san diego ring 76 february 2016 vol. xxx #2
TRANSCRIPT
Published by the International Brotherhood of Magicians
Honest Sid Gerhart Ring 76
Editor and Publisher - Malcolm Campbell, [email protected]
Photography — James Thayer, Proofreaders — Bob Pozner, Sherry Luft
San Diego Ring 76 February 2016 VOL. XXX #2
© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76
MagiCurrents
PRESIDENT’S
MESSAGE
Our “Technology Magic”
experiment seems to be a
success with it seven
participants. All did a great
job.
February’s meeting
features the annual Close-Up Contest. Pre-
registration of contestants already includes
former winners and first-timers. Good luck to all!
It’s not too early to think about March’s
Kids’ Magic Night. We hope to perform to a
group of kids.
Our library continues to grow and is avail-
able to all members. Please email me at
[email protected] if want to check out
books or dvds. A list of all library materials is
available on our web site at ring76.com.
We regret the passing of Jim Patton (1940-
2016) who was a regular at the Castle performing
mostly at the bar in the inner circle. Jim hosted
tha “Magicana” column for Genii magazine from
1989-1992
Don’t forget that Magicurrents is always
looking for your review of any magic-related
item including tricks, books and dvds you’ve
purchased, shows you’ve seen, etc. Please
contact the editor at [email protected] if you
have something to share with the membership.
……… kenny
Ring 76 2016
Calendar
Feb 8 Close-up Competition
Mar 14 Kids Magic*
Apr 11 Story telling (skit/movie) Magic*
Apr 10 or 12 (TBD) Free to members
Martin Lewis Lecture
May 9 Stand-up Competition
Jun 13 Food Magic*
Jul 10 Installation Banquet
Tentatively Cottonwood CC
Aug 8 Bag Night*
*Opportunity for Members to Perform
San Diego Ring 76 meets the second
Monday of the month. For the foreseeable
future, general meetings will be held at:
Denny’s at 4280 Clairemont Mesa
Blvd. San Diego 92117.
Direct any questions concerning the
calendar to VP Entertainment Richard Ustick,
MagiCurrents — February 2016 Page 2
San Diego Ring 76, International Brotherhood of Magicians
© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76
Focus On THE LINKING RING
Each month, MagicCurrents features an
item in the current issue of The I.B.M.’s
The Linking Ring in which we feel the
members might be especially interested.
I sometimes have to force myself to take
time to read through TLR and sometimes get
a few months behind. But, I know for sure,
you cannot at least leaf through any recent
issue of the magazine without becoming a
better magician in some way.
I went online to skim through the
advanced electronic copy of the January issue
to get some ideas for this column and could
hardly put it down.
The first thing that caught my eye was
Genii Magazine’s ad for a FREE COPY of a
DVD containing the fully lecture Di Vernon
did in Japan in 1969. Just subscribe to the
magazine and it’s yours!
Then there is a very inspirational message
by our Executive Editor, Sammy Smith, the
British Parade with how-tos from a chain
escape to building a portable table, Chris-
topher T. Magician’s “Making Kids
“ROTFL” (Roll On The Floor) — featuring
his secrets for filling a performance with
laughter, and a walk-around pocket effect by
Andrew Woo where a ring is passed over a
floating card.
Sammy and his staff continue to produce
one of the finest magic magazines in the
world. A subscription pays for itself over and
over. Once you subscribe, reading it is free!
……. editor
MINUTES OF THE JANUARY
MEMBERSHIP MEETING January 11, 2016
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by
President Kenny Shelton. Prior to 7:00, Members
took advantage of the Denny’s menu.
Announcements included information from
Malcolm Campbell and Bob Meigs about the
schedule for the second round of “Wizard”
training at Nativity Prep. Members were
encouraged to participate in the training.
Greg Wauson made the members aware of cds
by Roger Love that help train your voice for better
stage presence and control. He highly endorsed
them.
Sunday magic sessions are starting to be a
regular thing at the Pearson residence. Typical
schedule is Sunday afternoon at 1 pm till close.
The Close-Up competition next month was
announced and arrangement of the room to
accommodate it was discussed. Because of the
limited space, we will have only one performance
table and each entrant will do his act just once.
Finally, the members chose Martin Lewis as
our next lecturer.
V.P. of Entertainment Richard Ustick got right
to it and introduced this month’s theme,
“Technology Magic!” This new topic for meeting
presentations was an experiment on the part of the
Board to switch things up. And the members
responded with invisible gadgets galore!
Terry Lunceford opened with a baffling card
prediction by turning his back on the crowd and
correctly identifying a selected card in the
audience. Then he went for the low hanging fruit
and performed his own Viper the Basket Snake
routine, which is a bona fide classic.
Next came Malcolm Campbell, with a
different card prediction Sadly Malcolm’s battery
died mid effect (at least, that was his excuse for
blowing it) and we will never know what to
expect.
(Continued on page 3)
MagiCurrents — February 2016 Page 3
San Diego Ring 76, International Brotherhood of Magicians
© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76
Greg Wauson was next with a very strong
statistics-twisting effect. He predicted the toss of a
coin six times correctly, in sequence. The
prediction was a photograph!
The Herr Meigs, der Re-Animator-Meister,
demonstrated the Frankenstein machine! A dead
bat was seen to re-animate as Bob explained we
were witnessing the prototype defibrillator.
Sherry Luft defied years of avoiding the
limelight and performed a wonderful card
prediction that used a clock face as the interface
with the audience.
Alex Greenbaum set up a computer and
projector to run us through some clever magic
affects that were performed by the computer.
Dr. Jeff Pearson did a clever demonstration of
Mental Deck using a virtual deck on an iPhone.
Something about that screen image is captivating.
Our final performer was Loch David Crane
making his bid to do the anti-technology magic and
performed a sweet sequence of three rubber-band
effects.
We then adjourned to clean up the meeting
room and put the chairs away.
…….. jacques lord, secretary
(Continued from page 2)
Emcee Richard Ustick, VP of Entertainment
Malcolm Campbell
MagiCurrents — February 2016 Page 4
San Diego Ring 76, International Brotherhood of Magicians
© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76
Greg Wauson
Bob Meigs
Sherry Luft
MagiCurrents — February 2016 Page 5
San Diego Ring 76, International Brotherhood of Magicians
© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76
Alex Greenbaum
Jeff Pearson
Loch David Crane
MagiCurrents — February 2016 Page 6
San Diego Ring 76, International Brotherhood of Magicians
© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76
THE HOPEFULL CONTESTENTS
AND THE WINNER IS …..
TERRY LUNCEFORD !!
CONGRATULATIONS TERRY!!
MagiCurrents — February 2016 Page 7
San Diego Ring 76, International Brotherhood of Magicians
© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76
FEBRUARY CLOSE-UP CONTEST REMINDER Our annual Close-up Contest will be held at this month's General Meeting. on February 8th.
All members in good standing are welcome to
enter the contest to become Ring 76's Close-up
Performer of the Year.
Due to the limited space in our meeting room, the
set-up, procedures and rules are different than they
have been in the recent past so, please, review the
following carefully. The rules will be strictly
enforced.
Table Set-Up & Contest Format
There will be only one performance table. Each contestant will perform once in front of the
whole body of members attending.
Time Limit Ten minutes with a 1-Minute Warning. When the contestant has signaled that he is ready, the
1st Vice President, Richard Ustick, will call, “Go!” and the timer will start. At the end of nine
minutes, “One minute” will be called. At exactly 10 minutes, “Time! will be called and the
contestants must stop completely.
If a contestant continues to perform after “Time!” has been called, the judges will be instructed
to score that contestant with a “0”.
Maximum Number of Contestants Due to time constraints, our competition can only allow for 10 contestants total. The 1st VP
must be contacted to reserve a spot if you wish to compete, Even if there is an open spot, no late
entries will be accepted at the meeting.
Scoring
Each contestant’s performance score will be determined by a combination of a judges’ score and
member votes. Judges will score each of the following categories on a scale of 0 to 10.
• Technical Skill
• Showmanship/Presentation
• Entertainment Value
Total Judges’ Score for each contestant will be the sum of the scores assigned by each of the 4
judges. This will count as 60% of the contestant’s final score.
Each member will get to vote once for his or her favorite contestant. Member votes count
for 40% of the final score.
Additional Information/Reservations
Contact Richard Ustick, [email protected]
MagiCurrents — February 2016 Page 8
San Diego Ring 76, International Brotherhood of Magicians
© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76
SHAVINGS FROM THE BOARD MINUTES OF RING 76
BOARD MEETING
January 25, 2016
Summary of Actions: No noteable resolutions
------- The meeting was called to order by
President Kenny Shelton at 7:21 pm.
Present were Treasurer Bob Meigs, VP
Membership James Thayer, Member at Large and
Newsletter Editor Malcolm Campbell, Secretary
Jacques Lord, President Kenny Shelton, Past
President and Member at Large Sal Barajas, and
Member at Large Mago Ruly. Sargent-at-arms Jeff
Sargent was absent.
Approval of previous minutes
November 2015 Board minutes were approved
as submitted.
Treasurer’s Report
Bob presented the Ring 76 Treasury Report.
Cash balance as of November 23th is $2,369.54.
with $890 in the Honor Ring account for a net of
$1,469. We are essentially paying our way month
to month so long as we use the free Denny’s room
every other month or so. Treasurer’s Report
approved.
Library
Charlie Gott and Malcolm Campbell made or
are making contributions to the Library. Not
much else to report this month.
Membership
66 active members. Michael E. Johnson and
Gary Desmukes both re-upped.
Old Business
December’s Meeting was the Holiday Potluck.
The banquet was held at St. Bartholomew’s
Episcopal Church in Poway. Space was adequate
except for lack of a stage. Kitchen and food
service were fine. Attendance was good, but the
location was hard to find for some or simply
inconvenient for others. Still, the event was a
success. Raffles were held and prizes awarded.
Mr. Rich Crowley of the Magic Castle was an
excellent performer.
Castle Trips/Carpools. Action: Jacques will
publish some dates to go to the Castle. Newsletter
readers can respond to Jacques and arrange to tag
along. Free Lecture by Martin Lewis. The Lecture
will be April 2016, either Sunday the 10 or
Tuesday the 12. To be decided in the next month
or so.
New Business Installation Banquet: Sunday July 10, 2016 at
the Cottonwood CC at this point in time. Details
including food, entertainer, and location to be
firmed up in the next month or two.
Holiday Banquet. The 2016 Holiday Banquet
is tentatively scheduled for December 12,
Monday, to be held at Nativity Prep. Plan B is
possibly returning to St. Bartholomew’s in Poway.
Judging for the Close Up contest. Need 4
judges. Sal Barajas will be is one. Need three
more. Jacques Lord to find one and Bob Meigs to
get the other two.
Stand Up Contest: Need a stage. Denny’s and
St. Bart’s will not do. Date is set as May 9th.
Location possibilities are Nativity Prep, and The
Queen B theater in North Park. The Community
Room in the La Jolla Village Square mall is
another potential Free Room.
Newsletter Assignments Need to get Malcolm info by Wednesday for
newsletter. Entertainment and themes through
July, Location for meetings. Contest Rules and
locations. Castle field trip.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.
Respectfully submitted.
….. jacques lord, secretary
MagiCurrents — February 2016 Page 9
San Diego Ring 76, International Brotherhood of Magicians
© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76
BEHIND THE SCENES
A brief look at members’
contributions to the success of the
Ring, professional backgrounds
and other interests.
SHERRY LUFT ex-
emplifies the "Behind the
Scenes" themes of this
column. Despite keeping a
low profile, Sherry is an
accomplished magician
and has participated in
Ring 76 in many capacities
for 28 years. She recently
was awarded lifetime membership, receiving the
recognition she deserved for her many years of
exceptional service.
The positions Sherry has held in the Ring
include being one of the few female Presidents of
Ring 76, Vice President of Entertainment, Vice
President of Membership, Secretary, Sergeant at
Arms and Member at large. She was recently
added to the Magicurrents editorial staff. Sherry is
also an I.B.M. Order of Merlin member (25 years
of continuous membership).
She caught the magic bug as an adult and
considers herself a hobbyist. In the 1990's, Sherry,
along with other magicians, performed weekly at
Balboa Hospital’s orthopedic ward for several
years.
She was raised in upstate New York and has
lived in San Diego for over 35 years. Sherry has
dual BS degrees in Children's Theater and
Elementary Education Certification. One of her
various occupations was as an administrative
assistant for an environmental consultant company
where she performed magic for the clients. She
operated a camera for "Magical Moments", a local
cable show, for 2 years.
Currently, Sherry is working as Office
Manager in the security field. Her hobbies are:
magic, reading crime novels, visiting Balboa Park
museums, watching TV comedies and movies, and
learning handwriting analysis.
You can always count on her to help at the
monthly meetings, whether it is with Richard and
Cristina at the auctions or cleaning up or vol-
unteering with the magicians on stage.
NATIVITY YOUTH
PROGRAM UPDATE
With the successful completion of the premier
youth development program at Nativity Prep
Academy, a second phase has been planned.
The format will be similar to the first phase
with the exception that the children will be taught
short routines rather than just a single trick, and
the focus will be on presentation and patter.
A few more volunteer instructors from the
Ring are needed to support the program which will
include the following sessions and events:
1 2/25 1-2 PM Organization (Demo)
2 3/3 1-2 PM Paper Magic Demos
3 3/10 1-2 PM Paper Magic Workshop
4 3/17 1-2 PM Rope Magic Demos
5 4/7 11:30 -
12:30 Rope Magic Workshop
6 5/5 1-2 PM Cards & Miscellaneous
7 5/12 1-2 PM Workshop
8 5/19 1-2 PM Two-Routine Rehearsal
9 6/2 1-2 PM Selected Show Routine
Rehearsal
10 6/9 1-2 PM "The Big Show"
Please contact Bob Meigs if you can help.
………. bob meigs
MagiCurrents — February 2016 Page 10
San Diego Ring 76, International Brotherhood of Magicians
© 2016 I.B.M. Ring 76
Thanks to all who contributed to this issue of MagiCurrents!
….. editor
NOTES AND REMINDERS
The intended publication
date of each issue of
MagiCurrents is the Fri-
day 9 days before the
monthly meeting. Sub-
missions from officers,
reporters and other members are due the
Thursday before the publication date. If
you want your newsletter on time, please
be prompt!!
Have magic to sell, stage equipment to
rent? Looking for something to buy or rent?
Need a ride or have room for a passenger to
an out of town event such as the Magic Cas-
tle?
Have a special skill another member
might use? Need a temporary assistant?
Advertise it at no cost to Ring 76
members in MagiCurrents
LIBRARY REMINDER
Ring 76 has a large library of books dvds, even
VHS tapes covering every phase of magic. All of
the Materials are available for members to check
out and use at home.
Kenny Shelton, our Librarian, regularly brings a
sampling to our meetings and those are available for
immediate check out. But you may not know that
the “Library” link on our website leads you to a
complete list. If you find something there that you
would like to use, contact Kenny at magicjug-
[email protected]. Tell him what you want and he
will bring it to the next meeting.
Remember, we are looking for prod-uct reviews. It doesn’t matter if you liked what you paid for or not, we want your opinion for the benefit of the rest of the members. If you’re not a writer, we can arrange a short sit-down to gather the facts and write the review.