Friday, February 29, 2008

Meeting of Ring #258 – Feb. 28, 2008

The meeting was called to order at 7:02 PM by President Jim Moody.

General Announcements:

Visitor Paul Menken, originally from NY now living in Lady Lake, builds illusions!

It was great to see Lee Langer back with us after triple bypass surgery just 3 weeks ago!

Jackie Smallwood, is ill with a brain tumor. The club voted to send a get well gift of flowers/plants.

Old Business:

The minutes of the January meeting were approved as e-mailed by Secretary Roger Reid.

Jim Moody gave the treasurers report in the absence of George Smallwood. As of 1/31/08 the club treasury had a balance of $5727.92 and a paid membership of 38.

Preparation for The Villages show, headed up by Magic Ian, is well under way. There will be two performances, 6:00 and 8:30 PM on Monday evening April 14. Tickets are $12 to Villages residents and $15 to non-residents. Performers are Frank Martin and Co., Brian Weller, Rich Hewitt, Jim Moody, Magic Ian and Donald Pierson. Additional performers who wish to be considered for the show will be auditioned at the "run through" show that will be performed for "The Maryland Club" on Wed., April 2nd, at Laurel Manor. Load in at 5:30, Show at 6:30. Contact Magic Ian at MagicianS@aol.com or Home: 352-793-1181 Cell: 352-568-3790 to be included. Those willing to perform close-up in the lobby for the The Villages show should contact Dandy Dan at DandyMagic@aol.com or 352-324-2787. The "ad" that is running in The Villages local paper, that we are being charged for, is not up to par. It will be revised by the committee.

A continuation of last month's discussion of whether club performers should be paid and the use of the funds earned by doing public shows raised the hackles of some members. It was suggested that those in disagreement with current club policy propose a motion at the next meeting to be put to a vote of the entire membership.

A report on Ring 258 ½, given by Andrew Long, concerned discussion of competitions. Next month's meeting will be a lecture by none other than our own Magic Ian!

No business to report on Camp Boggy Creek. We will wait until after The Villages show to see what is in the treasury before contacting them again to make another donation and/or to do another teach-in.

New Business:

The John Carney lecture was excellent! His close-up, coins across with a wine glass, productions, subtleties and misdirection were superb.

The Sanders silk lecture received mixed reviews. The products he was selling were excellent and his prices were even better. CLICK HERE FOR PICS.

The review of Magic by the Bay was less than spectacular. The lectures were well received but the Saturday evening show was of poor quality, if not amateurish.

A Ring 258 picnic will take place on a Sunday in June or July, at Brian Weller's new facility. We will have a Bar-B-Cue and "pot luck" lunch. Contact Brian Weller at bigtop@att.blackberry.net for more information or to join the committee.

The Ring 170 Auction, Flea Market and Lecture will take place on Saturday, March 8th, with lecturers Michael Ammar and Magic Ian. Contact Chris Dunn at youngdunns@yahoo.com for more details.

The Ring 258 Flea Market/Lecture will take place on Saturday, April 12, lecturer to be named later.

We have scheduled another club fund raising show at Hawthorne, on Rt. 27 in Leesburg, for Sunday evening October 26th, during Magic Week. Tickets will be sold for $8 and we will "split the gate".

Greg Solomon, leader of Ring 258 ½, commented on a recent Linking Ring article which decried the current glut of rehashed magic on the market and emphasized the importance of getting back to basics. Most of the good stuff is already in print…in Tarbell!

An article on "Magic…The Science of Illusion", which will be performed at the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, was discussed. The show will include performance and then take the audience back stage to learn how the illusions work. More disclosure to the public, what can we do about it?

A workshop on Children's Magic, given by David Ginn, will be held on Saturday, April 26 at the College Park Baptist Church in Orlando. It will run from 10 AM to 2 PM with a one hour break for lunch. The fee will be $35, and will include books and effects the retail cost of which would equal the price of admission. Contact Chris Dunn at youngdunns@yahoo.com for more details.

The 50/50 raffle was won by John Trenkle in the amount of $30.

The formal portion of the meeting was adjourned in preparation of the performance of "Black Art", the topic of the evening.

Show Time:

MC for this month's show was Jim Moody, who introduced the first performer Roger "Gruchnick" Reid. Roger performed and explained three effects which showed the black art principal. The first was a "square circle" made from a plastic pumpkin and a tube in the guise of a castle. Second was a children's version of a "die box" with the die camouflaged as the egg of "The Ooh Aah Bird". And third was Steve Dusheck's "Coin Card", a brilliant piece of apparatus.

The second performer was Chris Dunn with a beautifully decorated "cheese box" (die box) and a "mouse house" (drawer box). The mouse vanished from the "mouse house" and ended up in the "cheese box" eating up all the cheese.

Next Sergeant-at-Arms Sir Richard Hewitt performed a card divination using a "card frame" with black art principle.

President Jim Moody selected "Brain Wave" as his vehicle with a deck appearance in a "net egg bag".

Greg Solomon did a take off on the theme, doing "red art", while performing the Chinese Ring Illusion. Greg then gave the effect to each member of the club!

Dandy Dan exhibited a "card box" that used the black art principle and then displayed and explained the use of some vintage Petrie & Lewis "phantom tube", "drum head tube" and "bullet" paraphernalia purchased after the fire at "The Yogi Magic Shop" in Baltimore.

Magic Ian closed the show with the transformation of a feather plume to a silk hanky via the use of a "mirror/black art tube".

The evening closed with the viewing of a video entitled "We Remember Blackstone".

Respectfully submitted,

Roger L. Reid, Secretary






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