1997 RING REPORTS
The ring reports are organized so that the most recent reports are first. You can click on a month to go to that specific month.
January February March
April May June
July August September
October November December
DECEMBER MEETING
Ring report not available yet.
NOVEMBER MEETING
The November meeting of Ring 313 was the finale to our 1997 Lecture
Series. Master Strolling Magician, Jim Pace, presented what many of our
members consider the finest exhibition of sleight-of-hand magic we have
ever witnessed.
Jim Pace is a performer, teacher and creator of "The Web," "Alien
Autopsy," "Inviso-Torch" and many other marvelous items. He is the
best
selling author of The Restaurant Workers’ Handbook, and his video,
Tricks From My Lecture, which includes his incredible "13-Coin Matrix,"
is drawing rave reviews.
Jim is personable, knowledgeable, creative and has an uncanny sense of
what an audience enjoys. His technical abilities are astonishing, yet
he is so relaxed, every move seams effortless. The Jim Pace lecture is
a study in what magic should look like.
Prior to the lecture, special guest Dick Dale, Territorial
Vice-president of the I.B.M., presented Ring 313 with the Quality Ring
Award and officiated at the induction of the 1998 Officers. Thank you
Dick Dale and Jim Pace for a very special evening!
OCTOBER MEETING
What do you get when you combine one brilliant, fabulously talented,
creative magician, and 80 enthusiastic magic lovers with no preconceived
ideas of what to expect? You get 81 excited magicians having a
"supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" time.
Ring 313’s special guest in October was the Disney Channel’s resident
magician, Mark Jenest. Mark, who is definitely on the fast track to
major recognition, is also a regular performer at the Magic Castle,
creator of popular effects like the MagiCard, No.2 Pencil, Suit Yourself
and Magic Milk Caps. Mark will also be featured in an upcoming special
on the A&E Network called the "Secret Life of Magicians" to air early
next year.
The material in Mark Jenest’s lecture relies heavily on misdirection and
diabolically simple, yet effective moves, rather than knuckle-busting
sleight-of-hand. Mark demonstrated some of his original effects like
Self-Demotion and The Classic Farce. He also taught new takes on old
tricks that both simplified and enhanced the presentation. Several
incredibly simple, yet unbelievable money miracles, Chaptrick and
Bill-oon!, had members saying, "Why didn’t I think of that?"
Mark’s lecture was the perfect blend of humor and strong, entertaining
magic. Each complementing the other. We found ourselves not only
learning terrific magic, but also enjoying the entertainment of it all.
Clearly though, for as competent as Mark Jenest is magically, it was his
delightful interaction with his audience that proved to be the real
magic. Don’t miss Mark on Disney’s "Magic Shop."
Special thanks go to Ring 313 President, Chris Smith, for asking Mark to
share his magic with us and to Triny Peller for bringing in a wonderful
Halloween cake that set the festive tone for the evening.
Ring 313’s annual Conjurer’s Competition
The competition started with our Junior members. First, Matthew Jarman demonstrated sleight-of-hand skills well beyond his years, as he used cards and coins to baffle his onlookers. Matt performed the routine he used to pass his recent Magic Castle membership audition. Congratulations Matt! Next up was Sarah Stevenson, who charmed the audience with some classics of magic including, silk in egg, rings, and a hilarious head chopper finale. Choreographed to the music of classic television shows, Sarah’s performance shined.
The adults took center stage with Ken Klein presenting a humorous mentalism act that was well rehearsed and very entertaining. With newspapers in hand, Jay Armendariz went on to show the many magical uses of these common objects. Stan Mittelman stunned the group by tearing an entire deck of cards in two and then producing a chosen card from the pieces. Stan was not done yet. He accepted a challenge and produced a chosen card a la Fruit of the Loom! Concluding the parlor performances, newly elected Ring president, Chris Smith, spellbound the audience with a very funny pun-filled rope act, Gregory Wilson’s new one-of-a-kind Kiss Off ‘chop cup’ routine, and concluded, with the assistance of Sarah Stevenson, with the well-timed classic toilet paper ruse.
After a short break, Michael Van Horn led off the close-up portion of the competition with a technically demanding gambler vs. magician card demonstration and an effective chop cup routine. Our final contestant was Chris Wynkoop, who clearly showed how rope, coins and cards, in the hands of a fine technician and performer, can be both entertaining and enjoyable.
While the votes were being tallied, we were treated to a wonderful surprise. Special guests Glenn Falkenstein and Francis Willard not only performed their world renowned mind reading act, but answered questions on the act and gave a brief history of its development. Thank you so much, Glenn and Francis, from your new friends at Ring 313.
The votes were counted and the results were announced. Sarah Stevenson won Junior Magician of the Year, Chris Smith won Parlor/Stage Magician of the Year, Michael Van Horn was awarded both Close-Up Magician of the Year and The Fedko Trophy for Magician of the Year. Congratulation to everyone!
A workshop, a lecture and an election. It was a busy August evening as Ring 313 attended to business, but also enjoyed some top notch magic. First we conducted our election and by a unanimous vote, Chris Smith was elected President; Michael Van Horn, Vice-President; Ken Clark, Treasurer; Tom Clifford, Secretary; and Dominick Frontino, Sergeant-at-Arms. Congratulations and good luck to these new officers. We look forward to another year of brotherhood and fabulous magic. We also thank our outgoing officers, Chuck Lubin, Art Johnson and Ray Bright for their hard work and dedication. It makes last year a hard act to follow.
At the completion of the business portion of the meeting, we distributed some rather unusual items: a safety pin, a bright piece of cloth, a book of matches and a square of toilet paper. (?) We were about to enjoy a workshop conducted by veteran magician and teacher, Stan Mittelman, who utilized those items and a few more traditional magic apparatus to teach his "Invisible Zipper" routine. This multifaceted routine is a delightful series of entertaining effects that, when combined, creates a magical smorgasbord evoking gasps of disbelief and good natured laughter. Stan has perfected this routine over many years of development and his efforts have resulted in one of the most amusing and pleasing presentations we have ever enjoyed. Thank you Stan, we are so grateful that you shared "Invisible Zipper" with all of us.
After a break we settled down to some serious finger flicking courtesy of Doug Brewer. Doug, fresh from his impressive finish at this year’s I.B.M. Convention close-up competition, took us on a whirlwind tour of how close-up magic can look in the hands of an excellent technician and entertaining performer. Doug clearly demonstrated why he is emerging as one of Southern California’s most dynamic performers.
This was Doug’s very first lecture for any magic club, but it looked like he has been doing it for years. He was relaxed and confident and his choice of material was extremely strong and displayed an uncanny sense of what an audience enjoys. His tools were coins, cards and chop cup and he combined them to demonstrate how a strolling magician can manage to entertain and confound at a moments notice. Doug also produced a set of extremely professional lecture notes that described in extensive detail the commercial and entertaining magic he presented. Well done Doug!
"The Las Vegas Card Expert," Allan Ackerman, visited Ring 313 in July to share some of his superb close-up magic with us. Allan’s easy going style and sensational card magic combined to make an enjoyable, educational and highly entertaining evening. Everything Allan presented was within the technical abilities of most of our members and his choice of material was very commercial and of high impact. Among some of the stand out offerings was an inconceivable "oil and water" effect, several gambling routines, a few mentalism routines, and he even capped off the evening with a dazzling close-up coin routine. Allan also spent time describing several utility moves, including the versatile Larry Jennings Rhythm Count and a completely deceiving culling technique.
Allan Ackerman spans the entire spectrum of dynamic card magic from intense finger flicking to "self working" tricks, but all have one thing in common — they are highly entertaining. It is obvious that Allan Ackerman is a seasoned professional, prolific author and student of the art, but beyond that, he is a delightful gentleman and excellent representative of Magic.
Ring 313 enjoyed a rare treat at our June meeting. The special event was a magic lecture presented by a gentleman, not known for his performance, but for his innovative magic creations. John Kennedy presented an array of effects that could only be delivered by someone who has dedicated a lifetime to the magical arts. This was not a dealer show. John presented stunning magic using subtle misdirection and challenging sleight-of-hand. John did demonstrate and explain some of his most popular items including "The Mystery Box" the "Mind Power Deck" and "Z-Webs," but in this lecture he concentrated mostly on coin and card effects. He also included a generous helping of utility moves like eye-popping color changes, various controls, false shuffles, palming and forcing techniques. John Kennedy’s lecture was truly a smorgasbord of close-up delights.
It was a pleasure having such a fine gentleman and wonderful magician as John Kennedy lecture to Ring 313. We consider it a great honor that he would share some of his vast knowledge with us. It proves again that some of the nicest and most talented people on earth are in the magic community.
Known as the "Duchess of Deception", Joycee Beck captivated our May meeting with her radiant smile and sparkling charisma. Joycee performed with a style of magic which evoked spontaneous applause and jaw dropping disbelief. Joycee’s handling of the thumb tip and dye tube was amazing. Even after her explanation of the effects I still could not detect the gimmicks.
Joycee first performed a multiplying rabbit routine which produced more sponge rabbits than you could imagine. She also performed stunning silk vanishes, intricate card flourishes and a bold and challenging rope routine. Each of these illusions demonstrated her extraordinary skill as a sleight-of-hand wizard augmented by her delightful feminine approach to the magical arts.
Our evening was filled with wonder, fantasy and laughter. In addition we all learned new ways of presenting some classical routines due to Joycee Beck’s fine teaching abilities.
Did the Magic Castle move to Orange County? Our April member performance night could easily compare to the acts at the Castle. Eighteen of our members exhibited their magical expertise in grand fashion. The evening began with Emcee Chuck Lubin introducing Joe Tishy and Linda performing a great Derek Dingle effect. Next up was Belinda Kil-Kaesler who dazzled everyone with a lovely manipulation routine. Jay Armandariz, just back from his tour of China, performed a marvelous storytelling and ring on a string routine that was very entertaining. Derek Granfield did his fabulous Joke & Rope act and Matthew Jarman (one of our juniors) performed the marvelous Vernon Poker demonstration. Forrest Miller then took center stage and performed several marvelous effects, including a stunning professor’s nightmare. A pleasant surprise was Sam Takemoto’s fascinating sponge Rabbits in the House illusion and "Pari" performed a baffling mentalism act. Stan Mittleman went on to perform a very effective disappearing and reappearing Bic Pen routine. Concluding the first half, Karl Washington demonstrated his fantastic coin and money manipulation skill much to the delight of everyone.
During the break we had a delicious cake and celebrated both the Third Anniversary of Ring 313 and the birthday of new member, Heather Orr. For a special treat we enjoyed a free raffle of items donated by Orange County magic dealer Chris Smith.
Jeff Chen started the second half by producing a coin from thin air, then Greg Sedia amazed the audience with one of the best shell games I have ever seen. Next up Tom Clifford performed an Allan Ackerman card trick for a preview of Allan’s lecture for Ring 313 in July. The spotlight then fell on Michael Van Horn who did an excellent job of magically passing a blade through assistant Heather Orr’s arm. New member Trevor Baird exhibited a great card in wallet trick and Greg Baird performed a spider in the hand illusion. Sherron Newberg, all dressed up in her Molly Malone clown outfit, did a colorful classic magic act. Closing the performance portion of our show was Jerry Fohrman who demonstrated why the farow shuffle is one of the most potent weapons in card magic. The mood then switched as "Pari" dimmed the lights, put on soothing music and read a poem that evoked magic in the mind. It was truly a memorable evening.
There was a definite feeling of expectation in the air as our March meeting was about to begin. By the time Sergeant-at-Arms Ray Bright called the meeting to order, we were SRO in our meeting place. The extraordinary turnout was due to the appearance of our guest lecturer, Loren Christopher Michaels. His reputation of being a world class magician who "pushes the limits" had obviously preceded him. And it took only a few moments of his presentation for it to become crystal clear why Loren deserves to be considered one of magic’s most dynamic and influential performers and teachers.
He set the pace by demonstrating how a terrific effect like "Crazyman’s Handcuffs" could take on an extra dimension by developing a "Why didn’t I think of that?" beginning to the effect. Throughout his entire lecture Loren utilized all manner of props from string, to eggs, to chewing gum, and of course Alka Seltzer. With these unusual gadgets he graphically demonstrated how humor, ingenuity and philosophical insight could transpose relatively simple commercial effects into mind boggling breathtakers!
There was something for everyone in Loren’s lecture. From novice to seasoned professional he presented usable effects that could dramatically add to any close-up, parlor or stage act. Loren concluded with a delightfully spooky Tarot Card and Spirit Hand effect. But beyond the tricks was the insight on performance that he shared, like invaluable tips on everything from keeping a good grasp on borrowed props to the enormous difference proper lighting can make.
It was truly a magical evening and our thanks goes to Loren Christopher Michaels for sharing his talent with us.
Our Ring has been host to many superb magicians and this month was no exception. Dr. Bob Doggett was our guest speaker for the evening. His lecture was billed as Easy Stuff (if you Practice!!!) and was aimed at all skill ranges. His card routines included extensive use of the Zarrow Shuffle, multiple shifts and other highly effective utility moves. His Okito Box routine was fantastic and encouraged me to clean the dust off mine and begin to practice again. He also did a Chop-Cup routine which dazzled all.
Dr. Bob has performed in all 50 states and 58 foreign countries. He was recently honored by having Ring 291, Palm Desert, CA, named after him. Dr. Bob’s performance flowed together beautifully, told a story and was extremely entertaining. It is the perfect routine for any lay audience.
Report not available yet.