Posts
Newsletter of IBM Ring #170
The Bev Bergeron Ring
Next general meeting Wednesday, 2/18/2009 at 7:30 PM SHARP
Meeting theme: Lecture by John Luka (see below)
I-HOP Kirkman Road
5203 Kirkman Road, Orlando, Florida 32819
Please join us for dinner beforehand
Lunch meetings in the McDonalds on the north side of SandLake Rd between I-4 and International Drive near the rest rooms
Website: http://www.ring170.com/
F. A. M. E. is the Florida Association of Magical Entertainers
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Directory
Craig J. Fennessy – President – CraigFennessy@gmail.com
Chris Dunn- Vice President – Youngdunns@yahoo.com
Art Thomas – Treasurer – Art.Thomas@Disney.com
Dennis Philips- Secretary – Dennis@alliedcostumes.com
James Songster- Director at Large, - JjTjMagic@aol.com
Joe Vecciarelli- Sgt at Arms - talkingmute@tampabay.rr.com
Stefan Bartelski – Editor of “Famulus”- Famulus@illusioneer.com
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GET PUBLISHED!
Got an idea for an article to add to the next FAMULUS? Put it in the body of an email or in a Word document attached to an email. Send it to Famulus@illusioneer.com, and we will get you in print.
Please, please, please, use the above e-mail address, your messages are in danger of getting lost if you do not do so.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
2009-02 From the Editor
Another month has passed and spring is coming. Thanks to the hard work by Craig and the board we have a spring full of magic. In fact so many good lectures and events are coming up that, as Hitch of Magical Arts and Design aptly put it, "If we keep this up, I wouldn’t be surprised if Harry Houdini comes back from the dead just to do a lecture in Orlando!!!"
We also had a visit from David Copperfield, I was not able to visit the show and no-one sent me a review (yet?).
Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Banquet or any other of the planned events.
Your Editor
We also had a visit from David Copperfield, I was not able to visit the show and no-one sent me a review (yet?).
Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Banquet or any other of the planned events.
Your Editor
2009-02 Ring Report Ring #170 The Bev Bergeron Ring
Our January ring meeting was at the International House Of Pancakes on Kirkman Road. The weather outside was unusually cold for an Orlando January but the crowd of 28 magicians were warm inside the meeting room. We will be at the IHOP again in February but we expect to again have a permanent place to meet in March.
President Craig Fennessy gaveled the meeting to order. He and Treasurer, Art Thomas, remind everyone to pay their yearly dues since our future meeting location will be requiring rental fees. We had one guest, Michael Eaton. President Fennessy announced many upcoming lectures and magic events. The up to date information is available at our Ring 170 website.
Elliott Hitchcock announced his “Magical Arts and Design Studio” will host a Michael Finney lecture and he intends to have Jeff McBride, Gay Blackstone and many other guest lectures in the coming year. “Hitch” is trying to promote Orlando as another magic hot spot. We can hope he succeeds. He also sadly announced that Lyle Balcom had died. Lyle was a rotund clown and magician. He appeared on stage with his act at the Florida State Magicians Convention a few years back when we hosted it here in Central Florida. Lyle was professionally known as “Blumbo” and was noted for his children’s shows and balloons.
The business meeting was adjourned so we could give the balance of the meeting time to the guest lecturer of the evening: Chastain Criswell the inventor of Tag and Deface. Chastain has been performing these effects and others for laymen all over the south. He has appeared at private parties, public events, to corporate engagements with all of the items in the lecture. They are real crowd pleasers and foolers for magicians. His wacky style and charming personality, with a touch of a southern drawl, added to his delightful presentation and explanations. His featured effects included a unique use of the Scotch and Soda gimmick with a coin purse. He did some incredible moves with an Okito Coin Box and his Enigma Triumph card routine was baffling. Criswell has an amazing way to take a classic routine and develop it into a unique and baffling new presentation.
With the meeting concluded we look forward to the New Year and hopefully an economic renewal. Good things are always happening in Ring 170
Dennis Phillips
2009-02 Ring 170 Events List
The following is also available in the Yahoo Groups Ring Calendar, from which reminders will be sent to all who receive the newsletter
RING 170 MAGIC HAPPENINGS
IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA 2009
(February, March, April )
The first quarter of the 2009 year is packed with great magic events…be sure to join in on the fun.
1. John Luka Lecture
FEBRUARY 18, 2009, Wednesday 7:30 regular meeting night
Held at I-HOP
5203 Kirkman Road, Orlando, Florida 32819, 407-370-0597
Come early and have dinner with us.
Paid Members: $10.00
Non Members: $15.00
Go to www.Ring170.com and download a flyer with all the details.
2. Banquet & Magic Show, 2009, IBM RING 170
MARCH 1, 2009, Sunday 6pm -10pm
Featured MC & entertainer: DAVID WILLIAMSON!
Close-up magic before dinner
Buffett dinner
TICKETS: $25.00 per ticket, includes dinner
LIMITED SEATING!!….Don’t wait to reserve your seat. Payment at the door.
E-mail reservations to art.thomas@disney.com
Go to www.Ring170.com and download a flyer with all the details.
3. Legends of Magic Tribute
MARCH 16, 2009, Monday evening 7:30pm.
Held at the beautiful Garden Theater,
160 W. Plant St., Winter Garden Fl 34787
Featuring Jack Kodell and Celeste Evans…
Hosted by Dan Stapleton.
TICKETS: $10.00 at the door
Important Call (407)-491-3287 for reservations!
4. IBM RING 170 MONTHLY MEETING at the I-HOP location!
MARCH 18, 2009, Wednesday evening, 7:30pm
Held at I-HOP
5203 Kirkman Road
Orlando, Florida 32819 407-370-0597
Come early and have dinner with us.
5. IBM Ring 170 - MAGIC FLEA MARKET, AUCTION AND LECTURES
MARCH 28, 2009, Saturday 9am-5pm
Magic Flea Market and Auction Come sell your used magic!!!
Free Lecture and Workshop by Mark Mason, Lecture by Steve Hart
LOCATION: Christ the King Lutheran Church – Barnabas Hall
4962 Apopka-Vineland Rd., Orlando, Fl 32819
ADMISSION: $10.00 per person, Includes free lectures,
$25.00 Mark Mason workshop optional…Limited seating
TABLES: $15.00
E-mail selling table reservations to art.thomas@disney.com
E-mail Mark Mason workshop reservations to craigfennessy@gmail.com
Go to www.Ring170.com and download a flyer with all the details.
6. Paul Gertner Lecture
APRIL 14, 2009, Tuesday, 7:30pm
Held at I-HOP
5203 Kirkman Road, Orlando, Florida 32819, 407-370-0597
Come early and have dinner with us.
ADMISSION: $25.00 all lecture tickets
Go to www.Ring170.com and download a flyer with all the details.2009-02 Joanie Spina to visit Orlando?
Keith Lock
Senior Producer/Director
Magical Arts & Design, LLC.
1039 Pine Street
Orlando, Florida 32824
1-866-905-9858 Office
1-407-760-1426 Direct
Please Visit:
2009-02 David Williamson - Extra Lecture
David Williamson is playing the Orlando IBM Banquet Sunday, March 1st. Craig Fennessey and his magical muscle men have put together a GREAT Evening and I for one can’t wait! Speaking of David Williamson, Dave has decided to stay in the sunny warmth of Florida for a few days after the Banquet. And even better, he has decided to perform a very special lecture on Wednesday, March 4th at MAD Studios as part of our Super Star Series of Magic Legends. You got it, David Williamson, behind the scenes…
As if that is not enough, we are going to do something ultra cool regarding David’s appearance. Normally this special lecture series would cost over $50.00 to attend. We are lowering the admission for the evening to $30.00 per person! And as if that wasn’t enough as well, David just informed me that he will be giving out FREE to everyone that has PRE-REGISTERED for the event AUNT MARY’S TERRIBLE SECRET. Yep, a professional gambling routine that COSTS $25.00 to buy. So, do the math. Pre-register for $30.00 bucks, get a $25.00 routine for FREE. It’s really like getting David Williamson for $5.00. Plus David will be teaching the routine!!! Try to beat that! Please call TODAY to get your seats for his lecture… Seats may not be available day of show???????
2009-02 McBride in Orlando
Hello one and all,
Here is the OFFICIAL RELEASE of JEFF MCBRIDE’S appearance in ORLANDO!
WHAT: One of the most sought after magical genius’ of our time coming to Orlando!
WHEN: March 18th, 90 minute stage show followed by an exclusive 2 hour lecture for magicians ONLY! The show is open to the PUBLIC. Be sure to bring friends, co-workers, neighbors, girlfriends, wives, etc.
WHERE: Both the show and lecture will be held at Sleuth's Mystery Show Theatre located on International Drive just off Sandlake Road, we will provide exact directions to those that register.
WHY: The LOVE of MAGIC, The LOVE of LIFE, The LOVE of JEFF McBRIDE!
HOW: The cost of the show to $25.00 advance/$30 at door. The Lecture is $25.00 Advance/$30.00 at door. Call Magical
Arts and Design NOW to get your seats at 407-858-9858.
SPECIAL ADDED FEATURE:
Magical Arts and Design will be hosting Mr. McBride in a VERY, VERY exclusive private workshop the following evening at the MAD Studios. Those attending will be spending four hours of intense McBride Magic as only Jeff can share. This is the same information source that Jeff teaches at his famous Vegas based Mystery School. Anybody that knows the value of this program knows this is not to be missed. We have already had more response to this special event than anything thing else we’ve shared. The total cost for this one of a kind night is only $125.00. That is a fraction of what Jeff gets in Vegas for the same info, training, and expertise. This event must be pre-registered. Only a handful of seats remain, please book your’s NOW!
Other Info:
Many have asked about the VIP season discount deal. Unfortunately, that was only available prior to the Mike Finney event. Sorry guys, please jump on the offers when they are made available, thanks…
2009-02 Copperfield Comments from Dan
While DC was in Orlando recently, Orlando Weekly had a short interview with him via email.
- DC insisted that he once, while performing in Orlando, "placed Shaq in his Shrinker illusion". If you know how the trick works, and have seen Shaq up close...it MUST have been some trick to get him in the thing.
- When asked about the Masked Magician and the magic tricks on You Tube , DC states: "...the shows are quite inaccurate." Whew....that's a relief.
- DC states that he "discovered the Fountain of Youth on his island in the Bahamas." I thought that the gal who accused him of attacking her actually "aged" him.
2009-02 SCAM 2009 (Not what you think)
Some thoughts on SCAM
In January for the past thirteen years the South Carolina Association of Magicians holds a convention in Columbia SC. It is a day and a half convention packed with lectures, contests, and shows, both close up and stage. SCAM has had a habit of showcasing magicians before they are “found” by other conventions or magic magazines. Last year SCAM featured Chris Capehart for their Gala Show and a lecture. Eleven months later in December he was featured in Genii magazine. It has always been a fun convention and the people in South Carolina are warm and friendly. The convention this year was held January 16 and 17.
The Recession has come to magic
Last year SCAM had 170 people attend the convention. This year they had 66 people preregister and less than 80 people attend. The dealers’ room was EMPTY! Since they had so few register they had three dealers give lectures, Harry Allen, Mark Mason and Barry Mitchell. The stage show that was normally held in a large theater was replaced by a cabaret show in the hotel ball room.
Mentalism has invaded magic
Mentalism is much more a part of magic than ever before. This year’s stage and close up competition included Mentalism acts. One of the magicians, David London that performed and lectured did a Mentalism effect for his cabaret show. The trend in magic seems to be moving to more Mentalism effects.
Young magicians are thinking more
David London is a highly creative, very theatrical young magician. At age 15 he could not find much written on the theory of magic so he started his own magazine, Behind the Smoke and Mirrors. This morphed into a new volume of magazines called Beyond the Smoke and Mirrors and a web site www.Magicalthinking.net. David studied film in college and there found art and Surrealism, which greatly influences his magic. David is a bit out there and anything but traditional but he is fun to watch and has an interesting thought process that I found new and refreshing.
Francis Menotti is a young magician from Philadelphia that is well educated, a graduate of Penn State, and very well spoken. He claims that both his parents are physicists. He is very creative and takes traditional effects and puts a new, sometimes strange or weird twist on them. He did an egg bag routine with a spectator where his cell phone kept ringing with his mother on the line telling him how to do the routine. At the end of the effect the spectator pulled the cell phone from the bag and Francis was holding the egg up to his ear.
These young magicians are thinking more about the theatrics and the entertainment value of the effect than the moves. Everything that they did was scripted and thought out in advance. They presented pieces of theater not just tricks.
Card magic is alive and well
The other lecturers and performers were all card guys, Allan Ackerman, Boris Wild, and Ed Ellis. Ed is from Canton Ohio and has recently moved back there after living in Arizona and performing at the Castle and other places out west. Ed is also a drummer and did a solo with the Buddy Rich band some time in his past. Ed will be featured at the national IBM convention this year in Nashville. Ed has some very pretty moves to display four aces and “dissolve” one card into another. He also has a few twists on rubber band magic. Mark Fitzgerald told me that Ed gets all of his yellow rubber bands from him, which Ed passed out in his lecture.
Boris Wild pushed his marked deck and the effects that it can do. He said that he tried for years to get the US Playing Card Co. to print the marked deck for him. A couple of years ago the company got a new president who agreed to print the decks. They printed 25,000 and sold them in one year. When they went back for a reprint the company resisted. They finally agreed, but Boris thinks that it may be the last time. Is it a marketing ploy on Boris’ part to get you to buy now? Maybe. He did his Kiss act, which is still pretty with an emotional hook but not as magical as it once seemed since it uses his same Kiss move (a variation of the flustration count) over and over.
Allan Ackerman is a phenomenal card worker. He will blow your mind. Today Allan runs the computer network for a college in Las Vegas, but he is still one of the best card guys around. He recently put together a series of DVD’s on Erdnase and gave a midnight lecture on Ednase. When I asked him what one thing you should learn from Erdnase, he said the bottom deal as it can do so many things for you. He demonstrated several of the card tricks from Ednase’s book using the bottom deal.
SCAM is a fun day and a half. I hope that the poor turnout this year does not kill the convention in future years.
Gary Adams
2009-02 Ring 45 Event
Ring 45/SAM 280 and the Elks Lodge 1676 in Miami
Invites you to a Flea Market/Mini Convention
When: Sunday, March 1st, 2009 from 9am-10pm
Where: Elks Lodge 1676 6304 SW 78th street, Miami, FloRIda 33143
What: Mini Convention, see tentative schedule below;
7:30am-9:00pm Flea Marketers setup (Ballroom)
9:00am-1:00pm Flea Market Opens (4 FULL hours of shopping
NEW and USED magic)
11:45am-1:00pm Lunch (Includes hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and choice of
soft drink or draft beer)
1:00pm-6:00pm Lectures by Aldo Colombini, Levent & John Calvert. (Lecture Hall)
6:00pm-7:00pm FREE TIME relax, hang out and mingle. (Bar and Lobby)
7:00pm-8:00pm Cocktails & Close-up Enjoy Close-up magic, hors d’ oeuvres,
cash bar. (Bar & Lobby)
8:00p- 10:00pm Dinner/Show: Dinner includes salad, roast beef,
special rice, vegetables, complimentary wine or soft drinks with
dinner, desert and coffee.
Registration: FULL DAY: $50.00 in Advance (if received by February 25th) $60.00 After
Flea market table: one six foot table: $10.00 plus Full Day registration
(no table sharing)
(no table sharing)
Dinner/Show Only: $30.00 in Advance $40.00 at door
Reservations/Information: Contact Maria Ibanez at 305.258.3414 or
Merlina17@aol.com.
Make all checks/money orders to: Magic City Conjurers.
2009-02 Thanks from Magical Arts & Design
Hi everyone!
Just a quick note to tell you that the Mike Finney event will be posted on YouTube, February 2nd.
We had a great time meeting some old and new friends Thursday night, and look forward to seeing you all at the Jeff McBride event in March.
Also, on Thursday, we misplaced one of our digital camera chargers, if anyone grabbed it by mistake, please give us a call. Pictures of it can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/dnl7bp and http://tinyurl.com/b3ebja.
Thanks!
Bill "V." VonTobel
2009-02 Another Ring 258 event
Tom Craven lecture is on Feb 15th. Sunday at 1 pm.
at The NY cafe restaurant in leesburg
1690 Citrus Blvd.
hwy 441 North
Leesburg
352-365-8800
Non members and guests $15, Orlando ring 170 members $10
2009-02 Ring 258 Events
IBM Ring 258 Leesburg, Florida Presents Magic shows on April 14th, 2009, plus John Calvert lecture on April 15th To be held at the Villages in Lady Lake Florida. Time and location of the lecture to be determined.
AN EVENING OF MAGIC LIVE!!
Featuring John Calvert
Come see John Calvert known for his breath-taking illusions onstage, his incredible daredevil feats, and his many real-life escapes from death. With a magic career that led to record-breaking engagements on Broadway and exciting adventures around the world. Calvert has captivated audiences in the great cities of five continents. The 97-year-old-and-still-performing-his-international-traveling-magic-show, also enjoyed an International film career. Haven't heard of him? Well, you should have. He was the first magician to do a big magic stage show in Vegas, and on Broadway. When he performed in Hollywood, celebs like Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Danny Kaye and Edgar Bergen with Charlie McCarthy, of course often helped out in his act. He knew Harry Blackstone Sr. and Jr. and has outlived them both, and Siegfried and Roy have called Calvert an inspiration.
He's also an adventurer the likes of Hemingway or Hughes, having owned several airplanes and yachts, occasionally crashing or fending off pirates. And he's been in 40 movies, although sometimes it was a little hard to tell, like when he was a hand double for Clark Gable in "Honky Tonk" in 1941.
He has performed his magic show all over the world: Bombay, Israel, London, and now at The Villages in Lady Lake.
Mr. Calvert will be joined on stage for ninety minutes of magic with members of the International Brotherhood of Magicians to present this Evening of Magic. Performance will be on April 14th at 6 and 8:30 PM with ticket available at the Savannah Center Box office, or online at the Villages Website.
Ticket $15.00
Contact the sponsoring magicians club thru e-mail Magicians@aol.com
This notice is online at: www.magico.biz
AN EVENING OF MAGIC LIVE!!
Featuring John Calvert
Come see John Calvert known for his breath-taking illusions onstage, his incredible daredevil feats, and his many real-life escapes from death. With a magic career that led to record-breaking engagements on Broadway and exciting adventures around the world. Calvert has captivated audiences in the great cities of five continents. The 97-year-old-and-still-performing-his-international-traveling-magic-show, also enjoyed an International film career. Haven't heard of him? Well, you should have. He was the first magician to do a big magic stage show in Vegas, and on Broadway. When he performed in Hollywood, celebs like Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Danny Kaye and Edgar Bergen with Charlie McCarthy, of course often helped out in his act. He knew Harry Blackstone Sr. and Jr. and has outlived them both, and Siegfried and Roy have called Calvert an inspiration.
He's also an adventurer the likes of Hemingway or Hughes, having owned several airplanes and yachts, occasionally crashing or fending off pirates. And he's been in 40 movies, although sometimes it was a little hard to tell, like when he was a hand double for Clark Gable in "Honky Tonk" in 1941.
He has performed his magic show all over the world: Bombay, Israel, London, and now at The Villages in Lady Lake.
Mr. Calvert will be joined on stage for ninety minutes of magic with members of the International Brotherhood of Magicians to present this Evening of Magic. Performance will be on April 14th at 6 and 8:30 PM with ticket available at the Savannah Center Box office, or online at the Villages Website.
Ticket $15.00
Contact the sponsoring magicians club thru e-mail Magicians@aol.com
This notice is online at: www.magico.biz
2009-02 Dennis' Deliberations
I got nostalgic over the holidays. Maybe it’s the eggnog- or what is in the eggnog.
Remember "Blasted" (the coin effect with the metal coaster)? It was a kind of single-shot "Copentro". You put a nickel on a small metal tray and invert a glass over it and when you make a penny disappear a loud pop is heard and both coins are in the glass.
I never wanted to spend the 8 bucks on so (back then) for the gimmicked nickel and penny. It was mostly a bar trick anyway. I wanted a version that used regular ordinary looking props. One day in 1971, I was inside “The Bowie Inn” guzzling a Budweiser. It was a bar near the old Bowie Horse Race Track about 20 miles east of Washington, D.C. I was in my last days of college. I did some announcing at the track (I worked in radio also) and I used to help write the mimeographed “Tip Sheet” for the track.
I almost got fired when I tired to do a comedy routine over the PA system. I said: “Folks did you know that race tracks are the only place in the world where windows clean people?”. The old boss, with cigar in hand, barged into the booth and said, “Kid, this ain’t vaudeville, just read the card and the pages!”. (A “page” was when you announced someone’s name and told them to call the track phone operator. Cell phones did not exist then)
So, back to the bar in the Bowie Inn: I looked down at the bar and saw a fiber beer coaster for Budweiser. I saw the round seal on the familiar logo. I took three of them and went home. Using an Exacto craft knife, on the first coaster, I cut around the edge of the circle but I left a little bit of the fiber connected on the upper edge.
(About a sixteenth of an inch) This made a nice spring flap when it was slightly broken in! On the next coaster, I then cut out and removed the entire circle. The last coaster I left un-gimmicked. Using glue, I sandwiched all of them together with the normal one on the bottom, the one with the hole (forming a compartment for a penny) and finally the spring flap on top.
You could insert a regular penny into the coaster and it looked normal. I had created a poor-man’s version of “Blasted”!
To perform: Sit at the bar. Borrow a penny and a nickel and do a French drop and a few slights. Then grab up a glass and reach over and take the gimmicked coaster off a stack and lay the nickel on it and put the inverted glass over top. Hold the coaster with the glass in your left hand and act like you are tossing the penny at the glass and shake the coaster and glass. The penny will fly out of the coaster and I guarantee you that the person next to you will be impressed.
Try making one. I guess Budweiser will be around for a while even though they were just bought out by a global beverage conglomerate. As I said, I am nostalgic for the good old days!
This little gem of philosophy about the death of Common Sense grew out of many E-Mail exchanges from my Canadian magic friend, Larry Thornton:
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to quit while audiences still want more; why the gracious entertainer will win over the self-centered egomaniac; realizing that one's magic show isn't necessarily the greatest since Robert-Houdin; and poor audience responses are more than likely the fault of the entertainer.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't purchase expensive and grandiose magic props that exceed your abilities and ambition) and reliable strategies (audiences are the best judges of how good you are). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing criticisms were set in place. Reports of a mediocre magician spoiling magic for everyone else; street magicians getting in everyone's face against their wishes; and sleight of hand fanatics addicted to flashy flourishes and wildly extravagant card juggling over powerful magic effects, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when magic dealers started selling serious magic props to every rube who came in off the street -- or online. It declined even further when desperado magicians began exposing top-flight illusions and some of magic's best tricks of the trade on national television; and it reached its all-time low when maverick performers on national TV resorted to camera trickery to fool home viewers.
Common Sense lost the will to live when some mentalists started claiming genuine psychic powers; when You Tube exploded on the scene with thousands of blatant "dealer demonstrations" on video clips for all the world to see; and when young magicians wrote slick books for mass consumption that revealed commercial magic secrets that weren't their's to expose.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from rip-off artists who made knock-offs of your own magical creations. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after decades of clowns, rank amateurs, and anyone else who could walk into a magic shop and purchase an "act" -- started competing with the established competition at cut-rate prices.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers: I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority of thoroughly contented magic addicts -- and do nothing.
Dennis Phillips
Remember "Blasted" (the coin effect with the metal coaster)? It was a kind of single-shot "Copentro". You put a nickel on a small metal tray and invert a glass over it and when you make a penny disappear a loud pop is heard and both coins are in the glass.
I never wanted to spend the 8 bucks on so (back then) for the gimmicked nickel and penny. It was mostly a bar trick anyway. I wanted a version that used regular ordinary looking props. One day in 1971, I was inside “The Bowie Inn” guzzling a Budweiser. It was a bar near the old Bowie Horse Race Track about 20 miles east of Washington, D.C. I was in my last days of college. I did some announcing at the track (I worked in radio also) and I used to help write the mimeographed “Tip Sheet” for the track.
I almost got fired when I tired to do a comedy routine over the PA system. I said: “Folks did you know that race tracks are the only place in the world where windows clean people?”. The old boss, with cigar in hand, barged into the booth and said, “Kid, this ain’t vaudeville, just read the card and the pages!”. (A “page” was when you announced someone’s name and told them to call the track phone operator. Cell phones did not exist then)
So, back to the bar in the Bowie Inn: I looked down at the bar and saw a fiber beer coaster for Budweiser. I saw the round seal on the familiar logo. I took three of them and went home. Using an Exacto craft knife, on the first coaster, I cut around the edge of the circle but I left a little bit of the fiber connected on the upper edge.
(About a sixteenth of an inch) This made a nice spring flap when it was slightly broken in! On the next coaster, I then cut out and removed the entire circle. The last coaster I left un-gimmicked. Using glue, I sandwiched all of them together with the normal one on the bottom, the one with the hole (forming a compartment for a penny) and finally the spring flap on top.
You could insert a regular penny into the coaster and it looked normal. I had created a poor-man’s version of “Blasted”!
To perform: Sit at the bar. Borrow a penny and a nickel and do a French drop and a few slights. Then grab up a glass and reach over and take the gimmicked coaster off a stack and lay the nickel on it and put the inverted glass over top. Hold the coaster with the glass in your left hand and act like you are tossing the penny at the glass and shake the coaster and glass. The penny will fly out of the coaster and I guarantee you that the person next to you will be impressed.
Try making one. I guess Budweiser will be around for a while even though they were just bought out by a global beverage conglomerate. As I said, I am nostalgic for the good old days!
This little gem of philosophy about the death of Common Sense grew out of many E-Mail exchanges from my Canadian magic friend, Larry Thornton:
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to quit while audiences still want more; why the gracious entertainer will win over the self-centered egomaniac; realizing that one's magic show isn't necessarily the greatest since Robert-Houdin; and poor audience responses are more than likely the fault of the entertainer.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't purchase expensive and grandiose magic props that exceed your abilities and ambition) and reliable strategies (audiences are the best judges of how good you are). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing criticisms were set in place. Reports of a mediocre magician spoiling magic for everyone else; street magicians getting in everyone's face against their wishes; and sleight of hand fanatics addicted to flashy flourishes and wildly extravagant card juggling over powerful magic effects, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when magic dealers started selling serious magic props to every rube who came in off the street -- or online. It declined even further when desperado magicians began exposing top-flight illusions and some of magic's best tricks of the trade on national television; and it reached its all-time low when maverick performers on national TV resorted to camera trickery to fool home viewers.
Common Sense lost the will to live when some mentalists started claiming genuine psychic powers; when You Tube exploded on the scene with thousands of blatant "dealer demonstrations" on video clips for all the world to see; and when young magicians wrote slick books for mass consumption that revealed commercial magic secrets that weren't their's to expose.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from rip-off artists who made knock-offs of your own magical creations. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after decades of clowns, rank amateurs, and anyone else who could walk into a magic shop and purchase an "act" -- started competing with the established competition at cut-rate prices.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers: I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority of thoroughly contented magic addicts -- and do nothing.
Dennis Phillips
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