I.B.M. Ring 9

Ring Reports

04/17/00

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://www.gamagicclub.com

Ring 9's April meeting got off to a great start thanks to a pre-meeting magic teach-in by Georgia TVP Dan Garrett. Dan showed us a real fooler of a linking rubber band effect, taught it step by step, and then the members spent the remaining time before the meeting coaching and working with each other. This is what a magic club should be like!

President Joe M. Turner opened the meeting by noting our trend of increased attendance. Last month we had 30 members and 10 guests present. This month we had 34 members and 12 guests in attendance. The club business meeting moved quickly, covering topics such as upcoming conventions and lectures, local magical volunteer opportunities, our new Ring 9 logo (kudos to David Oglesby!) and our club's web forum. This month's door prize, a royal blue IBM mug, was donated by Scott Horn and won by Christopher Tracy. After breaking for snacks, provided by Rolando Santos, we were all ready to see the evening's magic.

The performances began with two auditions for club membership. Lee Cox magically produced a pocket watch to check the time, and then crumbled it into multicolored glitter. After scooping some glitter into a glass and covering it with a scarf, Lee asked a volunteer to choose one of many cards with colorful drawings of animals, proposing to change all the glitter in the glass to match the selected color. Volunteer Patrick Floyd selected a card with goldfish drawn on it but was unable to decide whether they were orange or gold, so Lee avoided the problem altogether by magically changing the glitter to several live goldfish!

Rick Hinze took the platform for his audition, opening by comically revealing that he had already predicted which card a volunteer would select. After showing us a large card marked "His Card," Rick unfolded it to show a large card matching the first selection. Rick then had another card selected and dropped it into a hat. A small rabbit popped up, looking none too happy with the cards being dropped in his hat. After a charming and funny act, the rabbit eventually found the selected card.

Two of our guests also performed for us. Devlon Buckner performed an amazing linking of a Life Savers candy onto a rubber band, while Lee Garen performed a stand-up act including the Disecto illusion and a second sight routine in which he discerned the writing on a whiteboard despite being blindfolded and hooded.

In our General Magic segment, Chris Labowicz performed his Stratospheres routine, and Howie Marmer performed an amazing card prediction in which he "almost" found a spectator's selection - he was off by one. Luckily, he had written on the back of the prediction "I will be off by one." Witty Frenchman Christophe Fouquet performed a card routine with an international flair in which four shipwrecked castaways (the kings) found a genii and wished to return home. Unfortunately, the last one (not too bright!) got lonely and wished that they were all together again - and magically, they all returned to the desert island.

The Theme Magic segment was next. The theme for the April meeting was "originality" -- in effect, method, or presentation. Stefan Bartelski demonstrated an original card revelation, while Dan Garrett presented his soon-to-be-published "Devil's Poker" routine using his original "Salsa count." King Chapman presented a number of creative bits of business using live rabbits, and Scott Horn demonstrated an original and impressive routine for simulating the sub-trunk illusion with a deck of cards. Shank Kothare showed us how the sugar packet holders in his restaurant can act as photocopiers for playing cards, and David Oglesby showed us a cut and restored phone cord routine with several gags along the way. Paul Sponaugle performed the killer routine he has submitted to the upcoming Ring 9 Parade in the Linking Ring, an in-the-hands multiplying coins routine, and Sherry Sponaugle performed her original "Choice or Destiny?" presentation for the invisible deck. Christopher Tracy broke all the rules by telling his audience exactly what he was going to do before he began. He borrowed a dollar bill from volunteer Lynn Fox, and after having the serial number noted by an audience member, he proceeded to burn the bill in the mug he had won as the door prize! Christopher then asked Lynn to reach into a bag of Easter eggs and remove one. Lynn opened it to find his fully restored bill and fulfill every prediction Christopher had made.

To fill the time while the votes were counted, last month's theme magic winner Joe M. Turner performed Doug Conn's "Chameleon Sandwich" color-changing deck routine from his book Tricks of My Trade, by Paul Cummins. By then, the results were in - in a very close vote, the coveted royal blue pen award for April went to Scott Horn. The meeting was adjourned and then small groups began form for sessioning and reviewing the magic we had seen and learned.

If you're going to be in the Atlanta area, do plan to attend our meeting or give us a call.

Joe M. Turner

.