I.B.M. Ring 9

Ring Reports

December 2008

See photos from this meeting

No. 9, Atlanta, Georgia - Georgia Magic Club
3rd Monday, 7:00 PM, Funny Farm Comedy Club, Alpharetta Hwy, Roswell, GA

DEBBIE LEIFER, President (Debbie@MagicDebbie.com)
LYNN FOX, Vice President (lynnfox@bellsouth.net)
GUY PHILLIPS, Secretary (guyphilips@bellsouth.net)
Ring 9 Web Site: www.GaMagicClub.com



Our December 2008 meeting began with a terrific Mini-Lecture presented by Rick Silver. He entertained us with a presentation of "The Fairest Card Trick In The World", a stage version of a prediction of a freely chosen card that matches via the name written on the back of both cards. Rick shared the secret and several helpful subtleties to help everyone understand the finer points of his presentation. Rick then demonstrated how to make a very inexpensive table steal gimmick he uses to hold loads. Everyone seemed very impressed with the idea, and delighted to learn how easy and inexpensive it would be to create such a useful gimmick.

This month's theme was "I Knew You Were Thinking That!" As we experienced last year, this theme has been phenomenally popular with our members, so we had an impressive number of performers sharing really cool mind reading.

Merritt Ambrose kicked off our theme performances with the display of two playing cards, as well as $40 held together by a giant paperclip. A spectator was challenged to correctly guess the identity of one of the two cards, assured that if he was correct, the crowd would "go wild" and he would get all the glory. However, if he failed, he would receive the $40 to offset the shame. When the spectator randomly named a card, unfortunately (for him!) his choice was 100% accurate! Therefore, he didn't receive any monetary reward, but rather he was rewarded with the appreciation of the enthusiastic audience.

Joe M. Turner presented what he called Mind Writing. After placing one playing card into his otherwise empty pants pocket, Joe asked an audience member to name a playing card of their choice. Reaching into his pocket with an empty hand, Joe amazed us all by extracting the exact card named. Next was a demonstration of holiday thought transference, two audience members chose Christmas themed items from two short lists, and Joe correctly named the chosen items.

Aragorn presented a clever mind reading experiment with the assistance of a young visitor. The young man chose a playing card, and was asked to hold it over his chest. Aragorn displayed a short wire which was heated by a lighter, and after a bit of mind reading, the wire magically conformed itself into the suit and value of the chosen card.

Mark Hatfield shared a story about being challenged to perform magic for a blind man. He demonstrated with the assistance of an audience member who counted down cards several times to ultimately determine his choice of card. Mark knew the chosen card, and the conclusion of all other cards being blank brought a moving story to a magical conclusion.

Howie Marmer called up a delightful visitor to assist him with some mental deceptions. First, asking the spectator to name their preference of two different color Sharpie pens, of course Howie proved he had correctly predicted the chosen color. The spectator then chose a playing card and returned it to the deck. Howie stuck one card to his forehead, suggesting that was the chosen card. When his prediction was shown to be incorrect, it magically transformed into the spectator's card.

Arthur Atsma brought one of our visitors onstage, and spread 12 cards on the table in a circle to represent a clock. One card was chosen and shown to the audience, then returned to the clock at any hour the spectator desired. Of course Arthur correctly identified the card, the position it was in, and then as a kicker, all the remaining cards were blank.

Mike Ellis presented a mind reading experiment with no props, just his mind and the minds of two participants who volunteered to think of the names of Southwestern states. Mike proceeded to reveal their thought-of states one letter at a time. Surprisingly, both spectators randomly thought of Wyoming.

Rick Silver performed an original trick he designed to fool magicians. A brand new sealed deck was shuffled by Ken Scott. Rick left the room with a chaperone to insure he could not hear or see what was about to transpire. A card was selected and placed into someone's pocket. Upon entering the room, Rick amazingly named the card suit and then the value - correctly.

The always delightful Gene Hendrix presented an entertaining intuition test. Four cards were selected and signed by four individuals. The cards were returned to the deck, it was mixed and spread on the table. Each of the four participants used their intuition to touch a single card in the spread, and when these cards were revealed, each person was holding the card they originally signed. Awesome!

Our final performer, Jim Magus, presented quite an elaborate and entertaining demonstration of a magical game of Clue. Several audience members determined their weapon of choice. They were each given comedic names, and Paul Sponaugle was designated the murder victim. After several amusing interactions with the suspects, Jim revealed that his wallet contained a written prediction that correctly named the murderer and the weapon.

For general magic, Carey Huddlestun shared a nice "Out To Lunch" presentation featuring his own business cards.

Winner of the Coveted Royal Blue Pen Award for December was Rick Silver.

We have a great time at our monthly meetings, and would love to meet any magicians visiting the Atlanta area on the third Monday of any month. You can read how much fun we have, and view meeting performance photos thanks to the very talented photographer Bobby Campbell on our club website, www.GaMagicClub.com

Debbie Leifer