I.B.M. Ring 9

Ring Reports

July 2009

No. 9, Atlanta, Georgia - Georgia Magic Club
3rd Monday, 7:00 PM, StarTime Entertainment, Alpharetta Hwy, Roswell, GA
DEBBIE LEIFER, President ( Debbie@MagicDebbie.com)
PAUL SPONAUGLE, Vice President (psmagic@comcast.net)
BILL PACKARD, Secretary (packardw@earthlink.net)
Ring 9 Web Site: www.GaMagicClub.com

Our July meeting began with David Smith presenting the Mini Lecture "Gizmos, Gadgets, Google and Wordpress". This informative presentation brought our members up to speed on high-tech options available to improve their online presence. Many were inspired to go home and try out the technology.

After welcoming our guests, president Debbie Leifer hosted "Feedback Central". This unique meeting theme was devised to offer substantial feedback to our members on works-in-progress.

Three panelists were invited to offer constructive criticism to our performers. Ken Scott, our current Greater Atlanta Magician of the Year, and a successful working pro offered valuable advice on presentation skills. Keynote speaker and corporate spokesperson Monica Ricci contributed greatly as our "layperson" panelist. Geoff Strauss, visiting from Philadelphia, is a two-time winner of First Place in Mentalism at S.A.M. National Conventions.

They were challenged with this lofty goal… to make their feedback on technical aspects, patter, and stage presence valuable to each performer, while also attempting to mention details that would help all attendees improve their performances. Audience members were asked to provide feedback to the performers by writing down their comments on index cards.

Our first performer was the consistently creative Mark Hatfield. We were treated to his first-ever performance of a dramatic Sands of Egypt routine. Mark is an impressive storyteller, his performances always demonstrate his respect for theatrical magic.

Merritt Ambrose shared two tricks from his current restaurant repertoire. Performing what he claims to be the "World's Fastest Cups & Balls", Merritt impressed us with his final loads, followed by a cute Bill in Lemon.

After displaying four jumbo Aces, Keith Rainey introduced his new invention, a laser that will allow a magician to eliminate the arduous sleight-of-hand required to perform Twisting The Aces. Each time his assistant Mike Quinn focused the Multi-phased Inversion Laser Model 700 on the cards, another ace turned upside down. Keith received many compliments, and a couple of valuable ideas that will make this creative routine more exciting.

Darryl Berman inserted four queens into separate sections of a deck, and they magically gathered together sandwiched between selected cards.

Mike Quinn impressed all with his performance of Signed Quarter in Soda Can. He penetrated a borrowed, signed quarter through the bottom of a sealed coke can, popped the top, poured out the beverage, and the coin was discovered inside the can.

After three different members shuffled a deck of cards, and twenty cards were randomly chosen by a person with 20/20 vision, Rick Silver impressed us with his "remote viewing" by accurately naming all 20 cards. A notable feat that deserved the accolades he received.

The always amusing Evan Reynolds performed Rope Through Body and a Comedy Wrist Tie Escape, assisted by Mike Quinn and Merritt Ambrose. Evan was in rare form with his humorous asides as a rope was pulled through his torso, then he quickly escaped after his wrists were tightly bound. Feedback he received focused on his amusing personality and how much he's grown as an entertainer.

Matt Baker told the story of Cassandra and her ability to foretell the future, although no one believed her prophecies. She warned that the Trojan Horse was a trap, but was mocked and forced to watch as her beloved city of Troy was destroyed. Matt announced his own prophecy, that an audience volunteer would ultimately choose the Eight of Hearts. To insure the audience would not believe him, that card was removed from the deck and displayed in a small frame. After Evan Reynolds chose a different card and placed it on the table, Matt withdrew his prediction from the frame and it visually changed into a different card, a stunning transformation that had the audience exclaiming "WOW!"… and the selected card was now the 8 of hearts!

Winner of the Coveted Royal Blue Pen award for July was Matt Baker.

Debbie Leifer
Ring Scribe