Our Pre-meeting Mini-lecture was given by Joe M. Turner on the topic of stacked decks and memorized decks. A virtual cornucopia of interesting information was offered with help from club members (notably Patrick Floyd) and information from Darwin Ortiz, Boris Wild, and other card experts like Aronson and Hugard. (I love to drop names!) As always, Joe’s lecture was helpful informative and well-researched. Good job, Joe! And "Thanks!"

Our business meeting included info about the upcoming SEAM convention to be hosted by Ring 9, and an overview of the activities of Ring 9er’s in the current Linking Ring!

Each month we have a theme for the magic presented in our meeting in competition. Usually the theme has to do with the time of year and this month was no exception. June is the month for weddings and in a bit of a stretch, the theme for this evening’s magic was "Wedding Night Magic," or magic presented by "First time winners," meaning anyone who had never won a club competition before. I’ll let you make the connection.

The always fun to watch Christophe Fouquet started us off with a Metamorphosis effect using a Queen (the lovely assistant), and Ace (the magician) and a card box (the trunk). This illusion was followed by Donnie Golson doing a somewhat different version old the torn and restored card. With the help of volunteer Yvonne Shelnutt, a card was selected, initialed in all four corners, and torn into quarters along with 5 other cards. All those pieces were then tossed into a paper bag. Donnie removed four pieces from the bag without looking, and to our amazement, they were the pieces of Yvonne’s card! He then did the restoration (with Scotch brand Magic tape!) and took his seat to thunderous applause.

Yvonne remained on stage to perform her bit for the evening, a beautiful Gospel presentation with silks, accompanied by music. Yvonne then cam back up on stage to assist our next performer, David Spier. David presented a brand new illusion that he also invented and built. David told of his favorite childhood toy, a stuffed Winnie the Pooh doll whom David trusted, confided in and depended upon to help him when he was in trouble. David borrowed a ring from Yvonne Shelnutt (it’s dangerous to be female and sit close to the front at a Ring 9 meeting!). The ring vanished under a blanket and reappeared in Pooh’s Hunneypot at the end of this trick. Combine a cute stuffed animal, a sweet story and a Kenny Loggin’s soundtrack and you’ve gotta get a box of tissues to pass around the room.

Dan Garrett performed next, claiming to be as "pure" as the rest (some of us doubt!), as he offered a card selection and revelation with a built in guarantee. Patrick Floyd and Sherry Sponaugle helped as Dan got out of a jam by depending on the guarantee card that comes in every pack of Bicycle cards! Sherry stayed on stage to then perform an amazing trick with a deck that was just a mess! How she kept it all straight (and got it straightened up) was amazing! Our next performer, Gene Hendrix, assisted by Christophe, did some magic with just ten percent of the deck (5 cards) and made Christophe’s chosen card vanish from his (Christophe’s) hands.

During the voting for the Wedding Night magician, President Paul Sponaugle had a lot of fun with a card revelation involving Patrick Floyd and Colm Mulcahy. Guest Ted Harty did a VERY clever routine with a Bic pen, and VP Joe M. Turner performed a classic effect (for Joe) trying out a small table. Guest Toria Shelnutt assisted.

The big announcement was made and David Spier was awarded the Coveted Royal Blue Pen (CRBP) and will receive a certificate, suitable for framing at the next club meeting. A great evening of magic was continued at a couple of local eateries, where stories were told, a little magic was performed and at least one waitress ended up with a tip that was folded origami style!

If you ever in the Atlanta area, we’d love to meet you! Come to a club meeting or e-mail one of us (addresses are on our website at www.gamagicclub.com) and we’ll let you know what’s going on!