John Miller and Joe M. Turner kicked off our May meeting with a mini-lecture on the application of theatrical principles to close-up magic performance. In addition to lively discussion and performance examples, they included handouts of relevant articles plus a recommended reading list. Reference was also made to the excellent recent article on theatrical directors in the Linking Ring. There is likely to be a follow-up lecture on these topics.

Paul Sponaugle presided over a full business meeting with details about upcoming lectures, the SEAM 2002 convention in August, and other news of importance to our club members. Lynn Fox presented a book report on the new cd-rom edition of "The Phoenix" which has recently been published.

Our theme for this month was "The Weakest Link...ing Ring" and was a magic trivia game set in the form of the popular television game show. Yvonne Shelnutt was our black-garbed, sharp-tongued hostess, with Paul Spongaugle and Joe M. Turner serving as writers, researchers, timekeepers, scorekeepers and judges. The contestants included David Magicksmith, John Miller, Rick Silver, Howie Marmer, Patrick Floyd, and David Ginn. The hard-fought battle ensued, complete with a large number of hilarious magic-themed quips and rejoinders addressed to and from all the participants. But our dominating hostess kept the show running, leading up to the final face-off round. John Miller and Patrick Floyd competed head to head, with Patrick eventually winning the Coveted Royal Blue Pen and leaving John to go home with... nothing. If you haven't tried a game show night at your club, it's worth a thought. We had questions on local magic history, recent national and regional conventions, books and authors, magicians and nicknames, and many other topics. We all had a great time and learned a lot, too. This is definitely something we'll do again.

In our general performance segment, David Ginn presented his well-honed routine for the Linking Coathangers, and Rick Silver presented an unbelievable card location.

Many thanks to Dale Adamson and James Smith for our refreshments. If you're in Atlanta, check our web site to see what's coming up, who's performing where, and when our next meeting or lecture will be: www.gamagicclub.com.

See you at the SEAM in August!

Regards,
Joe M. Turner

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