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Ring Report IBM Ring 6 Meets the Second Monday of each month At C.C. Hancock United Hunter Gaul, President
January 2009 Ring 6 Report Magic by Rocco! What a way to begin the new year! We hosted world-famous magician and magical innovator Rocco Silano for our first meeting of the year. He drew a full house of members and guests, and treated us all to a great night of magical performance, theory, and teaching. Even though few of us will be able to perfect Rocco’s effortless sleeving techniques, he made it clear that his magic is due to a lot of thought and rehearsal. Rocco explained that he was a student of the great Tony Slydini, and applied much of Slydini’s theories about performance to his own style of magic. Rocco explained that Slydini’s magic suited his mannerisms exactly, and each magician needs to think about what is natural for him or her, and utilize the ideas behind the sleights. Every casual move that Rocco makes is calculated to create the most amazing magic. That said, Rocco entertained us by producing water from ice in his bare hands, milk in an empty wine glass, and an ice cream popsicle! Sticks of gum multiplied, and cigarettes appeared at his will. In between effortless segments of his wonderful magic, he explained how he uses his sleeves to produce the magic, along with many subtle hints to make the magic work. Rocco produced and vanished items in his bare hands. Even after he showed his techniques, he continued to fool us with more productions and vanishes. His card productions, although using sleeving to start, are pure sleight of hand. After the break, Rocco performed and explained his Miser’s Dream, with all of the subtleties to produce a shower of silver coins from the air. He performed and taught Slydini’s Torn and Restored Newspaper - something which very few of us had ever seen. So beautiful in his hands! And what would a night with Rocco be without some attention given to the famous Rocco D’ Lite effects. He explained how to get the most from these clever devices. For those who wanted to really learn Rocco’s routines, he had several of his instructional DVDs and booklets for sale. And they sold well. A great night, by a talented magician.
Dave Kelly
December 2008 Ring 6 Report Our annual Holiday Magic Show and dinner came about as the result of many dedicated members who made it happen. First, Richie B assembled the performers, insuring a nice variety of types of magic. Reba Strong organized the food - everything from who would bring what, to the set-up and clean-up. We had a wide selection of light foods, and a great dessert selection. I was even called into service as the “curtain man” for the show. President Hunter Gaul acted as Master of Ceremonies, keeping the show moving along, and providing magical interludes when some performers needed more time to set up their performances. Everyone was asked to keep their segments to about 8 minutes. Opening for the night, Forrest Chapman, performing as “Peter Pitchford,” dazzled everyone with a superior act that involved great manipulation, acting, and comedy. His act is a tribute to the style of the Great Cardini, and Forrest finished up by producing own assistant version of Swan, portrayed by his lovely wife. Others producing magic for us were John Michael, who did a comedy card revelation that almost looked like a fatal dagger stab. Richie B produced a bottle of champagne from a balloon! Wow! He then had a young helper whose shoe was destroyed in a magical machine. Early in his routine, it looked like he messed up on trying to retrieve a selected card. Much later in his turn, the card appeared inside of a lemon that had been given to a spectator much later in evening! Oh, and the young boy’s show was later produced unharmed! Fred Siegel and Eric had us rolling on the floor with their “World’s Greatest Magician” routine. Fred read from an old Tannen catalog, while Eric acted out each randomly selected effect. Fred also did a classic Travelling Knots routine with two lovely assistants from the audience. They also did their mock mind reading effect, where Eric takes clues from Fred to describe a wonderful illusion that he has supposedly done on an imaginary world tour. Tadd-O had a variety of great magic, but his best effect involved escaping from a straight jacket. Tadd-O had lots of fun with this, and while he was escaping, he produced a bottle of German beer for his audience to enjoy while he was escaping. Tadd-O then produced a bottle of the brew for himself, and then actually escaped from the jacket. I apologize to performers I may have missed, but as I had been drafted to run the curtain, it was impossible to make good notes of the show. All in all, we had a great show of about an hour and a half, just the thing to get everyone into the holiday spirit.
Dave Kelly
November 2008 Ring 6 Report First, apologies to Joshua Jay, our lecturer at the September meeting. I misidentified him as Jonathon Jay. It’s what happens when someone tries to do his own proof reading! By the way, I just purchased JOSHUA JAY’s new magic book with DVD, and am thoroughly enjoying his approach to magic. Tonight we entertained each other. First up were the introductory performances by recently joined members. Joe Muoio began with an Aldo Colombini rope effect where a knot moved to different spots on a rope, change to a red knot, and then when Joe unknotted the rope, there was a short red segment on it. Kevin Joyce had a card selected, and under ultraviolet light showed that he had the selection tattooed on his arm. Greg Spaziani did two card effects and finished with several very nice card flourishes. A member from many years ago, Charles Murter did a clean and surprising Cups and Balls routine. Thanks to these brave new members. Next president Hunter Gaul called on members to share a favorite trick with the club. Tipping the methods was up to each performer. Ari Felber started off by mixing up a deck of cards, and having a volunteer select one. The deck corrected itself, except for the selected card which was face up. Steve Friedberg showed his expertise with a small pack of cards: Half red faces and half black faces. Without any moves (that I could see) the cards rearranged themselves into alternating colors, then back into packs of like colors. Dave Kelly shared his homemade magic coloring book. The uncolored pages changed into fully colored pages. Dave made it from a regular book, and even did the coloring by hand! Pro Ron Geoffries did a magician versus gambler card routine, where he cut to called-for cards. Richie B amazed us with a no-gimmick Copper Silver coin routine. He was smooth, no “funny” moves, and uses this in his professional gigs. Richie then taught the method, which was especially well thought-out. Silly Reba (Strong) had a volunteer select a card, then placed it into the deck. Eventually the card appeared between two face up cards. Reba showed how she uses this in walk-around, and is ready to instantly repeat. Vice president Ralph Armstrong had a funny story with a packet trick involving Dracula, the Wolfman, and a masked duck! The principal was a McDonald’s Four Aces trick, with a story that Ralph tailored to the Halloween season. Mort Feldman had a set of mini CDs that changed into colors, then back into regular CDs, a la the old Color Changing Records effect. Last up was George Hample. He showed us a dollar store deck of cards. Turns out the reason that the deck was only a dollar was that all of the backs were different! George then had a two cards selected, and showed that they matched the two cards in a small envelope on the table. Then George proceeded to knock us all over with his version not the Dai Vernon Three Ball and Net trick. Very cleanly, each of the three balls vanished from his right hand, and reappeared in his left, and he then dropped it into the net. George repeated the effect, and we still couldn’t catch the method. THEN, he started to do the effect a third time, but instead all three balls vanished! Amazing stuff. George only uses three balls, and has given a lot of thought to making it a clean, amazing routine. He then taught the basic moves, and gave us lots to think about. It was a great night of shared magic. In December we’ll have our Christmas party and show.
Dave Kelly July 2008 Ring
Report: It was a pleasure to welcome I.B.M. Regional Representative, S. Patrick, to our meeting. He briefly addressed the club and let us know he was available to facilitate any support we might need regarding local and national ring interactions. Such a willingness on the part of national to offer outreach efforts to our ring, as well as all other rings, is much appreciated. Kimberly Spence confirmed November 8 as the date for our annual fundraiser show, and an initial display of hands indicated a substantial number of volunteers will participate. Rich Baccare, program chairman, confirmed the club would be holding its annual Restaurant Night in August – details will be published on the club’s web site: http://phillyibmring6.com/ Following the business portion of the meeting, Joe Mogar, a long time club member and highly respected dealer with an international reputation, provided a fine dealer demonstration. Joe is best known for the thimble effects and color changing knives he produces, but his demonstration covered a wide variety of items he currently offers. For additional information regarding Joe Mogar, see: www.JoeMogar.com The Egg Bag was the theme focus for the evening’s meeting, and three club members, Marc DeSouza, George Hample, and Dick Gustafson shared their respective views on the presentation and handling details of this classic effect. Each performer demonstrated and discussed a different style egg bag. Marc DeSouza gave tips on the Malini Bag. Marc emphasized the need to handle the bag in a very casual manner – not worrying about hiding the gaff – it’s invisible to laymen. He also stressed the need to use a properly blown egg – very light and smooth surfaced – which “floats” easily inside the bag without causing an obvious bulge. Finally, he underscored the importance of knowing where the pocket is at all times during your performance to avoid fumbling moves. George Hample gave us insights into the Chanin Bag which differs from other styles of egg bags. One side of the Chanin Bag is made of mesh, so it’s transparent – anything put in the bag can be seen while it’s inside the bag. George demonstrated how the egg can be watched up to the last second before it vanishes. George also showed how the egg can be “squirted” from the pouch into the bag for a “flash appearance.” In the same way, the Chanin Bag can be used to produce a deck of cards (for use with the Invisible Deck) – an interesting adaptation of the prop. Dick Gustafson brought the evening to a close by illuminating details of the Senor Mardo Bag most notably popularized by Martin Lewis. Dick emphasized the importance of selecting the proper type of bag (either a “right handed” or “left handed” pocket placement) to insure ease of handling. He stressed that performers who fail to acquire the proper bag for their needs will encounter difficult, if not impossible, handling problems. The Senor Mardo Bag (also sometimes called the Tarbell Bag) makes it easy to do a very effective egg production by curling the bag like a tube around the secreted egg while it’s in the pocket and then gently stroking out of the bag – very pretty. It’s safe to say, anyone who attended our July meeting came away with a wealth of good insights, experiences, and information readily applicable to his or her magical repertoire.
June 2008 Ring
Report: The meeting
opened with remarks from Bob Jensen,
chairman of our Membership Committee, highlighting “New Member Information
Packets” and club application forms which have been recently developed to
improve the induction process.
Steve Freidberg, chairman of the
Publicity Committee, outlined some of his thoughts regarding ways in which the
club can integrate itself into community awareness and thereby attract new
members. Dave Hale, web master of our
http://phillyibmring6.com/ web site
announced the opening of a new magic shop located at
The evening’s main event, of course, focused upon a fabulous lecture
delivered by Simon Lovell who
recently completed the highly regarded VH1 series
Celebracadabra. We were the first club to host Simon’s lecture presentation since he completed the television series, and the event proved to be a real treat. All of the material Simon presented was audience tested, practical, and relatively simple to perform from a technical point of view. Although Simon Lovell has a hefty reputation as an accomplished card manipulator, he stresses that in performance he stays away from exotic moves and methods so that the magic “can breathe.” For example, he demonstrated a number of very clever card transpositions and revelations using standard “finger breaks,” “riffle forces” and “double lifts” which he handled in the most natural manner by making maximum use of body language and timing. For instance, when one hand is raised (the spectator watches the raised hand), the other hand may be dropped to the side (to cover taking a finger break, getting ready for a double lift, etc) so any “move” is masked with an action that is always justified. One of the most effective pieces presented was a deck vanish accomplished purely by verbal timing and hand gestures (Simon credited the effect to Don England); and as a bonus, we learned this deck vanish may also be used as a very clean deck switch – very interesting application. One of the strongest aspects of Simon Lovell’s lecture had to do with his expert handling of audience members who assisted him with various effects. He really connected very well with each participant, engaging each person, not as ”props” in his performance, but as unique individuals who could relate to the magic. He spoke about the importance of nodding to people as he talked with them as a subtle technique of putting folks at ease on stage – it establishes a non-verbal sense of agreement and understanding between the performer and the spectator. Simon’s lecture was filled with plenty of effects, clever lines, and bits of business which kept the presentation lively, but the strength of his talk centered upon the need for us to strive for the performance of magical effects rather than merely clever tricks and puzzles. His recommendation: find ways to truly give of yourself to your audience. This is really what people remember: the magic of your personality as it is reflected in your performance. Looking back over Simon Lovell’s lecture, it is clear that the success of his presentation rested upon the charm of his wit, the wisdom of his advice tempered by years of experience, and the overwhelming sincerity he projected in his efforts to teach magic as well as it can be taught. He truly practices what he preaches! It was a wonderful evening.
May 2008 Ring
Report
The club’s recording
secretary, Dave Kelly, has temporarily returned to active military duty as an
instructor for future Marine officers at
The May 12th meeting
began with a series of brief committee reports which included
Kimberly Spence’s announcement that
our yearly fundraiser show will be held November 8th at the Marple
Newtown Players in Bob Little, founder of Guaranteed Magic and long time club member, offered a very entertaining dealer demonstration geared to the performance of restaurant magic which was the program theme for the evening’s meeting. Bob (a.k.a. “The Wild Man of Magic”) never fails to conjure up hilarious “bits” on the spur of the moment – we were especially grateful for the introduction of “rat magic” into the set of restaurant effects he recommended. Very funny! The “Restaurant Magic” portion of the evening involved an unusual format developed by the program committee. A table and four chairs were set up to represent a typical restaurant setting. Club members were then selected to play the roles of patrons seated at the table, and then four different magicians performed four different sets of audience tested routines for the “patrons.” To make the scene appear more authentic, a couple of other club members acted as waiters and waitresses who would “unexpectedly interrupt” the performers with food, questions about an order, etc. The idea here was to show how to handle distractions effectively. The four performers were: Richie B (Rich Baccare), Jim Straub, Bill Citino, and Peter Pitchford (Forrest Chapman). Each magician presented very polished routines which included a fabulous bill switch, signed card to wallet, chop cup, sponge balls, sponge rabbits, beautiful coin manipulations, card transpositions, and a very clever adaptation of Bounce No Bounce Balls. Each performer had a unique style complete with great patter and lots of impromptu wit to suit the occasion. After the four sets of restaurant magic were completed, we had a short break and then returned for a Question and Answer session moderated by Mark Walsh, a program committee member. Club members asked questions of the performers regarding how they get work, the fees they expect to receive, and how they handle the issue of accepting or declining “tips.” The discussion was lively and instructive given that the performers spoke from long time experience as restaurant entertainers. All who participated in the evenings activities deserve a solid round of applause – great job!
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