Santa's Workshop Night...
On December 28th after unlocking the doors to the Temple (no I DID NOT use my lock picks), a small but hardy group of magical entertainers meet for an evening of very good magic. Our loose theme was hand built or modified magic props and ideas.
Leading off the evening was new member, LaVerne Bakkom, aka, "Labak the Magician". Well known in the magic community, but new to our Ring, LaVerne performed for about 25 minutes to the delight of the crowd. Polished, well presented, entertaining, mystifying, unique, these are all appropriate adjectives for "Labak's" act. This writer noted Bob Rath's bewilderment on more than one occasion. I'm sure I heard Bob say "... I don't know how he did that... " Following his performance, LaVerne was voted into our "Merry Band of Tricksters". Well done LaVerne and welcome aboard.
A rare thing happend last night at the Temple. (No, not the locked doors.) We had the pleasure to have two new members perform for entry into the club! Our second new member, Paul Beilke also wowed us with some great magic.
Paul's magic is spontaneous, off the cuff, and ready for the street. Claiming innocence and worry about performing in front of other magicians, Paul proceeded to shatter our minds with some very good magic. Avoiding Federal prosecution for defacing currency, Paul did a sideways take on the "torn and restored bill" routine. The bill was not restored. But how the heck did the torn piece end up inside that sealed packet of gum. Again, Bob Rath asked me for verification " ... was that piece really under the plastic in that sealed package?" I replied, "Yes, and I don't know how..." Welcome to the club, Paul, we just voted you into the Ring!
Mike Miller showed us a routine from his "Farmer Guy" act revolving around Bessie the cow. With cow spotted scarfs, solid rings, some rope and an old wooden spoon, an amazing escape was purpotraited upon us all. Thank you Mike.
Dale Radke showed us some "solid through solid" effects using wooden cubes, strings, marbles and metal rings. Dale even leds us down the garden path claiming lack of practice, and then passed that last solid ring right through that solid metal pin with hardly a care... Well done Dale.
Bill Crowley showed us a thing of beauty tonight. What he called the "best Wild Card" he has ever seen. The audience agreed fully. I have never seen the version Bill performed, and it was just great. Really fine performance, Bill. Thank you.
During a short break David demonstrated his newly finished Windows Phone app for Ring 41. Members are reminded that if they wish to have their website links added to the app, just let David know what to add.
Bob Rath picked up a deck of cards and David picked one. Bob proceeded to pass that card invisibly to his pocket, not once, but several times. With Bob's wit, humor, and skill, the audience saw another fine performance from a long time member of Ring 41. Thanks Bob.
David returned to perform his version of Al Koran's "Five Star Prediction" from the book "Al Koran's Legacy". Making no claims on improving this classic work, he did add some "secret sauce" to the routine in an attempt to fit his own style.
Next up Gerald Michels showed us his "oatmeal" container switch box. Simple, clever and getting right down to basics, this writer likes this stuff a lot. I started in magic wanting to build all my own props and Gerald does this sort of thing all the time. After tipping the workings for the "oatmeal" routine, Gerald then held back and did his version of the "Key R Rect" style routine. 12 Keys and Gerald was left holding the only key that opened the locked box to release the $20 bill. Thanks Gerald.
Dr. Richard Mossey brought in several of his fantastic props to show to the group. Tonight it was several different versions of the "Nest of Boxes" theme. The set that Richard made from parts acquired from the magician Dahm after his death was the stuff of collecters dreams. Hand made from walnut, with carved handles and ornate brass hardware, and weeks if not months of labor, you just could not help but love those boxes. Of course they are one-of-a-kind, hand made masterpieces. Thank you for sharing, Richard.
To close the evening of magic, David did a mini show & tell session on the Al Koran double envelope used in his routine. David's version is modified from Al's original version and is super easy to make. The session was a bit rushed because David was keeping track of time by looking at the grandfather clock all night. Of course, the clock was wrong this month and we did a rare thing and went beyond 10pm. I hope everyone had a good time.
I would be remiss in my duties as secretary to not report on the trick that John Lewit did as the lights were dimming. Only a few people saw this miracle. Least I say, ask John to show you this routine the next time you see him. I will reveal nothing here. You will be fooled. You have been warned.
The meeting was well attended by members and guests. Enjoying the evening were: Bill Crowley, John & Maria Kurtz, John Lewit, Mike Miller, Richard Mossey, Dale Radke, Bob Rath, LaVerne Bakkom, Paul Beilke, Bob Salzer, Gerald Michels, David Swoboda and guest Nicholas Vollmann. We were excited to meet Nicholas at the meeting and hope to see him at future gatherings.
A special thanks to John and Maria for helping with the treats and refreshments for the evening.
To any members or guests who found the doors to the Temple "locked" and the parking lot full of cars, but unable to get into the building, we apologise. Early arriver's David and Gerald waited in the cold with the doors locked and no one answering the buzzer. As the parking lot filled with members, several hurried phone calls (thank you, Bruce) and we finally got the attension of the folks in the building to open the doors. HOWEVER, since there was no guard at the door, the door remained locked, with little if any hope that someone would hear your pounding in the cold. My feeble note on the door was not much help. This SHOULD NOT have happened. It will not happen again. Thank you for your support and understanding.
The members of Ring 41 wish to extend their sincere condolences to Jon and Kathy Hughett. Kathy's mother passed away during the holiday's so they were unable to attend our December meeting. To compound matters, Jon's mother has been in ill health this month also. Please add the Hughett's to your list of well wishings.
David Swoboda — Secretary |
