2009-03 Famulus newsletter

Newsletter of IBM Ring #170
The Bev Bergeron Ring

Next general meeting Wednesday, 3/18/2009 at 7:30 PM SHARP


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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2009-03 From the editor

I am sorry that I had to miss this year's Banquet, it has always been one of the highpoints of the year for me. I am back on a project, so traveling on Sunday nights, at least that was the intention last week. Due to the snow storm which affected the East coast last weekend, many flights were canceled, including mine. So I ended up leaving very early Monday morning. Unfortunately Craig had already circulated that the show was sold out, so I could not uncancel my cancellation.

It sounds like a great time was had by all, thanks to Art for some back stage insight (below). Thanks also to Dan and Charles for their contributions as well as the regular deliberations and ring meeting notes from Dennis.

Do not forget that Auction is coming up soon, I hope to see every one there

Your editor
Stefan

2009-03 Ring Report Ring #170 The Bev Bergeron Ring

We are still homeless! It looks like the Ring will be loitering in the back from of IHOP on Kirkman Road for a while. We had planned to have a permanent meeting place by the spring but so far all the prospects for any of the new locations have fallen through. The current economic downturn has cut funding on city and country recreation buildings. The board continues to work on a new location.

February’s meeting was opened by President Craig Fennessy and a quick mention was made of all the upcoming magic events in the Orlando area. You should frequently check our Ring 170 website for continuous updates. We were thrilled that our own Wallace Murphy was on the cover of The Linking Ring. Wallace is one of our most talented members and is also one of our longest ring members.

After the short business meeting we turned to our guest lecturer for the evening, John Luka from Michigan. John has been an avid magic enthusiast for most of his life. Included among his mentors were Milt Kort and Harry Riser. John is the founder of The Motor City Close-Up Convention, held in Taylor, Michigan, now in its eleventh year. This convention brings top line performers into Detroit to perform and lecture.

John’s “Thoughts On…” column appeared in The New Tops magazine published by the Abbott Magic Company. The lecture contained material from John’s new book, Uncovered. Some of the magic included a no palm card to wallet and a three-ball routine, called Chroma Balls, which we scratched our heads over.

Featured is Licked At Last, which the experts are calling the best yet In The Hands Triumph. Another stand out item was Back to the 19th Century, an incredible assembly that will make you a believer.

There was even more great stuff that works well in the real world. Each and every effect has been audience tested over the years. Every item that John performed at the lecture was fully explained. He also provided his sources of inspiration.

John’s lecture contained do-able, practical magic. Be sure to catch his lecture when he is in your area and find out for yourself. You’ll be glad you did.

Good things are always happening in Ring 170

Dennis Phillips

2009-03 Adventures in Magicland

THE MAKING OF ENIGMA THE DVD
Part One
by
Chuck STYLESMITH Smith

When my son Chris and I came up with the idea for a video series for magicians we had great hopes for its acceptance. In a way it was successful but the best thing to come from it was the opportunity to meet some of the greatest magicians of today and yesterday, John Calvert, Mart Wilson, Jeff McBride, Terry Seabrook, Jack Kodell, Celeste Evans, I could go on and on.
(I am not neglecting to mention our own Bev Bergeron and Dan Stapleton.)

We traveled the country for two years and produced seven - two and a half hour dvd disks of magic that included interviews, visits to some of the remaining brick and mortar magic shops, hints from the professionals and tricks demonstrated and explained by the presenters.

From Monday Night Magic, Fantasma Magic Shop and the New York City Roundtable, to Denny Haney’s in both Baltimore and in Vegas, visits to Norm Nielsen’s home to see his poster collection and spending time among the unbelievable collection in Gary Darwin’s abode and on to Texas, Phoenix and California for visits to The Castle, Lee Grable, Jay Leslie and on and on.

One of the first places we visited was Las Vegas, referred as the magic capital of the world. I’ll have to admit there were a lot of magic shows in Vegas when we visited...and there still are. With limited time we saw Mac King, Nathan Burton, several magicians on a show that included Kevin James and a midnight show about vampire ladies scantily clad...but of course, we went to see the magic theme of the show. (Sure!) We missed the top draw, Lance Burton but we did get to visit and interview Gary Darwin and Norm Nielsen at their homes.

We knew that Denny & Lee had a brick and mortar shop in Vegas and trouped out to videotape it for the series. We had a great interview with Tom, who runs the shop and were invited back to an evening of magic in the “backroom.” It’s secret entrance was behind a bookcase which opened into a small theatre with stage and chairs. It was “open mike night” and several of the “locals” did a turn. I guess the ambiance of Vegas makes every magician look good. I especially liked a guy who did sightless vision and up until that time I was not a big fan of that venue of our craft.

Wonder of wonders, Denny, himself appeared, in his trademarked checkered sneakers. He said he had stopped in from the home shop in Baltimore on his way to play The Castle next week. We, too, were going to be in Los Angeles the next week. AND Wonder of wonders #2, Denny invited us to be his guests at The Castle.


Flash forward a few days and a lot of miles and we were in The Castle. Denny did an egg bag routine with two ladies from the audience and it drove home the fact that it is not the TRICK but the performance that is the entertainment. The magic is only the vehicle for the amusement. That thought reminded me of another egg bag worker Jeff Hobson...the same trick but a completely different approach.

That night we met Mark and Nani Wilson, who we later visited, and renewed our acquaintance with Ballentine whom we had spent a few hours chatting during a convention in Daytona.

All for now. Next month we travel up the California coast near San Francisco and visit Lee Grabel and wife, Helene.

2009-03 Annual Banquet

The annual banquet seems to have been a great success, here are some notes from Art Thomas.

In my opinion, the show was excellent, and the entire event was about as good as it can get for a club banquet show.

I thought that I would offer a "behind the scenes" insight that might not otherwise be known...

Now, we have all heard the show business stories about "stars" who are difficult to work with. Some of us have actually experienced these situations. Well, for this banquet show, we worked with four true stars - Dave Williamson, Michael Ammar, Kostya Kimlat, and Todd Charles. Each one of these gentlemen was a delight to work with. They are all total professionals. I realize that it may be disappointing that there isn't any "dirt" to share, or any intrigue. But, honestly, I can't imagine how any of these true professional entertainers could have been any more delightful to work with. They were all just great, both on stage, and off stage.

If anyone is ever in a position to recommend or hire any of these performers, I encourage you to do so. I certainly give them my highest recommendation, and will gladly work with any of them again.

During Dave Williamson's act he did a bit where he pulled up a woman from the audience to participate in a skit. What he didn't know was that the woman that he selected was Sheila Ward (Terry Ward's wife)who is a top-notch comedic improv performer and actress. Now, trust me, Sheila is so quick and funny that she could have easily upstaged the entire skit. But she didn't. She just played along exactly as anyone would want their audience participants to do. The skit was very funny, and Sheila was a great sport. Equally important, Sheila demonstrated what true professionalism is all about. She showed restraint by not taking advantage of the situation to steal the show.

There are many people in magic who could learn from this. Too often, when magicians volunteer to help others, they try to make themselves the center of attention. This seldom makes an act or a show any better. We should all learn from Sheila to know when it is our turn, and when it isn't. She set an excellent example for all of us to follow.

2009-03 David Copperfield at Bob Carr

Anybody want to buy an unused ticket to see last months show?

My seat was actually 8th row center...not bad. But when I arrived at the Bob Carr, Jack Kodell was already there and offered me a ticket that he had as extra, one that was given to him by his friend David Copperfield. To make sure I sat in, at least a seat as good as mine, I asked the usher which seat was better. She said, "Mister, the only way you can get a better seat than this (Kodell's) is if you are ON STAGE with Copperfield!" That's right...front row-center!
Jack didn't like the seats that close so we moved back a row. I still find it amazing that "DC" can do the huge illusions CLOSE-UP...and you still cannot see how they are done (unless, of course you already know).
Sitting that close you can nearly read what he is thinking...see every eye movement...see his eyes scanning the front looking for either his stooges, friends, or babes (yes, they were sitting behind me and next to me).
DC performed only two shows this year (at least four shows in years past) and the 2500 seats were filled at 80% for my 8:30pm show. That show actually started at 8:50pm, typical for a DC show (I've been to six or seven shows and they NEVER start on time although mine rarely do either). A very clever 10 minute promotional video was first and at 9:00pm David made his appearance on a motorcycle from a giant Shadow Box illusion. He next performed Ringflight with a borrowed ring appearing on his "baby shoe" lace. He next performed his very cool Passing Thru a Steel Plate illusion. This actually looks better from a distance as I watched three and four years ago.
Next was Kevin James' Floating Rose followed by a self-Shrinking illusion in box.
He then had two female assistants (from audience) on stage assist him with a Pick-A-Card-Live Scorpion-Find card trick. He then did his very dangerous (the recent news getter...assistant very badly injured) Walking Thru Giant Industrial Fan illusion.

New this year was his fun Dancing Neck Tie routine.
Next was his (slow motion) Duck Bucket routine with Webster the Duck, then my favorite of the show, his ESP routine involving a license plate, concluding with an Appearing Car that sits on top of pillars AT THE FOOT OF THE STAGE!
Next was a 10 minute video of one of his old television specials of his straight jacket routines. This set up his finale of vanishing 13 people from the audience.
Show concluded at 10:15 so with the two video's he actually had approx. 65 minutes of on stage time but really packed alot into his show.
Great show as it usually is, but he looked tired and seemed to just "walk" through the routines, especially the ones that require patter. I suppose I would too with the schedule that he has. After the show he stated that it has been a tough year for him, with the death of his mother, the injury of his assistant and the highly publicized accusation of some sort of altercation between him and a female.
A young man, who won one of the Daytona Beach magic convention contests saw me and asked if he could meet DC as he had a few old books that were given to him by his father, who also recently passed away. I asked DC and he obliged. The young man handed DC the books and DC looked genuinely touched. I told the young man (I think his name is Jeff) that he will remember that moment for the rest of his life...and he will. The look on Jeff’s face will probably be the thing that I will always remember about this particular performance. That and the ticket I never used but received a front row seat in exchange...it must have been karma that night.
Dan Stapleton

2009-03 Dennis' Deliberations

We all face the occasional rare storms in our lives. Hurricane Charley in 2004 upset my career and life. The roof on my warehouse was blown off and all my costume manufacturing tools, patterns and molds received severe damage which was only partially covered by insurance. All of my magic and illusions were mostly saved but a number of smaller things were water damaged. I found out that anyone with a lick of brains in Florida should have their magic in water tight plastic storage boxes. The few props I had that were not in plastic boxes got soaked. Most of the plywood dried out with minimum damage but the MAK Magic props made with Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) swelled up to 3 times its size. I have recently remade the last of those props.

One was called The Bunny Box for making a rabbit appear. A black metal sheet is used to sketch a rabbit and it is placed in a box and the sketch comes alive and a real rabbit appears. I had one that was made by MAK Magic. It was made out of pressboard with a tacky high glass paint job with meaningless graphics. The load chamber was only big enough for the smallest of bunnies. It was soaked by Charley and turned to a heap of powder.

I stripped off all the hinges and flap gimmick and rebuilt it out of some cabinet grade plywood I got for free from a cabinet shop. I made the load chamber bigger by extending the box another one and a half inches. I added double doors on the front instead of the one door. I believe that when you open up the double doors that are hinged at the sides it increases the illusion of depth in the box. With a new and more traditional paint job it is now functional.

I have probably used it a half dozen or so times. It seems to be deceptive. I first saw this trick on the old Magic Land of Allakazam about 1962 when Mark Wilson did it in the audience of kids.

Almost a year ago Siegfried and Roy promised to return to the stage in February 2009 as part of the annual fundraiser for the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute. Recall that Roy received brain damage when attacked by a tiger during their stage act on October 3^rd 2003.

The promise to return to stage will be fulfilled on February 28 at the Keep Memory Alive: Power of Love gala at the Bellagio hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. The performance will be filmed by ABC television and broadcast as "The Return of Siegfried & Roy," a special edition of the network's hour-long 20/20 news magazine show. Airing on March 6 [10 p.m. ET], the show will feature the magic duo's performance, as well as a segment on the Ruvo Institute in Nevada, a center dedicated to the study of debilitating neurological diseases. Siegfried and Roy say their participation in the fundraiser will be both a return to the stage and their farewell performance, the final time they will present their signature illusions. "We never got to say a proper goodbye," Roy said. "This will be our final bow and it will never be repeated."

In the meantime Franz Harary wrecked his convertible on the way back to Vegas in a freak accident and survived the ordeal with a few stitches. I am wondering if he turns the whole experience into a televised mega-stunt? Maybe the crumpled up car can be restored in front of your eyes like “Healed and Sealed” the refilling and uncrumpling soda can.

There is a popular myth floating around (at least since the last Great Depression) that when times are bad, people flock to entertainment, and so magicians do well. The myth explains that people need escape and something to get their mind off their troubles.

Baloney. Look at the super-sensitive nature of Las Vegas right now, where hotels are hurting badly and the staff is being laid off. House prices have utterly collapses in Las Vegas. Recall that the 1930s Depression was the final nail in the coffin of the big illusions shows.

When President Obama said recently, "It's time companies getting bailouts stopped sending their executives on company-paid perks to Las Vegas and Super Bowls and --" , the mayor of Las Vegas went berserk and demanded an apology from Obama for singling out Las Vegas like that. Then the mayor ranted about how very necessary and useful corporate (business) junkets to Las Vegas really are and how this stimulates the economy...Well, in fact it actually only "stimulates" Las Vegas.

The bottom line is that America (and peripherally the world) is in the deep financial sewer right now, and every politician that suggests anything is coming up smelling like sewage. If they vote for bailout money then they get labeled as a Socialist. If they reject bailout money then they are called a heartless cruel Fascist who enjoys seeing babies and old people starve to death. Enough already!

Entertainment (magic is at the very bottom of that food chain) is one of the first "perks of discretionary income" to suffer. It figures. CNN featured a Vegas magician, David Shimshi, who has fallen on hard times. “Shimshi used to work as a house magician at the famous Mirage hotel and performed with the World's Greatest Magicians show at the Greek Isles Casino. Now Shimshi, as he's known to everyone, including his wife Janelle, has seen his gigs disappear, a victim of the struggling economy.”

Finally, I watched Bubblevision (CNBC) on my day off. They had a series of programs about the meltdown and, honestly, they must be written for someone with the academic level of a 12 year old.

Allen “Bubbles” Greenspan was on explaining that he simply could not figure out the math behind CDOs. He said, “I have several hundred PhDs that I can call on and none of them could explain it either”.

What kind of math idiots, both in and out of government, are running things?

Please, I don’t want YOU to ever tell anyone that you don’t understand any of the derivative financial math models. Warren Buffet avoided them and called them “weapons of mass financial destruction”

Quants (financial mathematicians) began applying statistical models that are topographic based to make optimum predictions under unchanging ideal conditions.

It is not that complicated. In another few paragraphs, I can make you smarter than Allen Greenspan and his hundreds of PhDs.!

Think about hiking in the mountains and figuring out a path through the mountains with the least altitude and shortest distance. Then add to the complexity the stochastic process of rockslides or high water than may block your path forcing an alternative. Crunch the numbers and you get a predictionof the best path. Since there are a number of variables, call the path multivariable. Consider the timeline of a collection of mortgages to be a multivariable in risk and return just like figuring out the best path through the mountains. It is possible to model this best path with statistical math.

These “copulas” were the basis of the models.

www.pstat.ucsb.edu/faculty/fouque/PubliFM/fzCopula.pdf This is very

informative regarding “tail dependence” neglected by Gaussian copulas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copula_(statistics)

http://ideas.repec.org/p/wpa/wuwpfi/0111003.html

This will give you the basics of derivative structure:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Scholes

As Alfred Korzypski was famous for saying, “The roadmap is not the territory”

and that holds true for any Markov Chain Monte Carlo statistical model.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markov_chain because in economics there is never

a state of automatic return of general equilibrium. (I know. This goes against the “religion” of

the Free Market people.)

To some this up: Bad things happen. You can not make a math model to predict when bad things will happen.(“tail dependence”) Math is a tool, it is not a true copy of reality. Only when you know enough about the math tool, can you understand how is can be (and was!) misused.

PS: Forward this to Bubbles Greenspan and any PhDs you know. Explain it to them.

Dennis Phillips