2011-12 Ring 170 newsletter

Newsletter of IBM Ring #170


The Bev Bergeron Ring

Next general meeting Wednesday, 12/20/2011 at 7:30 PM SHARP


I-HOP Kirkman Road
5203 Kirkman Road, Orlando, Florida 32819
Meeting Theme: Club Annual Holiday Party

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
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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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.

2011-12 From the Editor

So 2011 draws to a close, and I am sure many of us are glad to see the rear end of this year, hoping for a better time in 2012. Remember the last meeting of the year is the traditional Ring 170 Holiday Party. Bring a gift of value at least $15 and have some fun. Even if you do not bring a gift, there will be plenty of fun to go around.

Please consider submitting your name for some of the board positions that will be coming available soon. Let Craig Fennessey know if you are interested, before the December meeting. We will be voting for the 2012 board at that meeting. These positions do not involve a huge amount of work but some new blood and ideas would be very helpful.

Especial thanks to Dennis and Sheldon for the consistency in their contributions throughout the year. As we go into 2012, can I ask the members to please add "submitting an article to the Famulus newsletter" as one of their New Year resolutions.

I would like to wish all members a merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah or Happy Holidays, whichever is appropriate. Of course, a happy and prosperous New Year to each and everyone.

Your editor

2011-12 Ring Report

President Craig Fennessey opened the meeting on November 16th with 19 members and guests present at the opening: more were to come as the meeting progressed. Paige Sessions introduced himself, as a guest and told of his interest in magic and a desire to join the Ring.

Annual dues have come around again and all those members who are paid up by the January 4th lecture, by Joshua Jay, would be admitted without charge.

At our next meeting there will be a Christmas gift exchange and participants are asked to bring a gift,
which will be opened when selected and available for the picking. A gift of $15 or more was suggested. Members were solicited to consider Board Membership for the upcoming year of 2012. This subject will be considered more thoroughly at our next meeting.

Several members told of their current bookings: Ravelli is keeping busy with appearances at the Columbia Restaurant in Celebration on weekends as well as the Marriot Courtyard and Royal Plaza Hotel in Lake Buena Vista. Joe Zimmer endorsed the Titanic, The Experience, attraction on International Drive which is expanding to include a Dinner Show. Mark Fitzgerald and Craig Fennessey are busy at the Hard Rock Cafe and are
joined on occasion by Wallace Murphy, who will also be travelling to Naples to fulfill a Corporate gig. Dan Stapleton is performing at numerous locations on International Drive during this busy Holiday Season. Dan Knapp will be part of the monthly show at Give Kids The World.

Bev Bergeron continued with his series of impromptu magic with a dollar bill production routine. He was followed by Phil Schwartz with Magic History Moment #35. Phil, accompanied by Jeff Pierce, attended a three-day Magic Convention at Brookledge, in Studio City, California, the home, between 1928 and 1942, of Jennie and Floyd Thayer. The Thayers built a Studio-Theater, behind the house, which opened in 1933. The home was purchased by the Larson Family in 1942 who still reside at the property today. Brookledge is a property with a great amount of historical Magic significance. As a result of his interest, Phil recently published a high quality booklet entitled The Story of Brookledge.

After a brief intermission the performances were initiated by Bev Bergeron who did a comical card effect. Richard Hewitt continued in the same vein with a variation of the Invisible Deck. Charlie Pfrogner, with help from an audience participant, illustrated his physic powers of prediction. Dan Stapleton followed with a demonstration of his Poker Prowess with three audience volunteers going against him with little success. Ravelli
closed the evening with a very entertaining performance utilizing coins, rope and cards. It was easy to see why he is a sought after performer.

Sheldon Brook

2011-12 Annual Holiday Party

REMEMBER…the December monthly meeting is our IBM RING 170 HOLIDAY PARTY !!!…come early (6:00pm) and join us for dinner.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 7:30pm

You may bring snacks and drinks (non-alcoholic) to share….

I-Hop is providing the cake!

This year we are doing our traditional Holiday gift exchange…..

To participate in the gift exchange you need to bring a new magic related gift…wrapped….gift value needs to be $15.00 or more.

When you arrive, turn in your gift, you will be given a lottery holiday name….during the gift exchange when your holiday name is chosen…you may select the gift of your choice.  Jacki Manna will be the host for the evening…and will go over the gift exchange rules.

Please….no old magazines or broken flea market buys. Bring something you would be delighted to receive yourself.

Please note… If you choose not to participate in the gift exchange…that’s fine…you will have plenty of fun just watching…and you can also enjoy the free snack food, drink and magic performances after the gift exchange.

2011-12 Update on Charlie Pfrogner

Update to the Charlie Pfrogner Update

Charlie Pfrogner – is being released from the Florida SouthHospital today at 5:30pm today…..Tuesday, December 20, 2011.

You may now see/contact Charlie at:

Conway Lake Health Rehabilitation Center

5201 Curry Ford Road

Rm# 203B

Orlando, Florida 32812

407-384-8838

Thanks for all the support!

2011-12 Dennis' Deliberations

Equivoque is the word that most magicians recognize as “A Magician’s Force”.  This is the technique of making the spectator think that they have a free choice while you know what you want them to choose and manipulate them to take what you want.  I was recently talking to a couple of professional magicians and we were talking about the technique. I told them that I always explain it to magicians as the same thing as asking someone to choose which current author of mentalism books they prefer, Phil Goldstein or Max Maven.  

The PATEO Force is usually credited to Roy Baker. It stands for (P)ick (A)ny (T)wo - (E)liminate (O)ne.  One of the great examples of this technique was when the deep voice of Eugene Burger combined with a Robert Neal story. Eugene laid many cards face down on the table and said that people were dying in the small medieval town and people began to accuse others of being responsible for the deaths. Eugene had a spectator pick two cards and he turned over one. It was the Queen of Diamonds, the town’s seamstress. Was she a witch? No, soon she died. All the cards had a profession in the village. The Jack of Spades was the Gravedigger. He was selected and died. It got down to the only card that was not dead and Burger turned it over and it was the one who brought the plague, the ace of spades.  I thought that this was a great example of story telling and the PATEO Force.  
One suggestion on Equivoque: If you are doing it multiple times, break up the way you ask them to choose so your method is not obvious.  Like Max Maven’s B-Wave, the application of Equivoque can be simple and yet powerful.

MELINDA is BACK.......uhhh.    But I prefer her front.....

Actually, I liked Melinda’s illusions. Perhaps there was not enough room at the top for her. I mean, uhhh, at the top of show business there was not enough room.

She complains in Magic Magazine (November issue) that they used to always want her to dress skimpier.  Well, golly gee, that's all most men remember her for.

She had a lot of “bump and grind” and was properly instructed in that style of dancing by her mother, Bonnie, a former Vegas dancer. But, she could move rather well when choreographed.

Her first and only solo TV special, the Disney produced one taped here in Orlando, was a train wreck but I could see some great routines and concepts in it. Her magic got lost in needless scenes with fairytales; unicorns, cartoon characters and even an Indianapolis racecar vanish. The Melinda personality got lost in a massive Disney promotion show.

 I really hope she can make a comeback.

Some guys are just crazy for magic. They think, eat and have it on their mind all the time. It dominates their life!  I wonder if the following letter could actually ever happen.

Dear Abby,I am a professional magician with a deep concern. I have never written to you before, but I really need your advice. I keep strange hours with my career, and I have suspected for some time now that my wife has been cheating on me.The usual signs; phone rings but if I answer, the caller hangs up. When I'm about to leave for a gig, I learn, for the umpteenth time, my wife is about to go out with "the girls", although when I ask their names she always says, just some friends from work, you don't know them. When I finally get home and discover she's not there, I try to stay awake and watch for her when she comes in, but I usually fall asleep.Anyway, I have never broached the subject with my wife. I think deep down I just did not want to know the truth, but last night she went out again and I decided to finally check on her. Around midnight when I got home from another show, and again she wasn't home yet, I hid in the garage behind some illusion props so I could get a good view of the whole street when she arrived home after night out with "the girls."When she got out of the car she was buttoning up her blouse, her hair and makeup were all messed up and a guy kissed her good-by and I really need your advice!It was at that moment, crouching inside my Zig Zag, that I noticed a hairline crack along the door at the hinges. Is this something I can fix myself, or should I take it back to Abbotts for repairs?Signed...Puzzled Magician

I hope that gave you a Holiday laugh and keep your life balanced in the New Year!  Show attention to the ones you love this holiday season.

Peace and Happiness to all in 2012!

Dennis Phillips, in the heart of the Great Shenandoah Valley, Harrisonburg, Virginia