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Friday, September 11, 2009
2009-09 Famulus newsletter
Newsletter of IBM Ring #170
The Bev Bergeron Ring
Next general meeting Wednesday, 9/16/2009 at 7:30 PM SHARP
Meeting theme: Fall Magic
I-HOP Kirkman Road
5203 Kirkman Road, Orlando, Florida 32819
Please join us for dinner beforehand
Lunch meetings in the McDonald’s at 7344 Sand Lake Road, Orlando. It’s two blocks WEST of the intersection of Interstate 4 and Sand Lake Road. We meet every Tuesday at noon upstairs.
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 – srjart@earthlink.net
Sheldon Brook- Acting Secretary – mrbrook33@yahoo.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.
2009-09 From the Editor
How time flies, the holiday season is almost upon us again. Hopefully the calendars are filling up for our working members.
Don't forget the Jim Pace lecture, on Tuesday the day before our Ring meeting. And of course Aldo's appearance and lecture at Wizardz.
Did anyone from the Ring attend the Shoot Ogawa lecture? If so, care to share your thoughts with our readers? As ever, please direct your submission to famulus@illusioneer.com.
Thanks To Dennis and his able replacement, Sheldon, for their respective articles. It is nice to hear that our friend seem to be doing well in West Virginia.
I hope to see you all at the lectures and the next meeting
Your editor
Stefan
Don't forget the Jim Pace lecture, on Tuesday the day before our Ring meeting. And of course Aldo's appearance and lecture at Wizardz.
Did anyone from the Ring attend the Shoot Ogawa lecture? If so, care to share your thoughts with our readers? As ever, please direct your submission to famulus@illusioneer.com.
Thanks To Dennis and his able replacement, Sheldon, for their respective articles. It is nice to hear that our friend seem to be doing well in West Virginia.
I hope to see you all at the lectures and the next meeting
Your editor
Stefan
2009-09 Ring Report Ring #170 The Bev Bergeron Ring
President Craig Fennessy called the meeting to order on August 19th, 2009, and introduced the Ring officers to the 24 members and guests in attendance. Craig related his recent experience of visiting the Los Angeles area as well as Las Vegas. He was particularly impressed by the entertainment at the Magic Castle in Hollywood and Magic Live in Las Vegas. He informed the members present that Dean Dill was seriously ill with Cancer and that donations were being solicited in his behalf by HOCUS POCUS.
Keith Locke is presenting on the 23rd of this month(August) a lecture by Shoot Ogawa at Keith's Pine Street facility in Orlando. On September 15th, Jim Pace will be lecturing our Ring here at the IHOP and there will be no charge for current Ring members. Dan Stapleton announced that he will be doing his show, Abracadabra, It's Magic at the renovated theater in Winter Garden . He assured us there would be “a lot of magic” and everyone was invited to attend. The show will run from October 30th thru November 1stand there will be both evening and matinee performances. Dan will also be busy hosting a Circus World Reunion in the Orlando area on February 19th, 2010. If any readers had any association with the attraction and would like to participate, please get in touch with Dan.
Mark Fitzgerald brought to the membership's attention that the next Phism event will be held in Blackpool, UK, during the Summer of 2012.
Phil Schwartz was up next with Magical History Moment #15. He proudly showed us the silks in his collection that he had acquired in 1984 from the Silk King Studios. The mail order business operated by Harold and Thelma Rice announced in 1979 that they were going out of business and had their inventory up for sale. Phil made his purchase 5 years after the Company stopped the importing of merchandise. Mr Rice passed away in 1989. The next objects of discussion were numerous examples of Tom Seller's Color Changing Handkerchief Box which came on the scene in 1932. The following year, 1933, the Thayer Silk Cabby was brought out and in 1935 the Flipover Box developed by Jack Gwynne enabled the practioner to vanish other objects in addition to silks. Phil was particularly impressed by the workmanship of a similar device which was produced in Tampa by Warren Hamilton in 1960. The audience was appreciative and impressed by the display. Thank you , Phil.
Bev Bergeron announced that he was publishing, a novel titled “The Magic Connection” It's based on a true adventure caper that Bev has been thinking about for many years.
Joe Vecciarelli shared his paper- modeling hobby, collection, with examples of his handiwork that ranged from ducks and rabbits to a detailed grandfather clock. Martin Bristow and Joey Nieves performed card tricks after the intermission and Ravelli contributed to the entertainment with a Silverware Transposition performed to a musical accompaniment. KP Pierce demonstrated his Big Spender Counterfeit Bill Detector, with spectator bills of various denominations that were visibly shredded ( indicating they were bogus) when placed into the device much to the chagrin of the audience.
Will Wortman skillfully changed a ball point pen to a large steel washer in a brief display of manual dexterity leaving his audience clamoring for more..
Tim(Lyndell)Scarborough did a comedy routine that included an electronic dust bunny ionizer, and miser's dream routine all accompanied by a musical narrative performed by Lyndell through his Bubba teeth. The membership was thoroughly entertained.
Mark Fitzgerald performed the 3-card dialogue trick,”Stan, Kate, and Edith” by Kerry Pollack and Charlie Pfrogner finished off the evening with his “Treasure Box” of Tricks producing a rabbit of little dimension.
A fine time was had by all.
2009-09 Magic Jam Session
For those of you who can’t get enough magic each month…. one of our members has a solution.
He has put together “Close Up Magic Mondays” Meeting every 3rd Monday of the month at a private residence. Starting September 21 after 6:30pm. Break up your week with a healthy dose of MAGIC!
Grab your cards and coins and join us for a personal discussion of all the facets of close up magic.
Contact Ryan Schlutz – 407-716-6754 (Call if you plan on attending)
Karolyn Parinella – 407-432-5641
Please note that this is not a sponsored IBM Ring 170 event…but it’s magic and I thought you all would like to know.
2009-09 [OT] Do Not Call List for Cellphones
REMEMBER: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public this month.
REMINDER..... all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls.
.... YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS
To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222.
It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time.. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.
HELP OTHERS BY PASSING THIS ON .. It takes about 20 seconds.
2009-09 Another request from Joe
I am looking for a copy of Magic Magazine - V05 N5 January 1996
This is a link to the cover...
http://www.magicmagazine.com/catalog/images/jan96.jpg
This is a link to the cover...
http://www.magicmagazine.com/
Thanks.
Joe Vecciarelli
Coach Coordinator
Cirque du Monde - Orlando
Walt Disney World Boys & Girls Club
2009-09 Dennis' Deliberations
Dennis Deliberations……
My kids in Orlando, my accountant, who lives in College Park, some business friends I left, all tell me things seem to not be getting better in Orlando.
“Destination Tourism” seems to be a fading dream for the middle and upper-middle classes. Here is the Shenandoah Valley, we draw a lot of day-trippers or one-night tourists from the Washington, Baltimore and even Philly and NYC area. People are more ready to drive than fly. Flying is just too much of a hassle unless you have to.
You can leave the NYC area at 6AM and be having lunch here on the mountain top in Massanutten 4-Season Resort at Noon. It is 12 miles from my house
As long as gas prices stay about where they are, this area’s tourism should remain about where it is.
We also have the 2 Universities and 1 college in town. Moreover, agriculture is huge in this area and people always need to eat. As a result our unemployment in town is about 6% whereas Florida is 10.7%. Virginia seems to have it a little more together in terms of taxation. There is a small state income tax but here in Harrisonburg, property taxes are low, car insurance and health insurance are very inexpensive.
In the meantime, I am resurrecting my version of the Vince Carmen school-show-booking-method and that is a lot more promising here in the tall grass than in highly populated Central Florida.
One of my pet peeves is that the media keeps handwringing on and on about the state of the economy: Daily statistics on unemployment, Minute by minute reports on why the stimulus package isn‘t working, Weekly griping about how things are getting worse. Well ENOUGH! 85 to 90% of Americans still have a job and money to spend and the streets are not deserted. People forget that even during the Great Depression fortunes were made and the entertainment business prospered. The key is “Work” and “Creativity”. You need to find a niche market.
Well, with the help of John Abrams who is always thinking of every possible way to keep ahead of this “new economy”, I thought we would give you license to wring your hands. You read that right. I am officially giving you license to wring your hands about the economy. For more ideas see www.rebelentertainers.com.
BUT... you have to meet some qualifications. Here they are:
You wring your hands about the economy if....
You’ve created and implemented a 5 - 10 step email campaign for anybody who visits your website or requests info about your services.
You wring your hands about the economy if....
You’ve contacted all CURRENT customers at least 3 times in the last three months by email, mail or phone.
You wring your hands about the economy if....
You’ve contacted all PAST and DEAD customers to find out why they left and see if they are in need of your services now.
You wring your hands about the economy if....
You’ve created a new show or brand new services that you can present to your current and new customers.
You wring your hands about the economy if....
You’ve started an entire new campaign either through direct mail or website or magazine ads or Facebook or Twitter and every other media you can think of to get NEW customers.
You wring your hands about the economy if....
You’ve contacted all agents and party-event planners around your area.
You wring your hands about the economy if....
You’ve attended every convention and expo within your target market.
You wring your hands about the economy if....
You’ve become a member of your local Chamber of Commerce and contacted every business in the Chamber about your services
You wring your hands about the economy if....
You’re blogging regularly to your target market.
OK. If you’ve taken every single one of these actions and you’re still struggling with making money with magic in this economy, then you are officially licensed to wring your hands about the economy.
Dennis
My kids in Orlando, my accountant, who lives in College Park, some business friends I left, all tell me things seem to not be getting better in Orlando.
“Destination Tourism” seems to be a fading dream for the middle and upper-middle classes. Here is the Shenandoah Valley, we draw a lot of day-trippers or one-night tourists from the Washington, Baltimore and even Philly and NYC area. People are more ready to drive than fly. Flying is just too much of a hassle unless you have to.
You can leave the NYC area at 6AM and be having lunch here on the mountain top in Massanutten 4-Season Resort at Noon. It is 12 miles from my house
As long as gas prices stay about where they are, this area’s tourism should remain about where it is.
We also have the 2 Universities and 1 college in town. Moreover, agriculture is huge in this area and people always need to eat. As a result our unemployment in town is about 6% whereas Florida is 10.7%. Virginia seems to have it a little more together in terms of taxation. There is a small state income tax but here in Harrisonburg, property taxes are low, car insurance and health insurance are very inexpensive.
In the meantime, I am resurrecting my version of the Vince Carmen school-show-booking-method and that is a lot more promising here in the tall grass than in highly populated Central Florida.
One of my pet peeves is that the media keeps handwringing on and on about the state of the economy: Daily statistics on unemployment, Minute by minute reports on why the stimulus package isn‘t working, Weekly griping about how things are getting worse. Well ENOUGH! 85 to 90% of Americans still have a job and money to spend and the streets are not deserted. People forget that even during the Great Depression fortunes were made and the entertainment business prospered. The key is “Work” and “Creativity”. You need to find a niche market.
Well, with the help of John Abrams who is always thinking of every possible way to keep ahead of this “new economy”, I thought we would give you license to wring your hands. You read that right. I am officially giving you license to wring your hands about the economy. For more ideas see www.rebelentertainers.com.
BUT... you have to meet some qualifications. Here they are:
You wring your hands about the economy if....
You’ve created and implemented a 5 - 10 step email campaign for anybody who visits your website or requests info about your services.
You wring your hands about the economy if....
You’ve contacted all CURRENT customers at least 3 times in the last three months by email, mail or phone.
You wring your hands about the economy if....
You’ve contacted all PAST and DEAD customers to find out why they left and see if they are in need of your services now.
You wring your hands about the economy if....
You’ve created a new show or brand new services that you can present to your current and new customers.
You wring your hands about the economy if....
You’ve started an entire new campaign either through direct mail or website or magazine ads or Facebook or Twitter and every other media you can think of to get NEW customers.
You wring your hands about the economy if....
You’ve contacted all agents and party-event planners around your area.
You wring your hands about the economy if....
You’ve attended every convention and expo within your target market.
You wring your hands about the economy if....
You’ve become a member of your local Chamber of Commerce and contacted every business in the Chamber about your services
You wring your hands about the economy if....
You’re blogging regularly to your target market.
OK. If you’ve taken every single one of these actions and you’re still struggling with making money with magic in this economy, then you are officially licensed to wring your hands about the economy.
Dennis
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