Steiner. Keith Leff. Gene Kean. Peter Walterscheid. Lance Rich. Phil King. Paul Patterson. Brad Lynn.

third with a basketball-themed routine featuring the production of a live cheerleader. Among the other competitors were Keith Leff, with a fire eating and dove productions (performed in memory of another late Ring president, L.C. Collier); Gene Kean, Multiplying Bottles and Linking Rings; Chuck Replogle, comedy Linking Rings; Phil King, book test; Paul Patterson, acting the part of a child while doing, among other things, a torn-and-restored newspaper; Korso and Ziggy, a variation

PHOTOS BY MIKE (“DOC”) BLUM

of Metamorphosis; and Brad Lynn, an elaborate magician-in-trouble comedy act which included some real magic. MC Rod Sipe kept things moving between acts with a game of “Truth or Crap,” asking spectators to sort out truth from fiction in a number of statements about magic history. After the performances, we honored Gene Kean for service to the Ring with a President’s Award and inducted both Gene and Paul Patterson into our Sorcerer’s Circle, the Ring’s honor society.

Ring 202’s Competition in Valetta, Malta Five members of Ring 202 participated in a friendly and informal parlour and close-up magic competition. The judges were three experienced members of the Ring (Joseph Demanuele, Christopher Gové, and Philip Sammut) and three 58

laypeople (Charles Stroud, TV and stage producer and director; Debbie Scerri, singer and TV presenter; and Bryn Manning, another TV producer and actor). The competition was attended by members, families, and friends and moved

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(l to r from top): Aaron Demanuele. Gwilym Bugeja. Robert Ellul receiving plaque from President Vanni Pulé. Kim Woods assisted by Marie Therese and Kris Attard. Reid Fenech chopping Mirka Abela’s wrist. Robert Ellul. PHOTOS BY GLEN MERCIECA

smoothly with fill-ins provided by the host, President Vanni Pulé. Our youngest member, Reid Fenech, presented a series of Halloween-related items, ending with a convincing “Zombie Skull.” Gwilym Bugeja opted for tongue-incheek autobiographic storytelling which included a chosen-card routine full of surprises. Kim Woods exuded feminine charm and elegance in her combination of silks, ropes, and candles. Aaron Demanuele

worked more intimately but not less convincingly with coins and cards. Robert Ellul presented an original hilarious and visual routine using different hats and matching music to link the magic together. The judges decided that all the competitors did well, and the points were close. The overall winner was Robert Ellul, who received a cash voucher from a magic dealer, some items donated by World Magic Shop, and a special plaque which was presented by our president. Glen Mercieca

Ring 216 of San Jose, California Holds Stage and Parlor Competition Ring 216 held its Stage and Parlor Competition in December. In the Standard Division, Perry Yan displayed his cardmanipulation skills, and Fred Lee wowed with his jazzy billiard balls. Fred Rasmussen puzzled using a jigsaw with a mental twist, while Vikram Singh illustrated a story with some mysterious ropes. In the Masters Division, David Martinez April 2015

presented an escalated variation of “Bank Night,” John Jones predicted the choice of a crowd of spectators, David Chan brought a night-club air to his card productions and floating table, and Alan Leeds showed his humorous side with a multi-phase routine, culminating with finding the spectator’s bill in a lemon. Will Chandler handled the competition technical support and stage management.

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Top – Participants in the Ring 216 Stage Competition (l to r): Vikram Singh, Perry Yan, Fred Lee, Fred Rasmussen, President Calvin Tong, David Martinez, John Jones, David Chan, and Alan Leeds. Bottom – (l to r): Ring 216 First Place Winner Fred Lee. People’s Choice Winner Perry Yan. Competitor Vikram Singh.

In the Standard Division, the People’s Choice Award was given to Perry Yan, and Fred Lee won First Place.

The winners in the Masters Division will be announced at the Ring 216 Annual Banquet in January. Gary Goldberg

Ring 257 (Las Vegas , Nevada) Member Honored by French Magic Association

In January 2014, Michel Fontaine was honored at an annual magic event in France for being a “Lifetime Member of the French Magic Society,” AFAP, “Association Francaise des Artistes Prestidigitateurs.” Michel has been a member of the AFAP since 1949. At the time, he was the youngest member of the association. He was recognized for several years of work when he was the editor of the important French magic magazine, Review de la Prestidigitation. He volunteered to take on the responsibilities and paid his own fees to travel to shows. He also photographed a variety of magicians, submitting photos to accompany articles written for the magazine. Some of his photos were published on the cover of the magazine as full-page lay-outs. Fantasma Ring 257 of Las Vegas, Nevada, is honored to have Michel as an I.B.M. Ring member! Michel Fontaine. Donna Paxson 60

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Ring 258 (Leesburg , Florida) Holds Special Event to Change Name of Ring

On December 27, Ring 258 held an unprecedented event. In combination with the December Ring Meeting and Annual Banquet, the members officially changed the name of the Ring to “The Magic Ian Ring.” This name change has been officially recorded by Sindie Richison at the I.B.M. International Office and will be Induction: Sergeant-at-Arms Roger Many delivering the oath of office so noted on the newly to President Jim Moody, Vice President Greg Solomon, Treasurer George revised charter which is Smallwood, and Secretary Roger Reid. awaiting the signature of International President Shawn Farquhar. Ian Sutz, a.k.a. “Magic Ian,” “Ian Garrison,” and “The Perfesser,” was an outstanding member of Ring 258 for many years. He passed away due to complications of heart surgery and diabetes on July 4, 2013. Ian was an inventor, manufacturer, supplier of a myriad of magic effects, and publisher of many magic pamphlets, books, videos, and DVDs. He began lecturing in 1977, based on his own effects and improvements to such standards as the “Professor’s Nightmare” and the “Steel Ball and Tube.” Some of his magical creations include: “Coin Balloon-acy,” “Dances with Ropes,” “Pepsilkcola,” “Dependelite,” “Diminishing Sponge Balls,” “Flagtastick,” and “Slice of Hand.” His publications include Liar’s Handbook, Magic with a Steel Ball and Tube, 110 Tricks with a Stripper Deck, The Haunted Pack, 110 Tricks with a Svengali Deck, and Best Dam Tricks. His “One-Man Parade” of effects in The Linking Ring in 2009 earned him an Award of Merit. He also performed solo at private parties and, along with a troupe of four other magical per(l to r from top): Chuck mindreading. Madam Corinthia read Tarot cards for the membership and formers, at retirement communities. This special event included a sumptuous guests. Les Morgenstein performing his new effect, “Treasure Chests.” President Jim Moody with the buffet dinner provided by the Lake County certificate that was sent to Ian’s wife. Photo of Ian Shriners at their facility located in Tavares, performing on stage. April 2015

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Florida. By special arrangement, Madam Corinthia read the tarot cards of many of the members. A brief Ring meeting was held to announce the Ring name change and to install the new officers for 2015. A framed certificate was created to commemorate the name change. It has been sent to Ian’s wife Lyn, who was unable to attend the event. Sergeant-at-Arms Roger Many swore in the new officers: President Jim Moody, Vice President Greg Solomon, Secretary Roger Reid, and Treasurer George Smallwood. After dinner, the group enjoyed magical performances by Les Morgenstein and Chuck Stylesmith. Les performed his own

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new effect, dubbed “Treasure Chests,” in which randomly chosen small wooden chests, in randomly chosen gift bags, revealed Chanukah Gelt (chocolate money) to three audience helpers and a real one-hundred dollar bill for the magician. Chuck did impromptu mindreading of colors, numbers, and the Queen of Hearts. Then he closed with Larry Becker’s “Three Coins.” The highlight of the evening, as always, was the gift exchange, during which many gifts were repeatedly stolen from recipients. The most sought after was a fifty-dollar gift card from Barnes and Noble. And, yes, there was Body Butter again this year! Roger L. Reid

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Winter Carnival Gets Warm Reception

By Jason Rieger and Tom Vorjohan

PHOTOS BY JASON RIEGER AND MICHAEL MESSING

With snow falling to the north and to the east of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Ring 58 kicked off the Forty-first Annual Winter Carnival of Magic on March 5, at the Country Tonite Theatre. The Ring prides itself on hosting this annual convention that provides guests with a large dealers’ room, numerous lectures, a close-up competition, a stage competition, a close-up show, and two stage shows. Additionally, guests of the convention this year were invited to attend the premiere of Pigeon Forge’s newest magic show: Magic Beyond Belief starring Darren Romeo.

Opening night Dealer Extravaganza with Dealer Chairman Daniel Herron overseeing.

Many guests arrived a day early because of the horrible winter weather forecast for the area; they were eager to attend Thursday afternoon events such as full lectures by John Shryock and Lee Earle. The dealers’ room was busy, as purchases made this opening day qualified for a special prize drawing later that evening. After a dinner break, the theater filled with guests for “An Evening with Eugene Burger.” This was Eugene’s first appearApril 2015

ance at the Winter Carnival, and he shared his knowledge, philosophy, humor, and even a few tricks to delight the audience. The dealers’ room filled up for the “Extravaganza,” which featured over fifteen prize packages donated by the dealers, as well as a backstage tour of the Darren Romeo show and a 2016 convention registration to the Winter Carnival. With nearly three-hundred registrants and guests already in attendance, John Reid did his “Bits & Pieces” lecture which included everyone tossing a throw streamer and learning how to make a Mouth Coil. The following two days included additional lecturers by international awardwinning Shawn Farquhar, the current Magic Castle “Close-up Magician of the Year” Bill Goodwin, and quick-change Guinness World Record holders Natalie and Eli from Switzerland. From card effects to quick changes, the lectures covered a little of everything. Each year, the Winter Carnival conducts both a stage and close-up competition. The first place winner receives a personalized laser-etched trophy and a $100 cash prize; the second place winner also receives a trophy. Continuing a tradition that began a few years ago, the guests are asked to vote for their favorite “People’s Choice” contestant. In this year’s close-up competition, Timothy Shegitz took second place, and Jim Vines claimed first place and the People’s Choice award. In the stage competition, Nick Compise claimed second place and Gary Flegal took home first place and the People’s Choice award.

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Stage and close up competition winners with International President Shawn Farquhar and Ring 58 President Jack Wilson. (l to r: Timothy Shegitz, Jim Vines, Shawn Farquhar, Jack Wilson, Gary Flegal, Nick Compise)

This year’s stage shows were directed by Steven Kline. The Friday evening show featured Celebrity Magician Murray SawChuck as the hilarious master of ceremonies. Reed Masterson (winner of the 2014 Winter Carnival of Magic stage competition) kicked things off with a very fastpaced dove routine. International President Shawn Farquhar had the audience rolling in laughter as he did a non-gimmicked Topsy-Turvy Bottle effect with a

very confused spectator. After a well-executed Egg Bag routine, Farquhar closed his act by delighting the audience with a performance of Spooks in a Jar using a young girl from the audience to assist. Fringe Festival award winners and AGT finalists David and Leeman managed to engage, confuse, entertain, and gross out the audience, leaving guests both highly amused and shaking their heads. They performed everything from a four-inch nail up the nose to a bullet catch. The final act of the evening was Guinness Book of World Record holders Natalie and Eli from Switzerland performing their worldfamous quick-change routine with more than thirty costume changes in their ten minutes on stage. The Saturday afternoon close-up show featured five men excelling in the art. Reuben Moreland, who will be representing the USA at FISM this summer for the second time in his twenty-two-year-old life, did his fast-paced, awe-inspiring twist on several classics, including a single cup and ball routine and a card matrix using dice rather than coins. Shawn Farquhar’s

Friday evening show (l to r from top): Murray Sawchuck showing off one of his earlier costumes. Reed Masterson performing a dove production. Shawn Farquhar enjoying a moment of his own act on Friday night’s show. A spectator holds a target while David Blatter takes aim. A spectator reacts to Leeman Parker removing a four-inch nail from his nose. Natalie and Eli during their quick-change routine.

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(l to r): Joel Ward performing Card to Space Helmet. Eugene Burger gets some help from his assistant. Niels Duinker juggling with intensity. John Shryock illusions and more to close Saturday night’s show.

Cups and Balls routine is a must-see, along with his signed card back into a sealed deck. Eugene Burger’s storytelling makes even Card Warp and Gypsy Thread a riveting work of art. Bill Goodwin did an array of card effects including his Any Card at Any Number, and John Shryock showed why he has a standing gig in Hawaii doing close-up magic as he made a spectator’s ring appear inside of a sealed walnut inside of a lemon along with finding selected cards of all fourteen people in the front row. Between the close-up show and the final evening stage show, Winter Carnival attendees made a short trek up the road to the Smoky Mountain Opry Theater to see Darren Romeo’s debut performance of Magic Beyond Belief.

Darren Romeo after shooting his assistant out of a cannon into a fish bowl.

The two-hour premiere of Darren’s new show was a spectacle to watch as it included many of the props from Siegfried & Roy’s former Mirage show. After the show, guests had an opportunity to attend a banquet in honor of Romeo’s premiere where the cast was available to take photos and sign autographs. The evening included a April 2015

buffet dinner along with entertainment and a band. Making it back to the Country Tonite Theatre by eight-thirty was no problem, and the final show was one no one wanted to miss. Joel Ward was the master of ceremonies and kicked off the show with his fantastic dove work. Eugene Burger has a commanding presence on the stage and he enthralled the audience with a series of effects, including his Spirit Slates and a voodoo doll. From the Netherlands, threetime Guinness World Record holder Niels Duinker wowed the audience with his fast paced performance of a variety of juggling feats involving hats, balls, cups, and knives. The audience stood in appreciation of his talent. So how do you follow that? It was not a problem for John Shryock and his wife Mari Lynn. Their forty-minute performance featured a variety of illusions like his Cremation and included a straitjacket escape in which Shawn Farquhar magically changed places with Joel Ward while Shryock vanished and reappeared in the audience holding the straitjacket! Another standing ovation concluded the performance. Ring 58 brought the magic to a close with its fifth annual pizza party in the Ramada Inn hotel lobby. The weather made for safe travels on Sunday, and members of Ring 58 hope that more will attend the fun and fellowship next year. For more information or to register to receive news about the 2016 Winter Carnival of Magic, visit www.wintercarnivalofmagic.com.

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SICK AND CONVALESCENT COMMITTEE HAROLD TWADDLE/CHAIRMAN 517 Safe Harbor Dr., Edgewater, FL 32141 • [email protected] (386) 424-6290 KEVIN CARNEY 101 Rue De LaPaix, Slidell, LA 70458 • [email protected] JERRY ARGETSINGER 91 Saddlehorn Dr., Rochester, NY 14626 • [email protected] JIM SHORT 12616 Whispering Hollow Dr., Oklahoma City, OK 73142 •[email protected]

Send Mail To:

Ron Ballargeon, 482 Tulip Terrace, N. Fort Meyers, FL 33903 [email protected] Edward Davis, 209 Apple Branch Dr., Woodstock, GA 30188 Bob Dippel, Driftwood #32B, 675 24th Ave., Santa Cruz, CA 95062 Roger “Roger Linden” Edgar, Spencer Place, 265 Spencer Rd., Room E17, St. Peters, MO 63376 Catherine Fedko, 13111 Flint Dr., Santa Ana, California 92705 Fred “Marco” Foshey, c/o Golden Crest Nursing Centre, 100 Smithfield Rd., North Providence, RI 02904 Robert Gordon, 1530 Granite Hills Dr., Unit E, El Cajon, CA 92019 Ed Hurtubis, 1624 Lakeshore Dr., Ft. Collins, CO 80525-2476 Simon Lovell, c/o Tont Lovell, 10, Audley Rd., Great Leighs Chelmsford, Essex, CM3, England Ron Mabis (Ron London), Signature Healthcare, 300 Windy Hill Dr., Lafayette, IN 47905 Peter Marucci, #303 – 200 River St., Fergus, Ontario Canada N1M 3H8 Marvin Mathena, 1825 South Grove Rd., Ypsilanti, Michigan 48198 David M. McBratney Sr., 12879 Route 6, Troy, PA 16947 Phil Messina, 311 Floral Avenue, Johnson City, NY 13790 Meyer Papermaster, 7105 N. Navajo Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53217 Phil Perkins, The Springs of Lady Lake, 620 Griffin Ave., Lady Lake, FL 32159 Donald Stiefel, 4630 Coventry Ln., Corpus Christi, TX 78411 Julian Thornton, 22324 SW Lincoln St., Sherwood, OR 97140 Chuck Welch, 4855 N. Louden Rd., Bloomington, IN 47401 Jack White, 4288 Arguello St., San Diego, CA 92103 Dick Williams, 3047 Shadow Green Ln., Lakeland, TN 38002 66

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MikePowers One-Man Parade

Written by Mike Powers • Illustrated by Tony Dunn

This month’s One-Man Parade comes to us from Mike Powers, our resident “Card Corner” author and editor. Mike is a close-up virtuoso, having learned and “jammed” with the likes of Ed Marlo, Bill Malone, Larry Jennings, Simon Aronson, and other magic luminaries. In addition to his prowess with cards and coins, Mike is also known for his kindness, generosity, and intellect. He earned his Bachelor of Science and two Master’s degrees at the University of Notre Dame, taught Physics and Calculus at the high school level, and Physics and Great Ideas in Science at Holy Cross College. Though he has now retired from teaching, his love for magic continues. He is the house magician at the Etropal Restaurant and Pour House located in La Porte, Indiana. Read more about him in this month’s cover story, and enjoy his amazing magic in this One-Man Parade.

INTRODUCTION My association with The Linking Ring began in September 2007 with my first “Card Corner” column. This issue marks column ninety-two. I’ll reach column number one hundred at the end of this year! It has been a wonderful ride, and I plan to continue on as long as readers value my work. This month I also contributed the following One Man Parade. It was fun to step out of my role as the “card guy” to offer some coin routines, as well as a nice item using a drinking straw, and one using the bounce-no bounce balls. As with the “Card Corner” column, I am providing video support for moves marked with a *. To access, go to my site at www.mallofmagic.com/cardcorner.html. Look for “THE MOVES.” Click the link and you will be transported to a list of moves with video support. Type in the password marlo7d to activate the videos. Most are card moves, but toward the bottom you will find support, in the form of video instruction, for many of the coin moves used in the routines below. I hope you find some items of interest among my offerings. April 2015

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Spectator Becomes Magician

EFFECT: This is probably the simplest effect in the Parade, yet it is a very entertaining and effective piece of magic. One spectator is chosen to be the guest magician. All she needs to do is follow instructions. Two other spectators select cards and return them to the deck. The “spectator/magician” is now informed that she must locate the two selections. The deck is spread, and she is instructed to touch a card near the center of the spread and pull it halfway out. When the card is turned over in place, it is found not to be either of the selections. The magician explains that perhaps the “spectator/magician” has succeeded after all. The cards on either side of the outjogged card prove to be the two selections! PROCEDURE: The modus operandi for this nifty effect is Bill Simon’s Business Card Prophesy Move* from Effective Card Magic. Basically, the move is a way of seeming to turn a card over in place, but actually cutting the deck around the card, and thus positioning the former top and bottom cards next to the reversed card. Here are the details: Designate a spectator as the “spectator/magician.” There is plenty of room here to have fun with the spectators. Keep in mind that your presentation is important. Now have two other spectators select cards. Control one of them to the top and the other to the bottom of the deck. Any controls are fine; however, Marlo’s Convincing Control is a particularly effective control to the bottom. Once the two selections have been controlled to top and bottom, all that remains is the build-up and the Business Card Prophesy Move which will position the top and bottom cards next to the card the “spectator/magician” outjogs. To accomplish this, spread the cards. Tell the “spectator/magician” to touch a card near the center of the spread and pull it halfway out. Emphasize the absolute freedom of choice. Say, “There are three possibilities: 1) That’s Lisa’s card; 2) 68

That’s Maria’s card; and 3) That’s neither of their cards. Number Three seems bad, but it can be fine. Let’s see how you did.” Apparently, you will simply reverse the outjogged card in position. Actually, as you execute the Simon move, the top and bottom cards will end up next to the selection, one on either side. To do this, place the left thumb onto the outjogged card. Now square up the cards to the right of the outjogged card, using the left thumb as a stop (Fig. 1). Take the squared packet in the right hand with thumb on top and fingers below. Turn the right palm downward and move it to the position shown in Figure 2. Slide the outjogged card under the right thumb and turn the right palm upward again, reaching the position shown in Figure 3.

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Look at one of the selectees and say, “Is this your card?” The answer will be “No.” Now look at the other selectee and repeat the question. Again, the answer will be “No.” Look at the “spectator/magician” and say, “Well, we’re in that third possibility. I told you that this might be good. Let’s see.” During this interaction, casually place the left hand’s cards on top of the right-hand group, leaving the now face-up card outjogged at center. The dirty work is done. The two selections are adjacent to the outjogged card, one above and one below. Say, “If you were a great magician, would you find one selection and then the other? Or would you find them both at once?” I snap my fingers as I deliver the last part of this line. The spectator will say, “Both at once.” I have never had anyone say, “One and then the other.” Should that happen, just correct her and say, “No! You’d find them both at once.” In any event, it’s time to wrap up and show that your “spectator/magician” has succeeded after all. Spread to the outjogged card and outjog the three-card group consisting of the outjogged card and the cards on either side of it (Fig. 4). Remove the three cards and put the deck aside. Ask the two selectees for the identities of the selections. Slowly reveal that your “spectator/magician” is truly a great magician. She found them both at once!

FINAL THOUGHTS: This routine is great fun to perform. There is a load of room for comedic byplay, and the magic is very strong. The ending is not anticipated April 2015

until you outjog the three cards. It really appears that the spectator has failed. This makes the ending extra strong. Of course, you give all credit to the “spectator/magician.” I generally say, “And don’t tell anyone how you did that. That would be breaking the magician’s code.” Everyone understands that you are the real magician, but the door is open for the spectators to have fun with each other and with you.

Ultra-Fast Coins Across

This routine originally appeared in Powerful Magic (1983). The description has been rewritten and updated to include a description of the Gallo Pitch. EFFECT: Four coins travel from the left hand to the right hand, one at a time. The new idea here is to get two ahead twice. There is very little work in this routine. PROCEDURE: Display four half dollars on the right palm. Overlap the coins in such a way that two of them can be pushed into classic palm (Fig. 1).

Close the right hand, pressing in with the fingertips to push two of the coins into classic palm. Turn the right palm downward and allow the two loose coins to drop to the fingertips. Toss the two (as four) into the palm-up left hand and immediately close the hand. You may shake the left hand once, allowing the coins to make a bit of noise. Tap the left hand with the right first finger as you say, “Four coins in the left hand.” This subliminally reinforces the emptiness of the right hand.

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Turn the left palm downward and separate the hands a bit. Shake the hands up a couple of inches and then back down as you allow one coin to fall from classic palm onto the right fingertips. Take the coin to the fingertips with thumb on top (Fig. 2).

Turn a bit to your left, allowing the Kaps Subtlety to make the right hand appear otherwise empty. Drop this coin onto the pad. Pause for a moment, and then say “One coin across.” Now pick up the coin at the right fingertips. Make the up-and-down motion again, allowing the palmed coin to fall onto the coin at the fingertips, making a sound. Say, “Two coins across.” You are now going to show the coins and get two ahead again. Shake both palm-down hands, allowing the coins to clink together. This indicates that you have two coins in each hand. Now use the Gallo Pitch* or a Han Ping Chien move to get two ahead again. The Gallo Pitch is a wonderful move originally published in Richard’s Almanac, Vol. 1 No. 4, December 1982. The move is also described in great detail in Michael Ammar’s Encore III, page 54. The move is credited to Lou Gallo and is indeed a fantastic move for coin work. Both Lou and Mike Gallo have developed numerous applications. Once you learn the Gallo Pitch, you’ll never do the Han Ping Chien again! (N.B. I describe the move below, but this move is also taught in the “Moves” section of my Web site. See below for the link. It is difficult to teach it in writing because the timing is so important. Your best bet is to watch the video.) The Gallo Pitch: You are at the point in the coins across when the second coin has arrived in the right hand. Shake the palm70

down hands so that it’s clear that each contains two coins. Push the two coins in the right hand up and into a classic palm as your palm-down left hand opens a bit with the coins sitting loosely at the fingertips. Hold the coins in place with the left thumb. Open the right hand a bit and position the thumb at the fingertips so that the two hands look similar (Fig. 3).

Rotate the left hand clockwise slightly in readiness to toss the coins. Proceed to toss them from inner left to outer right so that they land a few inches in front of the right hand (Fig. 4).

Reach over with the palm-down left hand. Pick up the innermost coin and place it onto the other coin (Fig. 5). Note how the left hand is ready to mimic the tossing action.

Here comes the critical moment: Begin to pull the two coins onto the left fingertips as the left hand begins to reverse its journey and return to the inner left. Begin to rotate the right hand counterclockwise,

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getting ready to make a tossing action. You won’t be tossing anything, but it will appear that you have tossed two coins from the right hand. Just when the left hand reaches the center of the close-up pad, quickly turn it palm upward and toss its coins to the outer left corner. Immediately, close the now palmup hand and quickly move it to the inner left, still palm upward but closed. Simultaneous to the left-hand toss, make a tossing motion to outer left with the right hand. When timed properly, it will appear that the two coins at outer left came from the right hand. The illusion is perfect. Move the palm-down right hand to the outer left corner and pick up the two coins at the fingertips. Move the partially open hand back to inner right. All four coins are now in the right hand. Two are at the fingertips, and two are classic palmed. The spectators believe you have two coins in your left hand. You’re two ahead again! Shake both palm-down hands up and down, allowing one coin to fall from the right palm. Drop the three coins from the right hand onto the pad, maintaining one in classic palm. Reposition the three coins on the pad into a square with one coin missing at the inner right corner of the square. The coins should be about four inches apart. Position the left fingers above the coin at outer right so that you can drop the palmed coin at inner right, completing the square (Fig. 6).

Mimic moving a coin to the left fingertips as the left hand turns palm upward with the back of the hand toward the specApril 2015

tators. Say, “One last coin to go.” This is Slydini ploy. As everyone looks at your left hand, drop the classic palmed coin at the inner right in the square of now four coins. As you do this, move the left hand toward a spectator and say, “Take the last coin.” Move your right hand away from the square of four coins as you now say, “Wait. It’s gone!” Look back to the square of coins. Everyone will look there, too, for the final moment of magic. FINAL THOUGHTS: Should you release more than one coin from the right hand, simply say, “Two coins across” or “That makes four,” depending on when the misstep occurs. It’s not what you intended, but it’s still magic. It will happen sooner or later. Just roll with it.

Open Prediction 999

This item was originally published in my Close-Up Variety Pack II lecture notes which I presented at the Wizard’s Weekend in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1996. Ed Marlo has devised many methods for the Paul Curry “Open Prediction” plot. The key elements of the plot are: 1) A prediction is made by the magician at the outset (e.g., a card is named out loud, say the Queen of Spades.). 2) The spectator deals cards face up from the face-down deck until she feels like dealing one face down. After a card is dealt face down, the dealing continues face up to the last card. 3) The prediction card is not seen among the fiftyone face-up cards. 4) The deck is spread, and the face-down card is removed. It is the prediction! Marlo describes the exact conditions of the original Curry effect in the Cardician. Twenty-five pages of Hierophant 1 are devoted to dozens of Marlo solutions to the Open Prediction. I thought that I had a new idea until I read Method 8 on page 10 of Hierophant No.1. The following version is largely inspired by Marlo’s method. EFFECT: The magician shuffles a blue deck and has the spectator pull a card from the face-down spread. The spectator peeks at the card and leaves it face down on the

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table. The magician then introduces a red deck, which is shuffled. The spectator then begins to deal cards from the red deck face up in a pile. The magician tells the spectator to deal a card face down whenever she feels that the match of the selection is about to show. When the spectator deals a card face down, the magician has the spectator sign the back of the card to be sure that no switch can take place. The spectator continues to deal cards face up until the deck is exhausted. The spectator notes that the duplicate of the original selection has never shown up. When the deck is spread, the reversed signed card turns out to be the duplicate of the selection! PREPARATION: A double-face card is employed to achieve this powerful effect. Let’s say that the double facer is a Jack of Spades/Three of Hearts (JS/3H). The 3H will be the prediction card in this example. Take a normal red-backed deck and remove the 3H. Take the normal redbacked JS and place it at the face of the face-up deck. Now take a small piece of double-sided tape and put it in the middle of the JS side of the double facer. Place this card at the face of the deck, in other words, onto the red-backed JS (with the tape) showing at the face. STATUS CHECK: With the deck face up, the face card should be the JS/3H, with the JS showing. This card has double-sided tape on its face. The second card is the duplicate, normal JS. The normal 3H has been removed, so there are fifty-two cards in the deck, as there should be. You need to be able to force the 3H from a blue-backed deck. The most disarming way is to use a one-way forcing deck. The deck is put away after the selection so there is no heat on the blue deck. However, a Criss Cross Force* from a normal deck is fine. (N.B. The use of a force runs counter to the original premise. If you prefer to stay with the original concept, you would simply “openly predict” by saying out loud, “I am predicting the 3H.” I prefer the notion that the magician appears to be unaware of the prediction card.)

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You’ll also need a marking pen with which a card will be signed. PROCEDURE: Place the marking pen to the side of your working area. Either openly predict the 3H or force it in some manner from the blue deck. Have the spectator look at the card and leave it face down on the table. Put the blue deck away. Now remove the red deck from its case. You can perform some real shuffles as long as the bottom two cards aren’t disturbed. Hand the deck to the spectator and tell her to begin dealing cards face up into a pile. After two or three cards have been dealt, say, “Have you seen the duplicate of your selection yet?” as you point at the tabled cards. She will answer in the negative. Say, “At some point, you will get a feeling that the next card is the duplicate. When you have that feeling, deal the next card face down.” The spectator will proceed to deal cards face up for a while and then will deal one face down. As soon as the card is dealt face down, tell the spectator to stop dealing. Make it clear that the spectator may turn the dealt card face up and continue dealing, dealing a different card face down if she so desires. When the spectator finally settles on a particular face-down card, take the deck from the spectator and show the face of the next card. Say, “Had you gone one card further, this is the card which would have been dealt face down.” Replace that card face down on top and turn the deck face up. Use your left thumb to hide the double-sided tape on the card (JS) as you say, “You could have stopped at any one of these cards.” Pick up the face-down card just dealt by the spectator and gesture with it as you say, “But you dealt this one face down.” Be sure not to do anything which could be construed to be a switch. This is critical. Now say, “I want you to sign this card’s back so that it can’t be changed.” As these words are spoken, place the facedown card squarely onto the face-up deck and then hand the pen to the spectator. Say, “Please sign your name or initials on the back of this card” (Fig. 1). Your right fin-

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ger touches the face-down card at its center in a gesturing action. You should push down slightly, causing the tape to adhere to the face-down card. Be sure to do this with a very casual attitude. The spectators must not feel that you have “done something.”

Most of the work is now done. Casually deal the top (now double) card onto the face-up pile where it was a moment ago. A JS still shows at the face of the deck, making everything feel totally fair. Hand the remainder of the deck, face up, to the spectator. Tell her to continue to deal cards face up and stop if the duplicate of the original selection shows. The spectator will deal the remainder of the cards. There is a lot of tension at this moment. The implication is that the face-down signed card is the duplicate of the original selection. Since the back of the card is signed, no switch can take place. Pause for a beat to allow dramatic tension to build. Now spread the cards across the pad. The reversed signed card will show in the spread (Fig. 2).

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Have the spectator turn over the original selection (3H) so that everyone knows what card was predicted. Finally, pull the face-down card from the spread and show its face for the mind-blowing conclusion. FINAL THOUGHTS: You can have the spectator sign the back of the facedown card while it is still tabled on top of the face-up half deck. This way she knows it is the card she turned face down. You then immediately pick up the card and blow on it to dry the ink. Place the card face down onto the face-up cards you are holding as you say, “Let’s make sure the ink is dry.” Finally, place the double card face down onto the tabled, face-up half deck and have the spectator continue to deal the cards face up on top of it. It’s best to have the spectator continue to deal from a face-up packet since she has already dealt a card face down. That eliminates having to turn the cards over during the dealing. At the end, you will have a double card stuck together with tape. It is natural to remove it from the deck since it is signed on the back. You can’t give this card out because it is not examinable. One way to avoid a situation in which the spectator requests to keep the card is this: Have a picture-type wallet containing a dozen or so slots for wallet-size photos. Place a few cards that are signed on the back into some of the slots. This is your “autograph collection.” You can now slide the spectator’s card(s) into the next open slot as you say, “You’re now famous. I have added your autograph to my collection.” You might want to have a couple of fake signatures from famous people among the “autographs,” just for fun (Fig. 3).

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Unexpected Visitor

EFFECT: A selected card is placed between the two red kings. It then miraculously disappears and appears between the black kings. PROCEDURE: Remove the four kings and place them face up on the table in black/black/red/red order. Have a spectator cut the deck for a selection. Perform a double turnover to reveal the selection and have the card signed. Obtain a left fourth finger break under the top two face-up cards. Now drop the four kings face up on the selection (double) and pick up all six cards (supposedly five) in right-hand Biddle Grip.* Table the deck face down. While holding the six-card packet in right-hand Biddle grip, use a Biddle procedure to peel off the kings, one by one, face up into the left hand. This leaves the selection (double) in Biddle grip in the right hand and the four Kings face up in the left hand. Use the double selection to lever over the four kings to a face-down position on the left palm. Now place the double, face up and outjogged about half an inch or so, onto the face-down packet of kings. The left thumb and fingers at the long edges keep the double square. Turn the left palm downward while holding the cards along their long edges. The top king is now in view while the outjogged selection (double) is seen protruding, as in Figure 1. Note the position of the left second finger. Move the right hand over the double with thumb above and fingers underneath and push the bottom card of the outjogged double (the selection) flush with the kings. Figure 2 shows this action in progress. This leaves only the extra card outjogged. This is a secret move and can be accomplished as you apparently adjust the selection. The spectators see an outjogged card, which they believe to be the signed selection. (This is basically Marlo’s “Glide Variation*” from the May 1965 issue of New Tops. It can be found in M.I.N.T. on page 157.) The position of the left second

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finger in Figure 1 helps in preventing the hidden card from being seen as it is being pushed in. It’s a good idea to turn slightly as you execute the move. The motion will help to obscure any flashing. Hold the packet in this position using the right hand while the left hand turns palm upward and re-grips the packet in dealing position (Fig. 3).

Push the top two kings to the right using the left thumb. Take these kings in the right hand, thumb on top fingers below. Move the kings to the left and take the outjogged card between them as in Figure 4. Move the three cards away from the left hand, finally dropping them to the table. The spectators believe that the face-down card between the tabled kings is the selection. Actually, the selection is face down on the bottom of the three-card packet in the left hand. Be sure to keep the three cards in left

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hand squared since there are only supposed to be two kings there.

Take the remaining cards from the left hand into right-hand Biddle Grip. Use the left thumb to peel (Biddle) the top king into left-hand dealing position as the right hand then replaces its two cards as one on top of the king in the left hand. This positions the selection between the two kings. Table this packet, being careful not to allow the extra card to flash. STATUS CHECK: The spectators believe that the visible face-down card between the two tabled kings is the selection. Actually, the selection is already between the other two kings. All that remains is to make the indifferent card vanish and then reveal that the selection has jumped to the other kings. Pick up the three-card packet with the indifferent card between two kings, in right-hand Biddle grip. Keep the packet squared. Now snap the fingers of your left hand over the packet and say, “Watch this.” Using the left first finger, buckle the bottom card. This allows you to separate the packet so that the left hand holds the single bottom card while the right hand holds a double as one card. The extra card is hidden below the king in the right hand. Apparently, the “selection” has vanished. CLEANING UP: Move the right hand’s double under the card in the left hand as you say, “The selection has vanished.” You can now casually place the three cards (as two) on top of the deck. This gets rid of the extra card. To end, spread the tabled packet containing the selection, revealing a faceApril 2015

down card between two kings. Show it cleanly to be the selection. You’re done. FINAL THOUGHTS: If you trust your spectators, you can enhance the mystery by placing the packet containing the selection into the spectator’s hands. Have her hold her left palm up. Place the three cards (as two) into dealing position so that she can keep them square. Finally, place her right hand on top as in Figure 5.

Now the effect happens in her hands for added impact.

The Fly

EFFECT: The performer recalls the theme of the movie, The Fly, in which a scientist invents a device that can disassemble a person’s molecular structure and reassemble it in a different place. The scientist performs the experiment on himself. Unfortunately, a fly is in the chamber with him. Their genetic structures intermix during the transfer, and the scientist begins to take on the appearance of a fly. The four tens are removed from the deck, and a selection is removed and signed. The deck is then split into two piles, which represent the two chambers of the machine. The two black tens are banded together with a rubber band and placed on one pile. The selection is placed between the red tens, and the three are banded together and placed on the second “chamber.” A stranger card is now introduced into the pile containing the selection. This card represents the fly. It is now

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shown that the selection, like the scientist in the movie, has traveled from one pile to the other under impossible conditions. The selection is found banded between the two black tens! It is recalled that in the movie, the presence of the fly in the chamber later caused genetic changes in the scientist. Upon examination of the stranger card, it is found that this card’s back does not match the deck. For the big ending, the signed selection’s back is found to match the back of the stranger card! PREPARATION: Assuming you are using a red-backed deck, you will need two cards from a matching blue-backed deck. Let’s say these are the Jack of Hearts (JH) and the Joker. (It’s a good idea to use a picture card to represent the scientist since such a card is more easily identifiable with a human being.) The JH will be forced on the spectator. The Joker will be the stranger card. Place the Joker in your shirt pocket. Now cull the red-backed JH from the deck and place it on the top of the facedown deck with the blue-backed JH second from top. Have two rubber bands wrapped around the card case for later. The rubber bands that I use are circular and measure 1.25 inches in diameter. They hold the packets of cards together without causing them to bend. PROCEDURE: Openly remove the four tens from the deck as you ask the spectators if they are familiar with the movie, The Fly. Place the tens face up on the pad. If they are unfamiliar with the plot, give a brief synopsis based on the description above. Explain that you need a card to play the role of the scientist. As you are explaining this, cut the deck, centralizing the JH and hold a left fourth finger break at that spot in readiness for a Riffle Force.* Perform the Riffle Force, breaking the deck at the force card. Using the right hand, place all the cards above the break under the cards in the left hand as you say, “You stopped me here.” A red back is clearly seen on top. Perform a double turnover, showing a JH, and say, “The Jack of Hearts will repre-

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sent our scientist. Please sign the card for security reasons.” Hand the spectator a pen and have her sign the JH on its face. Obtain a left fourth finger break under the top two cards (the two JHs). Pick up the four tens face up with the right hand. They should be in red/red/ black/black order. Add the tens to the deck momentarily while you pick up the double JH under them with the right hand. Table the deck face down. Place the six cards face up in left-hand dealing position. Now, using the right hand, cut the deck into two approximately equal face-down piles. Place one on the left side of the pad and one on the right side. Explain that these two piles represent the two chambers used in the movie. You are now going to perform the actions described in “Unexpected Visitor” starting in the fourth paragraph right after, “Table the deck face down.” At the end of this sequence, you’ll have the signed selection (blue-backed) face down between the two tens in the left hand. The red-backed JH is face down between the other two face-up tens on the pad. Place a rubber band around the three (supposedly two) cards held in the left hand. Place these cards face up (ten showing) on the lefthand pile. Pick up the three cards on the pad with the right hand and hold them in spread condition. Raise the packet showing the face of the JH and remind the spectators that the JH represents the scientist. (Note: Only a corner of the JH shows. The absence of the signature cannot be noted. This touch really solidifies the notion that the selection is between the two tens.) Hold the three cards squared in righthand Biddle grip. Peel the top ten face up into the left hand. Now peel the face-down JH while simultaneously stealing back the first ten under the other ten. Finally, place the two tens, as one, on the face-down JH. Apparently, you have simply reversed the order of the cards. Leave a small gap between the double and the jack as shown in Figure 1.

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Now pick up the other rubber band and insert it into the gap at the inner right corner (Fig. 1).

You should turn a bit to the right during this sequence so that no one can see the discrepancy. Continue to move the band to the middle and around the top two cards. It must appear that you put the band around all three. Place the three cards face up onto the right-hand pile. STATUS CHECK: On the left-hand pile, there are two face-up tens with the blue-backed, signed JH face down between them. On the right hand, pile there are two tens banded together with the redbacked JH below them (Fig. 2). The stage is set.

Remind the spectators that, in the movie, there was a contaminant in the chamber with the scientist – the fly. Remove the blue-backed Joker from your pocket without revealing the color of its back. Place the Joker face up in the center of the right-hand pile. If you are up to the task, make some sounds that evoke the sound of the transporter on the Enterprise. The experiment is beginning. Pick up the banded packet from the right side and remove the rubber band. The selection has vanished! Drop the tens on the pad. Now carefully lift the three April 2015

banded cards from the left-hand pile. Turn the cards face down and remove the rubber band. Spread the cards, showing the signed selection! The trick seems to be over, but the kicker is waiting to happen. Place the selection face up on the pad as you remind the spectators that, in the movie, the presence of the fly later caused genetic changes. Spread the cards in the right-hand pile and remove the face-up Joker. Slowly turn it over and reveal that it was taken from a different colored deck. Place it face up onto the right-hand pile. Now, slowly turn over the selection, showing that it, too, has a blue back. Genetic changes have begun to take place! CLEANING UP: Pick up the righthand pile in left-hand dealing position. Remove the top Joker together with the red-backed JH under it as a single card and replace them in your shirt pocket. This gets rid of the extra JH. Now, if the spectators examine the deck, they will not find a duplicate JH. FURTHER THOUGHTS: The above description is rather lengthy. In actual practice, the effect is fairly short. The little touches, such as using the duplicate JH, make this an exceptionally strong piece of magic. It should be noted that since the backs of the two stranger cards (the selection and the Joker) are not seen until the end, you may alter the backs in any way you choose. The color contrast is one way. You could also draw a picture of a fly on the backs or use acetone to smear the color on the back. Use your imagination. An interesting variation would be to use a double-faced card as the scientist. You would then use a duplicate of the opposite side as the fly. At the end you would reveal that the fly is intimately embedded in the DNA of the scientist. Give the card to the spectator as a souvenir. With the advent of the smartphone there are other interesting options. You could cue up a sound effect on your phone, which could then be used as part of the teleportation chamber. Simply place the right-hand

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half deck onto the phone. Then, at the appropriate moment, unleash the sound effect. You could also create a video with sound and visuals that could add to the effect. There are a number of iPhone apps that pretend to be scanning a fingerprint. They flash some colors and make sounds that would work well in this routine. It would be cool to write an app for two smartphones so that one would control the other.

The Alchemist’s Dream

EFFECT: This effect originally appeared in my second book, Top Secret Stuff, in 1990. The Alchemists’ Dream is an extremely clean Spellbound routine in which a silver coin changes into gold and back to silver several times. The spectators frequently see both palms at the same time, negating the idea that there is an extra coin. It starts very clean and ends the same way. The original routine has been extended a bit in this description. REQUIREMENTS: You will need a half dollar and a half-dollar-sized Chinese coin. You can use an English penny or a gold-plated half dollar as an alternative. (Optional: Place a cigarette lighter in your right pocket.) PROCEDURE: Begin with a gold coin (I use a Chinese coin) in edge grip in the right hand with a half dollar held between thumb and second finger, as in Figure 1.

One way to get into this position is to begin with the Chinese coin in the right jacket pocket and the half dollar in the left pocket. Reach into both pockets at the same time and maneuver the Chinese coin into edge grip. Bring both hands out and

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place the half dollar in position. Make sure that the spectators see that both hands are otherwise empty. The edge grip allows for a very clean display without revealing the presence of the hidden coin. Orient the plane of the hidden coin parallel to the plane made from the spectator’s eyes to the coin itself. Begin your patter by saying, “Remember the ancient alchemists. Their dream was to turn base metal into gold.” Use the right hand to place the half dollar between the left first finger and thumb, as shown in Figure 2. Now use the right thumb to push the edge-gripped coin into the position, as shown in Figure 3, gripped lightly between the right first and second fingers. This frees the right thumb. You can get some misdirection for this move by moving the left hand away from the right hand and rotating the left hand to show both sides of the silver coin. Be sure that the hidden coin does not peek out between the fingers.

Execute Michael Ammar’s Spellbound Move* to achieve the first change. Begin by stroking the half dollar from base to tip, using the right thumb and first finger. Begin the stroking action a second time.

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But this time, when the coin disappears below the upper edge of the right first finger, grip the coin between first finger and thumb as in Figure 4 and pull it free from the left thumb and first finger. The right hand prevents the spectators from seeing this. Immediately move the right hand down so that the left thumb and first finger can now grip the Chinese coin at its lower edge (Figure 5). Finally, move the right hand to the right, allowing everyone to see the change as the Chinese coin becomes visible at the left fingertips.

thumb to contact the coin in the left hand, knocking it into a left-hand finger palm. Finally, position the right hand’s coin between the left thumb and fingertips. (This Spellbound change* is associated with Al Schneider.) Move the right hand to the right using a stroking action. This leaves the Chinese coin in left-finger palm and the half dollar visible, as in Figure 6. When the right fingertips reach the right edge of the half dollar, move the coin so that it is held between the left first finger and thumb, as in Figure 2.

Rotate both hands so that the palms face the audience (Fig. 7). The finger-palmed coin remains concealed, even though much of the left palm is visible (Ramsay Subtlety) and your right hand is clearly empty. Say, “The gold always reverts back to base metal before you can spend it. Let’s try it again.” Take the right hand’s coin into a finger palm. Point the right first finger at the spectator on your left. The fingers conceal the coin (Ramsay subtlety). Say, “I have mastered this ancient art. But I have also found out why the alchemists never became rich using it.” Use the right hand to place the left hand’s coin into a French drop position between the left thumb and fingertips. Execute a Spellbound Change as follows: Place the right thumb onto the finger palmed coin, allowing the right fingers to straighten. Move the right hand in front of the left hand’s coin. Allow the right April 2015

Use the left hand to place the half dollar at the fingertips of the palm up right hand. Push the coin to the fingertips, using the right thumb in readiness to move it into Goshman Pinch* position. Move the left hand to the position shown in Figure 8. This provides cover as you move the coin

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into Goshman Pinch. Close the left hand as though you are taking the coin. Simultaneously, open the right hand with palm up. Immediately turn the left hand palm upward and open the fingers, showing a Chinese coin (Fig. 9).

Apparently, the left hand took the half dollar, and it immediately changed into a Chinese coin. The right hand is wide open and palm up, supposedly empty. The left hand is similarly wide open and has a Chinese coin. This is a very strong moment because the spectators can see that there is no extra coin. The half dollar is in Goshman Pinch in the right hand. Pause for a beat. Now turn the left hand over and dump its coin onto the right fingers. This shows the back of the left hand. Turn the left palm upward and move the right hand to the position shown in Figure 10. Release the half dollar from Goshman Pinch onto the left fingertips as you use the left and right thumbs to aid in re-gripping the Chinese coin between the left thumb and first finger. The half dollar goes into left-finger palm. Now you can display the

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Chinese coin freely, taking advantage of the Ramsay Subtlety to hide the half dollar. It is clear that the right hand is utterly empty. During this sequence, say, “The gold has returned for a moment, but it won’t last.” Now the spectators have seen both sides of both hands. No extra coin is seen.

Move the right hand over to take the coin from the left fingertips. It should appear that the coin is being taken against the right fingertips by the right thumb. Actually, once the coin is hidden by the right hand, allow the coin to become more horizontal and take it directly into edge grip in the right hand. Keep the right fingers together so the position of the right thumb cannot be seen. Remember, the half dollar is in left-finger palm. Move the right hand up and then down sharply, pretending to drop the Chinese coin into the left hand, which is palm up with fingers curled, in order to hide the finger-palmed coin. Close the left hand and then immediately open it, revealing the half dollar. Pick up the half dollar between the right thumb and second finger, once again reaching the position shown in Figure 1. This brings you full circle. You can now rotate your right hand to the right, showing it to be empty except for the half dollar. The left hand is totally clean. This is essentially the routine published in Top Secret Stuff. You can end the routine here, or you can add one final phase that gets you clean. Say, “I have found out what the alchemists never knew. I figured out how to make the change permanent. First, you have to touch the coin to something which really is gold.” Move the silver coin over to the palm-up left hand and touch it

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to your wedding ring. (Unmarried magicians will have to modify the patter or wear something gold.) The Chinese coin is directly over the left fingertips (Fig. 11). Allow it to fall onto the fingertips and take it into left-finger palm as you move the right hand away.

Say, “You have to use the one element the alchemists forgot – fire!” Begin to turn the right palm downward over the palm-up left hand, as though to dump the half dollar into the awaiting hand. As the right hand becomes nearly vertical, place the right thumb onto the half dollar. The palm-down right hand completely covers the palm-up left hand. Close the left hand, as though it has taken the silver coin, and take the half dollar into right-hand finger palm. Apparently, you have dumped the silver coin into the left hand. Move the right hand immediately to the right jacket pocket with its hidden coin, ditching it there and coming out with a lighter. Light the lighter and move the flame under the left hand. Open the left hand, showing that the gold coin has returned – this time permanently. FINAL THOUGHTS: Most of the changes take place up near your face. You do have to move the hands downward to waist level for the Goshman Pinch move, though. Clearly, you have to watch your angles when a coin is in edge grip.

reversal. Combining a gaffed coin with sleight of hand can produce some devastatingly magical effects. This is such an item. EFFECT: A matrix routine is performed using a Chinese coin, a half dollar, an English penny, and a Mexican twentycentavo piece. All four coins assemble at the inner right corner. The performer then picks up the centavo coin, the English penny, and the half dollar. One by one, they vanish from the performer’s hand and reappear under their original cards. The handling is exceptionally clean and magical. SET-UP: You will need a “Two CopperOne Silver” coin (invented by Connie Hayden). This coin consists of an English penny shell with an insert which is a half dollar on one side and a twenty-centavo piece on the other. Thus it can act as a copper/silver coin, but it also contains the hidden centavo piece. You’ll also need a Chinese coin (halfdollar size), a half dollar that matches the Two Copper-One Silver gaff, and a Mexican twenty-centavo coin (matching the insert). Actually, any coin can be substituted for the Chinese coin since it is ungaffed and never leaves its position at inner right. I keep all five coins in a coin purse with the gaff at the rear. The silver side of the gaff should face you. When you’re ready to perform, open the purse and remove the four ungaffed coins. Hand them out for examination. Now, you can secretly get the gaff into position in the right hand as follows: Allow the gaff to fall to your side of the purse. Place your right fingers on it and then open the purse wide using both hands (Fig. 1).

International Matrix Reverse

This routine was first published in Top Secret Stuff (1990). It was subsequently released as a marketed item (gaffs included) in 1993. It’s an extremely clean International Matrix with a one-at-a-time

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Flash the inside of the purse to the spectators, as though proving its emptiness. It’s an easy matter now to close the purse as

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your right hand turns palm upward with the fingers still inserted. The coin will end up resting on your right fingertips. You can now withdraw the right fingers (with coin) as you table or pocket the purse with the left hand. Move the gaff into classic palm in the right hand. Since you positioned it with silver side facing you, the insert will be against your palm and not fall out. PROCEDURE: Place four matching cards (for example, queens or aces) face up near the center of the pad in a squared group with the long sides facing you. Now have the spectators return the coins. Position the coins with the English penny at outer left. Be sure that the side facing upward matches the gaff. Position the centavo coin at outer right, again oriented to match the insert. Move the half dollar to inner left and again be sure that the face showing matches the gaff. Finally, move the Chinese coin to the inner right corner (Fig. 2).

Using the fingertips of both hands, move two queens from the stack, one to the right and one to the left. Orient them with their long edges parallel to the inner edge of the table. Curl the fingers of both hands inward a bit and allow the coin in the right hand to fall from classic palm onto the right fingertips. You should curl the right fingers enough so that they nearly touch the gaff before releasing it. This way it won’t be seen. Push down on the inner long edges of the cards with both thumbs simultaneously. This will cause the outer edge to rise a bit. Reach over the outer long edges with both index fingers and pull upward, reaching the position shown in Figure 3.

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Move the thumbs up and away from the face of the card. Rotate the hands to the position shown in Figure 4. Note how the card now hides the presence of the gaff at the right fingertips. Use the thumbs to push the cards downward onto the fingertips. Finally, move the index fingers under the cards, leaving only the thumbs on top. The gaff is now held securely against the card in the right hand.

Simultaneously, place the now facedown cards over the half dollar at inner left and Chinese coin at inner right. Paul Harris popularized a method (Fig. 5) which is quite disarming, but any handling that doesn’t allow the gaff to be seen or make any noise will be fine. Pick up the remaining two queens and cover the outer coins using a similar handling. You are ready to create magic.

You will first make the half dollar at inner left travel to the Chinese coin. Perform the Dingle/Schneider Pickup Move* at inner left as you mimic the move with the right hand, simultaneously snapping the two cards up. The first coin has traveled.

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Now the half must be transferred from underneath the card held in your left hand to underneath the right-hand card. Move the left second finger underneath its card and hold the coin. This frees the thumb, which moves to the top, replacing the first finger. The first finger then goes underneath the card. Snap the right hand’s card face up, reaching the position shown in Figure 6.

Place the right hand’s card face up and sidejogged onto the card in the left hand. The right fingers can now reach under the left hand’s card and slide the hidden coin to the right and under the face-up card. Immediately, rotate the left palm upward to flash the face of its card. The underside of each card has been cleanly shown. Actually, the coin has been secretly transferred under the right card. You will now secretly flip over the gaff at inner right and add the extra half dollar to the two coins already there. Table the left hand’s card face down in its original position. Now slide the right hand’s card (with hidden coin) under the gaff at inner right. Place your right thumb onto the gaff. Now quickly turn the right palm downward as you push the gaff (now with silver side showing) off the card and next to the Chinese coin. Apparently, you have just turned the coin over in place. Finally, place the card over the two visible coins, secretly adding the half dollar. Be careful not to let the coins talk. You are ready to make the English penny at outer left travel. This is easy. Just perform the Dingle/Schneider move at outer left, using the left hand, as you mimic the move at inner right with the right hand. A second coin has traveled. Now simply replace the card and coin at outer left, leaving the three coins visible at inner right.

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Leave the right-hand card face up behind the three coins. Scoop up the gaffed English penny onto the right fingertips. Slide this coin under the other two, ending with all three on the right fingertips with the gaff lowermost. Turn over the card at outer right, exposing the centavo piece, as you say, “Two have traveled. One to go.” Recover the coin with the card. Now use the left hand to replace the coins at inner right, one by one. When you reach the gaff, begin to turn your right hand inward a bit so that you can take the shell, leaving the insert on the right fingertips. Place the shell next to the Chinese coin and half dollar. Use the same loading move (above) to load the centavo-coin insert under the card and finally place the card over the three coins with the centavo insert behind them. You may leave parts of the three coins in view at the front edge of the card so that the centavo piece won’t peek out at the rear. Make your magical gesture and perform the Dingle/Schneider move with the left hand at outer right as the right hand mimics the move at inner right. It appears that the centavo coin has traveled to the inner right. Replace the left hand’s card with coin at outer right. You’re now ready for the reversal. The trick appears to be over since all the coins have assembled at inner right, but some mind-blowing magic is about to happen. Use the right hand to place the centavo insert onto the palm-up left hand. Place the English-penny shell overlapping it to the right. Finally, place the half dollar overlapping again to the right (Fig. 7).

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Say, “These three have traveled to join the Chinese coin. Watch this.” Close the left fingers, causing the shell to nest on the insert. Immediately open the hand and cleanly place the two coins onto the pad. Your hands are clearly empty. The centavo piece has vanished in the cleanest possible manner. Turn over the card at outer right to show that it has returned to its starting place. Take the half dollar in the palm-up right hand, in position to be classic palmed. Pretend to toss the coin into the left hand while retaining it in classic palm in the right hand. The left hand closes as though it holds the coin. Push down on the outer edge of the gaff, causing the inner edge to lever up. Use the right thumb to pull the gaff inward onto the fingertips in readiness for a Click Pass.* The copper side of the gaff is against the fingertips. Execute the move. You now have the gaff in right-hand classic palm with silver side against the palm and the half dollar in the closed left hand. Say, “Coin number two returns,” as you open the left hand, showing only the half dollar. Place the half dollar on the pad as you remove the card at outer left, revealing the return of the English penny. To finish, flip the card at inner left face up. Use it to flip the half dollar over as you say, “One last coin to go. Now use the same action described above to load the palmed gaff under the card. It should end with the silver side upward. Use any sort of pass to vanish the visible half dollar while retaining it in the right hand. Remove the card at inner left. The half dollar has returned. Mission accomplished. CLEANING UP: The coin at inner left is the gaff which is clearly not examinable. There really is no reason for anyone to want to examine the coins since they had the opportunity at the outset. Just pick up the four coins using the right hand. Position the gaff at the bottom of the stack. Shake them once, allowing the half dollar in right-hand palm to drop onto the stack of four. Put them into the purse, and you’re reset.

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FINAL THOUGHTS: The description is rather lengthy, but this routine takes very little time to perform. The use of the Connie Hayden gaff allows the matrix sequence to be very clean. It also makes for some startling magic during the reappearance phase, especially the vanish of the centavo coin. Enjoy!

Bouncer

EFFECT: The magician introduces a flat plastic one-foot ruler. The flat side has the numbers one through five printed on it, as seen in the figure below. A small black rubber ball is also introduced, and the spectators are invited to play a game – a game with prizes! The magician demonstrates how the game works: The ball is dropped in front of the vertical ruler from a particular height. Its vertical position after one bounce is noted. Let’s say that its bounce-height is between the numbers three and four. A set of five numbered (one through five) envelopes is introduced as the magician explains that the envelopes contain a variety of prizes. The better prizes are in the envelopes with higher numbers. Envelope Five is shown to contain a ten-dollar bill. The rules are as follows: The player may drop the ball from any height. If the ball bounces above the top of the ruler, no prize will be awarded. The winning number will be the number just above the top of the trajectory. Thus, if the ball reached a height between four and five, then Envelope Five (with the ten-dollar bill) would be awarded. The spectator makes her calculation and drops the ball. Luckily for the magician, the ball stops dead at the bottom of the ruler! Envelope One is awarded. It contains a balloon which the magician uses to create a nice consolation prize. REQUIREMENTS: A set of “Bounce/ No Bounce” balls is needed (obviously!). These can be purchased from your favorite magic dealer or from Amazon or eBay for around fifteen dollars. You receive a set of two seemingly identical balls. One

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bounces normally; the other stops dead when it hits the surface. You will also need five pay envelopes with the numbers one to five written on the fronts. A plastic ruler or equivalent is also needed. You can use a marking pen to place numbers on the ruler, or better yet, you can purchase some stick-on numbers at Staples or Office Depot. This gives the prop a more professional look. You might also use number stickers on the envelopes. The envelopes will be loaded with whatever prizes you choose. Obviously, the spectator is going to receive the contents of Envelope One. It’s up to you to decide how you want to play this. I think it’s a good idea to load Envelope Five with something that seems reasonable. If you offer a trip to Hawaii, the spectators will know that something is going to happen to make this impossible, but a tendollar prize seems feasible. The spectators will likely feel that the game can be won. Envelope One contains the booby prize. It should be something interesting that you can give away. One option is a balloon that you can make into a poodle. Another is a napkin that you can make into a rose. Use your imagination. This is an opportunity to have a lot of fun with the spectators, and you leave them with something memorable. Watch game shows for prize ideas and play it like a game show. You’re the host. PROCEDURE: The method is obvious to anyone who knows about “Bounce/No Bounce” balls. You will simply switch the no-bounce ball for the normal one before the spectator plays. If you get the balls backwards, you’ll surprise yourself when you perform the demonstration, but you won’t lose any money. I would recommend that you keep the normal ball in your left pocket and the no-bounce ball in the right (assuming you are right handed). This way, you can put both hands in your pockets and simply keep the no-bouncer hidden in your right hand as the left hand emerges with the normal ball. When you are ready to have some fun

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with this idea, remove the ruler and the five numbered envelopes from your pocket or close-up case and place them on the table. Explain that the envelopes contain various prizes that can be won and that the better prizes are in the higher numbered envelopes, with the best prize in Envelope Five. Remove the balls from your pockets, keeping the no-bounce ball hidden in the right hand. You can now take the ball from the left hand between the right thumb and first finger. This allows your right fingers to close around the no-bouncer in a natural way. Use your left hand to position the ruler in a vertical position, facing the spectators. You may now explain the rules and give a demonstration by allowing the normal ball to bounce in front of the ruler. Note its vertical position and explain which prize would be won. When you are ready for the spectator to play, you simply switch the normal ball for the no-bouncer. A Bobo switch is a good method. Briefly: Hold the normal ball between the right thumb and first and second fingers. Now pretend to toss it to the left hand, but actually release the hidden ball instead, retaining the normal ball in the right hand. Don’t make a move out of this. There’s absolutely no heat. Once the no-bouncer is in play, it becomes all presentation. Have fun! FINAL THOUGHTS: You could use a magic wand in place of the ruler. You can obtain plastic wands cheaply at most dealers. You can then wrap quarter-inch white tape at the appropriate spots along the wand and draw the numbers in with a marker. This might be a more “natural” prop for a magician to use. The best booby prizes are those that give the spectator something memorable. An animal balloon, a pearl poodle, and a paper rose come to mind. Give it some thought and make it memorable. CREDITS: Chad Long inspired this item. His idea was in a booklet called Some Other Stuff… that uses the bounce/ no bounce set. His application doesn’t involve prizes, but his is a fun idea, too.

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Science Friction

As a former physics teacher, I am well aware of a number of physics demonstrations that look like magic. Newton’s Nightmare (the “trick” in which a magnet falls slowly through a copper tube), for example, is the standard demonstration of Lenz’s Law. And everyone has used a charged comb to pick up bits of paper. Former physics students will have experienced a lab in which the principles of static electricity are discovered. You may recall that a statically charged object, often a rubber or glass rod, will exert a force on a conductor. This is generally demonstrated by charging a plastic rod by rubbing it with an animal fur or equivalent and then holding the rod near a small Styrofoam sphere that is coated with a conducting material. The sphere will be attracted to the rod. Once it touches the rod, it will pick up charge from the rod and then be repelled and jump away, to the great amusement of the class. This principle is exploited here to create an impromptu bit of magic that is a lot of fun to perform. EFFECT: The magician removes a straw from its wrapper and balances it on top of a salt shaker (or capped beer bottle). Just by moving his hands near the straw, the magician causes the straw to move around in mysterious ways. REQUIREMENTS: You’ll need a plastic straw still inside its paper wrapper and a salt shaker or beer bottle with a metal cap. (Other items can be substituted for the shaker – a ketchup bottle with a metal cap will also work.) PROCEDURE: This mysterious effect is accomplished without magnets or threads. The principle has been alluded to above – static electricity. As mentioned above, a charged object (in this case, a drinking straw) will be attracted to a conductor of electricity (your finger). All you need to do is create a static charge on the plastic drinking straw and have a surface on which it can rotate freely with low friction. Charging is easily accomplished. First, 86

tear off one end of the paper, exposing the end of the straw about half an inch. Now grip the straw between the right thumb and first finger while pinching the paper against the straw using the left thumb and fingers (Fig. 1).

You must pinch the paper near the exposed section of straw. Apply pressure with your left fingers causing the straw to flatten. Now quickly pull the straw from the paper using your right hand. You want maximum friction so that the charge will be as large as possible. Thus, you must squeeze tightly with the left thumb and fingers. Now position the straw so that it is held between the right and left first fingertips (Fig. 2). Try not to touch the surface of the straw since this will remove some of the charge.

Place the center of the straw onto the salt shaker’s lid so that the straw is parallel to the tabletop and pull your hands away, leaving the straw balanced on the lid of the shaker. Your hands should move away along the axis of the straw. Otherwise, you may attract the straw prematurely and cause it to rotate and possibly fall off of the shaker. The charge on the straw will cause it to adhere to the metallic lid of the shaker.

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Now bring a finger near the side of the straw, close to the end as in Figure 3. The charged straw will be attracted to your finger and will begin to rotate toward it. Try not to let your finger touch the straw, or you will lose part of the charge. Any conductor will also create the attraction, such as a spoon, knife, or ring. Try positioning a finger from each hand on opposite sides at Positions A and B in Figure 4 (top view). This will provide a strong force that will cause a rapid counterclockwise rotation. If you remove your hands quickly, the straw will continue to rotate.

The spectators will suspect that you are blowing on the straw, so you should turn your head to the side to show that this is not the case. An interesting way to end the effect is to casually run the straw through your hands to discharge it and then place it onto the shaker again. This time, you do use your breath to make it rotate. Apparently, you are still able to cause the movement by “magic.” Now, you can walk away, and the spectators will be unable to cause the movement since you have discharged the straw. (N.B. You will have to use a shaker or bottle that has a fairly flat top if you wish to perform this bit with the discharged straw. Otherwise, it is likely to fall off since, at this point, there will not be an attraction between the metal lid and the straw.)

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FINAL THOUGHTS: This is a fun impromptu stunt. Give it a try. You might also try charging other plastic objects like swizzle sticks using a small piece of wool, cloth, or animal fur. Another fun bit is to use a flat finger ring that can roll on a flat surface. Position the ring on a table or counter top and bring the charged straw near it. The force will cause the ring to begin to roll. Try not to apply friction to the straw until it is halfway out of the wrapper. Now you’ll have a straw that’s charged on one end, but not the other. This makes for some interesting demonstrations. It should be mentioned that the amount of charge on the straw depends on the humidity. In the summer, the effect will probably fail in any environment with high humidity. Air conditioning often removes much of the moisture in the air. Try out the effect before performing it to be sure it will work. It works really well in the winter. If you find that you are getting a small static shock on the doorknob as often happens in the winter, Science Friction will work very well. Also, you will find that the shape of the metal top of the object on which the straw rests has an effect on how the straw responds. On a flat surface like a ketchup bottle, there is a fair amount of friction. This is also true on a beer bottle. A salt or pepper shaker with a somewhat rounded top is ideal. CREDITS: There’s an item in Tarbell 7 called “The Electro-Static Cigarette” that uses this principle. Here you charge a swizzle stick by pinching it between the folds of some fabric, such as your pants, and then pull it through. The charged plastic is capable of causing a cigarette to roll on a flat surface. I believe that Mike Weber used this idea to cause a cigarette that is balanced on the filter end, to fall over due to the attractive force. Send comments and appreciations to: Mike Powers [email protected] www.mallofmagic.com

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Switch on Dingle There’s a cool item from Derek Dingle in the New York Magic Symposium Collection 2 called “Switch on Elmsley.” I realized that, since you have control over the tabled X cards, you can add a kicker ending. Enter “Switch on Dingle.” EFFECT: The magician openly removes the four aces and tables them in a face-down row. Three X cards are placed on an ace chosen by the spectator. The other three aces are removed from play. The magician snaps his fingers over this packet and shows that the three aces have returned to join the ace chosen by the spectator. The Ace of Spades is removed from the ace packet and placed onto the other three tabled cards. These are then shown to have become a Royal Flush in spades. SET-UP: You’ll need to position the King, Queen, Jack, and Ten of Spades on top of the face-down deck in any order. These cards can be culled as you openly upjog the aces, making a prior set-up unnecessary. PROCEDURE: Spread the cards toward you and openly upjog the four aces. Also, injog the fourth card from the rear about a quarter inch. Now turn the deck face down and obtain a left-fourth-finger break under the injogged card. Strip out the four aces and place them face up on top of the deck. Arrange the aces with the spade at the face followed by a red ace, the club, and the other red ace.

You will now use J. K. Hartman’s “Multiple Count Change.” This move was originally published in Packet Magic (1972).* Here are the details: Continue to hold the break as the right hand squares up the ace packet and turns it face down, allowing it to rest against the left thumb, as in Figure 1. Take the packet into a modified right-hand Biddle Grip as follows: grip the packet with thumb at inner short edge and right second finger near the outer right corner.

Move the right hand’s cards over the deck as if you were going to peel the top card using the left thumb. Instead, you will leave the entire packet on the deck as the right third fingertip touches the outer right corner of the four-card packet above the left-fourth-finger break. The left thumb contacts the upper packet and holds it in place on the deck as the right hand pulls the lower packet out and to the right, finally

*Kaufman attributes the move to Brother Hamman in The Complete Works of Derek Dingle (p. 98). This appears to be incorrect.

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clearing the deck. It should appear that the left thumb merely peeled the first card of the right hand’s packet. (See Figs. 2 and 3 for the starting and ending positions.)

Continue by bringing the right hand’s packet over the deck. This time, the left thumb does peel a single card. Repeat by peeling a third card. Your right hand now holds a double card as a single. End by placing the double on top of the deck. (It’s all right to stagger the cards in a spread to the right.) Apparently, you just peeled the aces one by one onto the deck. Actually, the top four cards are the other Royal Flush cards. The aces are fifth through eighth. Square up as you continue to maintain the break. If you grab a left-fourth-finger break under the block of aces during the first part of the switch, you’ll be able to reshow the aces using the “Zarrow Block Addition” as follows: You’ll now be holding a break under eight cards. Spread the top few cards slightly to the right. Now reach into the break with the right fingers beneath the cards and the right thumb on top (Fig. 4). Flip the entire block face up and injogged April 2015

slightly. During the flip over, the sidejogged cards square with the block so that their faces are not seen. The slight injog allows you to obtain a left-fourth-finger break under the block as you square up. Spread the top three cards to the right a bit so that the faces of the aces can be seen as you say, “The aces alternate in color.” Finally, flip the entire block face down. (N.B. The Hartman switch is very convincing in itself, so you may opt to not reshow the aces using the Zarrow technique.)

You now need to take the top four cards as though they were three X cards. A simple false cut would make it seem that they had been chosen from a random place in the deck. However, it would be more convincing if they were seemingly chosen by a spectator. An easy way to accomplish this is to use the Hartman switch again as follows: Spread the deck face down and have the spectators designate three cards. Outjog the three cards in position and square up, obtaining a left-fourth-finger break under the top four cards (the aces). Strip out the three selections and take them face down in the right hand, using the same modified Biddle Grip described above. Perform the Hartman “Multiple Count Change” again. This time you’ll seemingly peel three cards. On the count of three, you’ll be placing a block of three cards on top. This action positions the four aces on top of the three selections. As you perform the switch say, “So you have determined the three cards we’ll use.” (You can use the Zarrow technique again to show the faces of three X cards, if you like.)

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Spread the top four cards a bit to the right. Take the top three cards in right-hand Biddle Grip as the left thumb pulls the fourth card square with the deck. Catch a left-fourth-finger break under this card. Finally, square the right hand’s cards against the left thumb as you secretly pick up the card above the break. Table the deck as the right hand now holds four cards as three in Biddle Grip. The spectators believe these to be the three cards they designated in the spread. Actually, they are the four aces. Ask a spectator to point to any of the “aces” on the table. Place the four-card packet held in the right hand onto the designated card, but sidejog it a bit to the left, i.e. the tabled card will be jogged a bit to the right under the four aces. Now, gather the other three tabled cards and place them in a pile face down to the side, as you say, “We won’t need these aces yet.” Pick up the pile with the designated “ace” in right-hand Biddle Grip, leaving the lowermost card sidejogged slightly to the right. Bring the palm-up left hand to the packet and allow the left fingers to contact the ace second from the bottom (a red ace). This is easy due to the sidejogged position of the bottom card (Fig. 5).

Ask if the spectator knows which ace the X cards were placed on. Whatever she says, pull the ace free with the left hand and show its face as the right hand squares the remaining cards between the first and fourth fingers. Turn the right hand palm up and flash the card at the face of the packet. This will be one of the Royal Flush spades. This really solidifies the view that you

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have a single ace and a packet of three X cards. Turn the ace face down and place the right hand’s cards face down on top of it. Now for the big ending: Snap your fingers over the packet and begin to deal the cards to the table, face up one by one. The order will be club, red ace, and spade. Having dealt three aces, you now hold a double card as a single. Take the double with right fingers on top and thumb beneath. Rotate the right hand palm up, showing a red ace. Be careful not to split the double. Finally, scoop up the three tabled aces with the double. This positions the hidden Royal Flush card at the rear. Pick up the five (as four) and flip the packet face down in left-hand dealing position. Remove the bottom card (Ace of Spades) with the right hand and place it face up on top. Obtain a left-fourth-finger break under the top two cards. Remove the two cards above the break in right-hand Biddle Grip and place them (as one) onto the three other Royal Flush cards. Since the aces are accounted for, the spectators must believe that these are the three X cards they selected earlier. Table the other three aces face up in a row, next to the Aceof-Spades packet. Say, “These four aces would make a fantastic poker hand.” Scoop up the three single aces and place them face down onto the deck. Now pick up the Ace-of-Spades packet. Continue with, “But the Ace of Spades goes better with these…” Now deal the Ace of Spades to the table, face up. Continue by turning each of the other Royal Flush cards face up and place them in a row next to the Ace of Spades. CREDITS: Switch on Dingle appeared first in Peter Duffie’s Card Magic USA in 2010. FINAL THOUGHTS: If you would like to speed up the flow of this routine, you might consider not using the Zarrow Block Addition. Using it “proves” that things are what they are supposed to be. If you don’t feel that you are being chased, maybe it’s best not to run. Alternately, you might use the Block

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Addition to reshow the aces and then simply perform a false cut and take four cards as three. There should be no heat on those “random” cards. It should also be noted that if you choose to simply false cut the deck to seemingly arrive at three X cards, you will have to arrange the aces differently at the outset. You’ll want the Ace of Spades to end up at the face of the ace packet when you reveal the transposition. As always, there is video instruction for starred moves. This can be found by going

to www.mallofmagic.com and clicking the IBM Card Corner button on the homepage. You’ll find video demonstrations of many items from the Card Corner. About halfway down the page, you’ll see “The Moves.” Click there, and you’ll see a list of the current instructional videos. Click on any one of interest and type the password “marlo7d” for access when you get to Vimeo. Mike Powers [email protected]

Amy Dawes – from page 41

legendary. Never was a guest served the same meal twice. In her own right, Amy was an author, performer, collector, and eagerly soughtafter speaker on the women of the Victorian and Edwardian period. She wrote the biographical material on British female magicians in Frances Marshall’s Those Beautiful Dames, a book that celebrated women in magic. She created and performed a stage act – “Magic Ragtime” – and lectured frequently on the cookery pioneer, Mrs. Beeton, as well as early women’s magazines and fashion plates. At Dane Hill she clearly adored her garden and had a large, enchanting canvas with which to work. In later years when dementia started to take its toll, and in spite of what Adrian described as the “great frustration she experienced and felt,” the couple traveled widely to visit family and attend magic conventions in the U.K. and abroad. As her illness progressed, said Adrian, she relied increasingly on Eddie, “their roles morphing with the biochemist becoming the chef and chief organizer.” She loved to observe the cloud formations from the comfort of their lounge chairs, Adrian added, and to take walks with Eddie by the shores of the Humber River where, in poet Philip Larkin’s words, “sky and Lincolnshire and water meet.” I treasure the get-togethers in both our home and hers since 1982, when we first met; and I will think often of our final three days together, in Hull, when I attended the Magic Society’s 2014 Annual Dinner. Like her thousands of loyal friends, I will profoundly miss her warmth and humor, her integrity and wisdom. Along with her dear husband, Amy is survived by sons Michael and Adrian, and granddaughters Emma, Sarah, and Monica – with whom she loved visiting. Our hearts go out to them all. Dale Salwak continues to serve as International Relations Officer for the I.B.M. He wishes to express his appreciation to Adrian Dawes for his generous help with the text and photos. April 2015

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This month’s submission comes to us from Mark Tirone. Mark attends Stockton College in New Jersey and works for Penguin Magic. You may have talked with him on their Live Chat. This effect is a variation on a classic premise but applied to an alternate object. It is similar in effect to a Chris Beason effect, “Wintergreen,” that previously appeared in this column, but the method is completely different. Enjoy “Bite by Bite.”

Bite by Bite By Mark Tirone

This is a torn and restored effect performed with a stick of gum. It is organic, easy to do, and completely impromptu. It’s pretty versatile for a lot of performance situations, since it doesn’t require handling a chewed wad of gum. In the past, this type of effect has always been done with either a duplicate piece or special gimmick. In this case, it’s totally impromptu, so you can borrow a stick of gum. To begin, you need to make sure you have individually wrapped gum available. Orbit, Five, and some Trident brands for example work best, although you can perform with Juicy Fruit or other large sticks of gum as well. It just has to be a piece of gum with a typical wrapper. Take the stick of gum horizontally between the thumb, index, and middle fingers of both hands. The hands exactly mirroring each other is important for the rest of the effect. The flaps of the wrapper should be facing you. (Fig. 1) Pretend to bend the gum back and forth a few times, but don’t actually bend it. In the action of pretending to bend it, the fingers of both hands come together and conceal most of the stick but leave just a little bit of

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the wrapper showing. At the same time, the right thumb pushes the stick of gum almost entirely behind the left fingers and unfolds the right tab. Once you have the gum in this position, begin to tear the wrapper along the folded tab held at your fingers (Fig. 2).

This whole action takes less than a second and looks like you’re breaking the stick and tearing it exactly in half. As the cliché goes, the large action covers the smaller one. If done properly you should have the full stick of gum in your left fingers and the small paper tab you tore off in your right. Each hand mirrors the other so

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it looks like you have two equal halves of gum. The left hand actually has gum showing, so it’s a convincing illusion (Fig. 3).

So far, the effect hasn’t even started. You’ve offered your friend a piece of gum, or accepted a piece, and torn it in half. Taking the two “halves” of gum and displaying them at the fingertips (being careful not to flash the actual stick of gum behind the hand), you’re going to perform the old static electricity gag on your elbows. Rub the right hand’s “half” on your left elbow, and the left hand’s “half” (really the stick of gum, sans flap) on the right elbow. At the same time, you’re going to ditch the paper tab in the right hand in your shirt collar as your hand comes down to connect the two halves. Once the hands meet, I like to work them back and forth a little bit. When I’m ready to start revealing the restoration, I let the left thumb hold the innermost edge of the stick of gum and lever it up into a sort of spellbound position while massaging the center of the stick. Continue rubbing the center and slowly reveal that the gum is fully restored (Figs. 4-5). Because of the way it was levered, your fingertips cover the torn side but hold the gum very openly. From here, you can display the stick and unwrap it while covering the torn piece and let them take the gum, which lets you end clean. ADVICE: You can really sell the action

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of sticking the two halves together and restoring them. You can blow on them, lick them, light some candles, etc. Or, for a more direct approach, once the halves are together, you can just pull the stick up to your fingers and let them see that it’s once again whole. Also, you don’t have to be flashy about ditching the pieces. I like rubbing them on the elbows because it’s easy and is really clean. You can of course work out more intricate ways of doing this, but don’t make a trick out of it. From experimenting with different types of gum, I’ve found colored gum works well because it can be easily seen at the fingertips. If you’re using a piece of white gum with a white wrapper, it’s much harder to see. Finally, I often change up the patter when performing this one. Sometimes I’ll talk about wanting to save half for later but change my mind, or I’ll say that I will “halve the calories.” CREDITS: This effect is a good example of how something old can become new. One of the most impressive tricks I ever saw when I was getting into magic was the Broken and Restored Cigarette. This was the foundation of this idea, which was applied to something more organic (and healthier). Tony Slydini’s “Cigarette Miracle” can be found on page 119 of the 2008 edition of Stars of Magic. Next, Jay Sankey had a lot of influence on this effect. He published an effect called “Electric Candy” in a set of lecture notes entitled Real Simple Magic (page 7). Also, the subtlety of allowing the audience to see the piece of gum inside the wrapper comes from “Cut and Restrawed” off of Jay’s The Real Work on Restaurants and Bars DVD The purpose of this column is to share high-impact close-up and parlor magic requiring beginner to intermediate skills and to help you fuel a desire to practice, perform, and grow. I’m looking for contributions! If you have something to share, please e-mail me at joemturner@gmail .com..

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Mario Lopez is a great young Spanish magician from Gerona. He performs magic with coins, sponge balls, and cigarettes. Working with Tony Slydini’s ideas and taking them one step further, his cigarette act is a close-up masterpiece. You can see much of his magic on YouTube. Mario won first prize in close-up at FISM Europe, and he plans to compete at the FISM World. If you get a chance to meet him, take advantage of it. He is a generous man and you will enjoy the experience This is a stand-up routine based upon Dai Vernon’s classic, “The Ambitious Card.” It uses the same plot that Giacomo Bertini presented last month, but a different routine. (Rubiales, who performs the routine on a table, also has a stand-up version.)

The New Age Ambitious Coin By Mario Lopez

EFFECT: Show three silver dollars in the right hand and, in the left, one Chinese coin with a hole in the center. Put the Chinese coin under the silver stack in the right hand. Then, like an elevator, the Chinese coin goes through one silver coin and arrives in the third position. Repeat the effect and the coin goes to the second, then the first position. For the climax, all the silver coins that were under the Chinese coin go through the hole in it. REQUIREMENTS: Three silver dollars and one Chinese coin with a hole. SET-UP: The three silver dollars are in the right hand and the Chinese coin is in the left hand. Hold the silver coins as in Figure 1 between the thumb and first finger of the right hand. The Chinese coin is held at the tips of the left thumb and forefinger. PERFORMANCE: (Editor’s note: The illustrations are for a table routine but the hand positions are similar.) Show the silver coins in the right hand, then show the Chinese coin in the left hand. Under cover of showing the Chinese coin, let the bottom silver coin drop down to rest on the second right hand finger. 94

Then put the Chinese coin between the last coin and the second coin (Fig. 2).

Close everything and wave your left hand over your right hand. Then push the coins that are held in the right hand with the right thumb into a fan toward the spectators (Fig. 3).

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Hold the stack of coins between the first finger and thumb of the right hand (Fig. 4). Put the second finger above the stack. Shake your right hand as you pivot the stack between your thumb and forefinger to turn it upside down (Fig. 5). The shaking will hide the move.

Spread as before, and the Chinese coin now is second from the top. Put the coins in a stack in spellbound position in the left hand, holding a break between the silver coin and the Chinese coin. The stack is between the first and second fingers of the left hand. The first finger of the left hand pulls the first coin to the right. The coin falls in the left hand finger palm, showing the Chinese coin above all (Figs. 6, 7, 8 and 9). Keep your right hand over the coins in order to hide the secret move. With the right hand, take the stack between the thumb and second finger (Fig. 10), and show the coins with the left thumb hiding the coin in finger palm. Put the stack in the left hand on top of the coin already there while looking at and talking to the spectator. April 2015

Put the coins in a spread in the open left palm and push the palmed coin forward as in Figure 11. With your right hand, take

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only the Chinese coin and one silver coin leaving the other two coins in place (Fig. 12).

In the same movement, your right hand finger palms the two silver coins in action (Fig. 13).

have only two coins) and let the silver coin in left finger palm fall (Fig. 15).

Then throw the silver coins into the left hand, which holds the Chinese coin between the thumb and the first finger and palmed silver coin. Perform the routine slowly, taking your time. You will find that it is very strong magic. Mario Lopez

Then mime pulling the coins through the hole of the Chinese coin (Fig. 14). When you feel the timing is good, open the right hand, showing the silver coins in a stack (in order to hide the fact that you 96

Send comments and contributions to Jean-Emmanuel Franzis at je.franzis@ gmail.com.

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Card to Anywhere Made Simple Card to anywhere without palming? Yes, folks, there is a direct and easy method by which you can discover the card anywhere without palming. The more outrageous the location and the more bizarre the storyline, the better it plays. EFFECT: A card is selected and lost in the deck through numerous cuts by the spectator. The selection is nowhere to be found in the deck. The card is found in an “impossible” location. REQUIREMENTS: Any single duplicate card and a half-inch square piece of double-sided tape. PREPARATION: Place the duplicate card in an impossible location. Stick the tape in the centre of the back of any card and place it on the top of the deck. Place the partner of the duplicate card on top of the gimmicked card. PERFORMANCE: The magician states, “Would you like to see something truly remarkable? Interestingly enough, a simple but yet intense amount of concentration can create wonders which defy all logic and scientific principles.” As you’re making these comments, execute any false shuffle that maintains the top two cards at their original location. Then perform a “Riffle Force,” modified as follows: swing cut the top half of the deck into the left hand, replacing the bottom half on top while maintaining a little-finger break between them. Continue: “As I riffle through the deck please, when you feel the urge, kindly say the word ‘now’ in a loud April 2015

voice.” The spectator says, “Now!” You cut at the break, removing the top half and placing it on the performing surface. Place the left thumb securely on the middle of the top card of the bottom half and the right forefinger and thumb in contact with the uppermost right corner. With the forefinger and thumb, peel back the top card, exposing the selection to the spectator (Fig. 1). You instruct, “Now remember your chosen card.” Pick up the tabled pack with the right hand and place it on top of the left-hand pack. Rotate the deck onehundred-eighty degrees, keeping it face down, and place it in front of the spectator. Ask the spectator to cut the deck as many times as he wishes, as long as it is a completed cut. I usually demonstrate.

To recap state, “Let us be certain. At this point, only you know the identity of the card. It is safe to say we are both unaware of its exact location. Would you say this is

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true?” After the spectator answers positively, you continue, “Please focus your attention on the deck of cards. I would like you to visualize the card: the shape of the card, the colors of the card, the shape of the pips, and the value of your selection. Can you see it?” After a positive response, continue. “Now see it slowly fading away, it is becoming less clear, and the details are not as refined. It’s now becoming obviously transparent, almost invisible, and it cannot be seen.” Wait for a couple of beats. Continue with, “Say the word ‘go’ in a loud voice.” The spectator says, “Go!” Wait a couple of beats. Exhale and proclaim, “It is gone!” Place the deck in your left hand and deal one card at a time face up onto the performing surface, asking the spectator if he sees his card. When you are halfway through the deck say, “To save us some time take a look at these.” Turn the remaining cards face up and ribbon spread them across the

performing surface. Ask the spectator, “Take a careful look. Do you see your card?” He will reply with a negative response. Wait a couple of beats. Ask the spectator to name the card. Of course, he will name the forced card. “Interesting. As I said earlier, this cannot be explained.” You reveal the duplicate card from an impossible location. NOTES: The purpose of the left thumb on the deck as you pull back the top card is to ensure that the top card does not break from the tape and reduces any unwanted unsticking sounds. I have performed this trick placing the duplicate card in places like a cereal box, a lady’s purse, in my shoe, and in a birthday cake, to name a few examples. Let your imagination run wild and enjoy! Andrew Woo [email protected] www.magicalwoo.com

The Therapy of Magic – from page 47

struggling families. LLF Board Member, Aaron Resnick, is proud of his organization and the many volunteers that give back to the community, volunteers like Jolie, LLF’s resident magician. Jolie started practicing close-up magic at the age of ten. After just six months of practice, Jolie entered her first close-up contest at the 2012 Magic on the Beach Convention. The five judges awarded Jolie ninety-three points out of a possible hundred to capture the first-place trophy. In 2012, Jolie received I.B.M. Ring 45’s Junior Close-up Magician of the Year Award. In 2014, Jolie competed in the Junior Close-up Contest of the Fiftieth Anniversary FMA State Convention in Orlando, Florida. There were over twenty contestants, some from as far away as Japan. Jolie’s performance earned her the second-place trophy. Jolie is looking forward to competing in the 2015 I.B.M. Convention in Jacksonville, in both the junior close-up and stage contests. She is also looking forward to continuing her work with the LLF, entertaining the young patients at Ronald McDonald House. On behalf of the families you are entertaining, thank you, Jolie, for putting a smile on the faces of people who most assuredly need to laugh and, even for a short time, forget their problems. Thanks to everyone who has sent an e-mail message in response to these articles. I do appreciate your kind words. More importantly, I appreciate your suggestions for future articles. If you have any stories you would like to share or ideas for future articles, you can contact me at scott.hood [email protected]. 98

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I have been traveling throughout Europe and Africa for the past two months, and I have seen some astonishing tech-magic. I am humbled that my column has reached audiences all over the world. I am excited to share magic from different countries in the upcoming months. This month, Andi Gladwin from the UK shares an ingenious method for a voicemail prediction.

Voicemail Prediction By Andi Gladwin

EFFECT: The magician borrows three objects: a coin, a card, and a bill. From a group, one spectator makes multiple decisions with the objects; she takes one, puts another onto the table, and gives the magician the third. A second spectator calls the magician’s cell phone, and he openly declines the call. The voicemail message is played aloud, and it reveals the location of each object! METHOD: Some readers may be aware of Greg Rostami’s iPredict Pro, an app that permits 75 outs to be revealed through the magician’s voicemail message. Andi’s method allows for the same effect but does not use an app, so it is fantastic for readers whose phones are incompatible with iPredict Pro or who are unwilling to purchase the app for other reasons. However, with this method, the magician must know at least six of the audience members’ phone numbers and devote time before each performance to prepare. Andi’s method uses a voicemail service that allows for a personalized greeting for each unique caller. So, depending on which spectator calls your phone, a different message will be played. There are several voicemail services that allow customized greetings for each caller. A Google search will yield a plethoApril 2015

ra of results, like YouMail and Libon. Your preferred service will provide instructions on how to modify the messages, so this column will only present the basic method and a possible routine. This method works well for a handling of Deddy Corbuzier’s “Free Will” plot. It involves no confusing wordplay, and the spectator can freely change her mind before the reveal. There are only six possibilities; as such, six outs are needed. After recording voicemail messages for each possible outcome and assigning them to contacts that will be in an upcoming audience, use the Notes app on your phone to make a crib sheet (Fig. 1).

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Because the phone is naturally in play during the routine, it does not appear out of the ordinary to secretly glimpse at the notes. In performance, the three objects can be borrowed, but it is recommended to have a backup of each object. The spectator chooses an object to hold onto, one to put onto the table, and one to give to the magician. In this example, let us assume that the spectator keeps the coin, places the card onto the table, and gives the magician the bill. After peeking at the crib, have the appropriate spectator call your phone and openly decline the call. The voicemail message will state, “Hello! Tonight, I have asked someone to make a random series of choices. Even though you thought you had free will over these decisions, I was able to influence each one. I know that you are holding onto the coin, you placed the card onto the table, and you gave the bill to me.” The above routine is only a single idea out of many opportunities. The number of audience members is directly related to the number of outs allowed. In theory, anything can be revealed through a voicemail greeting.

Tech Rec City Prediction by Soma In this wonderful app, the magician borrows a spectator’s iPhone and “pins” a certain city in her Maps app. Afterward, the spectator freely names any city, and it matches the prediction! After the magician makes his prediction, he never touches the borrowed device again. While both the magician and spectator need iPhones, the entire routine is motivated, and the secret is well hidden. While not necessary, an accomplice can eliminate the need for the magician’s phone to be used. Internet connection is required on both devices. The effect is very fooling, and the method is smart and practical. The input method is clever and organic, and it will undoubtedly go undetected, even when the spectator inputs the information herself. City Prediction can be purchased from the Apple App Store for $15.99. I want to hear from you! General comments, suggestions, or submissions for future editions can be sent directly to [email protected]. See you next month!

TVP - from page 55

In 2001 Bruce retired from the police department and moved to Bon Secour, Alabama. Shortly thereafter, Bruce joined I.B.M. Ring 287 and S.A.M. Assembly 129 in Pensacola, Florida. Bruce became president of both clubs and helped create a third – the Gulf Coast Magician’s Guild. Bruce remained president of the three clubs for six years. He stepped down in 2010, as his life took a turn and he went to work for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Bruce is a Team Adam Consultant and a Project ALERT volunteer for them. His job now is assisting law enforcement by responding to cases of child abductions, working cold cases of missing children, and identifying the unknown human remains of children. However, Bruce still finds time for magic, including working as Alabama’s Territorial Vice President. His oldest granddaughter, Emily, loves performing. They have done several school shows together in recent months. Bruce also performed magic recently while working the booth for the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children at the International Association of Chiefs of Police convention. Contact Bruce Walstad by e-mail at [email protected] or reach him at (919) 272-6465.

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Spectators typically know how to react at a magic show. Even if they’ve never seen a magician in real life, they know how people are supposed to react to one from countless movies and television shows. Once an effect is finished, the magician takes credit (via some applause cue) and the audience offers some form of affirmation (via applause or stunned silence). Whether stage or closeup, they expect the magic effect, and expect to be impressed by it. However, if you watch recent magicians on television, such as Andrew Mayne or Michael Carbonaro, spectators react quite differently than your typical audience. When the convict in the photo vanishes from the newspaper Mayne is holding, or when the plush bear starts animating around Carbonaro, the spectators stand there for a moment; you can practically see them thinking about how to react. They aren’t sure how to respond, because while something amazing happened, it wasn’t a “magic trick.” And that’s the thing I love most about situational magic: no one necessarily has to take credit for it. Situational magic breaks the tried and tested rules of a magic trick. Since it removes all spectator expectations, it can be some of the strongest magic you can perform. With that, let us go to our faithful magician narrator as he performs one of my favorite situational pieces with a borrowed ballpoint pen.

Mute “Will that be all for you?” The waitress poses this question to our narrator while still jotting down his order on an old notepad. Even though she’s probably asked that question tens of thousands of times at the diner, there’s still a warmth to it. Our narrator is about to respond that the order is finished when he notices the kind of pen the waitress is holding. Glancing at the pen, our magician asks the waitress, “Is that one of those early2000s Bic pens?” Confused but also intrigued, the waitress hands the pen over. Examining the pen closely, the magician nods and seems excited. Ah, the little things. Pulling off the cap, our narrator explains. “A lot of these pens were recalled April 2015

because they dried out too quickly. Not just the ink on the inside, but the ink on the outside, too.” Slowly but surely, the familiar BIC logo on the side of the pen begins to fade away until it’s completely gone. In one last ditch effort to save the ink, our narrator heroically recaps the pen just in time for the logo to reappear. Reclaiming the pen, the waitress slowly meanders back to the kitchen to both put in the order and build a shrine around the pen. Explanation: Performing Mute does require a gimmick, but it’s one that can be easily carried around or created on the fly. To create the Mute gimmick, take a white drinking straw (Subway straws work well) and cut off about a three-inch portion. Cut a single straight line up the barrel of the

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straw and flatten it out just a bit. This gimmick should easily slide onto any standard ballpoint pen. Borrow a white pen with a small logo (such as a classic BIC pen) and, as you act surprised by what kind of pen it is, secretly slide the Mute gimmick (with the slit at the back) about a centimeter up the barrel of the pen (with the rest of the gimmick hanging off). Display the pen by holding it in your right hand, your right thumb covering the gimmick (Figs. 1). While talking about the ink drying out, remove the cap with your left hand and put it in your pocket (or in your lap, if you’re sitting at a table). The left thumb now holds the pen just above the BIC logo (Fig. 2). The right hand now turns around and uses the first and second fingers to slide the Mute gimmick over the logo and under the left thumb. Done smoothly, it should look like the logo visually fades to about fifty percent of its clarity (Fig. 3). While still holding onto the pen with your left thumb and forefinger, rotate the palm of your left hand around the pen (so the back of your hand is to the audience.) Now comes the part where the logo visibly fades away into nothing. The first finger and thumb of both hands should now be holding the pen right around the logo (covering where the gimmick ends on each side). Using the thumbs as anchors to hold the gimmick to the pen, the two index fingers now work to slowly push the gimmick forward and away from the pen. The further the gimmick gets away from the pen, the more the logo will vanish (Fig. 4-5). Once the logo has almost completely faded away, the left hand comes off the pen as the right hand turns the pen over (to display the side with no logo). While keeping 102

the pen in motion (so as to not let the audience see the opening of the Mute gimmick), the right hand performs the paddle move, seemingly showing both sides to be completely blank. After performing the paddle move once or twice, mention that you might be able to recap the pen in time to save the ink. With the left hand now holding the pen, your right hand now reaches for the cap. On its way to the pocket (or your lap, if that’s where you placed the cap earlier), the right hand secretly slides the Mute gimmick off of the pen and ditches it as it retrieves the cap and brings it into view. Finally, replace the cap on the pen and perform the paddle move one more time. State that you “think you recapped it just in time” as your left hand rubs the barrel of the pen. In the same action, your right hand twists the pen 180 degrees showing the logo has reappeared. Notes: Credit for this one goes to my friend Mark Tirone for the concept. I carry a Mute gimmick in my messenger bag and my jacket. However, I have quickly made a gimmick in food courts (carefully) with a pocket knife and a straw.

This column is all about situational magic. If you have anything that you could see our narrator perform in his next escapade, I’d love to see it! Please email it over to [email protected] and I’d be happy to check it out!

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Associate Editor’s Note: More reviews can be found this month, from “Fat Brothers 2” to “Pinky Swear” at www.magician.org and at Ring 2100, www.ring2100.org.

Épistémentalogie

Dr. Todd Landman. Available from www.lulu.com/ spotlight/drtoddlandman, Hardcover, 120 pages. $65.68.

It has been a while since a magic book has made me really think about magic and compel me to re-evaluate how I perceive things and how I perform. Dr. Todd Landman is the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Essex, Founder of the British Society of Mystery Entertainers, and Visiting Professor of Performance Magic at the University of Huddersfield. In Épistémentalogie, he asserts that contemporary mainstream mentalism, and even bizarre magicians, have explained away the mystery of magic. He says that too often effects are presented with a “let me you show how it’s done” plot or with a weak psychological premise that damages the art. The biggest failure is that presentations are made without any real-life experiences that make April 2015

connections with an audience. Bizarre magick is relying too much on the occult, with which many people do not connect. Landman’s solution is a presentation philosophy that brings “a re-enchantment to mystery entertainment, while at the same time grounding it in ‘lived experiences’ of the audience…giving a sense of meaning that is framed around perennial philosophical questions.” Épistémentalogie draws from epistemology (the theory of knowledge), philosophy of science, metaphysics, and the history of ideas to redefine mentalism, bizarre magic, and the mystery arts. It’s thought provoking, to say the least. Have you ever looked at your magic from the perspective of “How do you as the performer know what you know?” Your spectators ask themselves that every time you do an effect. Landman says knowledge comes to us from experience, perception, and observation combined with, among other things, our cultural beliefs and our faith. How you frame your persona, presentation, set design, and the actual magic effect along these lines determines your credibility with the audience. The end result is that, if you take all this into account, your performance instantly becomes more credible and more impactful. A dozen detailed effects and presentations that Landman has performed over the last thirty-five years explain each nuance of Épistémentalogie. Interestingly, the effects are well within the range of those who have intermediate magic skills. The book is going to help you think and define

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every aspect of your magic from your persona and props to the mood you set and the impact you want to have. You won’t be able to read the book in one sitting. I am a quick study and absorb concepts easily, but I found myself reading, thinking, questioning, and then reading a section again, not because I had to, but because it made sense and I wanted to understand it better. Highly recommended. Rolando H. Santos Flown Away

Paul Romhany and Jasper Blakeley. PRO-Mentalism. Available from Your Favorite Dealer. Wholesale from Murphy’s Magic Supplies. www.murphysmagic.com. 74 pages. $39.95.

No magic props, a simple and well-concealed method, an easy-to-follow storyline, and the freedom to concentrate on an entertaining presentation: these elements constitute a perfect mentalism effect, and Flown Away delivers on all of them. British magician Jasper Blakely developed the basic method and the effect for which the featured routine and book are named. The book is co-authored and published by Paul Romhany, the well-known New Zealand magician, author, and businessman. The book comes with a DVD that offers three separate live presentations of Flown Away by Mr. Blakeley. In “Flown Away,” the title routine, the mentalist hands a spectator a folder containing fifty advertising sheets describing fifty different destinations for a trip by air. The spectator freely selects a destination while the mentalist has his or her back 104

turned, and then returns the unselected forty-nine brochures to the folder. The mentalist has the spectator insert the selected travel destination brochure into an envelope and seal it closed with a bulldog clip. The mentalist then uses a second bulldog clip to hang the envelope containing the selected destination in full view of the audience. The spectator is asked to take out an insurance policy before traveling and place it in his or her pocket. The spectator is then instructed to fly to and land at the selected destination. The mentalist announces where the spectator has landed. The mentalist is wrong; Blakeley plays this for laughs. The spectator is instructed to try again. This time the mentalist announces the destination correctly as verified by the spectator and by the contents of the envelope, which has hung in full view the entire time. The spectator is then asked to remove the insurance policy and read what is printed on it. The policy not only predicts the correct destination, but also mentions arriving first at the incorrect destination. All three of the performances of the routine contained on the DVD were performed in comedy-club venues and in a style that most of my own audiences would find a bit too vulgar. Luckily, the basic routine is so strong, flexible, and foolproof that each performer can routine it to fit her or his own style. The well-written book clearly explains the method and gives detailed instructions on constructing the needed gimmicks. The paper products needed are described in ISO International-size standards commonly in use just about everywhere except North America. This should be no problem as these sizes are available in the United States, Canada, or Mexico, or you can rescale to North American standards. The book also contains Blakeley’s full patter, along with suggested gags and performance tips. A very valuable part of the book is five additional routines using the basic method. These include versions for a

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children’s show, a trade-show version, and my favorite, “Who Dunnit,” written by Romhany, which is based on the mystery game, Cluedo (known as Clue in the United States). All and all, Flown Away describes an excellent set of mentalism routines utilizing a single method that is clever, well hidden, and packs flat. It takes but an innocent instant of time to do the secret work. I’m definitely adding this to my kit bag. Highly recommended. Rucj Uffelman

Joined

Dario Capuzzo. Titanas Magic Productions. and

The Answer

Ron Salamangkero. World Magic Shop. Both available from Your Favorite Dealer. Wholesale from Murphy’s Magic Supplies. www.murphysmagic.com. $30 each.

Joined and The Answer are both Torn and Restored Card effects. I feel it is best to compare and contrast them in a single review. They cost the same, and both are single-trick DVDs. The Answer comes in a cardboard sleeve, Joined in a plastic DVD case. Both are taught with captions instead of voiceover, but are still clearly explained. Trailers for both effects are available online, and you should watch them both. I don’t think lay audiences would see a difApril 2015

ference in performance. You have a card signed on its face, fold it in half lengthwise and widthwise to crease it, and then rip it into four pieces. You then repair the card, one piece at a time, and return the restored card to the spectator. Both offerings require the use of your pockets. This is not much of an issue in a standup situation, but if you have a table handy, there may be some question as to why you don’t use it instead of your pockets. Joined has two handlings: one for an unsigned card and another for a more advanced handling for a signed card. Both versions require the same amount of skill, though the unsigned version has an easier setup and is maybe a little cleaner. The offerings differ in their preparation. Joined has the easier setup and requires just a sharp knife and a straight edge. Double-sided tape is required for the signed version. The Answer requires splitting a portion of the card, rubber cement, a knife, and a straight-edge. Joined can be gaffed more quickly. If you are not performing the signed version, you can have many gaffed cards in the deck unnoticed. If I were performing this regularly, I’d make two templates and apply the work in less than a minute. The Answer requires over five minutes to make the cards described on the DVD. With practice, I think you could bring this down to three to four minutes per card, plus time for the rubber cement to dry. The Answer gaff is thicker than a normal card and needs to be rung in just before performing. The restored Joined card can be left with the spectator. The restored Answer card has some areas that have been treated with rubber cement. While it can be handed out for examination, I would be reluctant to leave it with spectators. Both effects are amazing and will leave your spectator with no idea how they are done. If I were going to perform this regularly, I’d opt for Joined due to the simplicity of preparation, but you won’t be disappointed with either one. Recommended. Fred Rosenbaum

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Light Speed

Perseus Arkomanis. Alakazam Magic. Available from Your Favorite Dealer. Wholesale from Murphy’s Magic Supplies. www.murphysmagic.com. $35.

Reading the text on the DVD case, where nearly every statement ends in an exclamation point, might lead you to believe that Light Speed is the ultimate magic technique that will instantly elevate amateur performers to professionals and earn professionals a reserved spot on Mount Olympus. It is a very nice piece of work, but it doesn’t quite live up to that level of hype. The DVD is primarily (ninety percent) about sleeving coins. It is a great treatise on how to sleeve and offers good explanations of several very nice routines that make use of your new skills. Although some of the scripting needs a bit of polish for an English-speaking audience, the routines are straightforward and practical. Some brief discussion of sleeving marking pens and cutlery is also included, along with a few helpful practice drills to perfect your technique. Since the routines are mostly with coins, some additional sleights are necessary to perform them. Brief explanations for these are included for completeness, but they do not distract from the DVD’s focus on sleeving. Explanations are provided for the Classic Palm, Shuttle Pass, Utility Switch, Bobo Switch, and Strike Vanish. Although the effects included are not new, the addition of Arkomanis’s methods does add a fresh approach that enhances the effect of some classic routines, including Copper Silver, Coin through Bottle, Coin through Table, and One Coin Routine. 106

I did feel that some aspects of the production of this DVD were lacking, however. There was no appreciable introduction to the DVD, some of the sequencing was a bit odd, and a few of the segments seemed to lack context. I expected better from Alakazam. Overall, the DVD provides a good introduction to sleeving, one of the great classic, solid techniques of magic. It also includes several very practical routines. It’s definitely worth your consideration. Recommended. Pete Majkowski Patrified

Patrick Kun. SansMinds. Available from Your Favorite Dealer. Wholesale from Murphy’s Magic Supplies. www.murphysmagic.com. $34.95.

Patrick Kun is a skilled cardician, and watching him perform is nothing short of amazing. He has great chops, and much of his material is not for the faint of heart. That said, he is also a great teacher and shows you each move with painstaking detail. He breaks down each routine and effect with superb camera work and thorough explanations. Most of the sleights can be learned with practice, if you put in the time. There is one sleight I don’t think I will ever be able to do, and I will point it out below. All that said, Patrick Kun is about as good with a deck of cards as anyone out there and will fool magicians as well as laymen. There are seven effects on the DVD and just as many sleights introduced along the way. The first effect, Be-Tween Production, requires the sleight I will probably never be able to master with any consistency, but it is a thing of beauty to behold when Patrick does it. Basically, he holds

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two jokers side-jogged in one hand and causes a signed card to fly out of the deck from his other hand, and it ends up trapped instantaneously between those two jokers invisibly. If you are willing to put in the time, you will blow anyone away with this one move. The next effect is his PK Double. This is a great utility move, a one-handed double lift that will never be suspected when mastered. It also will take a lot of practice and a knack to do it consistently. Kun has great courage starting out his DVD with his two most difficult sleights right up front. It does get easier from here, so don’t eject the DVD too quickly. Inflict Evolved is a fantastic move that most will be able to master, and it gives you a tremendous utility sleight for your repertoire. A chosen card changes between two jokers visibly. They will rub their eyes when you perform this – and you will perform this! Center Point Retouch allows a chosen card to visibly shoot or appear between two face-up mates that have been pushed halfway into the pack. Your spectators will reach for the Visine when they see it. Morf is a very doable effect that you will learn very quickly and use immediately. Four cards magically change into four completely different cards. It is a fantastic effect, an incredible sleight, and brilliantly taught. Kudos! DIY Aces is practically self-working and has no real sleights. It is a killer Spectator Cuts to the Aces that you will fall in love with. You will be able to perform this one almost immediately. Snowblind is a great effect. Kun teaches two different handlings, and each is easy on the sleights. One changes the deck to a blank deck (not supplied), and the other allows you to perform it as a color-changing deck, which is incredible and fun to do. I highly recommend this DVD to any magician who is either at the intermediate or expert level, though beginners should look elsewhere first. It offers all-new, topnotch material! Highly recommended. Doug Canning April 2015

The Rings

Chris Capehart. KozmoMagic.com. Available from Your Favorite Dealer. Wholesale from Murphy’s Magic Supplies. www.murphysmagic.com. $24.95.

Anyone who’s been in magic for a while knows about Chris Capehart and has maybe even seen him perform on the lecture circuit or at a magic convention, the Magic Castle, New York’s Monday Night Magic, or simply on one or more of his DVD releases. He is an established figure in the magic world who initially honed his magic skills as a busker on the streets of New York City. He does strong magic, is original in his presentations, and is very funny. Chris’s Linking Ring routine uses just three rings: two unprepared rings and the one with the standard gimmick. I first saw Chris perform his routine about fifteen years ago at a magic lecture, and it was this performance that finally led me to start working on learning the Linking Rings myself. This DVD is not the first release of Chris’s routine; he previously released a DVD with the routine under his own label. If you purchased the earlier DVD, there is probably no reason to buy the new one. The new one covers the same information, except that it includes one bonus move called “Melt Down.” However, if you don’t own the earlier version, the new DVD produced by KozmoMagic is excellent. It includes a live performance of Chris at the Magic Castle, followed by a careful step-by-step explanation of each move in his routine. I really like Capehart’s convincers that sell the audience on the fact that the rings are apparently unprepared, even though

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one of the rings is, of course, gimmicked. The first convincer is his series of moves for initially displaying the rings as being solid. Capehart drop counts them, runs them backwards and forwards through his hands several times, and casually spins them in a manner that is extremely disarming. In the middle part of his performance, Chris moves through the audience repeatedly linking and unlinking the rings, literally right under individual spectators’ noses, using his original variation on the crash link. The rings look like they really do melt through the other, and Chris performs the same move over and over while his audience looks on amazed and clueless. This is one instance in which repetition helps sell the illusion and is just one example of Chris’s original thinking. I’ve never seen any other ring routine in which the crash link is repeated in this manner and used so effectively. Why buy Chris’s DVD with so many other versions by other magicians out there, some of which may already be on your shelf? Because it’s really good! It’s not just a collection of moves. It’s a worker’s routine, developed in front of live audiences through thousands of street and stage performances. It’s tight, entertaining, and looks like magic! If you already perform the rings, you will find Chris’s routine a great resource for improving your existing handling. If you are just embarking on learning the rings, Chris’s routine is simply a great one to learn. Highly recommended. Noland Montgomery Unveil

Hyunjoon Kim. Available from Your Favorite Dealer. Wholesale from Murphy’s Magic Supplies. www. murphysmagic.com. $99.95.

Move over Cardini and Jeff McBride! 2012 F.I.S.M. award winner for manipulation, Hyunjoon Kim, is here! This young man not only displays extraordinary skills with cards and balls, his numerous included routines are absolutely brilliant to watch and will thrill any audience. His remarkable manipulations and beautiful

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routines are explained in detail and are not as difficult as they may seem. Every single move is performed on these two DVDs with detailed instructions and will place these routines within the grasp of most magicians. I’m not saying these pieces of theater are easy, but Kim’s explanations are performed step by step with text and pointers on the screen that make the explanations as clear as glass. There is no speaking on the DVDs, but I did not find that to be any detriment whatsoever. In fact, I think this method was even clearer for learning. Each DVD runs about ninety minutes.

On the first DVD, Card Manipulation, Kim begins with seven basic manipulations which include single-card vanishes, one-hand fans, back palms, split-fan productions, twirling, Perfect Production, and the Tenkai Re-grip Production, plus Picket Vanish. The second part of the DVD presents “Card Original.” This section provides seven beautiful routines that are true eye candy for even the most discriminating of audiences. The Rainbow Phoenix Production is a lovely production of two-spot cards which instantly change color. Suddenly, two more colorful cards appear, and then three more colorful cards appear out of thin air! No special cards are needed (you can color them at home), and the productions are beautiful. The “Hyun Joon Production” is beyond belief! I was stunned to see Kim, with his open and obviously empty hands, produce many single cards from apparently nowhere and then suddenly produce two large fans! The routine just doesn’t seem

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possible. It appears to be trick photography, but the easy-to-make gimmicks make this routine pretty easy to do. All of these routines are acts of the highest level and will thrill any audience with fantastic productions, vanishes, color changes, and manipulations. The second DVD offers Ball Manipulation and will make you run to get out your colored balls and billiard-ball sets to follow along with Kim’s manipulations. There are ten basic manipulations and routines included in the “Basic” section and five more in the “Original” section. In the “Basic” section, “The Silk Ball” routine is simple, yet breathtaking, involving one ball and one silk. There are six more excellent routines explained in this section. “The Rainbow” colored ball made my eyes very wide. A single ball is produced and changes color. It changes color again a second and a third time. Each time, both hands are shown to be completely empty! The routine fooled me badly until I saw the explanation and realized its true simplicity. Suddenly, he is seen with four different colored balls between his fingers. The “Original” section offers five more routines, including a “Perfect Ball Vanish,” “Interlock Ball Productions,” and “Color Changes.” As I mentioned earlier, two manipulation gimmicks are provided that will last a lifetime. There are other gaffs and gimmicks that are easy to construct at home for a couple of the other routines. This is definitely not for beginners, but rather for intermediate to advanced performers. However, I feel that the manipulations and routines included are easier to do than I first thought. If you want to perform beautiful work that will make you a “Card God” in the eyes of your spectators, then this double DVD set is for you. Highly recommended. Paul A. Lelekis

A Trip to Cancun

George Iglesias. Available from Your Favorite Dealer. Wholesale from Murphy’s Magic supplies. www.murphysmagic.com. $85.

This is a tribute and modernization of the classic trick that Abbotts Magic popularized in the 1950s as Bathing Beauty. George Iglesias’s renovated version is an improved method and a great comedy effect. For about seven minutes, you will have a solid comedy routine with a great twist and plot for adult audiences. The basic effect has a spectator select a card and sign it, and then place it back into the deck and shuffle it. You announce that you are going to teleport the spectator’s card to an exotic place. The card vanishes from the deck and “goes” to Cancun. You show a poster with a beautiful lady wearing a red bikini and a hula skirt. She is holding a couple of coconuts, and a facedown card can be seen inside her bikini top. The poster is folded in half, and the spectator is invited to stick his hand inside and remove the card. However, he removes a hula skirt instead. When the poster is opened, you can see she is missing the hula skirt. The spectator gets another chance to remove his card from her top. This time he pulls out the top of the bikini. When the poster is opened, the lady is covering her chest with the pair of coconuts.

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You decide to take no more risks and go for the card. You reach in and take out the face-down card. Oops, the rest of the bikini comes out with the card. Embarrassed, you ask the spectator to name the card selected. When the card is turned over, it is exactly the card he selected and signed at the beginning. But the audience wants more! They want to see the picture. When the poster is opened, they get a surprise picture of the muscular male lifeguard standing in front of the girl. The trick is suitable for parlor and small stages. Controlling the signed card may take a little effort on your part. However, you can use a duplicate card with a force. The trick comes with everything you need except the cards, including all the clothing pieces. The poster is printed on high resolution paper with a great level of realism. It is plastic coated to increase durability. The downside is that you must go to a website listed on an enclosed business card for the instructions and routines. A year from now, if you lose the card which has the password to access the website, you may be out of luck. If you have the capability, download the video to a disc. The explanation has an echo. The speaker has a strong accent and about forty percent of his sentences end in “all right” or “right,” which may be distracting. Subtitles are used in the trailer. For the price, the video should have been included as a DVD. However, the effect is still a great one, and you will get lots of laughs and even find the selected card. Highly recommended. Bob Patterson Dots to Die 2.0

Sumit Chhajer. Available from Your Favorite Dealer. Wholesale from Murphy’s Magic Supplies. www.murphysmagic.com. Available in white, red, and black. $35.

When my kids were performing at birthday parties, one of their and their audience’s favorite tricks was a version of What’s Next. This effect lets you show a thin piece of paper or metal as having six sides, each with a different number of dots. Calling it a flat die, you show that every

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time you flip it over, it has a different number of dots, one through six. At the end, you show eight or ten spots. The magic here is that something that obviously has only two sides acts as if it has six or seven sides.

Dots to Die 2.0 takes this a step further. The question is, does it take it in the right direction? Instead of a very thin sheet, you have a package that is about a half inch thick. After showing the usual progression of dots, you throw the prop into the air, and it transforms into a fully formed die. I have several problems with this trick. Some are mechanical problems, and some are magical problems. Let’s start by examining the mechanical problems. Instead of using magnets like most versions of this effect, this uses dots that move on a thread. The thread appears to be high strength and is probably made of nylon. Still, it is thread, and we all know what happens with thread, and it usually happens at the wrong time. The dots don’t always move smoothly and don’t always end up exactly where you want them. Getting them to move correctly requires accurate placement of your fingers, sometimes on two different dots at the same time. When finished, you toss the device into the air, and it opens into a cube. Sometimes. It works better if you open it slightly as you toss it. Otherwise, it is likely to fall without opening. A piece of elastic powers the opening mechanism and is another failure point. Finally, there are several inconsistencies with the resultant cube. There is no side with a single dot, but there are two sides with two dots. On the sides with two dots, the dots are in different positions than

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when you showed the two-sided piece initially. The cube is not very sturdy; two sides are not solid but are made of cloth and have diagonal slits in them. Now, let’s examine the magical problem. You begin the routine by showing a “flat” piece of cardboard and make it appear to have six sides. Then you show it actually has six sides. If it has six sides, why is it magical that you showed six sides? What is the actual magic? If it is supposed to be the magical transformation of a half-inch thick piece of cardboard to a cube, well, that’s not very magical. Finally, where can you perform this? To be effective, it must be presented at a distance. Perform it too close to the audience, and the initial thickness will be evident, the threads will be noticeable, and the cube will be shown to be fragile. It may work on a stage, but if I were on a big stage, I’d want the cube to be larger than six inches, especially since most of the trick is just handling a six-inch square of cardboard. On the plus side, it comes in a nice carrying envelope with extra elastic. The instructions are minimal and printed on a six-by-eight-inch folded card in a small font with twenty-six tiny pictures. They show the moves required well enough to be able to figure out how to do it, but nothing more. This is a solution in search of a problem. It takes a very good trick and makes it mediocre and introduces handling issues and confusion. My recommendation is to save your money on this and find an original version. Not recommended. Fred Rosenbaum

Calculated Chaos – BOOK

Chris Westfall. Vanishing, Inc. Softcover, 52 p. YFD. Dealers contact www.murphysmagic.com. $20.

As Westfall explains, he came up with the title for this booklet while he was watching another magician perform. Everything seemed a bit off, crazy, or chaotic. When he watched the show a secApril 2015

ond time, everything was exactly the same. Therefore, it seemed to be calculated chaos. Chris states that you must have a backup plan in place in case something goes wrong during a performance. That plan must be calculated in advance. Good advice! The magic contained in this booklet offers nothing new in plots, but rather offers Westfall’s handling of established effects. That in itself is not a bad thing. Everything is well thought out, and the presentations are all good. There is a lot of card magic, a trick with a Sharpie pen, and a nice presentation using purse frames. I believe everyone could benefit from reading this work, especially those who are a bit new to the magic scene. The booklet is well written with nice illustrations which make it easy to follow the ideas being presented. It is all very practical material within the reach of even a new person in magic. Recommended. Tom Craven

Hocus in Focus welcomes products for review. Send items to: Hocus in Focus Reviews 7485 Princeton Trace Atlanta, Georgia 30328, USA Unsolicited items will not be returned unless accompanied by return postage

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ANTON D. AXELSEN Anton Dennis Axelsen, 76, of Auburn, California, died January 19, 2015, from complications of COPD and congestive heart failure. He held I.B.M. number 44802 and had been a member since 1989. He was a member of the Order of Merlin (twenty-five years of continuous membership). He also was a member of the Society of American Magicians. Born in Palo Alto, California, he lived in Livermore for thirty years and raised his family there. Upon retiring as a court reporter from the Alameda County Municipal Court, he and his wife moved to Auburn. In 1956, at the age of seventeen, he joined the U.S. Army following the Korean War. He played the piano, guitar, and banjo. He enjoyed running, sports, scuba diving, parachuting, target shooting, and flying model airplanes, in addition to his forty-year love of magic. He always had coins and a pack of cards with him. He performed magic and ventriloquism at many venues, from corporate and country club events to private parties, schools, senior centers, and even jails. He built many of his stage effects. He loved to go camping, where he would perform and teach children magic. He was a mentor to many young magicians. Survivors include his wife of forty-six years, Patti; son, Aaron, and daughters, Debbie Lawson and Laura Axelsen (who also is a magician), and their families; eleven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. A Broken Wand Ceremony was held in his honor. Memorial contributions may be made to the Salvation Army. 112

JOHN F. CHAPPELL John Frederick Chappell, 75, of Carthage, North Carolina, died March 2, 2015, of pancreatic cancer. He held I.B.M. number 17886 and had been a member since 2014. He was a member of Ring 199 (Raleigh, North Carolina). He earned degrees in physics, mathematics, philosophy, and theology from Wake Forest University, Southeastern Seminary, and Union Theological Seminary. He developed a strong interest in the civil rights movement and moved to Atlanta with his first wife, Laura, to focus on grassroots activities of that movement. A dual interest was the arts, especially the theatre. He began performing at the age of ten and participated in theatre and performing the rest of his life. During the 1980s he was involved with the Lost Colony summer production and inherited the one-man role of Mark Twain from the program’s creator, Hal Holbrook; he toured with the production for over forty years. He also performed throughout the country as Clarence Darrow, Charles Dickens, and Benjamin Franklin. He spent over two decades in Hollywood as an actor, appearing in movies like 10 and Brubaker and numerous television shows, such as Simon and Simon. Later, he worked as a Thinkpad laptop technician, and then for sixteen years as a computer specialist, reporter, and columnist with his hometown newspaper, The Pilot. He performed magic throughout his life and especially enjoyed mentoring young magicians. Traveling was another

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passion. Survivors include his wife of thirteen years, Patricia; son, John; sister, Mary Elizabeth (Bernie) Ragsdale; brother, George; four grandchildren; and stepsons, Stephen Cain and Patrick Owens.

ELBERT L. GARDNER Recently the I.B.M. Headquarters Office learned that Elbert L. Gardner, 80, of Bristol, Rhode Island, died August 18, 2014. He held I.B.M. number 21605 and had been a member since 1967. He was a member of the Order of Merlin Shield (thirty-five years of continuous membership). He also was a member of Ring 186 (New York Capital District). He earned degrees from Oswego State University in New York and Penn State University, and served in Japan with the U.S. Navy. He worked for the New York State Department of Labor, retiring in 1989. In addition to magic, his passions were woodworking, photography, gardening, and gourmet cooking. He loved to make people laugh with his magic, including many effects he invented: Coin Can (a Miser’s Dream gimmick, written up in the April 2014 issue of The Linking Ring), Shogun Wallet, Hydrostatic Wine Glass, and Daffy Definitions. One of his best lectures was called the “Fresh Fish Lecture.” Survivors include his wife of fifty-eight years, Dorothy; daughter, Susan (Alan) Payne; son, Steven (Ann); and four grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made to Visiting Nurse Services of Newport and Bristol Counties, 1184 East Main Road, Portsmouth, Rhode Island 02871, or visit www.vnsri.org. JOHN W. JENNINGS John William Jennings, Jr., 66, of Lynchburg, Virginia, died February 16, 2015, after a long fight with cancer. One report said he died with a deck of cards in his hands. He held I.B.M. number 23585 and had been a member since 1970. He

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was a member of the Order of Merlin Shield (thirty-five years of continuous membership). He also was a member of Ring 222 (Roanoke, Virginia). He also was a member of the Society of American Magicians (Assembly thirty-two), serving as chapter president and other officers, including youth leader. He also was the SAM State Deputy. Born in Norfolk, he served in the U.S. Navy, and retired from the Lynchburg Fire Marshall’s Office and Bedford County as a Fire Investigator after forty years. With a fire background, he lectured magicians about how to use fire safely in their performances. Survivors include his wife of thirty-two years, Elizabeth; and son, William (Holly). The local firefighters and magicians have established a fund to help the family: www.gofundme.com/johnjennings.

DOUGLAS R. KORNEGAY Douglas Raymond Kornegay, 82, of Houston, Texas, died March 2, 2015. He held I.B.M. number 12569 and had been a member since 1951. He was a member of the Order of Merlin Excalibur (sixty years of continuous membership). He also was a member of the Society of American Magicians and the Texas Association of Magicians (TAOM). His enthusiasm for magic began at age seven when he received a magic set for his birthday. He became a regular at Howard’s Magic Shop in downtown Houston, and by the age of fifteen had given over five hundred public appearances. As a teenager he won a world championship yo-yo title at the 1949 Toronto Exposition, subsequently becoming a representative for the Duncan Yo-Yo Company and traveling throughout North, Central, and South America. While serving

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in Special Services of the U.S. Army, he entertained the troops throughout the U.S. and Japan. He continued traveling and entertaining with his wife after he was discharged. He appeared on television shows such as The Steve Allen Show, The Today Show with Dave Garroway, and Super Circus. He also ventured into other areas of entertainment, including working with circuses, owning a small carnival, consulting for films, and promoting shopping mall openings. He even owned his own movie theater in the 1970s. In recent years, his love for the theatre led to his working backstage throughout Houston in virtually every theater in town. Survivors include his wife and performing partner, Donnie; daughters, Diana (Michael) Davison and DeLona (Thomas) Cardone; and grandson, Dylan Davison.

BERNARD S. LEVY Bernard (Bernie) S. Levy, 87, of Binghamton, New York, died December 8, 2014. He was a former member of the I.B.M. (1974-2003). He was a member of the Order of Merlin (twenty-five years of continuous membership). He also was a member of Ring 79 (BinghamtonJohnson City and Endicott, New York). He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa, a master’s degree from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. He taught with passion and integrity. He became active in organizations and causes dedicated to civil rights and social advocacy for which he won the Civil Action Phoenix Award. He served many years as a Binghamton City Democratic Committeeman and was on the Housing Authority’s Board. He wrote frequently about his passions in newspapers and magazines, including for AARP The Magazine. He had special interests in music, biking, and magic. In recent years he volunteered with the local hospice program. Survivors 114

include his wife, Beth; seven daughters, Laura (Doug) Swift, Michele Braco, Pam (Jon) Ludwig, Sara Levy, Jody Haley (Stephen Boeker), Rachel Reece (John Hyatt), and Kirsten (Bill) Marella; sons-inlaw, Mark Roth and Richard Braco, and their families; his twin brother, Ralph; and sister, Arline Cohn. Memorial donations may be made to Doctors Without Borders, 333 7th Ave., New York, New York 100015004.

MICHAEL G. LITTLEJOHN Michael Gene Littlejohn, 59, of Duncan, South Carolina, died January 22, 2015. He held I.B.M. number 28187 and had been a member since 1993. He was a member of Ring 63 (Greenville, South Carolina). He was employed by Circor. He was an avid golfer and private pilot. Two of his passions in life were magic and music, with a specialty in guitar. His latest project was singing in a gospel quartet named Canaan’s Road. Survivors include his father, George; mother and stepfather, Betty (George) Hopkins; brother, George; and a nephew, Hunter, and his fiancé, Angie Bowman.

WILLIAM G. MACDOWALL William G. MacDowall, 83, of Binghamton, New York and Phoenix, Arizona, died February 11, 2015. He held I.B.M. number 15321 and had been a member since 1974. He was a member of the Order of Merlin Shield (thirtyfive years of continuous membership). He also was a member of Ring 79 (BinghamtonJohnson City and Endicott). He was a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War and a member of the American Legion. He was a graduate of the State University of New York at Cortland, and received a master’s degree from Harpur College. He also was an American Indian expert as well as a hypnotist. Survivors include his son, Bill; grandchildren,

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Colleen, Corinne, James, and Justin; and brother, Mark.

JAMES L. MANEY Recently the I.B.M. Headquarters learned that James Leo Maney, 81, of Charleston, South Carolina, died March 30, 2014. He held I.B.M. number 49263 and had been a member since 1993. According to his membership form, he was a member of Ring 370 (Summerville, South Carolina) and Ring 50 (Washington, D.C.). VIC ODIN Vic Odin, 76, of England, died February 8, 2015, from a heart attack; he also had lung cancer. He was known as a modern-day Houdini, specializing in daring and spectacular escapes (upside down in a straitjacket, hanging from a crane), primarily in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. He and his wife, Louise, were a famous act for over three decades. She died in 2007 after they had been together sixty years. In addition to his escapes, another popular shocker was his Bullet Catch: a marked bullet in a rifle fired at him, and he caught it in his teeth. In a 2003 newspaper interview, he told how he perfected the trick while on military duty in Southeast Asia. He performed in a wide variety of venues: on cruise ships, in circuses, on television (Opportunity Knocks, among others), and elsewhere. HARRY PARKHURST Harry Parkhurst, 87, of Lyndhurst, New Jersey, died December 29, 2014. He held I.B.M. number 21676 and had been a member since 1967. He was a member of the Order of Merlin Shield (thirtyfive years of continuApril 2015

ous membership). He also was a member of the Society of American Magicians, Ring 106 (Parsippany, New Jersey) and Ring 113 (Bergen County, New Jersey). He was a supervisor at Hoffman LaRoche for forty-two years before retiring in 1989. He was a World War II veteran in the U.S. Navy. Survivors include his wife of sixtyone years, Kathleen; son, Russell (Sharon); and granddaughter, Ashley. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105. WOODROW W. PITTMAN JR. The I.B.M. Headquarters Office recently learned that Woodrow W. Pittman Jr., 54, of Los Angeles, California, died October 24, 2014, after a three-year battle with cancer. He was a former member of the I.B.M. (1998-2005).

GEORGE E. REDMOND George E. Redmond, 86, of Huntsville, Alabama, died December 31, 2014. He held I.B.M. number 24007 and had been a member since 1971. He was a member of the Order of Merlin Shield (thirtyfive years of continuous membership). He also was a member of Ring 194 (Huntsville, Alabama), the Society of American Magicians, and the Fellowship of Christian Magicians (FCM). Born in Columbus, Ohio, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy after graduating high school. After a five-year stint, he earned a degree in electrical engineering from Franklin University in Columbus. In 1966, he and his family moved to Kingston, New York, where he began a twenty-four year career with IBM in the Large Frame System Division and, later, Quality Assurance. In 1960, George became interested in illustrating the gospel with objects and became a member of the FCM. Subsequently, he developed many theme programs, such as Dental Health,

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Safety Drug Abuse, and Patriotic programs for day cares as well as elementary and middle schools. Survivors include his wife and assistant of sixty-two years, Dottie; and sons, Neal and Keith, and their families.

THURMAN D. SMITH The I.B.M. Headquarters recently learned that Thurman D. Smith, 75, of Dayton, Ohio, died October 30, 2014. He held I.B.M. member number 14612 and had been a member since 1954. He was a member of the Order of Merlin Excelsior (sixty years of continuous membership). In addition to being a lifelong magician, he was a model train enthusiast. He earned degrees from Capital University and the University of Dayton. He was a former Dayton police officer and retired from the Montgomery County Health Department. Survivors include his wife of forty-eight years, Barbara; son, Andrew, and his fiancé, Kelly; daughter, Jill (Shawn) Reese; sister, Corryne Smith; and grandchildren, Zachary, Corey, Adam, and Gavin. Memorial contributions may be made to the Humane Society of Greater Dayton, 1661 Nicholas Road, Dayton, Ohio 45417; The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Donor Services, Post Office Box 4072 Pittsfield, Massachusettes 01202; or the American Heart Association. WARREN J. WELSH Dr. Warren John Welsh, 80, of Richmond, Kentucky, died February 21, 2015. He held I.B.M. number 36329 and had been a member since 1981. He was a member of the Order of Merlin (twenty-five years of continuous membership). He also was a member of Ring 198 (Lexington, Kentucky) and the Society of American Magicians. Born in Schenectady, New York, he entered the Conventual Franciscan Order in 1952 and was ordained a priest in 1962. 116

He served as an assistant pastor in Minnesota before being transferred to Carney Seminary in Ohio. While working there, he earned a doctorate in psychology from Bowling Green State University in 1973. In 1969, he was given permission to leave the priesthood, got married, and began a career as a prison psychologist, eventually in the Federal Prison System in Kentucky and Michigan, and retired in 1994. He performed as a professional magician in central Kentucky. He won first place in both stage and close-up competitions at the Magifest in Columbus. He held the rank of 1st Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, was a self-defense instructor in the prison system, and won Presidential Sports Awards in running, jogging, and karate. Survivors include his wife of forty-five years, Kathleen; children, John and Leanne; brothers, William, Robert, and Daniel; sisters, Rose Marie and Virginia; and four grandchildren. A Broken Wand Ceremony was held in his honor. Memorial donations may be made to Hospice Care Plus, 208 Kidd Drive, Berea, Kentucky 40403.

ALVIN L. WINKLER Alvin L. Winkler, 97, of Oak Lawn, Illinois, died February 12, 2015. He held I.B.M. number 39431 and had been a member since 1984. He was a member of the Order of Merlin (twenty-five years of continuous membership). Despite contracting polio at age sixteen, he graduated from the Illinois Institute of Technology in three years and spent his working career as a mechanical engineer in the steel industry. He held sixteen patents and took great pleasure in inventing. In addition to magic, he loved gardening and swimming. Survivors include his wife of sixty-eight years, Sonia; daughter, Linda; and longtime dedicated caretaker, Helen Chowaniec.

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Reports must be received by the 15th of each month to appear in the second following issue (your January meeting should appear in March or April). To insure accuracy, please limit reports to two, double-spaced pages; otherwise it will be pared down to meet requirements. Send to: T.J. Shimeld, 1129 Allman Ridge Road, Morganton, NC 28655; phone: 828-391-6934; or e-mail: [email protected] with “Ring Reports” in the subject heading (e-mailed reports will receive confirmation of receipt).

RING 1, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI – Spirit of St. Louis Meets 1st Wed. of month, Maryland Heights Center ALAN ZIBITS., Secretary 532 Dartmouth Crossing, Wildwood, MO 63011 E-mail: [email protected] / Web Site: www.IBMRing1.com

It was unusual that only fifteen members attended the February meeting. However, it started to snow and ice during the rush hour traffic and most of the Ring’s members stayed home. The presenter for Magic 101 was also unable to attend. A Poker Run was scheduled where the members would rotate to several stations throughout the evening. Various effects would be taught at each station. However, since there were few in attendance, it was decided to teach the members the effects as a group. President Mike Niehaus made a few announcements. He thanked the members who volunteered on January 31 at the JDRF Type One Nation Summit. This was held at Union Station in St. Louis. Dan Todd and Mike Niehaus entertained the children during a stage performance. The children enjoyed the show. Several magicians volunteered at a booth that was set up for the magicians. The members performed effects for the children and their parents. The children were even given simple magic tricks that they took home. The children were thrilled to take a balloon character home with them that Mike made. I brought my two therapy dogs, Rocky and Riley, and the children enjoyed holding and petting the dogs. Mike then reminded the members that the annual “Spring Parade of Magic” would be held on February 21 at the Kirkwood Community Center Theatre. Mike encouraged the members to sign up as volunteers for the monthly visits to Shriners Hospital for Children where the members perform magic for the patients. After the announcements, the members performed the effects that they were originally going to share during the Poker Run. First, Dan Todd performed a variation of “Oil and Water” with a twist. Then Steve Finkelstein performed

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“Genetics” by Sean Goodman. He had five people select cards out of a stack of twenty-six printed cards. He was able to tell each person which card they had picked. Steve also performed “Matrix Card.” He was able to predict the combination of a lock that had the volunteer’s finger rings locked into it. Larry Corona taught a routine using corks between the thumbs. This is amazing to watch and easy to learn. Larry also taught “The Impossible Knot” effect. He held a rope between his hands and without letting go of the ends he tied a knot. This is an effect that the magicians teach the children at Shriners Hospital. Terry Richison performed a routine using the “Acrobatic Cards” that Tom Westerheide had originally presented. Terry dealt ten cards in a line, alternating them face up and face down. When he assembled the cards in a packet, then the face-up cards had all mysteriously turned face down. He then performed “Ten Card Mystery.” He dealt ten cards down in a line. He had a volunteer pick a number from one to ten. Magically, the chosen card that matched this number was the only card that had a different colored back. The Ring looks forward to better weather for the March meeting. Visitors are always welcome. Sandy Weis

RING 2, YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO – Filips-Tutter-Doeright Ring Meets 2nd Fri., Christ’s Church, 7155 Glenwood Ave., Youngstown, OH PETER LUCKE, Secretary E-mail: [email protected]

Our February meeting was opened by President Nick Verina who began with the treasury report. He continued by passing out a sheet with committee assignments. Next, Nick commented on the new club roster that was sent to members. Fritz Coombs announced that we will be voting at the next meeting on a change to the club’s code of regulations regarding the number of allowed life members. Nick then commented on the Columbus Magi-Fest (nine club members

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and friends attended). Tom Craven was one of the lecturers at the Magi-Fest. Nick concluded his remarks by reminding members of the upcoming Battle of Magicians convention in Canton. Tom Craven will perform at the Magic Castle March 9 through 15. Guests Scott Fillinger, Carrie Miller, and Jacob Linger were welcomed to the meeting. Rob LaCelle opened members’ magic with a card effect. He laid out sixteen cards in a four-byfour array. Some were face up but most were face down. Following a volunteer’s suggestions, Rob picked up a card, turned it over, and placed it on an adjacent card. This was repeated as the cards accumulated in a packet. When all the cards were in the packet, the packet was spread out and there were four face-down cards; they were the four aces. Jim Klayder continued with Daryl’s “Jolly Jumping Joker.” Four small packets of indifferent cards were placed on the table. Jim then placed a joker on each of the four packets. Magically the jokers disappeared from three of the packets and all appeared in the fourth packet. Fritz Coombs began his effect by having three cards selected by audience members. The cards were replaced and Fritz made the first card rise out of the deck. He then produced a jumbo deck held vertically in a plastic frame, and the remaining two chosen cards rose up out of the jumbo deck. Casshan Wallace continued with his own effects, “Fresher Transformation” and “True Appearance.” A volunteer selected a card, and pretended to insert it in the deck face up. Casshan then found the card at the top of the deck. The imagined card was removed from the deck, and shown to be missing from the deck. Next, green and orange tissue paper sheets were torn up by Herb Niland. He squished the pieces into a ball, and when the ball was opened up, a paper ball cap appeared. Valentine’s Day was Donna Campbell’s theme as she produced a dish of candy from a “Candy Pan,” (similar to a “Dove Pan”). Susan Campbell continued by using a box of Disney valentine cards. Two of the cards were selected and one was eliminated. This was repeated until only one card remained. Susan then opened an envelope and produced a prediction card, a Donald Duck valentine, that matched the final selection. Tom Craven’s effect was Card in Bottle. Tom placed a bottle on the table and had a volunteer select a card. An audience member opened the bottle and found some dry spaghetti inside. Tom then arranged the spaghetti pieces to make the letters K and H; the selection was the King of Hearts. He finally revealed that the selected card was inside the bottle. Nick Verina tore up a tissue square and restored it with a crooked magic wand. “Time

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Stopper” from Joker Magic was demonstrated by Peter Lucke. He produced a square tube with a button on the side. The button was pushed eight times to make time stop for eight seconds. A small ball was dropped into the tube which retained the ball inside for eight seconds before it dropped out. Ryan Hopson performed “Fair Play” by Steve Haynes. Three items (a card, a twenty-dollar bill, and a coin) were placed on the table. A volunteer chose where the items go: to a pocket, to the volunteer, or to the magician. Ryan then produced a key holder with a message written on it; it correctly predicted the locations of the objects. Gary Morton had a coin chosen and signed by an audience member. The coin was enclosed in a handkerchief and held by a volunteer. Another volunteer held a small cylindrical box. After Gary pulled the handkerchief away, the coin vanished, and appeared inside the inner box; it was a nested set of five boxes. Bob Filips closed members’ magic with a card effect. Guest magic was performed by Warren Campbell who did a mentalism effect using two sets of ESP cards. He and a volunteer mixed up each set of cards. Warren produced a frame with slots in it, and he placed his cards in the slots, and the volunteer selected where his cards were to go. When the frame was turned around, the patterns on the cards matched. Jacob Linger had two volunteers assist him. One selected a card, and tried to mentally transmit it to the other volunteer. Jacob spread some cards in his hand and had the other volunteer choose the card she thought was being transmitted; it was the correct card. The evening’s presentation was by Casshan Wallace who explained his effects, “Fresher Transformation” and “True Appearance” (you can see them on YouTube). Peter Lucke

RING 5, DAYTON, OHIO – Dayton Magic Club Meets 2nd Fri. each month at 7:30pm, Mighty Fortress Lutheran Church, Kettering, OH. DAVE DAVIS, Ring Reporter / E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.sites.google.com/site/daytonmagicring5

The January meeting was on a cold winter night but, the meeting was still well attended. Several guests and new members were present. The business portion of the meeting was handled swiftly by outgoing President John Love. Refreshments were provided by Scott Miller (snacks) and Ralph Steinlage (drinks). The new Ring 5 officers for 2015 were installed by TVP (also an honorary member) Ron Frank: President Scott Miller, Vice President Dave Davis, Secretary Barbara Pfeiffer, Treasurer John Love, Sergeant-at-Arms Ralph Steinlage, and Board Members Mike Bayer, Bob Pocius, Rufus Walker, Buzz Westergaard, and Fred Witwer.

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The theme for the meeting was “Magic New to You,” hosted by Scott. Ron Frank started the magic off with the “OHM” effect by Taylor Imagineering; with help from Scott, he showed how water can amplify thoughts. Fred Witwer demonstrated his new canary box where a “mummified” canary and a red silk vanished. He then showed a Ball and Vase where the ball disappeared and the red silk appeared in the vase. Next, Millie Witwer showed four different cards with symbols on them and with the help of Buzz Westergaard, Barbara Pfeiffer, Jeff Porges, and Fred Witwer was able to tell each of them what card they thought of. Ryan Westergaard did an Origami Rabbit card trick showing how a card magically turned into a rabbit. Dave Davis then showed the optical illusion (“Card Warp”) with a card and a two-dollar bill. Steve Sayer demonstrated a dollar levitation that he learned from a DVD on levitating almost any small object. John Love demonstrated a Silk through Mirror effect that was for sale by the Ring. Roland Newton with the help from Buzz showed his version of an Ambitious Card effect. Scott, with help from Jeff, finished with a Eugene Burger coin effect “Imagination and Magic.” Several small groups gathered talking/showing magic effects and stories of magic adventures. Several guests and new members were present at our February meeting. The business portion of the meeting was handled quickly by President Scott Miller. Refreshments were provided by Jeff and Min Porges. The main discussion for the business was the upcoming Ring 5 close-up show in March. The Ring is trying a new format where the business and refreshments are being done at the same time. We are hoping that this will allow the Ring to get to the formal magic portion of the meeting quicker. The theme for the meeting was “Optical Illusion Magic,” hosted by Dave Davis. To start the formal magic part of the meeting was guest David Manguiat. He showed his version of multiple cards selected and revealed. Josh Burkheiser, with the help of David, performed his version of Slydini’s Paper Balls Overhead routine showing the principle of misdirection. Matthew Reuter performed his version of color changing cards/deck times two. Mike Bayer demonstrated two effects with two different cylinders. The first was with a clear cylinder and where a green silk magically turned into a red silk. The second a solid silver cylinder was used to have a red and blue silk vanish and a streamer of multiple colors then appeared. Ron Frank performed his version of “Cody Fisher’s Comedy Book Test.” Roland Newton with the help of GM Manguiat performed his sponge ball

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routine. Oliver Newton, with the help of Ron, did a card effect where the card selected was found reversed in the deck. Jonathan Liu with the help of Buzz Westergaard performed his version of “Out of this World.” Scott Miller performed two effects. The first with the help of Min Porges, he showed two disks with one center hole in each of them. Min selected one disk and held it in her hand, Scott then removed the hole from his disk and the vanished hole was found in Min’s closed hand. Scott, with the help of GM and Steve Sayer, did a routine where GM selected and out jogged an imagined card from her imagined fanned deck of cards. Scott took a real fanned deck and with Steve’s directions out jogged the imagined card where it was out jogged in the same location as GM’s imagined card. Dan Harrison performed his version of Irving Quan’s “Inverted Kings.” John Love, with the help of GM, did his version of a Tom Craven keeper effect where the selected/signed card on back was found to have the message “Will you be my Valentine” on the face. Dave Davis then performed the “Trick of the Month” an optical illusion using two curved pieces of plastic; when one was “stretched” it became larger than the other one. Dave then performed “Professor’s Nightmare” as an optical illusion. David Manguiat came up again and did another card effect and finished the formal magic part of the meeting. Dave Davis

RING 6, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – Delaware Valley Conjurers Club Meets 2nd Monday, each month, 7:30 p.m., Hancock United Methodist Church, Rt. 320, Springfield, PA. WILLIAM MCELVENNEY, Recording Secretary 7302 Merganser Place, Philadelphia, PA 19153 Web site: www.ibmring6.com

David Storey kicked off the meeting with news about changes to the club’s Web site. The new domain is IBMRing6.com. He also discussed upcoming events such as next month’s auction and the Adam Elbaum lecture scheduled for May. This was the night of our annual Close-up Contest. Calvin Tan started with a beautifully choreographed routine of cards and coins – the motion and magic synchronized to music. This wasn’t your run-of-the-mill matrix. He started out with card productions and moved on to the magical movement of coins under cards and ended with a veritable flurry of multiplying coins. Steve Friedberg’s “Be Natural” routine made a series of card transformations in ways that followed Howie Schwarzman’s maxim: what would it look like if it were real magic? Giving

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the entire audience the perfectly fair views of all his moves, his magic was all the more amazing. Ryan Adamowicz presented his “Sleights of the Mind” completely restoring a torn card not only in full view of the audience but employing all five senses in the process. Reba Strong presented an old family recipe. The amazing thing was that the only ingredient was the paper on which the recipe was written, producing from its flames an amazing confection. Bill McElvenney presented Presidents’ Day effects. “Escape from New York” was the Matrix whose patter recounted George Washington’s historic feat that saved the Continental Army from destruction. He ended with “The Cleveland Sandwich,” a whimsical presentation of an Ambitious Card and Grover Cleveland’s two non-consecutive terms. The contest winners were: first Calvin Tan, second Bill McElvenney, and third Steve Friedberg.

RING 7, COLUMBUS, OHIO – Wheeler-McGory Ring Meets 3rd Thu. each month at 7:00pm, at The Forum, Knightsbridge, 4625 Knightsbridge Blvd., Columbus, OH 43220 STEVEN PARLETTE, Secretary / Web site: ring7sam83.org 4306 Secludedwod Ct., Columbus, OH 43230 (614) 428-5966 / E-mail: [email protected]

After a brief business meeting, Art Quinn started magic with the “Silk and Rope Event” from Hoby Tyler’s notes, Gold Metal Winners. Art tied a silk and rope together and the silk melted through the rope. Joe Elliott put two quarters on a piece of plastic. With the help of a mirror, it looked like the quarters moved. When the mirror was removed, we saw that the quarters did move. Reza Saberi asked Art to name a card. Reza set a card box on the table that had only the selected card inside. Jack Watson performed the “Travel Truth Game” by Chris Wardle. Check out the January 2015 issue of The Linking Ring page 75. This is a nice effect you may want to add to your program. Joe Elliott started stand-up magic with knots off silk. Steve Parlette performed a Silk Blendo effect. Reza performed Any Card at any Number with a personal twist. Jack Watson performed “Grandfather’s, Grandfather Clock.” Jack also did a card prediction effect using the criss-cross force. That’s how I saw the magic, it may have looked different from your angle. Steven Parlette

RING 9, ATLANTA, GEORGIA – Georgia Magic Club Meets 3rd Mon. of month, 7:00pm, Mt. Vernon Presbyterian Church, 471 Mount Vernon Hwy, Sandy Springs, GA Ring 9 Website: www.gamagicclub.com BILL PACKARD, Secretary / Email: [email protected]

Our TIP (To Improve Performance) mini-lecture on optical illusions was presented by Victoria Skye. Victoria showed us over two

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dozen tricks, pictures, and puzzles from her collection, many of which she created herself. Outgoing President Terry Wenham introduced new President Adamson, who took over the meeting. We heard health updates on Gene Hendrix, Mary Doty, Rick Silver, and T. J. Harris (T. J. passed away), and a review of the Annual Greater Atlanta Magicians Holiday Banquet. David Oglesby brought to our attention that I.B.M. members have free access to Ask Alexander, for searching the entire library of The Linking Ring magazines through their portal. Bob Stultz provided an opportunity to have the Georgia Magic Club logo embroidered on a shirt for $10. The theme for January was “In the Spectator’s Hands.” From six cards torn in half face-down, West Evans located the halves that matched the three that Joe M. Turner selected. Howie Marmer placed a small object in guest Crystal’s closed hand, and later revealed that it matched the “invisible” coin selected by Partha Mukherjee. Debbie Leifer performed Cards Across with a customized surprise ending, using alphabet cards and hand towels held by Dale Adamson and Joe M. Turner. David Owen predicted the serial number of a ten-dollar bill that Dale Adamson placed in a locket on display. Merritt Ambrose caused Victoria Skye’s signed card to switch with a card previously held between her hands. Mike Ellis caused an animated spider to appear on a cellphone picture of Leah Williamson’s palm, as well as on the back of her hand. Joe M. Turner caused three beads to unthread themselves from two cords while held in Max Hobb’s hand. After a dealing and trading session with Victoria Skye, Eric Swalberg, and Leah Williamson, Mal Simpson caused Victoria’s selected card to end up at the top of her packet. Gary Vaughn, Jr. invited Mark Hatfield to turn a single card face up from a shuffled deck, then showed that the same card had turned face up in a second deck. The voting this month was nearly even among all the performers, but Howie Marmer edged out as our winner of the Coveted Royal Blue Pin. In the Show and Tell segment, Steve Greenfield brought a Sandisk Streaming Wireless Flash Drive, capable of storing hundreds of hours of (magic) video to be viewed on any Bluetooth device. Martin Baratz is looking for performers to share in an order for a great-looking show jacket. For Trick of the Month, Christophe Fouquet performed and explained “Direct One to Five” from Genii December 2014, and suggested narrowing one of the cards to simplify the handling. In the General Magic segment, David Oglesby turned a penny into a giant penny then into a

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jumbo penny. West Evans performed a ThreeCard Monte routine with Martin Baratz, ending with the Money Card replaced by Martin’s previously-signed card. Dan Garrett performed a completely impromptu torn-and-restored signed card with a borrowed (used) deck from West Evans. Howie Marmer slowly and visibly animated the transformation of a jumbo 6S into a four and then an eight! Projeet Mukherjee performed a progressive card sandwich routine where the sandwich cards trade places with the sandwiched cards. Victoria Skye showed us additional illusions, most notably her own “Age, It’s All in Your Head,” which was voted in the Top Ten of the Visions Science Society Best Illusion of the Year Contest. In the President’s Spot, Dale Adamson suggested using Sortkwik Fingertip Moistener (banks use this) for dry hands when working with cards, as it does not leave a residue.

RING 11, QUAD CITIES, ILLINOIS/IOWA – Magrum-Kiefer Ring Meets 1st Thu., 7:00pm, Riverside Park Garden Room, 34th St. and 5th Ave., Moline, IL. KEN COOPER, President

The evening began again, like last month, with our second teaching session for the public from 6:00 to 6:45. A number of new faces showed up who were unable to attend in January. Rick Brammer reported that a school/library show has been planned for the club on July 10 in Baxter, Iowa. Media report: Jerry Philips reported on an unusual book, The Adventures of 51 Magicians and a Fakir by Angel Ettagoras. It consists of fifty-two mini-biographies of magicians and a caricature drawing of each, the artist being the same as the author. Each bio is also associated with a different card (hence the reason for fiftytwo bios), and the order of the cards is that of the Sy Stebbins stack. Thus, besides reading it, at least ten tricks can be performed using this book, two of which Jerry performed as examples. Easy teach-a-trick: Ken Wilson taught two card tricks. 1. A card is chosen and the deck is then mixed into face-up and face-down cards. The chosen card is inserted and the deck cut. When it is spread, the cards are found to be all face down except the chosen one. 2. Two cards were chosen and used to start two piles. Half the deck was counted and used to make two equal piles. The top cards of the piles turn out to be pairs of the original cards, which are followed by the four aces as a bonus. Hard teach-a-trick: Chuck Hanson had us take out our handkerchiefs and taught us the Gypsy Switch, and then suggested various ways for using it – bills, balls, torn pieces, etc. I success-

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fully used it on Valentine’s Day and turned colored pieces of paper into tiny valentines – she liked it. Thanks, Chuck. Performances: Eric Dany began the evening with a mental effect using two paperback books. Into one of them a card was randomly inserted, a choice made about right or left side, and the resultant page number stated. A volunteer then looked up that page number in the other book. After concentrating on that page, Eric mentally revealed the first line of the page of the other book. Craig Beytein stole the show with a trick he has been developing. He and a volunteer were each given a rack containing five differently colored wooden discs, a spindle, and a screen. In imitation of early ESP experiments, the volunteer placed the discs on the spindle in any order he wished, or removed and placed them in the rack, again in any order he chose. Every time when the screens were lifted, the magician’s order of discs matched that of the volunteer’s. With some variations on the procedure and some added comedy, this was quite the colorful, fascinating, and baffling routine. Next, Steve Delaney performed Jay Sankey’s “Blackpool Effect.” After a card is named by a volunteer, a card with that name printed on the back is found, but the face is different. Then the card is changed into the correct one. Craig Bruckman did a coin routine in which a coin continually changes hands, or disappears and is found in the pocket. This was followed by an escape routine in which his arms were shackled with a heavy chain and padlocked. He escaped within seconds. Craig Cox did a trick involving scarves that changed their numerical order and even their colors. Chuck Hanson kept us laughing with a rope in which the number of ends and middles continued to multiply and change until finally he ended up with his original, single long rope. Finally, T.J. Regul presented a brochure with colors and cards from which a deck was produced. This was followed by versions of the Ambitious Card.

RING 12, BUFFALO, NEW YORK – Gene Gordon – Karl Norman Ring Meets 1st Mon. each month at the Screening Room Cinema & Café, 3131 Sheridan Dr., Amherst, NY. Web site/E-mail: Ring 12.org BOB GECKLER, Secretary, 485 Pine St., Lockport, NY 14094 / (716) 434-5644

This month’s presentation was on Buffalo’s own Eddie Fechter. It showed his rise to fame and trials and tribulations and the success of running bar magic. For our teaching table we had Jimmy C. He performed two illusions. The first was with a

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spectator, they both tore a napkin and restored it, but Jimmy’s torn napkin was restored while the volunteer’s napkin was still torn. Next was a card illusion. A spectator picked and signed a card, ripped it with other cards, and put all the pieces in a paper bag. Another spectator pulled four pieces out of the bag and they were the four pieces of the chosen and signed card. Now it was time for our annual auction, even though we missed last year, we can still call it annual. Due to the weather some people didn’t make it but that didn’t diminish the supply too much. There were lots of great bargains; I know I picked up many. Most of the magic that I own are from the auctions. Shlomo Birkan

RING 15, FORT WORTH, TEXAS – Ren Clark Ring Meets 1st Thu. each month, 7:00pm at the Tarrant County College Trinity River Campus. Web site: www.fortworthmagiciansclub.org CINDY BIGHORSE-CHADWICK, Secretary

The Fort Worth Magicians Club was called to order by President Michael Stein. Announcements were made; President Stein read the list of FWMC members who passed in 2014. Mr. Bill Irwin gave a quick debrief about the TAOM convention. The 2014 officers were called forward and presented certificates of appreciation for their service, Magician of the Year went to Bill Irwin for his work on the TAOM 2014 Convention. The 2015 officers were sworn in: President Matthew Martin, Executive Vice President and Program Chairman Joshua Ayala, Immediate Past President Michael Stein, Vice President and Editor of the Flashpaper Rob Davis, Vice President and Webmaster Bruce Chadwick, Secretary Cindy Bighorse, Treasurer Ross Lampe, Sergeant-at-Arms Jeff Hallberg, Historian Rick Burcher, Members-at-Large Vanessa Ayala, Sergio Lopez, Pamela Jenkins, Trustees Bill Irwin, Bruce Chadwick, Arthur Emerson, I.B.M. Ring Representative to the TAOM Jeff Hallberg, and S.A.M. Assembly Representative to the Mark Miertschin. Matthew Martin presented a beautiful plaque of appreciation to Michael Stein for an outstanding job as the 2014 FWMC president. Magic Mike, Mike Williams, was our guest performer for the evening. Magic Mike’s routine was filled with comedy and some mighty tense moments as he juggled knives and again as he tried to maintain control of Rocky, his pet rock. Trustee Bill Irwin announced the profits from the 2014 TAOM Convention. He stated that $10,200 was deposited into the Well Fargo account. Josh Ayala led the evening’s program “Show and Tell.” The performers and their acts were

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Rob Davis’s “Social Disease Bingo,” Richard Rodriguez’s “Isabella the Medium,” Will Baffle’s “Swinging Cups and Water,” Tiny’s “Fortune Telling Jumbo Deck,” Matthew Martin’s “Rising Card,” Bruce Chadwick’s “Chop Cup,” Ross Lampe’s “Mental Cards,” and Josh Ayala’s “Temple Screen” and “Siberian Handcuffs.” We applaud these magicians on great performances. Matthew dismissed the group for a quick intermission. We returned for Josh to host the exciting and energetic game “Magic Charades.” It goes to show that great magicians of the FWMC do perform remarkable tricks without the benefit of props. Tiny and Matthew won “The Luck of the Draw” introduced this year by Jeff Hallberg. Next meeting Tiny will perform a parser/origami act blindfolded. Matthew will perform a sports act, smaller than normal. Both will compete to win bragging rights – to what, we’re not sure. Cindy Bighorse-Chadwick

RING 16, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE – Society of Memphis Magicians Meets 1st Tue., 7:00pm Memphis Botanic Gardens, 750 Cherry Rd. JOHN SORRELL, Secretary Web site: www.ring16.org

A lot of magic and mentalism here in Memphis, as the second month of 2015 is underway. It was a great turnout again for our February meeting. Our themes for this meeting were “Valentine’s Magic,” “ESP Magic,” or anything else you would like to perform. The Amazing Grayson performed a nice Valentine card trick, followed with “News Clip,” and finally did a nice version of Richard Osterlind’s “Trick that Fooled Einstein.” Tim Grant did a great and popular routine, “Play Money.” John Grizzle followed with Joshua Jay’s “Prizm Deck,” Ernie Williamson wrapped up with Harry Anderson’s “Winner Take All.” Richard Osterlind came to Memphis for his first lecture here in The Bluff City. We had an excellent crowd, and a great lecture from Mr. Osterlind. We learned a lot, and he was thorough and informative. Seeing a lot of his great mentalism, and hearing his stories and theories on certain aspects of mentalism made for a great night. If your Ring has a chance to book Mr. Osterlind, please do so, this is highly recommended. We had a lecture from Rich Marotta scheduled; unfortunately, he had to cancel due to health reasons; we wish him all the best and a speedy recovery. We do have Lee Earle booked for March. As always, a lot of magic and mentalism here in Memphis. Please check our Web site and our Facebook page for updates. Bill Canaday

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RING 18, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – M.S. Mahendra Ring Meets 4th Thurs. 7:30 pm, Beethoven Mannerchor Halle Und Garten, 422 Pereida St., San Antonio, TX 78210 Web site: members.aol.com/Mahendra18/Home.index.html DOUG GORMAN, Secretary/Treasurer (210) 438-7019 / E-mail: [email protected]

President Hull Youngblood called the meeting to order. Hull asked for a one minute standing ovation in honor of Ed Solomon, who passed away on January 4, 2015. Justin Botter shared his jumbo coin from J.M. Bullion that costs 99 cents. Also, Justin reminded everyone of the Austin Magic Auction on February 28 at the Twin Lakes Fellowship Church. Hull Youngblood reminded us of the TAOM 2015 Convention in Austin. Corpus Christi will host the 2016 TAOM, and the 2016 I.B.M. International Convention will be held in San Antonio. We had seven performers tonight, with the suggested theme “So you’re a magician! Show me something.” Paul Mims opened with an awesome card to pocket effect. Bill Winters showed his skill in spoon bending, and then did a humorous color changing silk routine. Ray Adams did a “D’Lite” routine that he does at the courthouse to entertain children; then, he did a Rainbow Deck routine. John Murphy performed the “26 Cent” trick, and Chris Nelms did “Scotch and Soda,” then, he fooled Hull Youngblood with “Mental Yarn” by Bill Goldman. Don Moravits, with the help of Diane Hildebrand, performed a Magician’s Choice coin effect that baffled us. Doug Gorman entertained us with Garrett Thomas’s “Stand Up Monte,” using jumbo cards. Doug Gorman

RING 19, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – Carl Jones Ring Meets 2nd Mon. each month, 7:00 p.m., at Twin Cities Magic and Costume Co., 2044 S. Robert St. West St. Paul, MN 55118 DAN KOOPMANS, Secretary Web site: [email protected]

The meeting was called to order by President Tyler Erickson. Last month, election of officers took place: President Tyler Erickson, Vice President Mike Arazi, Secretary Dan Koopmans, and Treasurer Rick Hinrichs. Dan Sperry was featured on the cover of MAGIC Magazine. He has been on America’s Got Talent and is part of the “Illusionist” stage show that will be coming to the Ordway Theater in St. Paul. Yesterday was the Kostya Kimlat lecture at Twin Cities Magic and Costume. It was a great lecture. The lecture was more business oriented rather than trick oriented, although there were tricks included. Fritz Alkemade will be lecturing at TCMC on February 24. The annual banquet has not yet been scheduled. This year we are going to try a close-up banquet so people will be entertained in

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small groups. In past years, it has been mainly a stage performance banquet. After the business part of the meeting, a table was set up for close-up magic. Everyone sat around the table and shared effects, book reports, questions, etc. Rick Hinrichs started by doing several silk effects. There was a discussion of reels. Following was a discussion of Roberto Giobbi’s Card College books. Sean Cudeck did a string and needle trick that he developed. Tyler did a card effect. There was a roundtable about the Ring being a safe place for magicians to try new things. Mike Wilke did a ring and string routine. He then taught the routine to the group. Mike also did a book report on the Amateur Magician’s Handbook. Tyler recommended that people record their practice sessions to video and use them to improve their technique. The next meeting was called to order by President Tyler Erickson. Comedy magician Nick Diffatte performed a rope effect from his stage act, followed by a lecture on stage technique. Within the first ten seconds of walking out on stage, the audience is judging you. It is best to make jokes about yourself before the audience can to diffuse that judgment. The three big things about choosing material is how visual it is, flexibility, and ability to travel. Talk to the lighting technician to find out what is the best light for your show. Sound is a hard thing to get right; again you need to work closely with the sound tech. Music can be brought by CD, iPod, or flash drive. Flash drive is preferable although many venues still only use CDs. Nick suggested carrying all three to be safe. Have clear cues for the sound tech. Know basic stage terminology. Roll your clothes when you travel. You can find videos online to show you how. Bring your own spike tape so you can highlight your marks onstage. Learn to do stage makeup; talk to someone who works with this professionally. Set up your act the night before. Get a bite light for when you are getting ready in the dark. Nick then opened the floor to questions. After a brief break, tables were set up for doing close-up magic. The meeting resumed as we welcomed guests and found out their interests in magic. We are trying to make our Ring more special and involve more people who are interested in magic. We are responsible for the support of our club. Tyler encouraged the members to post to Facebook and keep our social media profile active. Ricky Jay’s “Deceptive Practices” was on PBS. Tyler has set a venue for the annual banquet

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and the cost will be half of what we have paid in the past. It will be at Dick’s Last Resort in the Mall of America. A date has yet to be determined. The Illusionists, including Minnesota native Dan Sperry, are coming to the Ordway Theater in St. Paul, March 24 through 29. Fritz Alkemade will be lecturing at Twin Cities Costume and Magic on February 24. Mike Wilke has his third cartoon book coming out. Penn and Teller will be at Mystic Lake Casino on May 1. Jack Norden is in hospice, one of the last of the old guard of Ring 19. Dean Dill and Rene Lavand passed away in the last few days. Mike Wilke did a Color Changing Knife effect. Tom Crone wanted some suggestions for “Professor’s Nightmare.” Mike Wilke and Tyler Erickson performed a couple of different versions. Josh Roman did Nick’s “Play Money” effect. Rick Hinrichs performed another bill effect and the group discussed finesses of the trick. There was a discussion of bill switches. Chris Harristhal did a torn and restored signed card effect, followed by a discussion of torn and restored card methods. Dan asked about dribbling cards and Tyler taught his version. Josh Roman also demonstrated the Braue Reversal that he had learned from Roberto Giobbi’s Card College. Dan Koopmans

RING 20, HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA – Eddie Clever Keystone Ring Meets 2nd Thur., at 7:00pm at John’s Diner, 146 Sheraton Dr., New Cumberland, PA / E-mail: [email protected] KYLE PURNEFF, Secretary

At the January meeting, members engaged in a thorough discussion regarding how to best provide constructive critiques to fellow members in order to improve each other as performers. Following the meeting, the club held a competition in which four members performed a variety of close-up and parlor effects. Mike Snyder, John Sergott, Lou Abbatiello, and Kyle Purnell competed in this open competition. Mike Snyder introduced everyone to his cardfinding pet squirrel. After a card was selected, cards were dealt into a circle on the table, and his squirrel turned into a whirling dervish, relentlessly spinning in circles until it stopped and pointed to one card which turned out to be the selection. John Sergott followed by performing some mental magic. Business cards were dealt slowly and methodically down onto the table until someone gave the command to stop dealing. The card in which he was stopped was turned over to reveal the all-knowing message: “You will stop me here.” He continued by having a card mentally chosen, and then eerily revealed on his iPad screen. The competition rolled along as Lou

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Abbatiello stepped up to the stage to perform some exciting parlor mentalism with a small pedestal containing three cups and a ball. After having another member place a ball under any one of three cups, Lou was able to divine its exact location. Kyle Purnell closed the competition with some visual money magic. After borrowing a five-dollar bill from another member, and having him sign his name across it, Kyle proceeded to change it into a twenty-dollar bill, with the signature still across the bill. After all the points were tallied, Kyle came in first, Mike in second, and John in third.

RING 21, HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – Caryl Fleming Meets 1st Thu of the month. Call for location Web site: www.IBMRing21.org GERRY SCHILLER, Secretary P.O. Box 246, Newbury Park, CA 91319 / (805) 499-8921 E-mail: [email protected]

After an intensive (and sometimes frustrating) search, Ring 21 finally found a home for its meetings, primarily through the endeavors of board member Don Kenney. We met for the first time at Provident St. Elizabeth Care Center in North Hollywood, and it is a most convenient, comfortable, and flexible meeting room. Members who attended the February meeting agreed that it should prove to be just the right location. In addition, the price (free) is right and our offer to do occasional shows for the residents should be a “win/win” both for them and for us. In the absence of President Wendy Sobel, Vice President Bob Thomas called the meeting to order and introduced two potential new members: Andy Senasac and Peter Dang. Both seem eager to join our group. We also discussed the fact that our Ring and Ring 280 will be sponsoring a magic JAM scheduled for April. There was a lot of interest about this upcoming event. Since we are planning to do a fund raiser in conjunction with a local elementary school, this meeting as well as some future meetings will be “performance” oriented. Those members who want to do a ten to fifteen minute act for the show will do all or part of it for the membership. Two members, Roy Ball and Gerry Schiller, chose to do part of their acts. Roy’s included “stretching a cat” in which images of a cat seemed to stretch as he put them under each other on a board (based on an optical illusion) and the card effect, “Royal Rainbow,” in which he was able to deal a royal flush from several chosen cards. Gerry did one effect that he frequently performs. A borrowed ring (wrapped in a handkerchief) held by a spectator vanishes and is ultimately found in a padlocked box. He also taught

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two card effects that he often does when doing strolling magic: his version of the classic “Anniversary Waltz” (in which a married couple’s two chosen and signed cards become merged into one card) and his own “Good Vibes,” an easy packet trick in which the spectator finds her own card using the supposed “vibes” it gives off. For this one, Gerry had made up five cards with images of super heroes on them – perfect when performing for kids. Bob Thomas provided the Trick of the Month. It was a classic card trick called “Piano Cards” but he had substituted match sticks that are placed between a spectator’s fingers, and when counted, seem to jump from one hand to the other. It’s totally self-working and basically simple yet produces a startling surprise. As the meeting ended, all of us agreed how ideal our new location has proven to be, so we hope it will be our new “home” for some time to come. Gerry Schiller

RING 29, LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS – Little Rock Magic Ring Meets 1st Thur. each month, 6:45 pm., Shuffeld Auditorium, Little Rock, AR. / Web site: www.LittleRockMagic.org DAVID DUGGIE, Secretary

Members and guests of Ring 29 met on January 17 for the annual Christmas dinner and show. Everyone enjoyed a BBQ buffet, while several magicians (Aaron Acosta, Cedric Morley, Blayk Puckett, and Rob Merryman) performed walk-around magic for the 160 present. After the dinner, Jim Henson introduced the officers and board members. At this time, he presented a life-time membership plaque and pin to Jon Bucher. TVP Larry Bean presented the Broken Wand Ceremony in honor of Stan Tarnowsky. Jon Bucher, who emceed the magic show, used the dictionary to provide introductions for the performers in the magic show. First to perform was Scott Davis, who performed “Comedy Flourishes” and his popular “Signed Card to Mouth.” Jimmy Ross, dressed as a janitor, amused the audience by noticing a box on a center-staged table as he was sweeping the floors. He proceeded to follow the directions in the box to perform “Banana Bandana.” Mike Jones had the audience laughing with his version of the Arm Chopper and he also had his volunteer freaked out. Larry Bean wowed his volunteer and the audience with “Color Match.” The volunteer used colored markers to create a face. He then revealed a Styrofoam head that matched the volunteer’s colored drawing. He also used another volunteer to help him perform a comedy Book

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Test. Blayk Puckett ended the first half of the show by performing some awesome juggling with a Christmas theme: juggling Christmas ornaments to “Jingle Bell Rock” and juggling clubs, then ending with one ventriloquist club. Along with Blayk, that club sang “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” Jo Jones began the second half of the show by enlisting an eight-year-old boy to assist her. She made the boy into a magician by putting a black hat on his head and then giving him a Broken Wand. It was then decided he needed a stronger wand. She used Multiple Wands to find the perfect wand. Together, the two performed “Multiple Colored Ropes.” President Aaron Acosta amazed his volunteer and the audience by using an iPhone to match a prediction he made moments before. He then used two volunteers to assist him in performing “Cue the Card.” One volunteer chose a card from thought and the second volunteer read the cue cards that led to finding the selected card in a sealed envelope. Jimmy Rhodes came to the stage through the audience by marching to “Hail to the Chief.” Using two volunteers and a Mardo Bag, he performed a hilarious egg to bag routine. Everyone was in stitches! Randall Eller closed the show by performing an entertaining version of “Magic Squares.” The audience was quite impressed. He closed with his “Magic of Memories” routine using the Floating Table and a special ring from a volunteer. Last but not least, Mike Jones returned Rabbit E. Lee after caring for him for one year. Mike’s addition to the Rabbit E. Lee was a miniature pair of handcuffs. This figurine was retired and a new Rabbit E. Lee was introduced to its new caretaker, Michael Wilkerson, who will return it to the next Christmas party with a magical item added. David Duggie

RING 30, Scranton/WILKES-BARRE, PA Faye Plotkin Ring Meets 1st Thu., 7:00pm, at The Iron Skillet Restaurant inside the Petro Travel Plaza, 98 Grove St., Dupont, PA. DANIEL KOSLOSKI, President / Email: [email protected] Web site: http://www.nepamagic.8m.com

The New Year got off to a good start with some good, well-performed effects after a short business session. The performance part of the evening started with me performing Banachek’s “Number Reversal.” Keith Culver performed his version of a standard ESP effect with some well written, entertaining patter. He called this effect “Now You Know the Rest of the Story.” David Jenkins performed an effect he called

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“Mentalogie.” This effect was basically a wellhandled Cards Across effect, with “Princess Card” trick thrown in. S. Patrick performed two effects. The first, effect was “Impossible Prediction” by Aldo Colombini. A spectator created three piles of cards behind three predictions, then mixing each pile with red and black cards the effect ended with each pile matching its prediction. “Cinematrix” was the second effect. A prediction envelope was on the table in full view. A board with sixteen movie ads displayed. Each movie had a number in its title. A spectator, through the process of elimination, selected four of the sixteen movies which he would like to see. When the numbers in the four selected movies were added, they equaled thirty-four. The effect ended when the prediction was opened and a DVD of Miracle on 34th Street was revealed. Michael Kattner performed “A story discovering a mummified fairy.” Instructions on the creation from Dan Banes of Lebanon Circle. Jarred and Fred Kraft, a father and son team, created their own Cups and Balls effect. Starting out with six red Solo Cups, and a set of high quality aluminum foil balls. They feed off each other with entertaining patter. Ending the effect with two dozen balls, and six oranges. The owners of the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Dorothy Dietrich, and Dick Brookz, also NEPA members, announced after 98 years, Houdini’s 1919 lost silent film The Grim Game has been uncovered and restored for release to the public. To read more about the finding and restoration of the long lost Houdini silent movie go to: http://houdini.org/houdinigrimgameuncoveredbyhoudinimuseum.html. Those of us who know Dorothy and Dick, know they have devoted their life to the memory of Harry Houdini, from replacing the broken bust at the grave site to watching over the Harry Houdini grave site, to the restoration of this movie. Personally, I would like to thank Dorothy and Dick for their continued effort. The performance session of the following meeting started with Michael Kattner who performed two effects. The first was called “The Afghan Bands.” This was a nice paper cutting effect. The second effect was a con, using three pieces of toilet paper in which you had to separate the pieces in one pull. Keith Culver performed his own effect which he called “It’s a Match.” He started the effect by placing a prediction on the table. He then showed a box containing dozens of books of matches from different places he visited. Each book of matches had a number written inside. A spectator reached into the box, pulled out a book of matches and the

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number inside the book of matches matched his prediction. Jarred Kraft ended the performance part of the meeting with a nice card effect where a chosen card was found using key cards from several piles. The meeting then broke up into several groups with members discussing different effects and patter, while others demonstrated close-up material and sleights for the rest of the evening. Burt Ebel

RING 31, MADISON, WISCONSIN – Ben Bergor Ring Meets 2nd Sun. each month, 5:00pm. Monona Gardens Family Restaurant, Monona, WI. WAYNE PETERSON, Ring Contact (608) 274-9411 / E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.ibmring31.com

On January 11, the first order of business was to secure officers for the New Year which was accomplished with all current officers agreeing to serve another turn in their current positions with the exception of Past President Glen “G Ball” Brown turning over his position of sergeant-at-arms to our newest member Joshua Bremmel. Magic for the evening was new magic people were working on and G Ball started with Steve Haynes’s prediction effect “Fair Play.” A volunteer was asked to decide where three objects, a business card, a coin, and a dollar bill should be placed and G Ball produced a correct prediction which had been on his key ring in plain sight during the entire effect. Joshua performed his own creation of a CAAN (card at any number) effect and an Ambitious Card effect. Joshua has demonstrated a unique perspective in creating his own effects. Dan “The Magic Man” Feaster performed a Matrix routine using four uncirculated Kennedy half dollars that he received from Santa, which had a kicker ending production of an oversized half dollar. Dan also performed some rubber band magic making one band penetrate another. “Wayne the Wizard” Peterson demonstrated one of his newest acquisitions from a recent convention visit, a Block Penetration. Two hollow rectangular tubes are displayed and stacked with a clear Plexiglas plate separating them. Next a square block is placed in the upper tube and is dropped, heard hitting and penetrating the plate and falling through the lower tube. Wayne showed us a slip pass he is working on in order to force a card which after a few humorous misses is revealed within a wallet. Keeping with his penetration theme, Wayne used a pen to penetrate a borrowed bill without putting a hole in the bill. Fun appeared to be had by all with February meeting theme being magic of the heart and all members are encouraged to bring along their

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partner which in this writer’s opinion may encourage use of a head chopper. Michael Barnard

RING 41, MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN Meets last Wed. of the month, 7:00pm, at Tripoli Shrine Temple, 3000 West Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI DAVE SWOBODA, Secretary (414) 916-1364 / E-mail: [email protected]

Ring 41 celebrated their annual Christmas party on December 48th (a.k.a January 17) at Meyer’s Restaurant and Bar in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. President Jon Hughett welcomed thirty-five people attending the festivities, including guests from the Houdini Club of Wisconsin. Vice President and Program Chair Scott Lane offered a preview of coming attractions. The February 25 Ring 41 meeting offers unique dual topics: (a) a “Doctors in the House” panel discussion by three long-time members, Drs. William Crowley, Lynn Miner, and Richard Mossey, who will share how magic has influenced their personal and professional lives, and (b) mock MC bits from members showing what they would do if you have to “stretch” because the next act isn’t ready. The March 25 meeting features a gambling themed lecture by Scott Lane entitled “SW Erdnase – Back the Future.” Scott will not only cover the history of the allusive author of Expert and the Card Table, but he will cover card table deception that is practical but not knuckle-busting for the practicing magician. His presentation offers an exceptional insight on Erdnase because, unlike other Erdnase lecturers, Scott has deep family connections and personal insights not previously revealed. April will be another busy month with April 26 as the date for our traditional annual auction. Three days later, Christian Engblom of the world famous Fat Brothers (“show stealers” at last year’s combined I.B.M./S.A.M. convention) will be here to lecture, only one of five he will be doing on his brief U.S. tour. Other upcoming magic events to area magicians include Martin Cox’s lecture on January 27 at Big Guys Magic Shop (www.bigguysmagic .com), Joshua Jay’s lecture on February 11 at the S.A.M. meeting but open to all interested parties (www.sam61.com), and the annual Houdini Club Convention (August 28 through 30), featuring Oscar Munoz as the headliner (www.houdiniclubofwisconsin.com). After the scrumptious dinner, Chicago entertainer Joe Diamond provided the program. Joe may look like a normal guy, but he has turned his fascination for the paranormal into a full-time career. In only his mid-twenties, he has an amazing understanding of the workings of the strange

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and bizarre, even to the point where he defies the boundaries between what we assume can and can’t be done. Joe started out with a packet card trick where one card at a time would mysteriously turn face up until Joe showed the audience that all the cards were actually blank, leaving the audience to wonder if the cards were truly haunted with ghosts. Joe ended his presentation with a trick that involved every member of the audience. Each person was given four cards and instructed to tear the cards into pieces. Joe had the audience mixing their cards up and throwing pieces on the floor, and at one point, everyone was instructed to throw their card piece at David Seebach, Wisconsin’s famed illusionist, Ring 41 member, and Houdini Club board member. Laughter turned into amazement as each person’s last card piece impossibly matched their predicted card piece, which was set aside prior to the mixing. Ring 41 is in the epicenter of Milwaukee Magic and we invite you to join us when in the area. Interested in getting on our club lecture schedule? Contact Vice President Scott Lane: [email protected].

RING 43, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – Harlan Tarbell Ring 3rd Fri. except July and August, 7:30 p.m., at St. Francis Hospital, S. Conference Room, First Floor, 355 Ridge Ave., Evanston, IL 60202 MIKE KAMLET,Secretary / E-mail: [email protected] 175 E. Delaware #8502, Chicago, IL 60611 / (312) 266-2129 Web site: www.ring43.org

Our January meeting opened with Marshall Ellenstein at the Front Table showing how to do the Elmsley Count. In the middle of the demonstration, Alan Koslow appeared in the first Ring 43 “throw down.” Alan shared his handling so members could compare and contrast variations. The main event was our annual “-est Night” where contestants perform just one effect, but must give it a name ending with “est.” Mr. Ash kicked things off with the “Stinkyest” item, “hypnotizing” Ethan Schleeter to “pass gas” whenever certain words were said. As Mr. Ash spoke, sounds were heard where Ethan was sitting as the crowd erupted in laughter. The “Long-est” trick was performed by Anthony Stockton. Guest Eli Miller took a card and replaced it. Anthony caused it to come to the top. With some fancy cuts, the selection returned to the top. Finally the deck was repeatedly split into piles and cards were eliminated by Eli leaving just the selection. Fez-clad Don Clancy shared his “Sweet-est” morsel. Showing his favorite treat, a large bag of M&M’s, he asked John Hessian to choose from three envelopes. John’s envelope contained a note saying he won the bag of M&M’s while Don’s envelopes had cash.

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In his “Amazing-est” routine, Bob Miller counted five jumbo cards and threw one away, but still had five left and repeated this by taking away two cards. When he tossed away nine cards and still showed five cards left, the crowd shouted “amazing” for the third time. Gordon Gluff’s “Knotti-est” was a commercial for the “knot-a-matic” where a yellow rope was placed through a clear tube and came out with several knots that were untied at the end. The “Teamworki-est” effort was shown by Danny Rudnick as he created a team of himself, Don Martin, and the deck. Don took an invisible card and the deck responded by showing it was missing. Don replaced the invisible card face up and the card was then seen face up in the pack. Martin Mercy shared the “Financially Soundest” advice on how to double your money. He borrowed a dollar bill, added it to a pile of other ones and instantly changed them to a stack of twos. This was repeated with another bill changing to hundreds. The “Creepy-est” vignette was performed by David Shareff. Doreen Berholtz was blindfolded as David explained “what happens to one, happens to another.” He tapped a voodoo doll as Doreen said she felt a tap. Burning the doll’s hand revealed ash on Doreen’s. Finally, Doreen stood up, the voodoo doll rose on David’s palm. Jack Clements, Don Martin and Danny Rudnick assisted Mike Kamlet with the “Great-est effect.” Jack read a funny note saying that Mike was the greatest magician and asking Mike to show a card trick. After Jack picked a card and Mike revealed it, Don read a note declaring it was terrible and that he could make the selection vanish from the pack, which it did. Danny read a note stating that he could find the card and showed he was sitting on it. The “Hot-est” began as Jerry Sharff placed some cotton balls into a metal vase. After saying a magic word, Jerry poured several hot cups of coffee from the vase. Armed with two decks, Kex Lang claimed to be the “Lucky-est” as each pack was shuffled and a card removed from the red pack. Don Martin named a number and when counted down in the blue pack, the matching card was found. Sam Hessian presented the “Unsocial-est” routine with a clever premise that the cards were shy. Jack Clements selected a card which hid and re-appeared in the card case. Clapping to encourage the cards, Sam caused a few to leap from the pack and he placed them in Jack’s hand. A little more clapping over Jack’s hand and Jack was now holding the selection. The “Yummy-est story” was told by Nathan Colwell who removed four jokers described as hungry farmers. They

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ate the pip off a card and chewed off half of another card until ultimately devouring all the middles of every card in the deck. Marshall Ellenstein had the “Simpl-est” exchange showing the four twos and placing the black ones on the table only to show the twos had switched places. Handing the red twos to Jack Clements, Jack turned over the cards to reveal he had the aces. Two straws were all that John Falk needed with the “Twisty-est” piece. He wrapped the straws around each other a few times, but was able to easily separate them. Our final contestant was Ethan Schleeter with the “Middle-est” snack. Talking about how the middle always falls out of his sandwich, he demonstrated with cards showing how the trapped card escaped. Mike Kamlet was declared this year’s winner. Danny Rudnick closed the evening by teaching a clever Triumph routine.

RING 44, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND – William E. Baker Ring Meets 1st Tues. each month from Sept. to June, 7:00 p.m., American Legion Auburn Post 20, 7 Legion Way, Cranston, RI JEFF SMITH, President 79 Weeden Rd., Fairhaven, MA 02719 Web site: www.rismmagic.org

In keeping with tradition, the club recently held its annual holiday party, complete with a buffet of Chinese fare, and some great entertainment. It was nice to see old friends and new, and to share some food and fun. Jim Dyer, whose grandfather was a friend and confidant of Houdini, attended with his family. After dinner, we held a giant raffle of magical items, and also some things of a non-miraculous nature. When it came time for the show, Tom Holmes was the MC for the evening, quickly getting into character as Baldini. In keeping with the spirit of the season, Baldini produced snow, ice, and a whole lot of jolly. During the show, Jim Dyer’s wife and daughter were nice enough to assist the performers. Ryan Lally opened the show, performing a great set of classic magic. Finishing with an unbelievable card prediction, Ryan kept everyone’s attention for his entire set. Mark Thomas’s character has more of an edge to him, but he performs with a wink and a smile. The highlight of his set was the transportation of two selected cards from the deck to the Christmas stocking hanging over the fireplace. Closing the show was Scott Martell, whose infectious smile and good nature quickly got the audience focused. Scott’s Torn and Restored Newspaper was perfect, as was the rest of his set. The club was truly blessed to have good

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weather, great volunteers to set up, and an excellent group of performers. Thank you to everyone, especially Ryan, Mark, and Scott. Chris Natale

RING 45, MIAMI, FLORIDA – Syd Bergson Ring Meets 1st. Thu. each month, 7:30 p.m. South Miami Elk’s Lodge, 6304 SW 78th St. South Miami, FL. Web site: Ring45.com RICHARD CURREN, Secretary E-mail: [email protected]

The February meeting was hampered by cold and rainy weather. Driving conditions and illnesses reduced us to two chapter officers, so without a quorum we abandoned the business portion. President Phil Gleason entertained with a video of the life of the father of modern magic, Jean Robert-Houdin. The rest of the meeting was dedicated to member performance. The mentalist, Richard Mark had Ed Allen shuffle a packet of red cards and Billy Byron shuffle a packet of blue cards. The two packets were then shuffled together and yet Richard, using his unique mental powers, was able to separate the reds from the blacks behind his back. Our teacher and guru, Fantasio, displayed two stacks of face-down cards: four kings and four aces. He had Ed Allen switch one king and one ace to the opposite piles. When the piles were turned over the rest of the cards in the piles followed the value of the switched cards. The top card of the remaining deck turned over to reveal a 10 and when it was switched with one king the effect was repeated with the 10s all switched for the kings. Ed Allen, who was awarded I.B.M. Ring 45’s Magician of the Year, took the stage and performed his outstanding juggling routine. Ed mixes magic and juggling by starting with one crystal ball and flash producing the other two balls during the throwing sequences. Rick Del Vecchio entertained with a card trick entitled “Solo” in which Billy Byron selected a card (5D) and Rick placed it between two queens that had large holes in their centers. Rick tossed the queens on the table and the 5D vanished leaving only the queens in view. When he opened the empty card box the 5D was found inside. Phil Gleason gave his Valentine’s Day presentation. He openly displayed a newspaper in which he had placed a romantic message to his wife. Upon closer examination of the article a large red plastic heart suddenly burst through the paper. Ronsted performed his zig-zag card routine in which the QS lives in a tiny efficiency apartment inside her enormous palace. After she retires for the evening, her stomach gets hungry and goes by itself to the kitchen for dinner and then returns to the queen’s boudoir. The Wizard of Ahs, Billy Byron performing in the midst of a slew of outrageous limericks and

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asides, asked Martha Del Vecchio to assist him. He laid out five different colored cards and had Martha select one. She picked the blue card and when Billy picked up an envelope, which had been lying in full view during the performance, he withdrew the only thing from within: a matching blue card. Ron Olmsted

RING 46, OKLAHOMA CITY – Seymour Davis Ring Meets 1st Mon. of month, the City Arts Center, Oklahoma State Fairgrounds, 3000 Pershing Blvd. LEE WOODSIDE, Secretary E-mail: [email protected] Ring Web site: www.okcmagic.org

Prior to the February meeting, J. David Teeman held a workshop on tying a disappearing knot. He had silk scarves for each participant and showed exactly how to perform the illusion. He said that he learned it by “burning” Bill Bixby when he performed it on the old TV series The Magician. We like to start each meeting with magic. President Cassidy Smith introduced Shaun Carter as the featured performer for the month. Shaun had a random person name any of the 52 playing cards. The 3C was named. Shaun borrowed a deck of cards, had a participant shuffle it, and then spread the deck to show that it contained one odd card from another deck: the 3C. Another participant shuffled a deck while Shaun wrote “2 of hearts” on a pad and showed it to the audience. He had the person deal cards and stop wherever he wanted. When the card was turned over, it proved to be the 2H. After having a card randomly selected from the deck, Shaun took the card and tore off a corner. The corner vanished, but was then shown to have “melted” into the back of the card. Our theme for February was, appropriately, “Romantic Magic.” Lee Woodside performed three effects that fit the theme. First, he elicited many groans with his “Bunny Love” routine, using the standard Multiplying Rabbits, but with every rabbit pun imaginable. He then told the story of two paper clips falling in love, which ended with them linking together. Finally, he performed an ESP compatibility test on a couple and, of course, they turned out to be made for each other. Justin Teeman had a lady pick a card. He shuffled it back into the deck and handed the deck to her boyfriend, who was instructed to go across the room, remove one card, and bring it back face down. When she turned over the card that was brought back to her, it proved to be her chosen card. Cassidy Smith provided everyone with a napkin and taught us how to make a napkin rose. After asking, “What is better than a rose?” and

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replying with, “A rose and a kiss,” he tilted the rose he had just made and a Hershey’s Kiss fell out. Lee Woodside announced that the Ring 46 2015 Grimoires were hot off the press. Actually, we’re now releasing them on a CD in PDF format to cut down on printing costs. Malaki, Michael Stephanic, Justin Teeman, David Teeman, and Lee Woodside each contributed material. This was the 20th anniversary edition of the Grimoire, which is edited by Malaki, a.k.a. David Swanson. Jim Green showed a 1939 Davenport trick where ribbons placed into a cloth end up spelling “Good Night.” He then showed his version, where pieces of rope are used and spell “The End.” He said the problem with the old version is that not all of his shows are in the evening. Gary Trosper used the “Professor’s Nightmare” effect to tell the story of “Three Hearts as One,” where a father, son, and grandson become one family. David Teeman made a scarf magically appear. He then took out a deck of cards that was wrapped in a piece of paper with cards copied on it. He had a card selected. He then pointed out that all the cards on the piece of paper were face up except one. When the paper was turned over, the backs of all the cards showed except for one that was face up. It was, of course, the selected card. Terry LoSawyer folded a one-dollar bill and a five-dollar bill so that they were interlocked. He was able to magically pull the bills through each other. He then made the two bills change places and ended the routine by changing them both into fives. He said he would quit while he was ahead. Cassidy Smith performed a nice coin flurry with a half dollar. Derrick Beeson continued the coin magic with a “3-fly” effect. John Shackelford had a volunteer shuffle a deck and select a card. He then magically revealed the card. At the completion of the meeting, Cassidy Smith brought out the box of magic and had each of the first-time attendees select a magic trick to take home. The remainder of our time was devoted to visiting and sessioning. Lee Woodside

RING 50, WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Capital Ring Meets 1st Wed. 7:00 pm, Bishop Ireton High School, 201 Cambridge Rd., Alexandria, VA 22314. Web site: www.IBMRing50.org THOMAS KEE, President

President Tom Kee called the January 7 meeting to order. Mike Wolfson was commended for his efforts in coordinating a special Ring 50 excursion to see “The Illusionists” at the Kennedy Theater on January 10. The highlight of the evening was the annual demonstrations of the latest magic items on the

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market by our Ring 50 “Hocus in Focus” reviewers for The Linking Ring. Associate Editor Jason Goldberg explained the review process. In 2014 The Linking Ring provided over 150 reviews. Ring 50 has a preponderance of the “Hocus in Focus” reviewers and for this meeting six of them discussed or demonstrated products they previously reviewed. Jason provided his review of two books: Magician’s Choice by Todd A. Gipstein, a historical fiction of a young magician’s experiences through a slice of the golden age of magic’s 1930s and 1940s; highly recommended. Dancing Magicians by John Caris is a novel involving magic and psychic feats where psi field intersects with cyberspace. Recommendation: Neutral. Noland Montgomery discussed and performed a hybrid “Linking Rings” routine using methods he had developed over the last decade while using various concepts pulled from Chris Capehart’s The Rings DVD. Noland found the author funny, comical, and imaginative with wonderful patter. Noland gave the review a “Highly Recommended.” Tom Bohacek performed the “Professor’s Nightmare” with a twist inspired from Paul Daniels’s four DVD set Bravura. The twist involved an entertaining patter story based on the three bears. Tom gave the review a “Recommended.” For an encore, Tom performed the prediction trick “Infallible” by Mark Elsdon and Alakazam Magic. A volunteer selected a card to find a number, another selected a number to find a card. The prediction matched the number and card. Tom gave the review a “Recommended.” Bob Carnathan provided two sample tricks pulled from Deep Mental Mysteries by Lawrence Hass, Ph.D. The first involved a wadded paper repeatedly tossed among the audience until someone yelled “Stop.” When asked to name a color the person last holding the wad said “Blue.” Miraculously when the wad was opened plainly written on it was the word “Blue.” The second trick involved a card prediction where an audience member reinserted his chosen card in its deck, the deck in turn was sealed with a rubber band and returned to Bob. Bob immediately predicted the correct card. Bob gave the review a “Highly Recommended.” Bob Patterson took us on “A Trip to Cancun.” The trick involved a volunteer’s card and its teleportation to a folded poster. The poster when unfolded revealed a beautiful hula skirted young lady with a blue-backed card against her chest. The poster was repeatedly folded with much byplay of the volunteer reaching into the folded poster attempting to retrieve the card but instead

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pulling out other items: hula skirt, bikini top, etc. Bob eventually intervenes and retrieves the card. And, yes, it is miraculously the chosen card. The poster sadly when fully exposed at the end of the trick shows a guy standing directly in front of the Cancun beauty. For an encore Bob performed the card trick “Forget to Remember” from Ryan Schlutz’s DVD “Effortless Effects.” A volunteer thinks of a card, but the chosen card is discovered missing from the deck, then found in an empty card box. Bob gave it a “Recommended.” Arnie Levin performed “Noted 2.0” by Gary Jones and Magic Tao. The trick involves a small spiral-bound note pad and Sharpie marker. Misdirection abounds with this trick: When a spectator’s number is written on the note pad and the claim is made the notepad will now disappear, the Sharpie vanishes. The Sharpie is ultimately found behind Arnie’s ear, but then the notepad has vanished and in its place is a deck of cards. Arnie gave the review a “Highly Recommended.” Much thanks to all our reviewers and their dedicated work. John Cloninger

RING 55, PHOENIX, ARIZONA – Bert Easley / Danny Dew Ring Meets 3rd Tue., 7:00 pm, at Coco’s Restaurant at 4514 E. Cactus Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85098 / Web site: www.ring55.org FRANK PASTULA, JR., President, 2950 E. Blue Ridge Rd., Gilbert, AZ 85298 (602) 938-3153 / E-mail: [email protected]

December 6 was Ring 55’s annual holiday party. Hosted again by the Wilfongs to whom we are grateful. The decorations were superb as usual and the day had many features of previous holiday parties. We had Larry Wilfong’s famous “Whatsit?” where an obscure magic item was displayed in a case and we had to guess what it was. (Newbies had a fighting chance because there was a hint available.) Andy Greget was back with his hand-made Banana Foster dessert which I personally look forward to and I am told it is a magical dessert because it has no calories. Food was catered by Waldo’s BBQ in Mesa and aside from the pulled pork, beans, and salad, was delicious Vegi-Kabobs which appealed to vegetarians as well as omnivores. The dinner blessing was done by Fr. James Blantz who is well known for his magic and humor. President Frank Pastula, Jr. acted as MC for our program. Many of our members and a couple non-members) performed a two to three minute trick or routine. I was so excited and mesmerized about the performances, I lost my performance list. So as not to embarrass myself by leaving out someone’s name, I will just say everyone who performed did spectacular. After the fantastic show, it was time for our

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gift exchange game where any one gift can be stolen up to two times. January 20 was a special night. We had so many members and guests, we had to move to the larger banquet room to hold all the people. Why? Because our guest of honor was no other than the mentalism icon Larry Becker. After our social dinner hour, President Frank Pastella, Jr. called the meeting to order and quickly greeted guests, talked about upcoming Ring events, and other magic related news. Once all the normal business stuff was done, it was time for our featured headliner, the famed mentalist and inventor, Larry Becker. The town hall type Q&A forum was moderated by our own Larry Wilfong who did a great job keeping the session going smooth and interesting. Larry Becker shared many aspects of his magic career, and funny, and not so funny, things that took place while he traveled the world. We were mesmerized with his story. After a while, we took a short break to buy Larry Becker’s CDs which he generously donated all the proceeds to the club. We also held our monthly raffle and have to note that Jack Daniels did not win anything this time. After the break we were eager to hear more about Mr. Becker’s life. At the end of the evening we were fully entertained and expanded knowledge about a great icon of mentalism. I like to see more of this type of forum in the future. Mamata Hotz

RING 56, EVANSVILLE, INDIANA – Mystic I.K.I. Meets 2nd. Mon. of month at home of Norris Priest, Henderson, KY LEWIS D. CHANEY, Secretary 986 Hillmont Dr., Henderson, KY 42420 Email: [email protected]

The time had come once again for the members of Ring 56 to celebrate our fellowship and growth at the annual banquet. As always, it was a wonderful time for friends to reconnect after the busy holidays. We were able to enjoy each other’s company before officer initiations for the New Year and anticipate a show from Lewis after the formalities. The elected officers for the year stepped forward and were introduced: President Joe, Vice President Lewis, Secretary Russ, Treasurer Norris, Sergeant-at-Arms Gary, and Board Members Rick, Juin, and Marty. The officers agreed to uphold and respect the positions they had taken and the Ring thanked them for the service they would be putting in. After officer initiations were handled, Lewis performed. Lewis specializes in mentalism and is no stranger to the Ring’s “Magician of the Year” position with his fantastic storytelling style of entertainment.

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Lewis began his show by selecting a volunteer to join him and select one of five-dollar bills the audience provided, the selected bill’s serial number matched the prediction that was handed out previously. A dollar bill was then locked away with a padlock, the key was mixed with four other keys and handed out to different spectators. The only qualified person, Norris (our treasurer), was able to get to the money. Lewis then had a spectator pick a card, written on the back of which were different amounts of money, and the matching amount of money was pulled from a sealed envelope by the spectator who chose the card. A comedy Book Test where everyone but the volunteer was in on the joke, had the entire group laughing. After, Lewis did a completely different Book Test to show us that he could read us all like the books in our hands. And to finish off the show, Lewis presented a spectator with a choice themed after an iconic American jingle, and when the choice was made, the matching prediction was revealed. It was an entertaining show; we thank you for it, Lewis. And a preemptive “Thank You” to all the officers of Ring 56 for all the hard work you will be doing for this year.

RING 58, KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE – Smoky Mountain Mystics Meets 4th Thu. 7:15 pm each month, Place to be determined. Call if in town. / Web site: ibmring58.com JACK WILSON, President (865) 588-8304 / E-mail: [email protected]

There were five Thursdays in January, so we moved the meeting back a week so we could have a little extra time to get the Winter Carnival flyers and schedule ready. What a great convention number 41 is going to be! We took the first part of the meeting to stuff and stamp about 350 envelopes, then we did a little business (mostly about the convention) before doing some magic for each other. We had one guest, Steve Burgess, a couple family members, and nineteen members; since the theme was “Everyone Share Something” it turned out to be a great meeting full of stories, magic, and jokes. Mike Stratman talked about pulling together his biggest show in 1981 with Louise Mandrell. Dawson Parker works with a friend, Kip, and he made a plea for more shows and sponsorships. Roger Reeves talked about the reward of performing at Victory Junction in South Carolina for about 80 children with stage four cancer. David Case talked about seeing Shimada while spending 1985 in Bogota, Columbia and then bumping into him at the airport. Derek Gramfield caught us off guard with his stories of growing up in London and seeing

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Hitler’s bombers flying over his house. John Hopper told the story from the Unconvention where Vorjohan’s hat made a surprise appearance in the evening show, and John also shared a trick where he ripped the center out of a bill and restored it. Bill Sturgis shared the story about being in Korea and being a part of the talent show, then he had a card selected and it matched the prediction when he flicked off the extra pip. Marty Iroff has performed hundreds and hundreds of school shows, and he shared four great stories with us. Carol Vinson talked about some of the magic he does on mission trips and shared one of the tricks where torn paper turned into a message and a cross. Bill Osburn told a story about a once-ina-lifetime outcome to his Square Circle, then he did a trick with two borrowed bills. Steve Jergen did the classic bow into knot that vanished. Ed Ripley spelled to two named cards in the deck. Tom Vorjohan did “Hotel 52” from David Regal’s DVD. Michael Priestap talked about his one attempt at “street magic” and his first pet, Freddy the rabbit. Michael Messing talked about the kid who darted off the stage and ran smack into his speaker pole. Jack Wilson sought out some help on a one-handed riffle shuffle. Ben Young was the only one left to tell a story or do a trick, but we had to run out of the church before the alarm automatically set. Tom Vorjohan

RING 63, GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA Meets 1st Thu. monthly, 7:30pm, The Magic Shop, 1401-1 Laurens Rd., Greenville, SC / to www.ring63.com for details. PAUL DILELLA, Secretary, Web site: www.ring63.com

The February meeting was well attended. President Jeff Kowalk opened his first meeting as the new president. Our first performer was Larry Colombo who was ably assisted by Matthew Munger. Larry performed Shawn Farquhar’s “Sheer Luck” which was well received. Paul DiLella performed Card-Shark’s “Triple Coincidence.” Before performing, Paul requested the membership comment on his performance which deviated from the standard. Instead of a triple coincidence, Paul simply made it a double coincidence, eliminating the third spectator. Much discussion followed the presentation and the consensus was that eliminating the third spectator streamlined the presentation considerably. Jeff Kowalk then performed Joshua Jay’s “A Card at Any Number” using a book with the bookmark becoming the selected card. It was truly a memorable performance. Kevin Crouse was next with a law breaking dollar bill trick. He borrowed a one-dollar bill and performed the “Dollar Bill Shades” trick.

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Kevin drew sunglasses on George Washington and the sunglasses magically ended up on George’s head and the bill returned in that condition to the spectator. Kellar O’Neil closed the evening’s performances with yet another version of “A Card at Any Number” surrounded by our membership. Members were invited for refreshments at the local Irish pub near the magic shop. If you are ever visiting the Greenville, South Carolina area, please stop by the only magic shop in Greenville and attend our Ring 63 meetings. Paul Dilella

rate tearing of “Fresh Fish Sold Here Today,” creating a new story along the way. It was a fun evening, everybody got to keep their new trick, and even received bonus prizes donated by Paul Alberstat. Thanks to our cozy new meeting venue, many members stayed for an hour after the meeting for conversation and magic jamming. Ryan Pilling

RING 66, CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA – The Calgary Magic Circle – Les Brockelsby Ring

We were delighted to welcome to our February 12 gathering John from Grosse Ile, Michigan, and Matt from nearby Perrysburg. During a brief business meeting, Martin Jarrett let us know that tickets for our April 12 close-up show are selling like hotcakes. Les Toth told a story about a friendly competition between a gambler and a magician. Between them – a deck of cards. Each tried to outdo the other, and of course the magician finally won by dealing himself a winning hand. A randomly selected psychic symbol amazingly matched a prediction that Paul Ricksecker had entrusted earlier to an audience member. President Pattrick Przysiecki demonstrated a terrific illusion he brought back from the recent Magi-Fest in Columbus, Ohio. Audience members randomly selected the name of a movie, an item one could buy at a grocery store, and any number between 1 and 1000. Amazingly, Pattrick predicted them all correctly. Manny Hall invited two volunteers to each select a card from a deck. Manny stared at the deck, and after some incredible concentration, was able to tell each volunteer the exact location of their cards in the deck. Stan Fuller came blowing in from the cold with some sort of package about the size of a human head. Stan unwrapped the mysterious package. Inside was an odd looking box that he built as a child, almost 50 years ago. He called it the world’s oldest predicting machine, and it just about blew a fuse when we plugged it in. Amazingly, it buzzed and beeped and burped, accurately predicting what a volunteer had hidden in his pocket only moments before. Todd Christiansen passed a small matchbox around for thorough examination. There were six bright colors decorating the box. A volunteer freely picked one of the colors, and when Todd poked a sewing needle through a small hole in the bottom of the box, it came out the corresponding hole on the top, threaded with a piece of sewing thread that matched the color exactly.

Meets 3rd Thu. of each month, 7:30pm, at Kings Tower 807-6 St. SE Calgary, Alberta. Web site: www.CalgaryMagic.com RON VANDEN HEUVEL, President E-mail: [email protected] / (403) 870-9032

Our new year began with an unexpected surprise as International President Shawn Farquhar popped his head in the door for an unannounced visit to our meeting. Along with First Lady Lori, it got the meeting off to a great start as Shawn surprised us with his card estimation skills. President Dan Stephenson called the socializing to order with a brief update on Ring business, including the tantalizing list of visiting lecturers for the year, beginning with former Calgary member Murray Hatfield on February 4. He passed the evening over to Yeatland Wong for his hands-on workshop challenging us to think outside the box with some classic magic tricks. We were given an unmarked envelope containing some dusty old tricks, and allowed twenty minutes of brainstorming with a partner to learn the trick and find some way to go beyond the included instructions. Dan Stephenson paired with “As Seen On TV” Shawn Farquhar to present a fast-talking mashup of Linking Rings and Ropes. We paused the show to get a group photo with the President before he had to leave for his gig. Gwyn Auger did the sleight of hand for the “Fire and Ice” poker chip trick, while Yeats Wong provided the patter. Manuel Ramirez used the cards from “Dream of the Hermit” to present an entirely new handling of the ESP card matching trick. Ryan Pilling pushed a hole-punched card through a wand, a trick called “Spiker,” and incorporated a wild-card item, a vintage Bang Gun, for bonus points Rob Vanden Huevel presented a jumbo card prediction, reinventing the method to work with a pair of dice he got in his grab bag. Visiting guest James Jordan furiously practiced the complex sequence of moves required to pull off Daryl’s “Whole Thing” trick. Shawn Maloney inadvertently created many laughs with his not-so-accu-

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RING 68, TOLEDO, OHIO – Toledo Society of Magicians Meets 2nd Thurs. each month, 7:30 p.m. at The Elk’s Lodge #1850 at Allen and West Wayne St., Maumee, OH. PATTRICK PRZYSIECKI, Secretary / (419) 297-3037 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.flickr.com/groups/1183410@N23

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Martin Jarrett had two volunteers freely select cards, lay them face down on Martin’s card mat, only to have them trade places. Next, it was my turn. And since I’m rapidly running out of space, let me just say that, well, I was amazing. Eleven-year-old Kevin Ludwig literally phoned a friend. We listened in on the speaker. After freely selecting a series of numbers, the friend, whom Kevin called at the friend’s home, was instructed to locate his most recent copy of Harry Potter. The numbers the friend had selected led to a specific page, a specific paragraph, and a specific word that Kevin had predicted before even placing the call.

RING 70, TACOMA, WASHINGTON – Great Virgil and Julie Ring Meets 4th Sun., at the Shakabrah Java 2618 6th Ave., Tacoma, WA. RICK ANDERSON, Ring Contact / E-mail: [email protected] 501 S. 43rd St., Tacoma, WA 98408 / (253) 473-5456

Our meeting attendees this month included several members who have not been to a meeting for some time. It was nice to see them again. They are busy performing so cannot make many of our meetings. Still, we love you guys. Jeff Evans offered to bring a grand illusion to the close-up arena, and mentioned the stage effect where a woman is placed in a box on one side of the stage and then appears in another box on the other side of the stage a moment later. A spectator was asked to close one hand into a fist, creating a closed cabinet of sorts. Jeff drew an ‘x’ on his open palm to represent the assistant and held his hand on the other side of the “stage” (some distance away). He closed his hand, and a moment later opened it: the ‘x’ was gone from his hand and appeared inside of Karl’s closed hand on his palm. John Villarreal performed a mystifying effect in which he placed a spoon over each eye and had someone take a card from the deck and hold it up. John was able to call out what the card was. He then did an inspiring Linking Rings routine while reciting an Edgar Allen Poe poem (or something close to it). His timing was flawless and his handling of the rings was superb. He then showed us a short routine using sponge bananas and solicited advice and ideas to expand the concept. Commenting that one could tell the difference between real coins and counterfeit coins we saw that real coins fall down and the fake ones fall up. Finally, he had a card selected and lost(?) in the deck and after a number of shuffles, the selected card was on the top of the deck. Then the cards were shuffled and John cut to one of the aces. After placing the deck back together, the spectator was asked to cut the cards and he cut to another ace. John was then able to cut the cards twice more to round out the four aces.

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Mike Fraidenburg showed a stiff rope and asked for ideas for patter as he uses the prop in his consultant lectures. Andy Roy cupped his hands and told us of a small genii therein. We saw the tiny hand waving to us. Rick Anderson has been experimenting with folding coins and showed us some interesting uses for the prop. He then displayed two boomerangs and after some magic they became different lengths as measured by a small ruler. Very mystifying. He next took a deck of cards and removed one placing it face down on the table. He then riffled through them as they were held up facing a spectator who was to remember one of the cards he saw. When the deck was laid face up on the table and ribbon spread, the card was not there. Rick then turned over the tabled card and it was the same announced by the spectator. Rick then gave a mini lecture on card roughing including showing us different materials for preparing the cards and the advantages and disadvantages of each. Silas van Dam, a guest, had a deck of cards shuffled with the spectator cutting them to six piles. The spectator then selected one of the piles and looked through it with the instruction to remember one of the cards in that pile. Silas then spread out the cards and counted each with the spectator remembering the number associated with his card choice. The piles were then assembled into a single deck, cut several times, and the spectator was asked to name the number associated with his choice. Silas counted down that number of cards and the revealed card was the same as the one the spectator had remembered. Michael Hoyles

RING 74, SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Harris A. Solomon Ring Meets 3rd Thu of every month 7:30pm at The Timber Tavern, 7153 State Fair Blvd., Syracuse, NY 13209, www.SaltCityMagicClub.com JEFF D’AMBROSIO, Secretary E-mail: [email protected]

On January 25, Ring 74 held its holiday banquet. It was a resounding success. Over forty Salt City Magic Club members, friends, and family shared a wonderful Italian meal at the Spaghetti Warehouse. A big wave of the magic wand goes to Vice President Theresa Barniak who planned and managed this extremely successful event. Before dinner, our member, “Jason, the Entertainer” strolled around the room, violin in hand, playing musical requests. Of course, a goodly number of our members, as well as visiting magicians (from Ithaca) did close-up effects for the guests and children at the tables. Resident photographer Ken Frehm recorded all with photos. The food was delicious and the entertainment terrific. Lastly, but not “leastly,” this function put

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some dollars into the “+” column of our treasury. Before the magic show began, the officers had two special awards to present. The first was The Tony Zalla award. This award is given to honor an individual who has contributed greatly to our Ring over the past year. The second award was a rare honor and included a special plaque, which granted a “Lifetime Membership” to a deserving individual. Mr. Bruce Purdy won both awards. Bruce definitely deserved these prestigious honors. He is our stage manager and provides all of our stage equipment. He is the club treasurer, our chief financial officer. He produces our monthly newsletter, “The Wandogram.” Bruce constantly works diligently for our club. He was truly surprised by the recognition. Our MC for the evening was Mr. Tom Owens the radio announcer from radio FM 104.7. He did a great job complete with jokes, magical quizzes, and handouts of free musical CDs to the guests. Opening the show was Theresa who did her parasol routine. Following up with her rendition of “The Snowstorm in China.” Hal Schuman did cards, coins, and an entertaining money routine. Ithaca guest Jim Turner did a short comedy routine. Following Jim was yours truly, Ken Frehm. I performed “Sidewalk Shuffle” and a Ball, Silk, and Vase routine that I entitled “La Pequena, Pelota, Roja” (“The Small Red Ball”). George Becker did some comedy shtick and as always, won over the hearts of the audience. Prospective member, Mr. Virgil Dombroski has a history of performing at the New York State Fair as well as many colleges around the country. He is an extremely successful and hard-working entrepreneur. The audience was truly appreciative of Virgil’s performance and his rope routine was the hit of the evening. After the dinner, a group gathered at the bar and continued to chat as well as extending the camaraderie and fellowship of the evening. One of the Ring’s guests (who asked to be anonymous), and who has attended many of our Ring’s events commented “It is obvious that the club has improved greatly over the past few years. We are fortunate to have so many smart and talented members. They share a very special bond and a real love for magic, as well as each other!” To me, hearing this kind of statement is what’s it all about. See you at the meeting. Ken Frehm

RING 75, FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS – Bill Pitts Ring Meets 2nd Sun. each month, 1:30 p.m., Fort Smith Library, 3201 Rogers Ave.,Fort Smith, AR BILL PITTS, Secretary/Treasurer 6214 Carthage St., Fort Smith, AR 72903

The February meeting opened with with the introduction of two guests, Cary Rice and Luke

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McDonald, who are interested in becoming members of Ring 75. Two other guest were also present, Karen Larson and Derrick Larson. Then several reports were presented: Larry Bean – Ring 75 president’s report; Ken Zelnick – treasurer’s report; Ron Ingram – 44th Cavalcade of Magic report; Loretta Larson – birthday report that Bill Pitts and Chuck Larson had birthdays the first week in February. Birthday cupcakes were provided to the members in celebration. In other business, the members approved a request by Larry to purchase a projector to be used for Ring meetings and as needed for the Cavalcade of Magic. Larry performed a routine using five DVD movies and five boxes of candy. Ken secretly selected one of the DVDs and a box of candy, placing them in a paper bag. Larry produced a piece of paper from a paper bag that had been sitting on the table which revealed the same items that Ken had selected. Larry, with the assistance of Derrick selecting a card, then had Derrick rub a scratch-off ticket which revealed the chosen card. Ken did a three color rope trick in which the ropes tied themselves together. Jody Birchfield used a clear plastic bag to have Larry select from papers with celebrity names on them. Larry pulled the name of George Washington from the bag. Jody used a large multi-folded sheet of paper and a pair of scissors to begin cutting out small pieces from the paper he was using. When he unfolded the paper, a fancy head form (not a silhouette) was seen of George Washington. Ron did a bag routine in which he kept turning it inside-out to produce a different colored bag; when we thought he had finished, he unzipped the last bag and produced another slightly smaller series of color changing bags. This was done once more with a third set of bags being produced. Ron then used two identical ropes to teach Casey a do-as-I-do trick. Of course Casey could not succeed as Ron would do it with a slight variation to Casey’s attempt. Luke followed this with a Two Card Monte trick. Clyde Hayre did some card tricks: “Card Warp,” “Three Card Monte,” and ended with a satirical story about a farm run by the animals, “Four Legs Good – Two Legs Bad.” Casey had Larry select a card, then proceeded to “find the card” in a deck of cards. Chuck performed a comedy torn and restored napkin routine. After adjourning the meeting, the group retired to the coffee shop across the street for some informal fellowship and discussion of magic. Chuck Larson

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RING 81, SARASOTA, FLORIDA Meets 1st Thu., Workshop 6:00 pm, General Meeting 7:00 pm, Temple Beth Sholom, 1050 South Tuttle Ave., Sarasota, FL SCOTT HERTRICK, Secretary E-MAIL: [email protected] / Web site: www.ibmring81.com

Ring 81’s February meeting was our annual yard sale, where people clean out their magic drawers, bring their stuff to the meeting, and set up shop. In addition to a few visiting dealer tables, members showcased things that maybe didn’t work for them, but might prove intriguing or inspiring for another performer. Despite a host of resolutions regarding not buying anything, just about everyone brought home something “new.” In addition to the obvious benefit of having interesting items on sale, many members mentioned that in going through their “junk drawer,” they had rediscovered and revisited effects that they may not have looked at in a while. Many people did some of their best shopping at home in unearthing these hidden treasures.

RING 90, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO Meets 1st Thu. of each month about 7:00 pm at Heights Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Academy & Moon NE. BILL FIENNING, Secretary (505) 298-0743 / E-mail:[email protected]

The February meeting was our traditional Flea Market night. We had a good turnout with members buying and selling all sorts of magic. President Wayne Hicks held a brief business meeting. He announced our planned public show in March. The nominating committee presented their slate of five officers for 2015: President Wayne Hicks, Vice President Erin Wester, Secretary Bill Fienning, Treasurer Tom Plunkett, and Sergeantat-Arms David Ryan. There were no nominations from the floor; the formal election will be in March. The Flea Market activity continued after the break for snacks. Bill Fienning

RING 92, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA – The Vancouver Magic Circle (Charles Howard Ring) Meets 4th Thurs. except July, Aug. and Dec., 7:00 pm, Sunrise Community Hall, 1950 Windermere St., Vancouver, B.C. GRAHAM KITA, President E-mail: [email protected] / Web site: www.ibmring92.com

The Vancouver Magic Circle’s 2015 year started with a jam session. Gary Spence read an obituary of his late father Alf. After the reading of the obituary, the Broken Wand Ceremony took place with President Graham Kita reading the ceremony. The wand was displayed, broken by Dennis Hewson, and then handed to the Spence family, Ana, wife of Gary, and Joyce, wife of Alf. This was also one trick night and past president’s night where past presidents and members

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must do a magical effect. Past presidents doing their one magical effect were Ray Wong and Alex Seaman. Other members performing their one magical effect were Matthew Jones, Lon Mandrake, Richard Piamonte, Kelvin Ng, Michael Nemeth, Yoosik Oum, Chris Yuill, and Steve Dickson. Ballots for the Kramien and Murray awards were handed out. The nominees for the Kramien award were Chris Yuill, Richard Piamonte, Matthew Jones, Billy Bales Hsueh, and Alex Seaman. The nominees for the Murray award were Chris Yuill, Billy Bales Hsueh, and Matthew Biane. The winners will be announced at the annual installation banquet on February 26. The business portion of the meeting included the installation banquet, the Bizzaro lecture on February 27, and the Jay Scott Berry lecture on March 25. Jay will also be presenting a workshop on March 26 which coincides with our regular meeting. This is the month where we have the election of new officers for the 2015 magic year. Alex Seaman conducted the election procedure. The new officers for the 2015 magic year are President Graham Kita, First Vice President Billy Bales Hsueh, Second Vice President Kelvin Ng, Secretary Karen Eskilson, Treasurer Wiley Allen, and Sergeant-at-Arms Dennis Chan. They will be sworn in at the installation banquet. Congratulations to the new executive for the 2015 magic year. This is also initiation night for new members, who, in order to become fullyfledged members of the Vancouver Magic Circle, will have performed three magical effects at an earlier date. Presiding over the initiation ceremony was Graham Kita. The newly initiated members are Yoosik Oum, Richard Piamonte, and Edward Stehr. Congratulations and welcome to the club. Dennis Chan provided the refreshments. Billy Bales Hsueh donated Starbucks coffee as prizes and he also sold raffle tickets. John Smithman, the club’s official photographer took photos of the evening’s events. Dennis Chan

RING 94, HAGERSTOWN, MARYLAND – The King Ring Meets 4th Weds. each month, 7:30 p.m., Hagerstown American Legion, Northern Ave., Hagerstown, MD / Web site: www.kingmagicring.com ROBERT SIEPIELSKI, Secretary / E-mail: [email protected]

Ring 94’s January meeting was themed around “In Your Drawers” – effects members had in storage or rarely used. Charlie James led things off with a rarely seen “Phoenix Lock” padlock prediction. Robert Priest provided everyone with a “Silent Treatment” card prediction. Dean Burkett performed a “Ribbon Fantastic” ribbon penetration. Guest, soon to be member, Wyatt Yeary provided his first ever routine for our Ring

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with a matching playing card routine. Ever-versatile Dale Rabon showed us why two sponge balls are better than one. Mike Brezler had us enchanted with a multiplying water production. Pete Smolinski demonstrated why Trix aren’t just for kids. Jim Greer was a bust in more ways than one. John Swomley performed a perplexing ring and rope penetration routine. Michael Myers closed the evening with a giant sized “Giant Pairs Repaired” card effect. Our February meeting theme will be “Comedy Magic.” When in our area please join us for some magical fellowship. Robert Siepielski

RING 96, LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA – Merlin Eifert Ring Meets 3rd Sat., 7:00 pm at Farmers and Merchants Bank, 12535 Seal Beach Blvd., Seal Beach, CA. / Web site: www Ring96.com DAN HABEL, Secretary / E-mail: [email protected]

At our first meeting of 2015, we had thirtyeight members and guests. President Kobge Egbok took on the sad task of conducting a Broken Wand Ceremony for one of our long-time members and officer, David Gray. Egbok spoke about David with a sincere sense of loss, which captured the feelings of the other members. After the Broken Wand Ceremony, Bill Pearce presented a lecture entitled, “The Deceptive Use of Information.” Bill dedicated the complete lecture to David Gray. He had known David for many years and with each trick he was able to relate it to an effect David had performed or in which he had shown an interest. This was a remarkable feat to lecture on so many diverse tricks and to make them relevant to the memory of David Gray. There were many unique and interesting tricks. Suds helped Bill with a trick called “The Paranormalist.” We learned several useful techniques such as “The Rosetta Shuffle.” With another effect called “Mystery of Kaballa,” he asked Egbok to assist. This is a clever card effect and Bill chose his assistant well because Egbok is well known for his expertise with cards. Both Egbok and the audience enjoyed Bill’s presentation and his detailed explanation of it. Bill performed “Al’s Speller.” As with all of the effects that he presented during the evening, he went into significant detail about how this trick works and also his thoughts of how he wanted to get the most out of it. He shared with us his “Bill Frills” which added some nice touches to a good trick that made it a great trick. The lecture part of the program ran for almost two full hours of magic with a short break. It is truly remarkable that Bill was able to capture our attention with this material and still tie it directly to the magic that David Gay liked and performed. It was just another fun evening at Ring 96.

April 2015

RING 103, NORFOLK, VIRGINIA – Earl Edwards Ring Meets 1st Tue., 7:30 p.m., Virginia Wesleyan College JAMES JOHNKE, Secretary Website: www.ibmring103.com

It was announced that President Mike Barnes had passed away. Harold Wood will perform a Broken Wand Ceremony at the request of Mike’s family. Ken Hicks will coordinate with the family. A break was taken as the news of Mike’s passing filled the room. The first performer of the evening was Sonny Narvaez. Sonny started by giving a display of one-handed knot tying techniques. Sonny then did a few card flourishes: “Niagara Falls from the American Side” was a card dribble. “From the Canadian Side” was a dribble showing the backs of the cards. And, “Frozen” was when he stopped the dribble in midair using his gimmicked deck. Sonny concluded with a “Chinese Sticks” routine. The sticks were from Earl Edwards’s old shop and the routine was excellent. Mike Heckenberger called on our guest, Randy Willoughby, to volunteer. Mike handed half of a red-backed deck to Randy and each shuffled their half. The full deck was placed on the table and mixed even further and finally assembled and placed off to the side. A blue deck was produced and the card picked at random was the KH. The deck was shuffled and Mike attempted to locate the chosen card. Upon inspection, it was discovered that the king was missing from the blue deck. Having not touched the red deck in a while, the blue-backed king was found in the red deck. Mike then performed a second trick with red and black Chinese coins. Black coins were chosen and the red coins were set aside in a cup. Three coins were lined up on the left of the table and three on the right. With some magical gestures, one coin jumped from one side to the other. This happened a couple more times until all six assembled on one side while the other side was empty. As a finale, Mike changed the black coins to red. Then magically the black coins were found inside the cup. Both of these tricks that Mike loves so much were learned after attending a Mike Evans lecture. Our visitor, Randy Willoughby, is somewhat new to magic but loves it. He first performed a quick sponge ball routine which looked quite magical. Next Randy had a volunteer pick a card: the 10S. Randy lost the card in the middle of the deck. He turned over the top card and asked the volunteer if that was his card. It was not the card, but he quizzes the volunteer and asked how many cards were turned over. He answered “one,” but it was revealed that actually half of the deck was turned. Upon assembling the deck again, Randy flipped the entire deck over and asked how many

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were turned over this time. “All” was the answer, but spreading through the deck showed that only 51 were turned over. The one card that was not turned over was discovered to be the chosen 10S. This was a nice performance of one of David Acer’s tricks. Joseph DePaul had three different people randomly choose a card. They were the 4C, QH, and KS. In order to eliminate any doubt that he could tamper with the deck while attempting to locate the cards, they were placed back into the box, in a glass, and under a glass globe on the table. As Joe stood away from the deck, we all concentrated on those three cards. As we did, the cards rose, one by one, from the card box ... in the glass ... and under the globe. Harold Wood performed one of my favorite Chop Cup routines. Randy was invited to help out and keep track of a ball. The ball was placed in Harold’s pocket. He and Randy played a game in which Randy had to locate the ball. Joe DePaul kept score. As Harold asked Randy to locate the ball either under the cup or in his pocket, Harold seemed to be able to magically transport the ball to whichever location he chose at will. After several rounds, Harold magically produced not one, but two golf balls from under the shot-sized cup. Then finally, Harold impossibly produced a bottle of ketchup from under the same tiny cup. Bill Detterman

Machine,” showing the oldest tricks or gimmicks you own. Jack Wagner showed us his set of binary guess the number cards, which were marked with colored stars as an additional misdirection. He also demonstrated a switching pill bottle made from bottle caps. Jack then performed a clock count using a rabbit with a nursery rhyme, and a folded paper effect where the arrow changed directions in an impossible manner. Copies of these effects were then handed out to club members. Jack next performed a “Positive/Negative” packet effect, and performed “Kaleidoscope,” using a Rainbow Deck. Adam Ryan showed an interesting signed popup birthday card. He next put a large metal washer on and off of a rope, and then performed a four button Matrix routine. Don Rackley showed an old Adam’s Magic three dice box, where one of the dice vanished into his other hand. He also made a quarter penetrate the closed lid of a plastic box. Mike Frisbee showed us an outstanding find from the big auction site, a complete collection of vintage magic props, the set he’d owned as a child. We were quite jealous! Don Rackley

RING 112, CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE – M.H. Ortwein Ring

Thirty-five people gathered on the evening of January 15. It was an evening lecture by Fritz Alkemade from the Netherlands. The lecture was free for members. What a way to start the New Year. Host Victor Heng welcomed guest Samantha Ong and announced the upcoming magic events that members could look forward to: lecture by R. Paul Wilson on January 30, Singapore’s Magician Network 1st Gathering on February 12, and Magic Warehouse Bazaar on March 7. Fritz Alkemade commenced his lecture with his Magic Castle Act. He then performed “Word of the Day” where he caused Samantha’s word “FINE” which she wrote on a piece of paper, crushed into a ball, and held in her hand, to change place with his own crushed paper ball which contained the word “Frizzfries.” In “High Roller Coaster,” Fritz pulled out a guest’s fiftydollar bill from one of three shuffled coasters and its serial number matched the one he wrote and set aside earlier. Fritz continued with “Boxing Day Revisited” which was a card under/in box routine, and “Y.A.M.S.M.A.T.,” which was his answer to the often asked question “Show me a trick.” He also demonstrated a colour change,

Meets 3rd Tue. of each month, 7:00 pm at the East Ridge Retirement Center, 1417 North Mack Smith Rd. off Ringgold Rd. in East Ridge. www.ring112.org JACK WAGNER, President / E-mail: [email protected]

The January 20 meeting began with discussion of next month’s Officer’s Installation Banquet and the upcoming Family Magic Night. Don Rackley was to do “recon” for a suitable restaurant to hold the banquet. The Family Magic Night is an annual program held by Ring 112 in conjunction with the Hamilton County Park Service, and serves to raise money for both organizations. Held at the Chester Frost Pavilion, this year’s show will feature the magic of Past President Jack Wagner, President Mike Frisbee, and professional Scott Fillers. Fourteen year old Johnathan Rackley will also perform the “Vanishing Bandanna.” Don Rackley will emcee. There was also discussion of creating a “New Member’s Package” to encourage club growth, and of reestablishing the door prize give-away. After the business meeting, Mike Frisbee demonstrated a deck of cards he had gimmicked using roughing sticks. The result was quite good. The theme of the night was “Way Back

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RING 115, SINGAPORE – The Great Wong Ring Meets 15th of each month, 8:00 pm, The City Bay View Hotel, 30 Bencoolen St. Website: ibm115.org JOHN TEO, President 10M Braddell Hill #01-49, Singapore 57931 Tel: 62504422, 97509017

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card transposition, appearance, and vanish. Jeremy Pei demonstrated his puzzling Jurassic Park deck as well as Mikame’s Chinese Sticks. Both items were available for sale at his booth. After the break for refreshment, Fritz Alkemade resumed his lecture with a special presentation of “The Homing Card” where the backs of the cards also changed colour. In “Coin Fusion Redux,” Fritz fused two borrowed and signed coins together. He followed with locating four-of-a-kind cards in various pockets. His last effect was “Just in Time 2.0” in which the spectator cut the deck and dealt the cards and found three random cards which indicated the date of the performance. Fritz was an entertaining and fast-paced performer. His lecture was well received. After the lecture, brisk sales were observed at both Fritz’s and Jeremy’s booths. (Ms) Low Hwee Lang

RING 122, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – Silent Mora – Ray Goulet Ring Meets the last Tue. at 7:30pm, at the Magic Art Studio, 137 Spring St., Watertown, MA. DEBBIE O’CARROLL, Secretary 51 Olive St., Newburyport, MA 01950 / (978) 462-9954

Our December 2014 gathering was an active holiday meeting, ending with our traditional Yankee Gift Swap. We started the evening with two pre-meeting presentations. Debbie O’Carroll showed us some of her favorite holiday effects that she performs at libraries. For Kwanza, Debbie created a routine using pictures that corresponded to the days of Kwanza and tied it to a nice version of 20th Century Silks. Debbie showed us how to use Joanne’s holiday fabric bandanas in lieu of silks, as well as a neat way to fold them so you don’t need to sew a gimmicked handkerchief to do the 20th Century trick. She then showed us how she made a coloring book out of a picture book of Buddhist images for Bodhi day (a Buddhist holiday). Such clever, practical ideas for putting old wine in new bottles! Gil Stubbs showed us his handling and thinking for John Bannon’s “Poker Paradox,” and then we started the evening’s performances. We used the theme of “Silent Night” to honor our club’s namesake Silent Mora, so we performed routines without words, using just music, silence, and mime. Debbie O’Carroll performed a lively folk dance using four hula-hoops that linked and unlinked in some wonderful ways. Debbie said it is based on a Dick Zimmerman routine. Gil Stubbs performed a trick invented by Silent Mora that uses sugar cubes. Gil learned the trick from Daryl’s “Fooler Dooler” series and uses dice instead of sugar cubes.

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Pat Farenga, accompanied by music, tied knots in a handkerchief then removed them and placed them in a glass. Jerry Schiowitz did a routine using compact discs that multiplied and changed color, then vanished in a handkerchief. We then moved into the Yankee Gift Swap, officiated by Dan Bybell since he is the only member who remembers the rules. The gifts were quite good and unusual, and some were traded several times before leaving with their final owner. Pat Farenga

RING 129, KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – Heart of America Ring Meets 1st Thurs, the Crown Plaza, 95 St and 1-35, Lenexa, KS JOHN WEAVER, Secretary 705 N. Arroyo Dr., Olathe, KS 66061 / [email protected] Web site: www.ring129.com

We got the year off to a great start with our annual banquet and contest for stage magician of the year on January 17 at the Roeland Park Community Center. We began by honoring our long-term caterer, Margaret Singer. The contest itself is named for the late H. Claude Enslow, and we were pleased that Claude’s daughter and great granddaughter were both in attendance. Ten of the eleven members who qualified in our quarterly contests were eligible to compete. Victor Le’yon qualified but was unable to attend due to a family emergency. Lance Rich was a first-time winner with some nifty card manipulation and a classic Metamorphosis, accompanied by his own singing. Lance has gained a reputation in the past few years as one of our top stage magicians, but he has not competed until recently. Pete Walterscheid, who earlier in the year won our close-up contest, finished second with a holecard routine and the Chinese rice bowls. Steve Steiner, no stranger to the podium, finished third with a basketball-themed routine featuring the production of several basketballs and finally a live cheerleader. Among the other competitors were Keith Leff (fire eating and dove productions – performed in memory of another late Ring president, L.C. Collier); Gene Kean, Multiplying Bottles and Linking Rings; Chuck Replogle, comedy Linking Rings; Phil King, Book Test; Paul Patterson, acting the part of a child while doing, among other things, a torn-and-restored newspaper; Korso and Ziggy, a variation of Metamorphosis; and Brad Lynn, an elaborate magician-introuble comedy act which included some real magic. MC Rod Sipe kept things moving along between acts with a game of “Truth or Crap,” asking spectators to sort out truth from fiction in a number of statements about magic history. After the performances, we honored Gene

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Kean for service to the Ring with a President’s Award and inducted both Gene and Paul Patterson into our Sorcerer’s Circle, the Ring’s honor society. Martin Cox, from the U.K., was in town February 4 for a lecture, co-sponsored by the Ring and U.S. Toy Magic Shop. Besides having some interesting routines, he gave us lots of good tips on how to approach spectators in a walkaround situation, to break down the resistance that many people have to magicians. I also liked his pointers on the top change. Of course to learn the actual routines, you would need to buy the notes or DVDs, but they were reasonably priced, and he was focused more on teaching than on selling. He also had a good sense of humor. Overall, it was an entertaining evening. Our February 5 meeting consisted of a couple of breakout sessions, where we had a choice of rope routines (led by Duane Fields) and card magic (Shawn Rivera). I attended the card session, where several members shared tips on sleights. The rope session was also lively. This was the first time we have used this format, and there was universal agreement that we should do it several times a year.

RING 130, JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA – First Coast Magic – Bob Hutchings Ring Meets 3rd Tue at Country Inn & Suites, 4690 Salisbury Rd., Jacksonville, FL. Meetings/Lectures at 7:30. SIMONE MARRON, Secretary (904) 838-9897 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.IBMRing130.com

The I.B.M. held their mid-year board meeting and their convention committee meeting in Jacksonville the first week of January. Much was accomplished. The talent has been hired, and the line-up is awesome! Everything is coming together and the Ring 130 members are extremely excited to be the host Ring for the I.B.M. annual convention. In January, Matthew Wright, originally from England, but now living in Spain, came to lecture for Ring 130. To open the evening, Gary Benesko performed an amusing effect with the help of Laura Buss, who padlocked and chained Gary’s wrists, and the chosen key was the only one of seven that would set him free. Matthew opened with his “Final Destination,” where coins jumped from hand to hand. The stunner was when one coin visibly floated from one hand to the other. He demonstrated how he uses his “character” to add to his performances. When he is in “performance mode” he is almost like a cartoon of himself. He describes himself as a kind of “autistic Dr. Who,” and encouraged the audience to use their “super hero power.” Matthew performed his “Horizon” for us,

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where he had Treasurer Howard Buss pick a card and replace it in the deck. He stated that he doesn’t find the card; the card finds him. The card then floated out of the pack, through the air, and flew in to Matthew’s hand, to prove him correct. Matthew asked Sergeant-at-Arms Keith Gwaltney and Charles Wooten to assist him in a pretend cocktail party situation. Matthew performed and explained a routine chock full of magic that he would perform in that situation, and at the same time demonstrated how he would turn a less than cooperative guest into an enthusiastic assistant. Next, he showed us his work on the card to wallet effect, using a nice prediction, revealed cleverly using two different methods. After a brief break, Matthew shared a clever blend of two effects: a ring and rope routine with Vice President Dave Coll’s borrowed ring, followed by the vanishing of the ring which appeared in a walnut, inside an orange. Matthew’s skill at audience interaction is something to behold, and his clever lesson of “theory can be fun” was taught in spades this evening. The teaching portion of the evening concluded with Matthew’s “Mint,” where aided by Skip Bressler, some Listerine strip mints, and a deck of cards, he was able to induce “hallucinations” in an amusing fashion. Matthew ended the evening by performing some of the F.I.S.M. act that won him second place in close-up in the 2012 contest. It was full of wonder and amazement, and peppered with his larger than life personality. What an entertaining experience! So many lessons were taught at this lecture, as well as tricks. Matthew taught how to make magic important, and how to become passionate about it. The reviews from the attendees were spectacular. Don’t miss any opportunity that you may get to see this man perform or lecture. Keep checking our Web site at http://www. IBMRing130.com. Simone Marron

RING 150, FT. LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA – Dr. Mark Horowitz Ring Meets 4th Thur. in Tamarac, FL 7:30pm JOHN PETRUZZI, Secretary (954) 721-3054 E-mail: [email protected]

Ring 150 held its first meeting of the New Year on January 22. After President Billy Byron called the meeting to order a moment of silence was held for member Stan Ackerman who had passed. The general meeting covered a wide range of topics and activities the club would be involved in for the year including Members’ Contests, and Movie and History Nights, wherein magic would be the subject of interest. Guest performers

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would be invited to perform for the club in addition to lecturers throughout the year. After the general meeting the theme was “Your Favorite Trick.” Members performed a variety of effects with cards, coins, money, sponge balls, and mentalism. All standard stuff. In later meetings we intend to improve on all the standard stuff in the hope of participating in more community activities. The following month’s gathering was emceed by Manny Riskin. We had another successful raffle and tricks were chosen for the president’s challenge. Marvin Freed has one month to master “Mental Epic” and Mark Rossbach must master “Mystic Computer.” Good luck, fellas. Thirteen of our members had the audacity, um rather the ambition to perform tonight. Some of the standout performers were Gene Fein who did a marvelous disappearing card box and shoot out half jack pop out after a karate chop. Phil Labush also performed a great torn and restored card effect and a blank coin that became a real coin. New member Frank Labanca did a wonderful Three Card Monte that was absolutely delightful. It’s good to have new members that have great talent. Thanks Frank for joining our club. Mel Boskin displayed his uncanny talent of pulling coins out of thin air, and Treasurer Mark Horowitz (Doctor Magic) put a pencil in his nose and did a great money change, and an iPhone effect called “N.W.F.” – I trust you can figure out for what that stands. Incidentally for all you magicians in the frozen tundra of the North, meeting time temperature was 71 degrees. Stay warm! Billy Byron

RING 157, CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – Lettie Barnes Ring Meets the 3rd Tue., 6:00 pm, at Ronald McDonald House, 3402 Fort Worth St., Corpus Christi, TX. JOE DOUGLAS, Secretary E-mail: [email protected]

During January our Ring had an informal meeting to discuss and plan for the New Year 2015. Our election of officers resulted in Scott Hollingsworth, Don Stiefel, and Joe Douglas retaining their positions of president, vice president, and secretary/treasurer, respectively. Michael Gleason was appointed as sergeant-atarms. Judy Hollingsworth and Blake Gavan were also present as we discussed the meeting time and changed to the second Monday of each month. Michael Gleason will be in charge of creating a Facebook page for the Ring and working with Scott to schedule themes for future meetings. At the end of business, an informal discussion of magic followed. Joe Douglas showed how to make a small deck of cards grow to a regular deck using a ribbon spread. He also discussed the “Fair Play” keychain prediction,

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“Lotto Fever,” and the “Flash Deck Switch.” Our February meeting took place at the new date (second Mondays) which will allow us to submit our Ring report sooner. We had a great audience for our public show. Scott Hollingsworth opened with a silver ring and a red shoestring routine. Next, I had a magic bag with a top hat printed on it and tried to produce a rabbit from the hat. He produced a silk scarf with a drawing of a duck with rabbit ears on one attempt; followed by a pig with rabbit ears; then just rabbit ears which were placed on the assistant’s head; then a rabbit with no ears; and finally a rabbit. Miracles will never cease! He closed by having a picture freely selected from a picture book of job listings. The chosen picture matched (?) the photo of a fireman taken from a prediction envelope – shown as a baby. Next the baby picture magically turned into the matching fireman picture. Joe Douglas was next on the program with a “Gag Bag” which turned many colors; a sloppy shuffle card effect; a four ace trick using the four kings; Color Changing Knives; and closed with “Spot the Dog” handkerchief and bag routine where a white and blue hank change colors then end up with polka-dots. Blake Gavin closed the show with a card effect where he revealed the chosen card. Next, he magically removed the picture of a Hershey’s Kiss from the backing and turned it into a real Hershey’s Kiss which he gave to a spectator. Then, two cards were chosen and the two cards changed places mysteriously. A cell phone was borrowed and made to go inside a balloon as the balloon deflated. Blake closed with a Book Test where a helper selected a page from the book and the wrong page number on the prediction was changed magically to the correct page number. This piece of paper was turned to ashes and rubbed on Blake’s arm to reveal the first word on the selected page on his arm. Magic is alive and well in Corpus Christi. The New Year should prove to be exciting. Joe Douglas

RING 167, DES MOINES, IOWA – Justo Hijo of Magic, Inc. 2nd Mon., 7:00pm Felix & Oscars 4050 Merle Hay Rd., Des Moines, IA BRUCE ANDERSON, Secretary E-mail: [email protected]

It was a good turnout for our February meeting on “Mental Magic.” MC Michael Osman opened the magic by calling on volunteer Lisa Jenison to draw a snowman. He then turned his back as Lisa colored different areas of the snowman. Michael opened a prediction envelope and pulled out a matching colored snowman with a orange top, blue middle, and yellow bottom. Keith West introduced Miss Kitty who assists

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with his library shows. They encourage kids to share in the wonders of books. Keith then enlisted Elias Arbuckle to help fill his bucket with coins pulled out of the air. Keith unveiled an amazing routine with a dancing hankie inside a sealed jar to music by George Gershwin. He could start and stop the dancing at will, and even passed the jar around as the hankie danced on. This incredible routine brought the house down. Miller McCoy and Jack Thompson paired up to share a mentalism routine that involved a book, scissors, and a prediction envelope. Ray Thompson sat on the envelope while Jack placed a card in the book. The book was opened to share the page number and printed word. When the envelope was cut open, the page and word was inside the envelope, but missing from the book. Ray (the Mind Wizard) Thompson asked Lisa Jenison to open her eyes and mind to project an image onto a blank card. Ray then made a drawing of that image. When Lisa opened her eyes, Ray had matched her mental image with a drawing of a stick figure. Ray then asked Dr. Alan Koslow to take his pulse while Ray held a clock. With great concentration, Ray was able to periodically stop his pulse and then stop the clock. Monte Rouzer picked Jack Thompson to hold and light a paper with Monte’s hand print. Jack scorched one finger that matched a finger that Monte had burned. Elias Arbuckle had Walt Chivers think of a letter of the alphabet, and correctly matched the letter “C” that Walt had shared. Cody Jenison spread out sixteen cards in the “King’s Quilt” routine, and proceeded to fold them into one pile, and then revealed the four kings face up. Secretary Bruce Anderson, a retired 5th grade teacher, brought the 5th grader Cody to help with some math-magic. By subtracting and adding three-digit numbers, the final answer was 1,089. Upon opening the February issue of The Linking Ring, and turning to page 108, Cody found the first word of the 9th line down to be “earbuds.” Upon opening a sealed envelope, “earbuds” was printed on the card inside. Bruce called LaVerne Anderson up to receive a birthday gift from one of nine colored bags. LaVerne’s birthday on February 14 aligned with an astrological chart that assigned the green bag to LaVerne. Now LaVerne could have had a trip to Hawaii, a cruise, a new car, and a million, billion, trillion, and zillion dollar bills from the remaining bags, but fate left him with a 4D and a dollar bill. Michael Oz had LaVerne pull a paper with an animal’s name out of a paper bag. Then Michael placed a paper bag over his head and tried to guess the spelling of the chosen animal. He got

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the “D” right, but missed on his guess of a “dog.” The answer was a dinosaur. Michael removed the bag from his head to reveal a dinosaur mask. Keith West showed a humorous Six-Card Repeat using comp tickets to a Criss Angel show. Six tickets minus three equals six – minus three equals six – and so on, and on, and on. Jonathan May asked Miller for a card suit, and Ray for the value. He then wrote a prediction on the back of a joker, and correctly revealed the 9D. He then showed the joker’s back, with the 9D on the front. Don’t forget to sign up for the greatest magic convention in the Midwest AbraCORNdabra. Go to AbraCORNdabra.com for information and registration ASAP. Bruce Anderson

RING 170, ORLANDO, FLORIDA – Bev Bergeron Ring 3rd Wed., 7:30 p.m., at IHOP on Kirkman Road, Orlando, FL. SHELDON BROOK, Acting Secretary 400 E. Colonial Dr., Suite 1407, Orlando, FL 32803 / (407) 422-8529 E-mail: [email protected] / Web site: www.Ring170.com

New President Craig Schwartz gaveled the January meeting to order. Craig established some new traditions for our group. Following a freshly written invocation delivered by Dan Stapleton, the meeting opened with a lively bit of magic by Dennis Phillips. He introduced his new “Enthusiasm Machine” used to measure the excitement of the group and there was so much excitement they broke the meter on the machine. Phillips then did a “Ring on Shoelace” routine and ended with a comical version of “Cards Across.” Playing cards vanished from one volunteer’s hands and appeared in another’s on the other side of the room. President Craig Schwartz gave a certificate of appreciation to outgoing President Mark Fitzgerald for his long and dedicated service to the group. Announcements of local magic activities were made and are posted on our Web site. Bev Bergeron presented a teach-in. This time it was the “Puzzle of the Parking Lot Numbers.” He explained that few adults solve the puzzle but all school students who ride school buses solve it. Phil Schwartz, our resident magic historian, did Magic History Moment # 63. It spotlighted Stodare. Alfred Inglis (the Scottish equivalent for English), nom de theatre Colonel Stodare was born in Cumberland, England on June 28, 1831. A stage magician and ventriloquist, Stodare was first to present Tobin and Pepper’s “Sphinx” illusion which he performed at Egyptian Hall as well as Buckingham Palace for Queen Victoria. The first performance of the “Sphinx Mystery” was on October 16, 1865 at Egyptian Hall. He is also known for his Stodare Egg – a hollow egg used in the vanish or production of a silk and his Indian Basket trick. Phil also described

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the history of Dirck’s “Phantasmagoria” and “Pepper’s Ghost.” He then showed a collector’s item, the Rice Haunted House. Greg Solomon filled the rest of the meeting with the Bill Placko Estate Sale. Members were able to pick up some real bargains and help Placko’s father. Bill Placko started his lifelong interest in theatrical magic during the mid-1950s, in the Cleveland, Ohio area. It was there that he received his first magic set. Over the years, Placko performed for schools, church groups, clubs, and various organizations, plus many private party events. Placko also worked full time at a magic shop in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in the late 1960s. He was also known in the magic business as a producer of latex production items. The proceeds of the sale will go to Bill’s father who is in his 90s and living in an assisted living facility. Dennis Phillips

RING 193, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – Len and Thalia Swinyer Ring Meets 1st Wed., 7:00pm, at Len and Thalia Swinyers, 4970 Waimea Way, Holladay. JESS CONE, President / E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.utahmagic.org

We’re off to a good start this year. Two months in a row we’ve had a solid (eighteen magicians) turn out and lots of fun. President Kim Walkowski kicked off the meeting, but immediately handed things over to Vice President James Parrish who kept the meeting flowing as he introduced each performer for the dinnerware themed night of magic. That’s right, tricks with “dinner” stuff. First up was Al Lampkin with the vanish of a selected spoon that magically, comically, and ridiculously reappeared inside of a poblano pepper. This trick was, of course, a tribute to our own Javier Montelongo – you had to be there. With Valentine’s Day only a couple of weeks away, Ron Seward taught how to make heartshaped lockets out of dollar bills. He patiently worked with each one of us until we all became origami master ninjas – that’s a thing, right? Next up, Javier Montelongo, a.k.a. “Devil Dog,” turned a simple torn and restored napkin effect into an entertaining mess and a room full of laughter. He wrapped things up with a clever way to produce and hand out a business card. After all that comedy and origami, it was time for some serious business from Aubrey the Great, the seven-year-old daughter of our resident allthings-Web guy, Cody Reese. She performed a simple, yet powerful animation and levitation of a fork. You go girl. Dave “Magical” Johnson had the difficult duty of delivering magic after Aubrey the Great. But, of course, he nailed it. After borrowing a dollar

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bill, he caused it to vanish, leaving, in its place, a lonely kernel of corn – but wait, Magical Johnson just happened to have a can of corn in a grocery bag. He opened the can, and what did he find? Why, the previously vanished dollar bill with serial number verified and everything. That trick was anything but corny. Following the corn magic of Magical Johnson, we had some more napkin magic with Elias “Lefty” Caress and his handling of the classic “Teach You How to Do Torn and Restored Napkin” trick. As per the usual with Lefty, it was full of comedy, wit, and just the right amount of sarcasm. After that left-handed performance, Mr. President himself performed a beautiful Rick Johnson effect from his Raspberry Tarts lecture notes. An examined miniature padlock magically and instantly and hysterically locks itself to the stem of a wine glass. There were plenty of builtin lobs out to the peanut gallery about Houdini, padlocks, and escaping from prison naked and stealing lock picks from Bess’s kiss right before an escape. The peanut gallery did not disappoint. It’s only fitting that our own Harry Schudini (Harry Schumann) perform after such a Houdiniesque performance piece. Harry transformed himself to Mr. Rogers and magically cooked breakfast complete with eggs, magical appearing sausage, and ending with a big fat cooked goose – well – it was stuffed anyway. To close out the dinnerware-themed night of magic, Vice President James Parrish performed a floating and bending rose effect with a green paper napkin rose – a perfect way to end the performance block. Next up was yours truly, Jeff Stone, for our teach-a-trick segment. “Jacked Up,” from Jay Sankey’s Underground Jam is a coincidence effect where the spectator finds the four jacks ending with a kicker that the jacks are the only blue cards in a red deck. We ended the night with the two prize drawings and delicious treats supplied by Christopher Knight. The prize winners were Magical Johnson (winning The Double Lift Project by Big Blind Media), and Al Lampkin (winning Oracle by Titanas). Al auctioned off the video and generously donated the money to the club treasury. Jeff Stone

RING 199, RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA – Wallace Lee & Dick Snavely Ring 1st Sat. & 3rd Thu., 7:00pm New Horizons Fellowship Church in Apex, Raleigh, NC FRED QUICK, Secretary / E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.raleighmagicclub.org

Ring 199’s lecturer series was kicked off with the January 15 lecture by Chris Taylor. Taylor’s propensity to incorporate electronics in some of

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his mentalist effects was awe inspiring. Taylor performed many other non-electronic based routines as well and left the attendees with plenty of information to add to their “magic arsenal.” At the club’s February Friday luncheon magic session led by Danny Reeves, Wayne Anderson performed a card effect called the “Blue Card” and an effect called “Gravity.” Anderson’s performance of Erik Casey’s “The Poker Test 2.0” was nothing short of outstanding. Anderson’s method for the effect called “Trilogy” (wherein the cards were numbered on their backs and the spectator was able to discover the identities of cards at selected numbers) was amazing. Reeves performed Stewart James’s “Knot of Enchantment.” In this effect, the performer has both of his wrists tied with a knot and makes the claim that he/she will do the impossible feat of making a knot appear in the middle of the rope without untying the knots on the wrists. The performer turns his/her back briefly to the audience. When the performer faces the audience again, there, in the middle of the rope is a knot. Reeves then flexed his pasteboard muscles when he dared to perform Kostya Kimlat’s “Who Killed the King” using a regular deck of cards. Reeves rendition of Francis Carlyle’s “Pistol Card Trick” was convincing. Matt Kilgore showed an original card effect dubbed “Color Separation” as well as a Jami Swiss’s version of the now famous “Ambitious Card” routine. Kilgore showed the group that he is adept at making a selected card fly out of the deck. This trick itself is mind blowing in its own right, but making the card fly out of the deck fast and at the same time appear to move in slow motion was mind boggling. Steven Perry performed a version of “Out of This World.” The group had a productive workshop-like discussion on the “Zarrow Shuffle” and the “Si Stebbens” stack deck. Aaron Thomas performed “Pandora’s Box” (a card-in-box routine) and a copper/silver routine. Don Carrick settled the matter once and for all that his “divination” abilities were up to snuff. The February pre-meeting Magic Youth Raleigh group met with fourteen students. Skip Way taught “Copper and Silver Coins in Flight” from Tarbell and Mike Casey taught advanced card flourishes. At the regular meeting, Matt Brockman did a flawless job with his first time performance for membership with his “Tossed Out Deck” routine. A deck of (rubber banded) cards was tossed out into the audience, three cards were randomly chosen, and Brockman “mentally” deduced which cards were chosen. Christina Brown tied a volunteer securely to a chair, held on to one end of the ropes, had another

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volunteer hold on to the other end, yet was able to “pull” the ropes through the volunteer in the chair. This illusion earned Brown membership in the club. Noah Raymond joined as a new member when he asked a spectator to select a card. The card was mixed into the deck. Upon request, the spectator sprang the entire deck of cards toward Raymond. Raymond stabbed through the air with a sword and impaled the selected card in midair. The main theme was “Fool Us.” Performers took center stage to fool a panel of judges. Bill Simons’s routine entailed that of a spectator choosing a random card. The card was marked on the back with an “X” and put back into the deck. Simons pulled a deck of cards from his pocket. Incredibly, the deck of cards contained only one card in it that had an “X” on its back – the same card. Simons fooled the panel and was awarded a certificate. Sarah Mosley and David Trustman’s routine was a mentalism act wherein Trustman (though blindfolded) would guess cards from three decks randomly chosen by an audience member and called out by Moseley. The panel wrongly guessed that there was a code. The method revealed earned them a prize for fooling the panel. Noah Raymond rendered an impressive performance of Simon Aronson’s “Try the Impossible” card routine where a first spectator names any card at random and when a second spectator touches any card, it matches the card freely named by the first spectator. Although Raymond’s performance was perfect, he failed to fool the panel. Off theme, Anthony Thomas’s performance of a routine he dubbed “Predicting the Future” was hilarious. Randomly chosen members of the audience were selected and each arbitrarily chose an envelope. When the envelopes were opened, each contained 100% accurate predictions denoting who would pick which color of envelope as well as other information about each person that picked an envelope. Fred Quick (a.k.a. “Quick”) devastated the audience with his performance of Geoff Williams’s “Devastation.” Quick called on a spectator to shuffle his own deck of cards, cut the cards into several small piles, mentally choose a card, reshuffle the card in the deck, and cut the reassembled deck several times. Quick effortlessly found the card via the spectator without touching the cards. Jon Ferrante performed Paul Green’s handling of Simon Aronson’s “Shuffleboard” card routine. Ferrante boggled the minds of all who witnessed him shuffle cards, flip flop the cards, deal the

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cards face down into piles selected by a spectator, and accurately predict the number of facedown red cards in one pile and the number of clubs in the other face-down pile. Fred Quick

RING 202, MALTA – The Magicians’ Society Meets alternate Sundays at St. Augustine Centre, Old Bakery St. KIM WOODS, Secretary E-mail: [email protected] site:ring202malta.mirrorz.com

The Annual General Meeting for Ring 202 did not bring many changes. Kim Woods regretfully had to give up her secretarial position because of her university dissertation and she was thanked for doing an excellent job with keeping minutes and compiling reports. So, the committee is now formed of President Vanni Pulé, Vice President and TVP Alfred Mifsud, Secretary Aaron Demanuele, Assistant Secretary and PRO Glen Mercieca, and Treasurer Robert Ellul. During this general meeting various topics were discussed which promised better prospects for the future. The meeting following consisted of a lecture on how to enhance one’s performance using balloons. Robert Ellul is known as The Balloon Man and is popular all over Malta for his magic and expertise in balloon modeling. This time, he shared ideas on how to use magic with balloons as the main props. He combined a balloon arrangement with a dove production. He also built an elaborate yet amusing routine centered around Boretti’s balloon penetration. Later on, Robert adapted a just chance routine involving balloons and ended with another dove production, this time from a balloon hat. Not only was this a stimulating lecture, it was also extremely entertaining and colourful. Following the members were asked to perform some magic that would make other members laugh. This is not an easy task considering our meetings are held on Sunday mornings and most of our magicians have seen many comedy tricks before. However, the ripples of laughter emerged quite spontaneously. Bill Schweda commenced with Ken Brooke’s “Baby Gag” and then moved on to an astrological prediction. Joseph Demanuele regaled us with his presentation of the “Imp Bottle” but using tubes instead of a bottle and including an interactive sequence with various exchanges of tubes with a volunteer. Glen Mercieca performed an amusing series of knots on rope based on “Puzzle Rope” by the late Aldo Colombini ending with a deliberate twist for magicians. Young Gwilym Bugeja, whose ambition is to become a professional comedy magician, performed Wayne Dobson’s version of the Invisible Card following it with a hilarious broken and restored balloon model. Philip Sammut had someone choosing a card supposed-

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ly predicted on a large folded board standing by. When this board was shown, the writing was in Chinese but after being folded up more revealed the prediction to be correct. President Vanni Pulé poured water into a funnel in Gwilym’s trouser which seemed to disappear and was pumped out of Gwilym’s arm. Then he made a borrowed ring disappear, broke an egg inside a chef’s hat, produced a scrawny chicken from the beak of which he reproduced the vanished ring. Alfred Mifsud also asked for the loan of a ring which he ground into gold dust and then reproduced it from a sealed packet. Glen Mercieca

RING 204, ROME, ITALY – Il Circolo degli Illusionisti Meets on Tue 8:30 pm Via Enrico Pea 20-00143 Roma, Italy NORBERT FAZIO, Secretary / E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.circoloillusionisti.it

November began with a lecture which we can define as exceptional. We organized a small tour for the FISM champion Boris Wild from France. The event exceeded all expectations. In this new lecture, Boris presented some classics of card magic revisited in a personal and interesting way. There was a large turnout of members and “outsiders” who did not want to miss the unique opportunity. In the second part of the month we finally presented a special show “Who is the scene? 10 years.” To celebrate ten years of the presidency of our Andrea Turchi, we organized a show that saw the stage presence of two stars of the first magnitude. Performers were some of our talented members and the grand finale was Tony Binarelli and Silvan. We had a full house and we were forced to turn away many people. It is a great honor to have the cooperation of characters of such a level. Thanks, Tony and Aldo. In December there was a special meeting with members to discuss, analyze, and study the show just described. These meetings are useful to improve our future activities. We ended the year with a special evening dedicated to the good wishes for the year-end, a toast, and a nice social dinner. Ciao from Rome. Luca d’Agostini

RING 205, LIMA/FINDLAY, OHIO – Northwestern Ohio Magicians Association (NOMA) Meets last Sun. meetings alternate between Elida St. Paul’s Church and Mike Grubbs’s home in Findlay. GENE CRAFT, Secretary, 5038 Pheasant St., Elida, OH 45807 E-mail: [email protected] / Web site: www.angelfire.com/oh/ring205

Braden Richards opened the January 25 meeting. We had a brief discussion concerning the lecture in April by Greg Wilson. Chris Topel suggested we move to a larger room. He will follow up with possibilities. Dick Haas reviewed the treasurer’s report.

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Gene Craft began the magic with a security wallet that could hide money. Gary Friedrich shuffled a deck of cards and was still able to find a selected card. Mike Grubbs found a selected word in The Linking Ring pages. Dick Haas spelled off “Random Selection” in order to find a card mentally selected by Mike Grubbs. Chris Topel determined that the spectator did not choose the 3D. Braden Richards, Sr. dealt several piles of cards to the table. The final stacks revealed the selected card, all the aces with all their similar suits. Tonight we left to see “Krendl Grand Illusion Magic Show” in Delphos, Ohio. It was the worst snow storm of the winter but everyone made the trip and returned home safe. Good show from our home town magician. Gene Craft

RING 210, ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN – Duke Stern Ring Meets 2nd Wed. each month 7:00pm at Denny’s, 39550 Ann Arbor Rd., Plymouth, MI 48170 JIM FOLKL, Secretary 5590 Fieldston Ct., Bloomfield Township, MI 48301 E-mail: [email protected] / Web site: www.aamagic.org

Our February meeting opened with the election of officers and formal acceptance of eight new members. The board for 2015 is: President John Russell, Vice President Scott Kindschy, Secretary Jim Folkl, Treasurer Dan Jones, and Sergeant-at-Arms Bob Waite. The new members are Brody Jamieson, Molly Larson, Carl Massie Jr., Scott Mitchell, Sean Naes, Paul Nielsen, Mark O’Brien, and Richard Triemer. With the theme of “Mentalism,” eight acts showcased their mysterious powers. George Mathis started things off using a “plumber’s helper” to locate the four aces in a thoroughly mixed deck. Dr. Joaquin Ayala de Cedoz demonstrated “synchronicity,” with the pairing of ten ESP cards after being randomly selected by a spectator. He concluded with a second sight routine, identifying cards drawn by the audience. Jim Folkl changed a lit candle to a bouquet, in honor of Valentine’s Day which lead into two feats of mentalism: the “Mother of All Book Tests” and “Key R Rect.” Dan Jones and Bob Waite performed a comical routine “The Great Bobolini.” It is hard to describe, other than hilarious – you had to be there. John Russell presented the 52 card trick and employed the Mirage Deck to reveal a randomly selected card as the only one face up in a face-down deck, which also displayed a large X on its face. Bob Goodwin, under the title “Adventures in Mentalism,” divined both a word and a number freely selected by a spectator. Marvin Mathena, after having a card selected, had the entire audience stand and think of any card. As he randomly called out denominations, audience members sat,

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until only one group remained on their feet. Upon asking their thought-of card, it turned out they were all thinking of the same card, which was the one originally selected. Our final performer Brody Jamieson, closed with two puzzling effects: penetrations of a pencil into a capped bottle of water and a cell phone into a blown-up balloon. Coming up in March is a lecture by Michigan magician John Luka and our annual installation banquet featuring “The Magic of Eli” as our featured entertainment. Jim Folkl

RING 211, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – June Horowitz/John DeVries Magic Club Meets 4th Mon., 7:00 pm, Brann’s Steakhouse & SportsGrille at 4157 S. Divison Ave. Aug. & Dec. meetings TBA. Web site: www.ring211.org DR. JACK VANDER WAL, Secretary 946 Miede St., Jenison, MI 49428 / E-mail: [email protected]

We begin this month’s report with our Youth Chapter January report written by Peter Stobie: Ring 211 is excited to start 2015 with a new Youth Chapter meeting monthly the Friday before the regular monthly club meeting of each month. We started with an information meeting with three youth: Noah Cranson, Evan Priem, and Steven Elkowitz along with two youth advisors Peter Stobie and Jim Parkes present on December 20. Peter Stobie presented the idea for approval by the board at the board meeting on January 12. We hosted our first official meeting on January 23 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Grand Rapids. President Michele Parkes stopped in to show her support and observe the beginning of this exciting adventure. Parents and one grandparent were present quietly observing the meeting. Everyone introduced themselves, shared why they got into magic, and what they looked forward to from the magic club. We then opened the floor to share magic effects on which the youth have been working. Evan started with a nice card revelation. Steven performed a nice routine where the spectator’s card leapt out of the deck. Paul performed a nice Ring on String effect he acquired from London. Emmett shared his interest in the program the Carbonaro Effect on Tru TV. Paul and Emmett continued to give us a play by play of several entertaining episodes by Michael Carbonaro. We then branched off into some rubber band magic where Peter, Evan, and Steven shared several effects. Jim shared a breakfast cereal version of “Dots Impossible.” Jim gave each youth a copy of this packet trick made up for the youth by Michele’s uncle and Ring 211 alumni Ray Bielecki. Our January workshop was presented by Peter Stobie. Peter gave a short magic show with a

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Harry Potter theme. He was in costume as “Professor James ‘Mack’ McIlHenney.” He performed the following: candle lit with “D’Lite,” “Squaring the Circle,” “Follow the Leader” (hand twist), wand twist, Two to One Glasses, Sponge Rock Gag, Boomerang Gag, Ball to Cube, “Dead Man’s Finger,” Skele-Grow Finger, “Superman” (physical push challenge), Card Illusion, Silk to Egg, and “Son of Morning” (lit match in hand vanish). The theme for the show was “Intro to Muggle Studies.” Professor Mack informed us that magic does have its purpose. Specifically, for all the young underage wizards (youth in audience) who cannot use spells outside of Hogwarts, there is no harm in using muggle magic. Muggle magic is based on mostly perception and the use of Muggle Science. After the performance, Peter gave a brief lecture on this Harry Potter Experience. Peter gave a final thought for each of us as a challenge to fit magic into other themes, outside the normal genre. Tonight’s program was “Favorite Gimmick.” One had to perform a routine using a favorite gimmick. Steven Elkowitz opened with a card selection routine in which he waved his hands over the deck which then magically cut by itself revealing the card flinging upwards. He performed another card routine in which the card was revealed in his hand after the deck had dropped to the floor. Ron Carnell impressed us with a cut and restored silk in newspaper. Jim Parkes dazzled with a silk in hand vanish, vanishing a pen, and then the silk reappearing from a rolled piece of paper. Dr. Jack Vander Wal pulled a coat button from his suit jacket’s sleeve, vanished it, and had it reappear back on the sleeve. Cassandra Heimbecker as “Professor Priscilla Peabody Perrywinkle” produced spiders, flowers, and dollar bills from a booklet. In fact, she magically stretched a one-dollar bill. Peter Stobie humored us by pulling his finger off and restoring it, pen up his nose, and changing the color of the pen top. P. J. Weber astonished by pouring out the powder of a sweetener packet vanishing it in his hand, only to magically restore the contents into the packet. Bob Panlener amazed us by changing a onedollar bill into a five-dollar bill. Wayne Ramsdell followed with a coin routine in which two coins in one hand turned to one coin in one hand and the other to another coin in the other hand. Gary Laundre’ as “Professor Elderberry Winegarden” closed the show by having his Harvey the Rabbit find a selected card. Randy Vander Wal

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RING 212, SAGINAW, MIDLAND, BAY CITY, MICHIGAN – Dr. Boris Zola Ring Meets 4th Tue. 7:30 pm (6:30 for dinner) at The Stein Haus, 1108 N. Water St., Bay City, MI. JEFF NALAZEK, Secretary Email: [email protected]

The theme for January was “Transformation.” Some members chose to do transposition, transIgnoreTheTheme, or anything that started with “trans.” Mark Ginther performed Derek Dingle’s “Out Flushed.” He started with a bad poker hand and ended up with the Royal Flush. This was a transformation. Jeff Nalazek, that’s me, performed the “Ambitious Card from Hell.” This was a transIgnoreTheTheme. Kelly Presson performed the Color Changing Knives. This was a transformation and a transposition. Sorry, no extra credit for being an overachiever. Carrie Rostollan performed the “Hundy 500” where real one-dollar bills changed to real one-hundred dollar bills. This was a transformation. Sorry, no extra credit for using expensive props. Bob Roeser performed the two card tricks where two cards changed places. This was a transposition. Wally Reid performed a prediction effect with a deck of cards and predictions on business cards. This was a transDoWhateverWallyWantsTo. Virgil McDonagh did a card trick with three selected cards where a couple of cards switched places. This was a transposition and a transHardToWriteUp, thus the vague description of the effect. Gene Anderson performed the Torn and Restored Newspaper. This was a transformation and a trans Don’tStrayTooFarFromYourComfortZone. Joe Cooley performed the Cups and Balls with plastic Solo cups and aluminum foil balls. This was a transposition and a trans-UseWhateverIsLayingAroundTheHouse. Joe Shears caused water to freeze in a glass. This was a transformation and a trans-ItsColdOutsideYouCouldHaveDoneThisOutdoorsWithoutMagic. Finally, Cam Zvara performed a double prediction effect with a selected card and a chosen work. This was a trans-TryOutMaterialForMyNewShow.

RING 219, LAFAYETTE, INDIANA – Bob Hurt Ring 1st Thu.,7:00pm, Faith Community Center, Lafayette, IN RON LONDON, Secretary 1008 Cumberland Ave., Apt. #154. West Lafayette, IN 47906

The January meeting of Ring 219 was our annual banquet and installation of the 2015 officers. The meeting was held at MCL Cafeteria in West Lafayette, Indiana. We were attended to by our lovely waitress Paige Brutis.

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Those in attendance were incoming President Scott Starkey, with his wife Cheryl and daughter Lily. Next was our incoming Vice President Robert Pedigo, with his wife Cathy and son Ryan, followed by incoming Treasurer Mike Koning. The last of our 2015 officers to be installed was Recording Secretary Randy Bell. The incoming officer installation ceremony was conducted by Ring namesake Ron London. Also in attendance were Ring members Jon Sexson and his wife Cathy and member Joe White. Our honored guests were Joe and Rhonda Janssen, Jorden Zines, Ellie Stern, James Atkein, Conner Devlin with his mother Michelle and Brother Finn. After the 2015 installation of officers, the entertainment began. The opening act was tenyear-old Conner Devlin who did a card routine, with volunteer Scott Starkey, where after the cards were shuffled, Conner matched card-forcard cards that were put either in a red or black pile. At only ten years old, Conner is already a talented card magician. Our feature performer was Obtuse of Kokomo, Indiana. He was a friend and student of past Ring President Jim Snapp, who died suddenly one month after taking his oath of office in 2014. Jim was a great influence on all of us and is greatly missed. Obtuse was assisted by his son Oran Oldaker. Obtuse opened with a comedy wine glass routine, when covered with a silk, always came empty. Then suddenly not only was the glass full of tasty wine, but the bottle appeared as well. He did a wonderful presentation of the “Spirit Slates,” and a sponge ball routine to the story of “The Goblins Will Get Ya If You Don’t Watch Out” by James Whitcom Riley. Obtuse also produced many other great routines. Ring 219 has planned an active 2015 calendar year. We agreed to join the Tippecanoe Arts Federation for greater exposure in the community. Preparations are underway to teach magic classes to beginners. Many of our members will do walk-around magic and balloons at the Faith Church annual picnic. We will have our annual picnic and free public show in July or August, as well as many personal performances by our members. We look forward to an active and productive year. The theme for the February meeting was “Sweetheart Magic.” The meeting was called to order by President Scott Starkey. The first order of business was to introduce our guests Mike Hudson, newcomer nine-year-old Eli Brown, invited by member Jon Sexson, and my own sweetheart Joyce Bell. The Ring was reminded that beginning with the February meeting a “Snappy Magic Award”

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was to be bestowed upon the top performer, with the best performance of the night. It was decided that the Ring president should announce the winner. The “Snappy Magic Award” is in honor of Past President Jim Snapp who died suddenly last year. The motion to temporarily change the place, if need be, to Signature Health Care to accommodate Ron London who is a resident there, and a founding member of our Ring. The motion was introduced by Randy Bell and seconded by Jon Sexson. The motion was carried and Randy Bell is to take care of the necessary arrangements. The subject was brought up by President Scott Starkey that our feature performer at our January Ring banquet, Owen “Obtuse” Oldaker’s wife Samantha had died suddenly of an unknown brain aneurysm, and asked if we could make a financial contribution to the Oldaker family. Treasurer Mike Koning stated that the Ring had sufficient funds to do so, and made the motion to send a monetary donation. It was seconded by Jon Sexson and carried. A motion was made by Mike Koning and seconded by Randy Bell that a Ring yard sale be hosted at Mike’s residence and all proceeds donated to the Ring treasury. The motion was voted upon and carried. The entertainment portion of the night was opened by Vice President Rob Pedigo who did a card routine involving a Pharaoh Shuffle causing a joker to locate three aces to rise to the surface then changing to the fourth ace itself. Mike Koning followed changing a Kennedy half dollar into two quarters. President Scott Starkey, with the assistance of guest Eli Brown, performed a card trick. Nine-year-old Eli Brown did a wonderful presentation of disappearing and reappearing sponge balls. Robert Pedigo returned with a card routine that involved a series of shuffles and cards in all directions, but in the end only a chosen card was found face up in the deck. Marcus Lehman, with the assistance of Eli Brown, did a card routine involving five different cards to change to five of the same card. He told Eli that he however had cheated and used mirrors to produce the effect and showed Eli that all cards indeed had changed into mirrors. Jon Sexson returned with a torn card routine that was taught to him by Past President Jim Snapp. He was assisted by Joyce Bell. Jon placed several torn cards into two plies. By spelling out “Will the cards match” while having Joyce say stop at multiple random points and switching to the other pile each time, in the end all cards, both tops and bottoms matched. Randy Bell, performing as Mr. Mud Head,

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assisted by his lovely wife Joyce, did what appeared to be a botched card prediction, only to have a chosen card appear in a romantic poem written to Joyce. Marcus Lehman returned with a teach-a-trick featuring a Balducci card cut. Tonight’s Snappy Magic Award went to guest Eli Brown for his sponge ball routine. Ring 219 seems to be in a renaissance stage with several young people attending and performing. We sincerely hope this trend continues. Randy Bell

RING 225, SPOKANE, WASHINGTON – Spokane Magic Club Meets 1st Mon. (call for location) RON HODGES, Secretary / (509) 326-4342 www.spokanemagic.org

February brought some big changes to Ring 225. Long-time President Kenneth K. announced that he was resigning to pursue his magic career in sunny Southern California. That meant we needed to elect a new president. I volunteered to vacate the Vice President slot and run, but thankfully someone nominated Tom Hall for the position. We had a runoff and I narrowly dodged first place and Tom became our president. Lam Chan volunteered to take over Tom’s duties as treasurer and was unanimously elected. I look forward to working with Tom and the executive board for the coming year. I know Tom has some great ideas. Before we broke for magic, the club recognized fairly new member, Isaiah Daniels for his recent full evening magic show, “Trickery” that almost filled a large local theater here in Spokane. He carried off a fantastic show worthy of any professional. Installation of officers was planned for that night and we were asked to perform; but potential member, Ryland had to leave early so he performed a clever business card trick showing a group of business cards blank on both sides and then, via magical gesture, they became printed. President Tom Hall then performed a slick copper silver transposition in a spectator’s hands. Vice President Jon Bowne (that’s me) did a minimal butchering of my version of Steve Bedwell’s hilarious rope routine (I think some people laughed). Outgoing President Kenneth K. wowed us with his flawless Cups and Balls routine followed by his Linking Rings. Both effects were well polished after years of performing in just about every venue imaginable. Secretary Ron Hodges did a complex “Conradi Blocks” or “Bewildering Blocks.” The routine is based on the one in a book by Geoffrey Durham. His patter was original and the routine had so many moves I don’t know how he remem-

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bered them all. Sergeant-at-Arms Cameron Brow donned a wig, babushka, and heavy middle European accent and gave a spectator a spot on (and funny) tarot reading based on the “21 Card Trick.” It was nice to see him putting that acting degree to use. Finally, Treasurer Lam Chan had a card selected, lost, and found again under the card box – wait, that’s not your card? Is it this one? This one? Dang! He promised to do it again next month, right; thus proving that Ring 225 is a safe venue in which to perform without pressure or criticism. Check our Web site, www.spokanemagic.org, for upcoming events and call Ron or use our contact page if you plan to be in the area. We wish Kenneth K. all the best as he embarks on the next phase of his life and career. Do your best, Kenneth. Break a thread. Jon Bowne

RING 234, CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA The Low Country Conjurers Meets 2nd Mon. of each month, 7:00 pm, Tommy Condon’s Irish Pub, downtown Charleston. HOWARD VANDERBECK, Secretary (843) 406-0526 Email: [email protected]

Wow, what a great evening! Vice President Steve Swann presided over the meeting and brought it to order. The treasurer’s report was given, old business discussed, and new business was brought to the floor. A motion was made for a new meeting location. This was seconded and will be raised for a vote by the members in attendance at the next meeting. An awesome new Web site design for the club was presented and will hopefully unfold in the future. On a sad note, Vice President Steve Swann has after many years closed Charleston’s only magic shop. Trying to keep a small business afloat in downtown Charleston, with the economy and increasing regulations proved to be too much. We are sorry to see it gone and wish him well in his future endeavors. We greeted a new guest, Doug Ferguson, to our gathering. He is originally from Ohio and is a former member of many other Rings. He has been in magic over forty years and has a wealth of knowledge and has had friendships with many famous magicians. We look forward to him joining our club. Vice President Steve Swann gave a report on the East Coast Spirit Session Convention held in Myrtle Beach last weekend. He said it was one of the best spirit mentalism events he had ever attended. He was impressed with Paul Prader and Jim Magus. He was blown away by Professor B.C., who is a full-time literary professor; his lecture was top notch and Steve came away with

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new effects and ways of presenting his show. The theme for the month was magic with ordinary objects – no cards allowed. Howard Vanderbeck, using sugar packets from the table, performed a clever sugar packet prediction effect. It’s a real fooler. He taught it to the members. Steve Swann did a cherry Chapstick effect, where the cap was removed, visually vanished, and instantly reappeared on the top of the Chapstick. All can be examined. He shared the secret with the club. Our guest, Don Ferguson, presented a trick he has been performing since the ‘70s: the psychic jumping toothpicks. He graciously tipped the workings to everyone. Steve Swann ended the magic with his sleight stage hypnosis act, called Speechless – excellent presentation and crowd reaction. The evening rounded out with a lively magic discussion covering the following topics: the too-perfect theory, hypnosis, the “100th Monkey,” the Magic Café, Kevin James, circus side shows, Richiardi, Ger Copper, Richard Ross, Paul Gertner, Cardini, and Johnny “Ace” Palmer. Many of these older acts were seen in person by some of the members. Their performing styles and personal interactions with the performers were shared. Howard Vanderbeck

RING 235, KITCHENER, ONTARIO, CANADA – The Caesar Hat and Wand Club 3rd Thur., 7:30 pm, at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Queen & Weber St., Kitchener. / Web site: www.ibmring235.homestead.com MARTY PAPERNICK, President

January was our annual dealer demo presented by Kind of Magic, Canada’s largest brick and mortar magic shop. Phil started out the demonstration by opening with a card routine called “Mis Prediction.” After a card was chosen by a spectator, four incorrect cards were produced; however, when the four wrong cards were placed together and reversed, they were transformed into a jumbo giant card – the correct chosen card. In “Fairplay” a spectator held a keychain with a prediction entombed in plastic. Next a business card, a coin, and a bill were borrowed from other audience members. The spectator fairly placed any one of the three borrowed items in his pocket and then handed one object to the performer and kept the last one. The prediction inside the keychain was 100% accurate! Jon from London demoed the “100 Monkeys” effect where the audience can read the word but the volunteer couldn’t even pronounce the word, creating some humorous antics. He also performed a torn and restored Chinese laundry ticket, and a nice “Wildcard” routine as well. Wilber did a cute Multiplying Rabbits routine to close off the magic demo. Gerard Dietrich thanked Phil and his staff for

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showing us some of the new magic products and some of the old reliable ones. Following the demo many of our members went to Wild Wing directly above the magic shop for some light refreshments. Darryl Hutton

RING 236, CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS – Don & Dorothy Schultz Ring Meets 3rd Wed., 7:00pm, (except Nov. and Dec.) For location call Chris at (217) 431-479 KEN BARHAM, Secretary 2318 Winchester Dr., Champaign, IL 61821 / (217) 841-5616 E-mail: [email protected]

The Get-Together committee was formed and is looking at venues and talent for 2016. The Fluid Event Center has several rooms that would be ideal and will be getting back to us with a price soon. Marcus Clegg hosted his first magic show at the A+ VIP Lounge in downtown Urbana to great reviews. They are considering having more magic there in the future thanks to the success of this show. We have a number of possible lectures to choose from and Chris Bontjes has posted videos on our Facebook page. We started off the magic portion of the evening with a short video lecture by Jay Sanky off of the Penguin Magic Super Sampler DVD. Marcus Clegg then performed his “Double Stick Tape Card Trick.” Professor Higgins followed with “Magic Light” and “Brake” and a good impression of Ironman after a few drinks. My sources say he is healing well. Randy Shields showed off his “Color Changing Shoe Lace” and Roy Stoutenborough demonstrated his version of “Blackstone’s Mathematical Discovery.” See ya at the meeting. Ken Barham

RING 243, CANTON, OHIO – Roth-Mills Ring Meets last Wed. of month, at Sophia’s Restaurant. RANDY WEIDENHAMER, Secretary / (330) 933-8787 E-Mail: [email protected]

The January meeting was called to order by President Ron Barnett. The family kick-off dinner held earlier in the month was another successful endeavor by the club. It was attended by twenty-seven guests, both members and their spouses. The meal was excellent and many who attended performed some after-dinner magic. Also the winner of the banquet ticket selling contest was drawn and Ron Barnett won a free registration to this year’s International Battle of Magicians magic convention here in Canton, Ohio. Also, Tim Angeloni was announced as the 2014 Canton Magicrafter of the year, a deserving award. The January meeting was started by voting on holding our November banquet at the same location as it was last year, knowing that ticket prices

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may increase by $3. Ron Barnett was to make the arrangements. Plans to attend the Columbus Magi-Fest were finalized and the plans continued for the 2015 February annual magic auction. Member health issues were discussed and possible upcoming lectures were considered. Plans were started to find a new location for our monthly meetings as we are experiencing scheduling problems with our current location. This ended the business part of the meeting and everyone readied themselves for the magical part. Brent Schneider caused a ping pong ball to penetrate a solid glass and a block to penetrate a solid tube. Tim Johnson found the selected card by burning it and using the ashes to make it appear on his forearm. Randy Weidenhamer had the selected card vanish from the deck only to reappear in his back pocket and Nick Popa made his selected card appear in his fly and also in his wallet in his back pocket. Jim Klayder performed a wonderful rope routine in which the three ropes changed sizes, restored themselves, and the ends were removed and placed back on. Robert Marci had someone choose one of three invisible coins only to make the two coins not chosen to appear. Our guest Mack Lochridge made the chosen signed card appear on his name tag and finally Ron Barnett did a terrific job with a “Triumph Effect” and a deck of cards as all of the cards righted themselves except for the chosen one.

RING 244, LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK – Frank Garcia Ring Meets 1st Wed., 8:00 pm, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church 99 Central Park Road, Plainview, NY BRUCE SCHNEIDER, Secretary 160 King Street, Elmont, NY 111003 Web site: www.Ring244.org

The theme for the February meeting was “Threads, Strings, Magnets, and Rubber Bands.” MC Steve Goldstein started with a “Sympathetic Coin” bit where he had four coins re-positioned on a small board and when he lifted the board, the coins below were in the same position. Bill White followed with “Ring Flite,” a PK coin bit, and a ring on string effect. Dave Levitan demonstrated an effect where a rubber-banded deck revealed a selected card all by itself and followed with his yo-yo trick which is his version of the “Eternal String.” Steve Goldstein was back with an item called “X-Ray Resistant Cards.” Terry Oberman followed with the Andi Gladwin version of Tommy Wonder’s watch, money, and ring heist where the three items are ostensibly stolen by a robber and placed in an envelope. When the envelope is opened, it is shown to be empty and all the items are back in their original locations. Chris Ward demonstrated a lot of different rubber band effects and then closed with Mark

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Mason’s “X-Act” which is an ACAAN effect. Bob Weinowitz followed with a triple prediction effect using playing cards. Once again, Steve Goldstein performed a trick called “My Piece of Art” by Henry Evans. Bill Krupskas closed things out with an item in which he pulls a half dollar out of a little sealed plastic bag. Bill Krupskas

RING 250, FORT COLLINS, COLORADO – Presto-Digitators 3rd Wed., 7:00 pm, Fort Collins Senior Center, 1200 Raintree Dr. LEW WYMISNER, President / [email protected] (970) 484-7014 / Web site: www.prestodigitators.com

The January meeting was without question the most outstanding meeting of the year thus far. We had good attendance at the planning meeting beforehand, with Stephen Pichoff generously sharing some mixed nuts and cookies with those in attendance. A couple of noteworthy items: The Inaugural Luncheon (replacing the Annual Banquet) will be a combined I.B.M. Ring 250 and S.A.M. Assembly 292 event, and will be held February 21 at the Fort Collins Senior Center. Also, club meetings will be moving to the third Thursday of each month starting in March due to scheduling challenges. The meeting began with Lew Wymisner showing a clip entitled “Heads Up” from Ross Johnson’s Simply Psychic DVD. It’s a powerful yet simple effect. Next, Jack Warkentin asked for help with an effect involving road signs that he has been studying from The Linking Ring (March 2014). Bob Blea demonstrated a sleight from Vernon’s “Penetrating Thoughts,” and Rick Butler performed a variation on the “Super Magic Square.” Cody Landstrom demonstrated an effect with dice that appeared to shrink and grow. Reed Barrett showed a great effect where two spectators each cut a packet of cards from the deck, and he was able to tell each of them which card they had cut to, and how many cards each had in their packet. Finally, Lew showed a Rubik’s Cube that solves itself in a box, and then changes to all sides being the same color. It was a cool night (and the magic discussions were good, too). Andy Poulsen

RING 251, DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – Seaside Magicians THOMAS SISTI, Ring Contact 11 Buttermilk Dr., Palm Coast, Florida 32137 (386) 627-8565 / E-mmail: [email protected]

Our first meeting of the year at Sonny’s Bar-BQ was a great session to start the new year. First timer Gary Benesko showed us his handling of “Professor’s Day Dream,” a great rope routine. Gary also performed his version of

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“Blister,” and performed a rope routine with our waitress, Eden. Gary is a great asset to this club. Welcome, Gary. Young Sean S., age twelve, is an excellent card magician. Sean recently auditioned for America’s Got Talent. Sean came prepared tonight. He performed his handling of “Knock Out Deck,” “The Incredible Shrinking Deck,” “Hello My Name Is” (by Cameron Francis), a great version of Any Card at Any Number, and “Oil and Water” with no gaff cards. We enjoy Sean’s great abilities with a deck of cards. Bruce Bryant, kids magician and balloon artist, performed String to Silk with a nice fat candle, then showed, us his humorous Multiplying Ping Pong Balls, and his comedy Nesting Wands. Tom Sisti performed his version of “Multiplying Dot” (also known as “Hopping Spot” and “Dots Next”). Tom also performed “Head to Head” (four sponge balls and an empty can) and “Thanks for Coming” (a card trick for the restaurant where you are working) by Mark Zacaria. Mystic Mel brought in “Ring and Shoelace” (recently found somewhere in his house). Mel went through his version of “Kate and Edith,” with a few changes that improved the trick, and making it much funnier. Mel also showed Eden and Sarah (two great waitresses) “Stop Stop.” Bob Dorian showed Mel his handling of “Ring and Shoelace.” Bob performed his handling of Color Changing Silks, “Name That Card,” and his handling of Salt Shaker Through Table. Only Peter the Great did not perform, but did participate (between numerous phone calls). Peter is involved with some community organizations. Tom Sisti

Magic Man” David Scott performed a cut and restored rope routine. John Harmon combined a card trick and Ball and Vase with a silk production of the chosen card. Our newest member, Andy Rohweder, entertained with a comedy thumb tie escape. Though the fun didn’t stop there! Paul McCallie had random numbers placed on a peg board which added up to a number predicted earlier on paper. Adam Sain had three random cards chosen from the deck, lost in it, and after the first two cards were found, the whole deck transformed into clear cards. Although one card remained, the final selection. Jimbo Hooten showed an original idea of a copper silver routine that left us senseless. Our first lecture of the year was January 13 with Barry Mitchell’s “Think Different Workshop.” He shared unique ideas on sponge magic, silk magic, and a few simple card tricks. It was awesome. Adam Sain

RING 252, MURFREESBORO, TENNESSEE – Sam Walkoff Ring – The Middle Tennessee Magic Club

RING 280, VALENCIA, CALIFORNIA – Mark Wilson Ring

Meets 1st Tue., 7:02 pm at North Boulevard Church of Christ, 1112 N. Rutherford Blvd in Murfreesboro except for January and June. ALAN FISHER, Secretary E-mail: [email protected]

In January, Ring 280 presented an evening with Whit “Pop” Haydn. We coordinated the lecture with our sister Ring in Hollywood, Ring 21. Our president and MC, Steve Silverman, introduced Mr. Haydn to a full house. Whit Haydn earned the title of “Magician of the Year” six times from the Magic Castle in Hollywood – the Academy of Magical Arts. He has been nominated by his fellow members for “Magician of the Year” in close-up, parlor and stage, bar, and lecturer more than thirty times. Whit Haydn is a past vice president of the Academy of Magical Arts. He also co-founded the School for Scoundrels with his business partner Chef Anton (Anthony S. Riniti).

Ring 252 kicked off 2015 with the annual post-holiday party. This event replaced our regular meeting with family and friends being invited to celebrate as we played dirty Santa, magic style. The night wouldn’t have been complete without the magic. The theme, “A Trick I Got Last Year,” was led by Tom Gibson with a four color bag prediction. Alan Fisher presented an ace routine with a surprise ending, and Paula McGarry told an amazing story with a “Triumph” routine. Little Davy Williams helped Steve Varro with a candy trick that was filled with laughs. “The

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RING 268, LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA – Cajun Conjurors Meets 3rd Mon.. each month, 7:00pm. at Mr. Gatti’s in Lake Charles PERRY VINCENT, President / (337) 302-1634 Web site: www.scorpius.spaceports.com/-conjuror

Here’s who stepped up to the Magic Table and what they did at the January 19 meeting. Robert Fischer did “Marked,” a card trick. Kyle Sylvest showed “Test Your Luck” (Darwin Ortiz) and “Guatemalan Miracle” (Michael Close). Felix Smith did a production of magic wand from silk and Appearing Cane. David LeBoeuf showed “Gypsy Thread” with a special message. Harry Joseph performed “Appearing Deck,” “Quadrofinia,” and “Fourtopia.” John Ward showed “Law and Sin,” a gospel message card effect. And George Mullican performed “Shoestring Through Chinese coin.” Meets 2nd thu. of the month at 7:00 pm at the Newhall Boys & Girls Club 24909 Newhall Ave., Newhall, CA 91321 GLENN CRITES, Secretary / Web site: www.ibmring280.com

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Mr. Haydn, in addition to being a phenomenal magician, is an incredibly skilled teacher. He clearly and directly explained how some mindbending magic works. Simultaneously, he wraps a trick’s explanation in layers of performance considerations. He discusses every nuance of the performance and presentation, from scripting the story and timing to using body language. I have often heard lecturers and magicians say, “You have to believe it before the audience will believe it.” I understood the concept, or at least thought I did. But, I was never sure how you achieve that sense and convey it to the spectators. Mr. Haydn brought the concept home. He told us to say it in our mind. Say silently to yourself what you want the audience to think: “Where did the silk go? It’s not there.” Mr. Haydn combines silent thoughts with well-timed body movements and facial expressions. This is a small peek into the full evening’s information packed lecture. Everyone had a great time. Wendy Sobel from Ring 21 and one of our youth members, Andrew, got to go on stage as assistants. Not only did we learn a great deal, but we were all thoroughly entertained. Also worth noting, Whit Haydn’s explanations did not diminish the entertainment of watching “Pop’s” performance. If you would like to experience the evening of magic we were fortunate to have seen live, visit Mr. Haydn’s web sites: www.pophaydn.com, pophaydn.wordpress.com/2014/08/20/schoolfor-scoundrels-2014, and Youtube. Happy Conjuring. Glenn Crites

RING 303, FT. MYERS, FLORIDA – Ron Murphy Ring Meets 2nd Tue., 7:00 pm. at the Myerlee Manor TONY DUNN, Secretary E-mail: [email protected]

If one of the basic effects in magic is to change one thing into another, our January meeting got off to a roaring start. First, the meeting night for this gathering only was switched from our regular second Tuesday to the second Thursday of the month, in order to accommodate a special lecturer visiting from England. Before Matthew Wright could unveil his latest props and effects that he’d brought from abroad, however, the assemblage got word that both President Tom McVey and Vice President Steve Sander required changes in their affiliation nomenclature. After packing up his props, McVey has left sunny southwest Florida for residency in Texas, while a new employment opportunity for Sander means he’ll be working nights henceforth and unable to attend meetings. With a deep bench, however, Ring 303 plowed onward undeterred. Tony Chaudhuri, who had served as president a few years ago, quickly was chosen to take the gavel up once more, and Secretary Tony Dunn readily

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added vice president to his title. And the show went on. Dressed somewhat like a busker showing off in Piccadilly, Wright used a charming accent and rapid patter to prove he had more than ready wit beneath his bowler. In his lecture, the fourth in a series of a dozen or so he’s doing in the States, he deftly displayed the talent that earned him second place in the FISM European Championship of Magic contest, among other awards. Beginning with some fairly routine coin moves in a Three-Fly presentation, he made the crowd of two dozen magi open their eyes when one coin slo-o-o-wly floated from one hand to another. Then, after repeatedly multiplying and discarding one card box after another, he repeated the floating effect with a spectator’s chosen card. Next, Wright demonstrated how – without having someone remove a card from the pack – an observant performer can determine which of three cards has been “mentally” selected. All it takes, he explained, is to watch the spectator’s eyes and get three cards ready for the reveal when the chosen card is named. Sound difficult? Not really, especially when you’ve been doing magic for thirty-five years (professionally for twenty) as Wright has. In a display of routining, our visiting wizard moved from a ring-on-string penetration to the transposition of the borrowed ring from a box into a walnut inside an orange. And in one of those “why didn’t I think of that?” moments he showed how simply a dollar bill can be made to fly into the center of a freely selected roll of mints. (John Kennedy’s “Mind Power” got a credit for the idea of an index full of prepared mint rolls.) There was more, including a four-ace routine that morphed partway through into a torn-and-restored-card illusion – but time, of course, had to be left for Wright to offer some of his creations for sale. And despite some prices that seemed a bit high for the assembled crowd at first, sales went briskly, especially when his usual prices were cut in half and groups of items such as the multiplying card boxes, floating coin setup, and card-to-wallet were offered together at an overall price. Don Dunn

RING 308, SEARCY, ARKANSAS – Searcy Magic Society Meets 2nd Mon., 7:00 pm, call for location. JOEL NICHOLSON, Secretary E-mail [email protected]

On February 9, Ring 308 met at the Rib Crib in Searcy, Arkansas for our annual Valentine meeting. We had an enjoyable evening of good food, fellowship, and magical fun. President Jo Jones conducted the Ring’s business meeting and also served as MC for the evening. Dan Hecke assisted by Lauran Lawson, had a new twist on mail delivery from a company

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called “Snails” which stands for “Searcy’s New Alternative in Letter Service.” It was a company to compete with UPS, FedEx, and US Mail. Dan made Lauran a “Charter Member.” The company logo was a snail! The letter Lauran was to deliver was marked with the letter “S” which is the abbreviation for “S-cargo.” Dan laid down nine numbered cards symbolizing a nine-unit apartment building and explained that a “Magic Process” would be used to find where the unaddressed letter was to be delivered. Lauran commenced to follow instructions from Jimmy Rhodes on how many spaces Lauran could move at a time. Lauran moved horizontally or vertically or backwards at her own choice. As cards (rooms) were eliminated from the board she magically found the correct room to deliver her letter. Rob Merriman entertained us as he used our waitress for his assistant for a quick, humorous sponge ball routine. Aaron Acosta brought his blue rope version of the “Professor’s Nightmare” and took the act to new heights. Obligatorily, Jon Bucher did a card trick using his Valentine sweetheart Susan Bucher. He made sure she won the first round, and as moths flew out of his ultra-tiny sock purse he rewarded her with a quarter. Three people at random chose cards from Jon’s card deck and returned them to the deck and handed the deck to Susan who was able to find all three cards that were chosen. Jo Jones brought a box that had no top or bottom and showed the audience that it was empty. She then placed it on the table and pulled a dozen plastic encased double flower boxes from it for a beautiful production. Jimmy Rhodes, a master at humorously interviewing his assistants, did something special for our waitress. He magically produced a beautiful drawing of an autographed red rose with a green stem and leaves. Joel Nicholson called David Duggie up as an assistant and the audience barrage of jokes and laughter made the night perfect as David held Joel’s coat as a foulard while Joel tried to put his arm back into the coat. It seems his arm was replaced with an ever lengthening wooden pole that ended eight feet long that came out of nowhere.

RING 320, STAUNTON, VIRGINIA – Blue Ridge Magicians Meets 6:30 pm 3rd. Tue. of each month, Wayne Hills Baptist Church, 877 Ladd Rd., Waynesboro, VA DENNIS PHILLIPS, Secretary Web site: www.blueridgemagiciansring320.wordpress.com

On January 20 the theme for the night was “New Year New Magic (something new you are working on).”

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Red Beard the Pink performed a flash deck switch where the card changed color then the whole pack changed as well. Brian Bence performed “Limitless” by Peter Nardi and “Secret Soldier” by Wayne Fox. Wes Iseli performed a camera phone trick where a random joker morphed into the chosen card but it only showed up in the photo which was an idea by Alan Rorrison. Eddie Tobey performed a semi blindfolded card trick with a peak box. Last but not least, Jim champion performed “My Name Is” by Cameron Francis. For more info on Ring 320 check out www.ibmring320 .com.

RING 324, MIDDLETOWN, OHIO Meets 1st. Fri. Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 212 South Broad St., Middletown, OH 45044 LARRY HOLLINGER, Secretary 4515 Northglen Court, Englewood, OH 45322 / (937) 836-4359

President Ron Evans called the meeting to order, which was useless because we’re a disorderly bunch. In order to maintain some-kind-of order, he said “Let’s eat.” We unanimously agreed. Thanks to Bill Boden and Lew Hollinger for bringing the ribs – yum. While we ate, we raffled for two items donated by “Cheatin’ Charlie” Meyers and an extra plate of ribs donated by Bill Boden. Winners were Ralph Steinlage, Anthony Day, and Larry Hollinger. Our theme this month was “Sponge Magic.” Anthony Day began with Tom Burgoon’s deceptive “Sponge Pickpocket Wallet,” then the classic sponge clown nose. Ron Evans presented a several phase sponge ball routine. Dave Davis followed with another multi-phase routine. Ron Evans has been working on an adaptation of “Shift” from Paul Richardson and showed it to us – very smooth. Ron then tricked us with his “Hide N Go Seek” featuring a cute little girl bunny card. In local magic news, Dayton’s Ring 5 is having a close-up show March 13 in Xenia. More information is coming. May 29, Eugene Burger will be in Norwood at Ring 71. Meeting adjourned, but we stayed and talked magic, of course. So, if you are ever in Middletown, Ohio the first Friday of the month, please stop by and join us. From Ring 324 – The Friendliest Ring Around. Larry Hollinger

RING 325, BRANSON, MISSOURI – The Tri-Lakes Tricksters Meets 3rd Sat. of the month atIt’s Magic & Joke Shop, 6:00pm, 124 South Business 65, Branson, MO ANGELA AND MARISSA GARRETTA, Co-secretaries E-mail: [email protected]

The last magic club meeting was fun; we had a

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youth challenge and I was proud of our youth Mason who was skilled with his tricks, while Seth made us laugh with his funny routines, and Nathan blew us away with his gospel magic; it was a great night. Mason had us on the edge of our seats with a large knife and a dart board and a chosen card. The sad part was Mason borrowed Yak’s deck and then put a hole in one of the cards. Seth entertained with a comedy routine when he tried to escape from a jacket. He did not have a strait jacket so he used a black leather jacket instead while his hands were tied he finely got the jacket off after many tries but it was still stuck on his feet. Nathan did the best job on gospel magic. He made a green silk disappear and then had it reappear in a frame, next he made a silk travel by magic from his hand to a glass on a stand, then made all the silks change into a large 36 inch Jesus silk. After the youth challenge, the adults gave their reports on bios of past magicians. Dr. Chris did well on his report and he also had free hand outs. Joe gave so much information on the magician that he picked. Nathan K. recreated the trick that made Chin Ling Foo famous, the most dangerous trick of all time – the bullet catch in mouth. But that was 1870, so Nathan made it more modern and up-todate. He used a Nerf gun and a paper plate. The whole club thought this was original thinking. Robert did zip-zip block escape with the help of Emil. We also had two guests: “Kidcadabra” and Luka. They were promoting their lecture for the following week at which they had a good turnout. On March 7 we are having a lecture by Eric Jones. Yak Williams

RING 326, BURBANK, GLENDALE, EAGLE ROCK & PASADENA, CALIFORNIA – Harry Blackstone, Jr. RingFloating Ring Meets 4th Tue., 7:00 pm. different member’s homes or businesses RENEE TELESE, Secretary P.O. Box 1418, Sierra Madre, CA 91025 Web site:www.harryblackstone.com E-mail: [email protected]

The January meeting of The Harry Blackstone, Jr. Floating Ring was at the home of Molly Hanson in Eagle Rock. We dined on baked ham, fried chicken, baked potatoes with all the fixings, baked beans, salad, and dessert. There was quite a houseful with guests Dale Haswell who is the president of The Magic Arts Guild, Lorenzo of Thematic Magic in Covina, Matthew Savign from Ring 21 and S.A.M. Assembly 22 as well as Shawn, a PCC student and his twelve year old magician brother David. Under new business, we will be dark in February, as usual. Bob told us about The Magic

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Jam scheduled for April 19 and 20 – more info to come. Masters of Illusion is being taped on January 29, 30, 31 and February 2, 3, and 4 at Red Studios in Hollywood. The meeting was adjourned for magic by Barry, Bob, Molly, and David. Renee’ Telese

RING 334, MYRTLE BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA – Grand Strand Magicians Society Meets 1st Thu., 7:00 pm at the Southatlantic Bldg., Unit C, 908 Seaboard St., Myrtle Beach, SC MERL HAMEN, Secretary 249 Furrow Lane, Carolina Shores, NC 28467 / (910) 575-4153 E-mail: [email protected]

Over twenty-nine magicians attended the February 5 meeting. Paul McTaggert filled in for President Eric Hall. He began the meeting by producing flowers from a newspaper. Mike Cormier and Jim Sterner were introduced as new members. Young Michael Blouin won the raffle for the second month in a row. It was announced that Michael Bairefoot tied for second at the Comedy Cabana comedy contest. A hand railing will be installed in our clubhouse to further help people get upstairs. Jim Sterner is working on it. Plans for the Easter show were made. After the business meeting, chili was served, made by “who else” but Melina LePree. The program was a combination contest/lecture under various categories. The winners were: Bill Jarvis: Most inspiring act. A brick wall sign turned into blue sky with a hole to enter through, no matter how tough it gets. Merl Hamen: Magician in trouble. Cut the deck dummy. Keeps one humble. Funniest Act: John Harpersberger. He tried to escape from his suit coat after being chained up. What happened inside the curtain was hard to believe. His tie kept getting in the way. Technical Skill: Trois Pendleton. A card trick which everyone wanted to learn how to do. I am slowly learning it. Favorite Performer: Lizzy Scalf. A smooth cut and restored rope routine. The contest was emceed by a new member to be, Dave Monsch, a real professional. The other contestants were: Mike Blouin with a card trick, Glen Rae with a card trick, easy opener and a version of “Play It Straight Triumph,” Ed Brenner with an offbeat trick called “Broken Hearts” with a silk inside a heart with the card’s name on it. Van Brady with a great Book Test. I believe it is the mother of all Book Tests! Jim Sterner with a good mental selection item. Charlie Ford did an adding number prediction. Paul McTaggert caused a ring to travel to a middle knot. After the contest, many of the effects were taught. Merl Hamen

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RING 337, POMPANO BEACH, FL – “Gentleman” Jim Heuser Ring Meets 3rd Thu., 7:00pm 2431 N. Cypress Rd., Pompano Beach JIM HEUSER, Secretary 2431 N. Cypress Rd., Pompano Beach, FL 33064 (954) 782-5722

Ring 337 met on January 15 for a lunch meeting at Wendy’s. Marvin Putterman led with a demonstration of false cuts with playing cards all of which are effective. Then he passed a knife through a dollar bill wrapped up in a napkin without damaging the bill. Fred Hayden spread out the cards face up with one card face-down on the table and Marvin was able to name the facedown card in a second. Phil Labush did his always popular fifteen card effect where a prediction card is matched by a final card dealt from the remaining cards in a deck. Jim Heuser taught us a couple of rubber band tricks in his repertoire. Frank Beasley performed a Chop-cup caper followed by a discussion on moves used in switching the two black aces with the two red aces using a packet of four aces. It is a strong effect. Using the formula for “Will the Cards Match” Billy Byron did two different version with colored cards he made which were very eyecatching and clever. He works hard to design his magic making it original. It was a good three hours we spent with magic. Frank Beasley

RING 339, LYNNWOOD, WA – Northwest Ring of Fire Meets 2nd Thu., 7:00pm at the Richmond Beach Library, 19601 21st Ave. Northeast, Shoreline, Washingron www.nwringoffire.com CRAIG COLOMBEL, Secretary / E-mail: [email protected]

The meeting started with a discussion about the meeting for next year. We talked about teachins. We talked about having a group workshop where everything could work on something together. After the discussion we had some magic. The theme for tonight was “Magic at the Dinner Table.” Dan Staple took out a small tea candle. Then he lit it. He talked about the different types of candles and talked about how they each had different scents. He smelled the candle and said, this one smelled like banana, but he wasn’t sure. He then blew out the candle and proceeded to eat the candle. Afterwards he explained how the trick was performed. Craig Colombel performed a prediction using table napkins. He wrote down his prediction on a napkin and folded it up. He had a volunteer first think of a number and write it down, then the volunteer thought of a shape and wrote it down. Finally, a letter was thought of and written down. Craig then open the prediction napkin and showed that he predicted what the volunteer was thinking.

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Steve Tichi showed a flashlight and told us about being nervous when talking in front of groups. He performed a trick using a deck switch. He talked about how to do deck switches. Joe performed a card trick using a deck switch. He talked about the power of suggestion to make a person see the card being suggested and to see the card everywhere. Devin Graupmann had a spectator place a die into a container and cover it. Yet with the container covered, Devin was able to determine which side of the die was facing up. Linae Graupmann performed the “Professor’s Nightmare” with a story about three girls and three ribbons with the theme of the story being about sharing and saying thank you. She then asked if anyone knew of other stories that could be used with the “Professor’s Nightmare” trick. There was some discussion in the group about other stories in magic. After the performances, there was a raffle of donated magic items. So come to the meeting to get a chance to win the raffle and perform for more chances. The club’s meeting place has changed. We lost our old place at the firehouse. The new meeting place is: Richmond Beach Library, 19601 21st Avenue Northwest, Shoreline, Washington. Remember to visit the Club’s Web site: (http://www.nwringoffire.com/index.html) and also visit the Club’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/NorthwestRing-of-Fire/429616737105973 .

RING 364, BOISE, IDAHO – Chazz Treasure Valley Ring Meets 2nd Thu., 7:00pm at the Idaho Pizza Co. P.O. Box 364, Boise, ID 83707 JOHN SANUY, Secretary

The Treasure Valley Magic Club held its meeting on February 12. Ten members were present. Sergeant-at-Arms Mel Borchman announced the meeting would come to order and President Brad Hatcher informed the group that the theme of the meeting was “Valentine Magic.” Brad performed several routines. He borrowed a ring from Andre Berman and immediately the ring magically disappeared. Brad apologized to Andre and offered Andre the opportunity to choose between a large gold ring and a tremendous large beautiful diamond or what was contained in a gum ball machine. Andre chose to take his chances and put a quarter into the gum ball machine and out popped a plastic container which contained Andre’s ring inside. Thorin Van Dam offered Matthew Barton the opportunity to choose a secret number between one and sixty. After allowing Matthew to look at six cards and select the cards which contained the secret number, only one card was correct.

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However Thorin correctly guessed the number two. He asked John Sanuy to secretly choose a number between one and sixty and that number appeared on five of the cards. Thorin correctly guessed the number 47. Thorin went on to perform a Cups and Balls routine with great success. Robert Andrysek assisted by Brad Hatcher, showed Brad two washers, both with holes in the center. He asked Brad to hold one of the washers, magically removed the hole from the washer Robert held, and when Brad opened his hand he found a washer with two holes in it. Andre demonstrated an excellent routine involving a small light and located a chosen card. Andre then went on to explain the penetrating rubber band routine to several members of the audience. Members of the Treasure Valley Magic Club assist other members with their routines and provides them knowledge and suggestions to aid in making them becoming better magicians. The club welcomes visitors to the Boise area to attend a meeting. John A. Sanuy

RING 387, ABBOTSFORD BC CANADA – Celeste Evans Ring Meets 2nd Friday Jan.-June; 3rd Friday Sept.-Nov. 7:00 pm at Norden’s House, Mission Bc DALE HOPKINS, Secretary / E-mail: [email protected]

February was an awesome month as we hosted Murray Hatfield for a lecture. We had over twenty magicians in attendance. The lecture had something for everyone. He first recognized John Kaplan as the magician who inspired him as a child, who was also in attendance at the lecture. Murray spoke about his theory of building a show: SPIFF – Spectacle, personality, intimacy, false ending, and finale! This theory applies to any type of show. In his lecture Murray used effects that included closeup, card work, and stage effects. Best of all, he spoke extensively about the why of magic, not just the how. All of the effects that he taught were out of his current show. The close-up effects were amazing considering Murray says he is not a close-up magician. I think everyone went away from this lecture with something to put to use immediately. All of it was useable material as well as lots of ideas on how to make effects and routines that we are already performing into stronger magic. At our February General Meeting we had three guests: Bernie Grinstead, Gerry Hennessey, and Craig Peloquin. Vice President Chris Yuill gave a workshop on the Mercury Card Fold. A card was selected, signed, and produced, folded, out of a wallet. Awesome piece of work and the wallet was ungimmicked. After the break Bernie Grinstead showed off some of his collectables. Bernie has

April 2015

an amazing collection of books, magazines, and other memorabilia, including a certificate signed by Houdini, a signed picture of Doug Henning, and many others. Third Monday Magic is having great success at the Opening Night Theatre in Mission. February 16 is our Valentine’s show entitled “For the Love of Magic – Again,” starring Paul Romhany, Louie Foxx, and MC Dale Hopkins. The Fraser Valley Magic Circle #387 would especially like to thank Nicole Norden (our treasurer) for the wonderful food that she prepares for our meetings. She always goes out of her way to supply us with amazing food. I’ve put on fifteen pounds since I joined the club but, hey, we all make sacrifices. Thank you so much, Nicole. January, a new year, a new beginning for the dreams which have been set in place for 2015 by the club and its members. If the first week of the year is any indication, 2015 will be a magical one indeed and all the dreams and plans will come true. It was a week full of magic activity for the group. Sunday saw President Maria Ibáñez, husband Jay, and Fantasio attending a lunch invitation from a group of the leading children’s performers around the world. They were holding their annual meeting in Florida. Spearheaded by David Kaye, a.k.a. Silly Billy, present were Scott Humston, Jozo Bozo from Croatia, Mike Bent, David Cox, Ken Scott, and Daniel Garber from Argentina, besides ourselves as guests. Monday was the inauguration of the theater at the home of our member and friend, Fred Karis; la crème de la crème of theater performers of the Latin world, and the closest of friends from the magic world attended. It was a lovely and magical evening. The first meeting of 2015, held on January 7, was well attended, including a visit from distinguished guests from Paris, France and another from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Julien Daniel, president of Ring 350, graced us with his presence and Daniel Garber, children’s entertainer extraordinaire, from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Held at the home of Vice President Alberto Lorenzo and his wife Maritza, the magic presentations started just after a lovely traditional dinner served by the hosts. The magic presented by those in attendance was wonderfully entertaining. President Maria Ibáñez opened the evening’s performances with her “Coming to America” book presentation. Jose Rafael Alvarez came next and had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand within seconds; his coin and card manipulation were

RING 390, MIAMI DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA

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well received and his sponge ball routines had the audience in stitches. Our guest from Paris, Julien Daniel, delighted us with his own presentation of sponges and bowl, leaving us applauding and asking for an encore. Next came Past President of Ring 45, Roy Allen Fischer; his presentation with a simple handkerchief proved once more that there is no big or small trick, only a big or small presentation. He was entertaining and the audience loved him. It seemed that the evening ended all too soon although many did not leave until almost midnight. A meeting at the Lorenzo home is always fun and they are the best of hosts. You would think the week was over, but alas, it was not. On January 8, our visitor from Argentina, Daniel Garber, presented his lecture “TIPS” at the Magic House. The Magic House is the name that has been given to the stage and mini school which has been built at the home of Fred and Eva Karis. The Magic House is the special theater for which we had been invited to the Grand Opening on Monday of this same week. A very thorough, thought provoking and in-depth lecture is what Daniel presented over a period of four hours; the hours which flew by and felt as

though they had come and gone in the blink of an eye. If you ever have an opportunity to see Daniel Garber lecture, perform a workshop, or just perform, I highly recommend you attend; you will not be disappointed and I guarantee you will walk away not just with new ideas but with an entirely new perspective on performing. Friday was to be an evening of rest but the Lorenzo’s would hear none of it. Daniel Garber was to leave the following day, Saturday, and they would not let him go off without having him to dinner before his flight back home. A few of us met for dinner and a little bit of magic, the youngest member of the group, Angelo Lorenzo, the great-nephew of Alberto Lorenzo, opened the magic evening with his presentation of Cups and Balls, and he was followed by Alberto’s award winning act “Dice by Misdirection,” which he presented at Daniel Garber’s request and which, as always, received a standing ovation and “wow” from all who witnessed it. We take this opportunity to wish him the best of luck as he goes to compete at FISM this year. Friends, so ended the first week of Ring 390; with much magic, camaraderie, and a promise of more magic and dreams coming true this year.

(Continued from page 51)

I.B.M. YOUTH TRIVIA CONTEST RULES Send your answer on a single sheet of 81/2'' x 11'' paper. Answers must be typed or legibly handwritten. Include your name, mailing address, telephone number, and I.B.M. membership number. Make your answers as complete as possible. These questions are not designed to be easily Googled. We recommend that you ask the senior members of your local Ring to help you come up with the answers. Contest Rules: You must be a Youth Category member of the I.B.M. in good standing and not have reached your eighteenth birthday on or before the date of the postmark of your response. The Youth member who supplies the correct answer will receive a valuable gift package from one or more of the world’s best magic shops. In the event more than one correct answer is received, a drawing will be held to determine the winner. Results will be published in The Linking Ring. To allow enough time for mail from international members to reach us, we will announce the winner and answer in the third issue after the question runs. For example, May’s answer and winner will appear in the August issue. For more information, see page 51. 158

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NEW APPLICATIONS AND REINSTATEMENTS SEND DUES, CHANGE OF ADDRESS, AND APPLICATIONS TO: I.B.M. HEADQUARTERS 13 POINT WEST BLVD., ST. CHARLES, MO 63301

April 2015 51 NEW MEMBERS BATEMAN, BILL, Arcata, CA

COMBS, CLINTON, Ontario, CA

CUSTER, ANDREW, San Diego, CA EPSTEIN, BRETT, Burbank, CA

MEIER, DANIELLE, North Hollywood, CA RALSTON, STEPHEN, Upland, CA ROACH, DORIS, Los Angeles, CA

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WARTNERCHANEY, JOSEPH, Littleton, CO ROADY, JIMMY, West Haven, CT CHOI, STEVE, Orange Park, FL FOSHEE, BRIAN, Oviedo, FL

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PEOPLES, STEWART, Louisville, KY HEFFLEY, JAMES, Kensington, MD NAUGLE, SCOTT, Laurel, MD

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LOPEZ RAMELLA, JORGE, Gudalajara, Jalisco, Mexico JI HOON, LEE, Inchoen, South Korea

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SMOLINSKI, HEATHER, Rohrersville, MD

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COMITO, MICHAEL, Albuquerque, NM IMPOSSIBLE, JUSTIN, Reno, NV

MANGAHAS, RICHARD, Reno, NV MANNING, RICHARD, Reno, NV RUECKL, JOSEPH, Reno, NV

GUERIN, MICHAEL, St James, NY

HENGEL, ROBERT, N. Tonawanda, NY

April 2015

RADER, WILLIAM, Denver, CO

BEASON, CHRISTOPHER, Atlanta, GA KOEPKE, GARY, Snellville, GA KOLB, ANTHONY, Vienna, IL

CLARK, KEVIN, Grand Blanc, MI

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RHOMBERG, HANNO, Sankt Johann, Austria

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Answer to Pictures from the Past – from page 22

Ed Marlo was born Edward Malkowski in Chicago, Illinois on October 10, 1913. His interest in magic started when he was around thirteen years old. By the age of twenty-five, he had written his first publication, Pasteboard Presto. That first publication launched Ed’s legendary career as an expert on card magic. He was the first performer to call himself a “cardician” because of his obsession with card magic. But he didn’t limit himself to one form of magic; he had a keen interest in coin and dice magic as well. Ed continued to write and publish more material on card work. His more known and popular works are The Cardician and Revolutionary Card Technique, and manuscripts such as Riffle Shuffle Systems, Patented False Shuffle, Faro Controlled Miracles, and many others. Some of these titles are very difficult to find today. Ed also wrote a few of his more closely guarded pieces for a few select performers. Those manuscripts are worth quite a bit today. He also wrote a series titled Marlo Magazines. The term “magazine,” however, was a misnomer; these “magazines” were each more than three hundred pages long. In private life, he was a professional tool and die machinist. Ed came up with a design to allow machines to speed up the workload and drastically reduce the time spent on projects. By doing this, he was able to spend more time with his card work. Marlo is one of the most influential creators in the history of card magic. Every card aficionado uses moves created by Marlo, such as TILT, ATFUS, the K.M. Move, the OLRAM subtlety, and many others. Marlo contributed over two thousand tricks to the field of magic, over sixty books and manuscripts. Yet, with all of this amazing knowledge to offer to magicians, he rarely performed or gave lectures outside of his hometown of Chicago. It was said that his favorite card was the Seven of Diamonds. He would make a point to have a few extra of these cards ready for “action” should they become necessary during his performances. If you were fortunate enough to see Mr. Marlo perform, it would only take a glance from his twinkling blue eyes for you to know that you were in for an amazing journey of wonder. Dapper is an apt description of Marlo. Mike Powers recalls, “When Ed went out to lunch at even a basic restaurant, he would wear white gloves, light up a cigar, and order a glass of white wine.” When Marlo passed away, just short of ten days after his seventy-eighth birthday on November 7, 1991, he left behind the one woman he ever dated. He and his wife Muriel had been friends since grade school. – Gary R. Frank

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The Linking Ring is always looking for new articles, including Parades with a theme, individual tricks, feature stories, biographies, historical essays, and other creative writing. If you want your work to reach as many people as possible, contact The Linking Ring. We have the largest circulation of any magic periodical in the world. Submit your articles or ideas to the Executive Editor. Address on page 4. www.magician.org

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