Ring 50 Selects Magician of the Year

Dwight Redman was a repeat winner of the Ring 50 Magician of the Year at our May 3. 2006 meeting. He was awarded the Dan Lacey Memorial Trophy for his performance. Dwight first won the cup three years ago when the competition started.

Tom Lacey, left, son of former Ring 50 President Dan Lacey, presents the Dan Lacey Memorial Trophy to Dwight Redman as the 2006 Magician of the Year.

Dwight's rapport with the audience stood out among his peers as he presented a clever game routine based on the popular Star Trek series. He "transported" a chosen card selected by a spectator into a glass bottle inside a closed set of boxes held by an audience member. He also used jumbo cards to tell his version of the Gemini Twins story.

Dwight's son, Eric Redman, who also is a magician, was a close runner-up in the contest. He concluded his presentation with an eye-popping illusion in which he pulled a long, heavy chain through his body as the links were held at opposite ends by two husky volunteers.

The competition honors the memory of former Ring 50 President Dan Lacey.

Noland Montgomery, who was the winner of the Dan Lacey trophy the previous two years, delivered a slick four-ace routine. Later, with the help of a young lady from the crowd, he kept everyone's attention with a humorous Cut-and-Restored Rope routine.

Arnie Fuoco displayed his originality and creativity by taking several traditional routines one step further. He especially caught the magical group's attention when he ended a Professor's Nightmare (Carver Ropes) effect by actually showing all three ropes, which first were various lengths, all visibly the same length.

Bob Carnathan offered a beautiful Color Changing Silk rhapsody in which he teased his spectators with a closed fist after changing a red fabric to a white one before opening his hand to show the red one was truly gone.

Former Ring 50 President Ken Norris borrowed the jacket of Stuart Finley, who also once led our group, to perform a Knife Through Jacket effect. As Stu walked away, Ken demonstrated his skill as a pickpocket by returning his helper's wallet, watch and other items.

Geoff Webber, with the help of an attractive assistant, poured a variety of drinks from a single chocolate milk carton. The various beverages were passed out to members of the audience. John Roberts, another former Ring 50 leader, did a chain with lock routine. Cristian Vidrascu turned a deck of blank cards into normal ones during a card selection effect.

Jim Flanigan, who is Territorial Vice President of the IBM for the Washington area, was presented with a Lifetime Membership certificate at the meeting by Ring 50 President Don Freedman. Later, Jim served as one of the judges of the Magician of the Year competition.

Ring 50 President Don Freedman (L) presents a Lifetime Membership certificate to Jim Flanigan, who is the IBM's territorial vice president for the Washington area and a longtime newsletter editor of the Ring 50 Magi-Gram.

During the business meeting preceding the show, Dwight Redman was elected president of Ring 50 for the coming year. He will be installed along with other officers at the June meeting.