Four Corner Teach-In at March Meeting

John Roberts opened with a St. Paddy's theme coin production from a rainbow & pot-o-gold silk and ended with a 3-D leprechaun figure. An audience member helped eliminate all but one of a group of semi-precious stones from a small treasure chest and the remaining stone matched one held in a small leather bag. John then located a chosen card from a memorized deck, explained a card-across effect and a poker deal that went awry until an audience member, accused of putting a curse on the trick, was made to remove it (the curse). Roberts did a chop-cup routine with a beer can and a miniature baseball, which turned into two jumbo balls and he finished with a simplified in-the-air card stab.

Turley the Magician (Hugh Turley) taught a torn and restored napkin routine that he had learned from Bob McAllister. He shared some tips on using a magic wand to switch items or load items in a spectator's hand and demonstrated these with sponge balls. Turley closed with a demonstration (pitch) of the six-way "Rising Wand" and showed how he added his own gimmicks to the wand.

Buddy Smith wowed us with his masterful handling of coins including variations on the Copper/Silver coins using a Chinese token and a 50-cent piece. He assured those in his teaching session that “coin magic can be very easy” if done properly.

Ken Norris showed the members his presentation of the Ring and Rope including a cut and restored rope. He taught us the handling of the “3 Card Monte” scams seen on the streets of New York. He lead the crowd thru a ‘you do as I do’ card trick, which lead to a version of ‘Out of This World’.

Ring 50 President Mike Taggert urged everyone at the meeting to take part in the group’s annual Magi-Whirl convention and stage show to be held March 28 & 29 at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, Va. Mike reminded members that new officers for the coming year will be nominated at the April meeting when Ring 50’s Annual Auction is held. He said that the annual Dan Lacey Magician of the Year contest is set for May and the 2008 Winton Carroll Comedy Magic competition will be held in June.

~~ Bob Patterson & Jim Flanigan