I.B.M. Ring 9

Ring Reports

July 2007

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

DALE ADAMSON, President (daledoesmagic@yahoo.com)
ROB SPEER, Vice President (speerlaw@bellsouth.net)
EVAN REYNOLDS, Secretary (evan@evan.org)
Ring 9 Web Site: www.gamagicclub.com


Our July meeting marked the occasion of our third annual J.C. DOTY AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN STAGE MAGIC competition. The energy in the room seemed to be electric with anticipation of an exciting evening. We were all pleased to have such a huge turnout for this special event, and especially thrilled to have approximately twenty visitors, adding to the excitement, and of course pleasing the contestants.

Some of our generous members performed strolling close-up magic around the room in order to warm up the audience, and to greet our visitors with an introduction to a more intimate style of magic than they were about to witness on the stage. We are lucky enough to have the interesting venue of a comedy club as our club's current home. Because of this good fortune, we have a full stage, which is certainly an advantage on a special night such as this one when we are featuring stage magic.

The first contestant was KEITH RAINEY. He performed a very solid routine of sophisticated coin magic. Keith presented his magic in a unique style, sitting on a stool, engaging the audience in a dramatic demonstration of sleight-of-hand mysteries. His performance was well received by the audience, a classy way to begin the contest.

Our second contestant was ARTHUR ATSMA. He performed a classic Linking Ring routine that greatly pleased the audience with his polished moves. Arthur then delighted the audience with his very entertaining Multiplying Billiard Ball routine. Up until this evening we were very familiar with his more casual and very verbal style of delivery we've often witnessed, tonight's performance by Arthur demonstrated his technical abilities along with his versatility. His routines were inventive and beautiful.

Our final contestant was DEBBIE LEIFER. She dazzled us with a very entertaining fast-paced silent cabaret magic act performed to music. Debbie produced a seemingly endless amount of flowers from thin air, followed by very colorful magic with silk scarves and a parasol, and closed with the appearance of a beautiful Snowstorm that filled the stage. Debbie is a personable, seasoned entertainer who is extremely comfortable in front of an audience. Our non-magician guests especially enjoyed Debbie's colorful, energetic stage performance.

Our MC for the Stage Contest was HOWIE MARMER. Between the acts he performed comedy routines with young people from the audience, and demonstrated he is a very funny and versatile entertainer. While the votes were counted Howie brought a young man up from the audience, and totally fooled the magicians by producing six doves from a seemingly empty box.

The 2007 winner of the J.C. Doty Award for Excellence in Stage Magic was ARTHUR ATSMA.

There are many photos of the contest on our www.GaMagicClub.com website. If you find yourself in Atlanta on the third Monday of any month, we encourage you to visit our club and join in the fun!

Debbie Leifer, Ring Scribe