‘Holiday Party Magic’ for January Meeting

President Mike Taggert had to cancel the December meeting due to the snow and hazardous road conditions around Washington DC. The ‘Holiday Magic’ program scheduled for the meeting will be presented at the January meeting as ‘Holiday Party Magic’. The Ring members wishing to perform at the January meeting should contact Mike by email: President@IBMRing50.Org or phone: 540-370-0752. Be sure to purchase a 50/50 ticket for some additional prizes.

President Taggert has a proposal to launch a Youth Affiliate program for the Washington DC area. He would like to urge each and every Ring member to do their best to attract and retain members from ten to eighteen years of age to come to the Ring meetings. They would be non-voting members, but would assist on committees, participate in shows, attend Ring seminars, learn magic skills, or improve their magic techniques.

Be sure to get registered for Magi-Whirl 2008 before the price increase on March 16. Magi-Whirl 2008 will be held March 28 & 29 in Alexandria Virginia at the Bishop Ireton High School. It will feature four lectures, three close-up performances, ten magic dealers, and a Gala evening show. For details see the Ring 50 web site: www.Magi-Whirl.Org.

Bob Patterson

Members Perform for “Wounded Warriors”

Magicians Bert Udovin, Eric Henning, Jason Goldberg, and Brandon Tucker on December 10 performed strolling magic for a NASA "Tribute To Our Wounded Soldiers" program at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Springs Maryland. The strolling magicians were will received and enjoyed by all of those attending the tribute.

DECEMBER MEETING CANCELED!!

December's Ring 50 meeting has been canceled due to hazardous road conditions.
We'll see you in January!

The National Weather Service has issue a Snow Advisory for the entire metro area from Baltimore south to Fredericksburg, Virginia, calling for steady snowfall from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. EST. Although less than 2 inches of snow is expected, temperatures will rise to the mid-30's by afternoon, meaning that the roads are likely to melt and then re-freeze by sunset at 4:44 p.m. For the safety of our members and guests, and given the likelihood that traffic will be as chaotic this evening as it was this morning, President Michael Taggert has decided to cancel tonight's meeting. Stay safe and warm! The Board is currently trying to get an email out to all members.
- Eric Henning, Web Master

New Members Perform at the November Meeting

Vice President Louis Meyer opened the meeting and welcomed the guests. New members in the past year put on the November program. All were great performers with amazing skills and many new techniques were demonstrated. The 35 members in attendance enjoyed the show.

Jeff Sobel started off with displaying his new adult version of the coloring book (gag), then did a bit of “knotty” work – a short rope routine. After hypnotizing the rope (and the audience) to follow his directions, he showed the practical side of rope magic before performing a linking ring routine with only 1 ring and a rope.

Terry Moran did a paper toss to choose volunteers and then added their imaginary pocket change to match a reveal on the papers held by the volunteers. Terry then did an infamous mentalist experiment "reading the mind of the unborn child" using a women form the audience. The unborn child, after a bit of by play, named the selected card.

Danny Selnick explained how a deck of cards and the calendar are parallel. He had a spectator select a card from the deck and then ask the spectator for any date in his life that was memorable. When turning the pages in his Day Timer to the memorable date, there was the selected card.

Donna Audi showed an empty bottle and magically filled it. She then poured the contents into cups held by three spectators. This was followed by catching imaginary balls thrown by the audience into a paper bag.

Mike Taggert couldn’t be with us tonight because he was with his father in the hospital. However he was able to demonstrate his magical mental skills over the phone, by naming a card selected by an audience member.

New Members Join IBM Ring 50 at November Meeting

Donna Jean Audi of Alexandria VA, was voted into the Ring. She performs as ‘Sparkplug’ the clown. Magic has always interested her and she wants to make a profession of it. The following have applied for membership in IBM Ring 50 and have membership applications pending with IBM. Upon completion of the HQ IBM membership, and when these magicians attend the next meeting, the members will vote on their acceptance into Ring 50. Peter Zawadzki of Bethesda MD, also known as ‘Zulu Papa’, has been a Yogi Magic Mart student in Baltimore and was inspired by Jeff McBride. Shrive Paul Beck, Arlington VA, has been a student of magic through books and is looking forward to gaining knowledge, advice, and experience through membership in the Ring. To join Ring 50, an applicant must be interested in magic and be (or become) a member of the I.B.M. and Membership applications may be obtained from the IBM web site: http://www.magician.org/. Ring 50 Membership applications may be obtained from the Ring 50 web site: Click here

~ ~ Bob Patterson

Eric Henning Appears on FOX 5 TV

Ring 50 Past President Eric Henning appeared on the FOX 5 TV Morning News on Tuesday, October 30. During two "Creepy Cribs" segments, he did some close-up magic with host Holly Morris. The video segments are up on the Fox Web site, and you can see them on your browser by clicking here. During one segment, Henning promoted Ring 50 and our Web site.

Jamy Ian Swiss Lectures at Ring 50

Jamy Ian Swiss is a gifted sleight-of-hand artist who possesses "a finely tuned sense of the absurd," says the Washington Post. He has appeared along the way in performances from Hollywood's Magic Castle to Caesar's Palace on the Las Vegas Strip to the Ginza District of downtown Tokyo. His greatest passion, though, is sleight-of-hand magic, and there are few practitioners who can match his skill and enthusiasm. With a bravado that reflects his early days performing in biker bars, Jamy blends contemporary comedy with bravura technical mastery to create a truly unique show that appeals to almost any audience. Jamy is a busy and highly regarded writer, Jamy contributes a monthly book review column to Genii, the Conjuror's Magazine; he is the author of 11 books and monographs of magic for magicians.

His three and a half hour lecture for IBM Ring 50 was based on “why” I do things the way I do. He stressed using creativity and that novel wins over the good from the AMATEUR MAGICIAN'S perspective, and that this is why novelty wins magic contests, and why magic contest winners -- like FISM Grand Prix closeup winners -- are consistently terrible. The layman, on the other hand, has a MUCH better idea of what is good, when compared with an amateur magician. He says the great performer demonstrates very little skill and goes for the effect. Jamy says, “sleight of hand is only a small part of the secret – the real secrets have to do with psychology and a carefully constructed, almost theatrical production, with many players, most of whose roles are invisible to the victim.”

Jamy's lecture was packed with practical material from his own working repertoire – filled with real-life information about performance of magic – all delivered in Jamy's powerful, potent and unprecedented style! Including: THE KISS OF THE BIG APPLE - According to Scotty York, long-time confidant of the great Fred Kaps, "This is the final word on the Kaps method for the Card in Matchbox." WISHFUL THINKING - The ultimate Card in Matchbook routine, elements of which have been endorsed and even adopted by Michael Ammar. THE ANIMATED RING - The easiest yet most powerful effect that's been and featured in Jon LeClair's “The Art of Invisible Thread.” His lecture was more than just tricks. It's was a carefully constructed performance, a session with an expert teacher, a riveting motivational experience. This lecture was not merely magic lessons – this lecture was life lessons!

New Members Join IBM Ring 50

The National Capital Ring 50 we voted in two new members at the October meeting. Todd Eisenstadt, Bethesda MD, Todd is a college professor and has performed at charity shows and birthday gigs. Todd is a member of KIDABRA. Michael Wolfson, Alexandria VA. Mike is a Management Analyst with the US Dept of State. He has always loved magic and has performed presentations at the US Dept of State and for friends in the US Army and Peru.

The following have applied for membership in IBM Ring 50 and have membership applications pending with IBM. Upon completion of the HQ IBM membership, and when these magicians attend the next meeting, the members will vote on their acceptance into Ring 50. Donna Jean Audi, Alexandria VA, performs as ‘Sparkplug’ the clown. Magic has always interested her and she wants to make a profession of it. Donna has received her membership into IBM and will be eligible to be voted upon at the next meeting she attends. Shrive Paul Beck, Arlington VA, has been a student of magic through books and is looking forward to gaining knowledge, advice, and experience through membership in the Ring. Peter A. Zawadzki (Zulu Papa), Bethesda MD, has been a Yogi Magic Mart student in Baltimore and was inspired by Jeff McBride.

~ ~ Bob Patterson