The February meeting began with Dale Adamson’s Pre-Meeting mini-Lecture on Coin Magic. Dale is a very talented magician AND jeweler and demo’ed some original magic with coins he had customized. The centerpiece of his lecture was his handling of the coin in a bottle, including David Williamson’s Strike Vanish and an alternate ending, using a bent coin that he lets the spectator keep. He also talked about the care and feeding of those custom coins! Thanks, Dale!

After our business session, the door prize this month of an entire set of The Linking Ring from 1961 (the hard copies, not the CD) was won by Matt McElhanon. After snacks provided by Paul Sponaugle, we began our theme magic. Eight magicians presented Matchmaker Magic, the blending of two different effects into one routine. Dale Adamson’s routine about tax time and financial security combined David Roth’s Wild Coin with an "Out with 4," done with only 3! Lynn Fox’s creative routine combined two different sponge rabbit bits. Howie Marmer, fresh from a lecture tour, blew us away with a combination of vanishing water and a surprising Professor’s Nightmare with three red silks! David Oglesby, with the assistance of guest Ronald Ogonor, showed an Ambitious Card that was eventually discovered in the prize pack of a sealed bag of Cracker Jacks!

Bill Packard performed his Signature Birthday piece where he performed surgery (with an electric saw!) on volunteer Kathy Hoffman. After removing a 6-foot pole, a chicken, a fish, a spider, a snake and a mouth coil (gall stone coil?) from her middle, he hypnotized her and floated her. The surgery must have helped her lose weight! Bob Swartz found the cards of volunteers Matt McElhanon and Ronald Ogonor, combining Ammar’s Xerox Effect and a location. Ronald (who sat close to the front) assisted Joe M. Turner in proving the adage, that "If any trick can ever go wrong, it will do it in front of the Magic Club!" Joe’s routine combined sponge balls and a card revelation. Tim Wolfe closed our theme magic with color changing records and CD’s. Each month the winner of the theme magic receives the praise and affirmation of his or her peers and the CRBP (Coveted Royal Blue Pen), 2002 edition. This month the vote was a tie between Howie Marmer and Tim Wolfe. Congratulations!

Under general magic, Froggy the puppet found Ronald’s card (we love guests!) with a little help from Christophe ("All the way from France!"). After Howie performed an amazing card trick, Jens Kautler did his final performance for us before going back to Germany. To music he routined a torn and restored newspaper and a levitating table illusion into a beautiful piece. Thanks, Jens, for spending time with us during your internship in Atlanta!

If you are ever in the Atlanta area, get in touch with us and visit the GMC. We have a great time each month and we’d love to have y’all join us!

Tommy Johns, Ring 9 Scribe

Thumb Tip of the Month: (from Dale’s lecture) "Don’t call anything ordinary (cards, coins, box, etc.) because it only raises suspicion about the item. Just call it a coin!