Notes from our September Meeting…
We started the meeting with 17 members and guests in attendance, then we lost two being Ruth and Perry Vath, as Perry was in severe pain and needed to go to the ER. The pain was from a hematoma from a hernia repair surgery. Meaning, nothing really serious, but very painful. More on this later.
Despite losing Perry (and Ruth) and were down to 15 members, we still had a fantastic meeting! In our lengthy business portion of the meeting, which lasted maybe 3 minutes, we talked about our upcoming public show, and the show posters were given out to members to display wherever they could post same. We will have more at our October meeting for members to pick up and post where they can.
Bruce (me) then talked for a few minutes about a couple con games that use slight of hand. The con games were Three Card Monte and the South African Handkerchief Switch. Bruce showed us the props used in the hanky switch and then a mug shot of a career three card monte man, that Bruce had arrested. Bruce also talked about arresting the guys who ran the hanky switch as well.
Bruce (me again) then reviewed Don Alan’s book, “In a Class of his Own”. As Bruce mentioned, if you are a fan of Don Alan and his magic, this is a must-have book.
Then it was time for our monthly raffle. It seemed John jr. did the best, winning a good number of prizes. He won a see-through blindfold, which Brook (his girlfriend and assistant) took charge of and was wearing it. The rest of the prizes were pretty much spread among other members. As always, thanks to all our members for buying all those raffle tickets which supports our club.
As members came into the meeting, they were given a short form to fill out, asking them a few questions which were; how old were you when you got interested in magic, what was your first magic trick, name an unusual job or jobs you had at some point in your life, and have you ever performed for a celebrity. Then we read the answers on each form, and we had to guess who the member was. We heard some very interesting answers. I think harvesting turtle eggs was the most interesting response. The game got easier as the game progressed, as the pool of possible members got smaller. We had lots of fun and laughs with this one. We may have to do this one again.
Then we opened a time capsule that was put together by club members in 2006. Our club historian, Bill Monroe had the honors of unwrapping it. Let me tell you, it was really wrapped well, with layer after layer of paper, string, tape, cardboard and plastic. The first thing taken out was a pair of gag/joke, big framed glasses with a big nose and huge ears attached…. Huh? We were all puzzled. The next thing we found was a small black cape, another huh?
Next, Bill took out a beautiful, what appeared to be a handmade wooden magic wand with brass tips. Beau recalled that at that point in time, we had a member who made wands like this. But no one could recall his name. Perhaps, Tyler Reid’s dad made it, as he did woodwork? We then found a couple years of Linking Ring and MUM magazines. On the bottom, was a sealed large 3 ring binder that we will explore at our next meeting. Read my other post here about a new time capsule we will be putting together.
After a short break it was time for magic….
The theme for the evening was magic performed to music. For some unknown reason or another, Beau and Bruce were the only two who participated. Beau gave us a preview of what he will be performing at our upcoming public show. It was great, no it was fantastic!
Then it was on to any other magic members who cared to perform. Those who participated were; Ben, Bill Metsch, Troy, Bill Monroe, John Jr., Greg and Bruce. Again, we saw some wonderful magic performed by our members. I have to say, we have some very talented individuals in our club.
If you missed this meeting, you really missed a lot!
Bruce
PS Update on Perry; He is at home with the following instructions, no lifting things, no straining, and get lots of rest. I suspect Ruth will find this to be quite challenging.
Time Capsule
As I mentioned in my Notes from our September Meeting, we opened a time capsule that the club had put together 20 years ago. It contained a good number of MUM’s and Linking Ring magazines, and it contained a large binder, which we will look through next month. We also found a beautifully made wooden magic wand, and a couple odd items being a black cape, and a pair of gag glasses with a big nose and huge ears attached to it (with no explanation).
I will note, I have been lugging that 40-pound box around for many years and wondered why it was so heavy, now I know, it was all those MUM’s and Linking Rings.
Ben then suggested that we put together a time capsule, which we all thought was a great idea. Immediately the suggestions of what we should put in ours were called out.
Here is that list:
- Photo or photos of each member
- Member business cards
- Member advertising material
- Members show posters
- Menu from Sonny’s
- Club posters from our public shows
- Our club poster
- GCMG, IBM and SAM membership application
- Group photo of our membership
- Some raffle tickets (with an explanation about our monthly raffle)
- Door hanger (that John sr. makes)
- Club membership roster
- Thumb tip and a chain escape (with a note attached explaining how Ben won countless thumb tips and chain escapes.
- Card-Toon trick (we had no less than 4 dozen of them from Haray’s estate that the club purchased and just about every club member won a couple in our raffles)
- Sample club plaque
- Lists of our winners of our annual awards from previous years
- List of the books in our club library
- List of the members who performed in our three public shows
- Some random photos from our club meetings
- Sample meeting agenda
- List of our members with their past and present occupations.
- With the odds and ends, such as the chain escape, we will attach a note to each explaining its reason for being in the time capsule.
So, every member will need to participate in gathering the contents for our time capsule. We will need a good photo or two of you, your business card, any advertising materials and any other things you can think of. Bring items to the upcoming meetings and I will keep them until our January meeting, when we will seal it up.
Notes from our August Meeting…
We had 18 members and guests present for our August meeting. We had a few members who missed the meeting due to illness, home repair projects, doing a show, and forgetfulness. We trust everyone is feeling better, their shows went well and the needed repairs were finished.
The business portion of the meeting lasted about 3 minutes, where we discussed our upcoming public show and Jamie Williamson’s lecture this past Saturday.
We then turned the floor over to one of our guests, Adiline Lyons (and her dad, Josh). Adiline has created and is making a new version of the magician’s coloring book. It works like the traditional coloring book; but hers is spiral bound and the cover of it can be personalized with the name of the magician and his or her photo. I saw that Adiline made a few sales (including me). It turns out her dad, Josh has had a lifelong interest in magic. We may have a new member in the making.
Then we did something different. I talked about a con game called Pigeon Drop. The criminals who work the Pigeon Drop use lying, cheating, deception and props to make the scam work. Sounds like magicians doing a trick. Bruce showed the various props used in it, that he had obtained over his years in law enforcement.
Next it was time for our raffle. There were about 25 tricks, books and props on the table. One of our new members, Fred Lopez, seemed to do very well, winning a good number of things. As always, thanks to all for buying all those raffle tickets.
After a short break, it was time for magic. The theme was Paper Magic. Those performing were Geordan, Bill M, Beau and Bruce. We saw some great magic. Then it was time for other magic. Those performing were John Jr, Perry, Bruce, Rob, Ara Jones (Tom Jones daughter), Tom, Uwe, Phil and Beau. Again, we saw some really great magic.
After Rob performed, he gave us a report on Magic Live. Thanks Rob!
If you missed this meeting, you really did miss a lot!
Bruce
Jamie William’s Lecture and Master Class
We had 16 members present for his lecture and 6 members present for his Master Class. His lecture for our club was his first lecture in our country. He told me privately, he had presented lectures throughout England and felt comfortable with British magicians, but he was quite nervous about lecturing for American magicians. If he was nervous, it did not show.
As I mentioned at the lecture, Jamie stayed with Patti and I for a few days before the lecture. It did not take me long to figure out, his mind worked differently than most people. He saw things one way, and I saw them another way. I mean this in a good way. That being said, that mind of his has created some wonderful magic.
His magic is highly entertaining, easy to do and amazing. His presentation had us laughing for the entire afternoon. Throughout the lecture he talked about misdirection, the presentation of magic, patter and interacting with the audience. Our server at Sonny’s Lexie, stayed for most all of the lecture and I saw her laughing continually all afternoon.
On a personal note, his effects his gag with the fake cell phone, “Boarding Call” and “Movie Quiz” were my favorites. Those of you who got his “Boarding Call” effect, as Jamie mentioned, you are the very first magicians to get one, as it has not been released or sold anywhere yet.
Jamie had been to our country in the past and has only been to Orlando for a vacation and to Los Angeles many years ago. He told me, he was very curious about real Americans and our lifestyles, away from tourist areas.
In the few days he was here with us, he kept me very busy. After watching all the videos online of all the people who came here for the World Cup, he wanted to see the real America. Jamie had his list. So, we went to a Cracker Barrel, Buc-ee’s, a rodeo, Alligator Alley, and a Public Grocery store. When it was time for him to do his lecture. I had to drag him out of Buc-ee’s to get him to Sonny’s in time for his lecture. He wanted to go to a Walmart, see the USS Alabama, see the Gulf of America, and a few other places, but we ran out of time. I should also note, Jamie is not a shy man. Everywhere we went, he was stopping and talking to people.
Jamie told me on our ride back to my house after the lecture, our club was the nicest and most friendly group of magicians he had ever lectured for.
Back to his lecture, as we always say, Miss a Meeting, Miss a Lot”, but in this case, “Miss a Lecture, Miss a Lot”.
