No. 9, Atlanta, Georgia – Georgia Magic Club

3^rd Monday, 7:30 PM, Dunwoody Library, 5339 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road

JOE M. TURNER, President (jmturner@mindspring.com)
RICK SILVERSTEIN, Vice President (rick@mindspring.com)
SCOTT HORN, Secretary (g.scott.9881@worldnet.att.net)

Ring 9 Web Site: http://GAMagicClub.com

There were 40 people at the March meeting of Ring 9 in Atlanta, including 10 guests.    We also had a visitor from the Georgia Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to request volunteer magicians for a fund-raiser. Several magicians showed an interest in supporting our community through volunteer performances.  Prior to the official meeting, Ring 9 had the second in a series of "teach a trick" sessions.   This month's teaching theme was "easy card magic."  Our recent applicant to Ring 9, Rick Hinze, demonstrated an entertaining, stand-up routine called "Rat Trap.".

Joe Turner provided refreshments for the meeting.   This month's door prize was a four page manuscript from the underground card sharp, Paul Cummins.   The door prize was won by a guest, who should soon join the club. It was announced that Ring 9 registered the club domain name, http://GAMagicClub.com.  We also took time to mention two honorary members of the club, Charlie Floyd and Doty (similar to "Sting" or "Madonna.")   It is important to mention club history since many members are so new.  Two of our guests applied for membership in the Ring.  Rick Hinze, from Washington DC, and Lee Cox from Atlanta.  Both were already members of the IBM, and we look forward to their participation.

The theme for March was "magic using a spectator's name."   The idea was to stimulate personalized magic.  For example, using the name of a birthday child or guest of honor at a banquet would make a performance seem unique.   Howie Marmer did a little pre-work by having everyone in the room sign a piece of paper.  The signatures were mixed, and a random spectator drew a name that was correctly predicted by Howie.  Then, Howie tied his pants legs around his head (long story...) and tried divining which piece of fruit a spectator choose from a bowl. Paul Sponaugle started by making sure everyone knew how to spell his last name, which was necessary after the past few ring reports and certificates awarded to Paul!  Paul took this tangent and ran with it with a tongue-in-cheek explanation of numerology vs. nameology.  Paul then showed that the name of a spectator's aunt was mysteriously printed on a selected card.  Joe Turner followed with patter about forgetting people's name, which led to a spelling routine with a deck of cards.  Joe then used a deck of cards with names printed on the back to amaze both a spectator and the audience with a magical coincidence. Scott Horn followed with an effect where the spectator held a deck of cards and spelled down their name to find a selected card.  Scott joked during a bumpy start that he was setting the stage to get a "most improved" award next month!   Stefan Bartelski commented that his choice of magic for the evening was the same concept as an audience-participation effect used in the David Copperfield stage show.  Several spectators held packets of cards, and came to a selection when they spelled out a name.  Jason Partin tried a few ideas that were not yet routines.  He named a card a spectator thought of when looking at a fanned deck of cards.  Jason then asked a spectator to think of a name, without saying it out load, and he predicted the card at the location reached when spelling the name.

The magicians who wanted to participate in non-theme magic took the stage.  Howie Marmer returned to use his pants as a blindfold as he named a selected card.  Bill Packard demonstrated his routine for the Linking Rings, which is being submitted to the LR magazine as part of a Ring 9 Parade. Sheri Sponaugle sketched drew a playing card that turned out to match a card "built" by suggestions from three spectators. Rick Hinze provided an extremely entertaining story that would have been suited to an evening around a campfire.   He incorporated a monte routine to illustrate the actions of a band of gypsies descibed by his tale. Chris Labowicz borrowed a playing card that began to spin in the air and circle around him before being returned to its owner.

Jason Partin