May Meeting Brings Dan Lacey Contest “Magician of the Year”

May 7th – Sharpen up your skills for the annual “Washington DC Magician of the Year”, Dan Lacey contest. The contest is open to all Ring 50 members. A panel of Judges will select the winner. Contact Mike Taggert (mtaggert@cox.net or ph. 540-370-0752) if you want to compete in this prestigious contest. Each person has a time limit of eight minutes to present their act.

Election of Ring 50 Officers will be conducted at the May meeting. The nominees for Ring 50 2008-2009 are:

Officers
President…………………. Louis Meyer
Vice President…………… Eric Redman
Treasurer…………………. Bob Patterson
Secretary………………….. Sam Brothers
Sergeant-at-Arms……... Reggie Rice

Directors
Retiring Ring President……. Michael Taggert
Former Ring President…….. Dwight Redman
Senior Director ……………..... Don Freedman

April’s Auction Action

Auctioneers Dick Christian and Bill Wells with a sausage gun.

Fifty-four members and guests attended our annual Ring 50 Auction. Our auctioneers Dick Christian and IBM Past President, Bill Wells did a fantastic job demonstrating the live auction items and getting the best dollar. Overall lucky bidders got some fine magic equipment. High bidders walked off with some of the interesting pieces like: a collectors T-Shirt from the former Al’s Magic Shop, a silk fountain, a set of 8-inch linking rings, and a water bowl vanish. Tom Paxton won a neat spike thru the neck item. Dwight Redman was top bidder for a Collector's Workshop Samurai. John Roberts carried home a very nice silk caddy and Wayne Alan got a PB & J for a little bread. Eighty-seven items sold in the auction netting the Ring $79 in fees and donations for the Ring Treasury. Twenty-eight items were sold in the live auction and fifty-nine magic items in the silent auction.

May 7th - Dan Lacey Contest

Sharpen up your skills for the annual “Washington DC Magician of the Year”, Dan Lacey contest. The contest is open to all Ring 50 members. Winner will be selected by a panel of Judges. Contact Mike Taggert if you are going to compete in this event (president@ibmring50.org). Each performer will have eight minutes to exhibit their magicial skills to amaze the audience.

June 4th – Winton Carroll's “Most Humorous Magician” Contest

Present your comedy magic material for the “Most Humorous Magician” contest and win a $100. This Winton Carroll contest is open to all Ring 50 members. This contest and meeting will be conducted in the Dinning Room of the Hotel. Winner will be chosen by popular vote (bring a pencil or pen to mark the ballot). Contact Mike Taggert if you are going to compete in this event (president@ibmring50.org). Each performer will have eight minutes to exhibit their magicial skills to win the audience vote for the Most Humorous Magician award.

~~ Bob Patterson

Magi-Whirl 2008 – One of the BEST

Ring 50, under the guidance of Mike Taggert and Bob Patterson, produced another hit convention and stage show for Magi-Whirl 2008. There was a 33 percent increase in registrations for the convention over the previous year and a 28 percent jump in show ticket sales with 567 tickets sold for the Saturday night gala performance. During the convention, attendees had a chance to meet some of the stage stars up close and personal. ICE McDonald, who was accompanied by his assistant Robbie Waddell, Aldo & Rachel Colombini and Eric Jones, gave standup lectures.

Among the dignitaries who attended the convention were Maria Ibanez, president of the Society of American Magicians, and Al Cohen, the longtime Washington magic dealer who will be honored at the Magic Castle in Hollywood in April for his contributions to magic.
Friday night arrivals were able to enjoy a Dealers Show and to make some early purchases. They were treated to a lecture by Eric Jones, which turned out to be a surprise hit of this convention or any magic convention. His Four Kings Revelation in performance appeared impossible to perform although his finger-flicking routine seemed almost obtainable when explained. His coin magic drew raves of “outstanding” from even the most experienced at the lecture. His Three Fly effect took the magic to even another level. He also did a whole new twist on the Karate Coin.

After Friday's finger-flinging session, Saturday morning began with a rousing motivational lecture from top corporate magician Kenrick "Ice" McDonald. Ice shared his real-world principles for both the "show" and the "business" of magic, including a special section on ethics. He also shared an amazing routine he uses to audition for corporate bookers. At the end, the audience was clearly ready to go another two hours, but we had to break so the magi could lunch at the many fine restaurants withing walking distance of Bishop Ireton High School, the convention site.

After lunch, the attendees were wondering what could possibly follow the sleight of hand and great ideas we'd already seen. The answer was in two parts: Aldo & Rachel Columbini. They gave us a double dose of practical, effective stand-up magic, suitable for most venues. The crowd made their enthusiasm evident and then swarmed the product table at the end.

Saturday afternoon featured revolving close-up shows with Brian Morton, Richard Kaufman and Bob Little. Brian Morton used a deck of cards and a film noir detective story to reveal a “criminal” represented by a signed queen. Kaufman proved he is a close-up performer in his own right with some slick card work including one in which he turned a deck into a “gun” to shoot out a chosen card. Bob Little used a hatchet to chop a large Smiley face cookie into crumbs to reveal a chosen card. He ended his act with a bit that probably will not be repeated again.

One of the afternoon highlights was a question-and-answer session with Richard Kaufman, publisher of Genii The Conjuror’s Magazine, conducted by Ring 50 President Mike Taggert. Kaufman talked about having the chance while growing up in New York City to brush elbows with some of magic’s greats in informal settings. Kaufman, who revived Genii 10 years ago and turned it into a first-rate magic publication, conceded he is a workaholic but loves every minute of his creative time in front of a computer.

The only thing that could follow these lectures was some great magic performances, and we had plenty in store, both on stage and up close. Prior to the Saturday night Gala Show, Ring 50 members performed feats of magic in the lobby to entertain the arriving public. They were: Capt Token (Louis Hofhiemer), Dwight Redman, Larsen Eisenberg, Eric Redman, Lorenzo the Great (Larry Lipman), Matgik Matt (Matt Hiller), Sam Brothers, and The Legendary Rick Beatty.

The Gala Show drew a nearly sellout, enthusiastic crowd, which was opened to the public. The opening act of the show, presented in the auditorium of Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, Va., featured the comedy and magic of Ring 50 Magician of the Year Noland Montgomery. Two husky men tied him up with rope as he stood on a stool. After one of the assistants held a drape over his tightly bound hands, Noland suddenly reached out from behind the cover with his magically free right hand to answer a cell phone call. “I’m all tied up at the moment,” he told the caller on the other end of the line.

The delightful comedy magic of Bob Sheets came next with a presentation of his very own Hang Them High illusion in which he pulled a long length of rope through his body. He also tendered a wonderful routine involving eight delightful kids from the audience. He combined a Nest of Wands with a Cups and Balls effect that ended with the production of a lemon, orange and potato.

Aldo and Rachel Colombini impersonated a European count and countess to produce a very funny mind-reading act. Standing in the audience, Aldo told a blindfolded Rachel, “I’m holding an object. You may be able to see it.” She immediately responded, “Eyeglasses,” to the knowing audience’s laughter. Aldo ended with a smooth and very pretty linking rings routine.

Kenrick “ICE” McDonald was the featured performer of the show as he orchestrated his award-winning act with a dramatic series of dove productions. In a change of pace, he invited a man and woman on the stage for a torn and restored card routine. In another phase, he invited two young girls on stage for a funny change bag parody. He ended by delivering a beautiful and moving presentation involving an older woman from the audience, in which he turned paper roses into real ones to give to her. He ended by producing a swirling snowstorm on stage and dancing with her.

Washington DC’s Rich Bloch was the evening’s ringmaster as the emcee of the night. He provided his own delightful and sophisticated magic mixed with wry humor. One of his funniest bits was when he brought out a floral bouquet on one end of the stage. In a quick moment of misdirection, he pointed out a lady assistant carrying on a tray of metal containers from the other end of the stage, which suddenly clattered to the floor. When the audience looked back, the flowers had vanished.

If you did not attend, you missed a good one!

– By Jim Flanigan. Ken Norris, Eric Henning, & Bob Patterson contributed to this article.

April 2nd is Auction Night

The Wednesday, April 2nd meeting will feature Auction Night. Now that you bought some new items at Magi-Whirl it’s time to clean out some of the items from your magic closet that you no longer have a need. Bring them to the auction! Our coven of conjurors will be gathered for the April “Spring Cleaning” Auction Night. This event always draws a crowd. It’s sure to provide us with lots of special bargains. You won’t want to miss it. Last year there were over 90 items auctioned to the highest bidder.

Nominations for Ring 50 Officers will be presented at the April Meeting. If you are interested in becoming an officer of IBM Ring 50, please let Louis Meyer know. His phone is: 703-765-1923, or email at: louis@childtimemagic.com.

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