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Newsletter of IBM Ring #170
The Bev Bergeron Ring
Next general meeting Wednesday, 4/18/2012 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 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- Secretary – mrbrook33@yahoo.com
Treasurer - Bev Bergeron & Joe Zimmer -
Mark Fitzgerald- Director at Large -
Dan Knapp- Sgt at Arms -
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.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
2012-04 From the editor
Summer is coming, which is traditionally a quiet time for our art, unless, of course, you are involved in Renaissance Faires. But while it is quiet you can bet that our president is beavering away lining up geart lecturers for the club.
Thanks to Dennis and Sheldon for their contributions.
Thanks to Dennis and Sheldon for their contributions.
2012-04 Ring Report
President Craig Fennessey opened the meeting with the announcement that our March 10, auction had been a success with over 120 in attendance. He gave thanks to all who participated and a special 'Thank You' to Val and Bob Swadling and Robert Moreland for their Workshop and Lectures. Craig reported that Charlie Pfrogner was home recuperating from recent surgery and that Mary and Jack Kodell celebrated, with a few close friends, their 59th Wedding Anniversary.
Once again our Ring will be looking forward to the Fall with scheduled lectures by Dan Garrett and Paul Godon. October will also be time for the Great Genii Bash followed in November by the always popular Daytona Magic Convention. Dan Stapleton and Bev Bergeron noted that The Circus Fans of America were meeting in Deland this month and that The Cole Family Circus would be performing. Guests Merlin Oldham of Clarion County, Pa. and Seloua Caccioppa of Orlando were introduced. Mark Fitzgerald has been performing at the Hard Rock Cafe for five years and will continue along with a new gig at the Portofino Resort Hotel. Mark related that on a recent cruise in the Caribbean, he watched our own Fred Moore performing a magic act on shipboard. Dan Knapp informed the membership that Give Kids The World was taking a magic hiatus and that James Songster has been presenting his act together with Joe Vecciarelli at GKTW for twenty years. Craig Fennessey and Wallace Murphy are
also performing one night a week at Gator's Dockside in Ocoee. Joe Cappucino took over the Teach-In with an origami lesson in making a rabbit from a paper or linen napkin. He opened with a dyslexia routine that was as well received as the instructional lesson.
Master Magician Howard Thurston was the subject of Magic History Moment No. 38. Phil Schwartz took the Ring from Thurston's birth in Columbus, Ohio either to his death in 1936. He was born either in 1869 or '70 and through out his life he was a rather eccentric individual as well as a health food devotee. He learned some magic while selling his father's potato peelers and used the art as a means of increasing his sales. He first performed with playing cards but left Columbus to travel with side shows and circuses and eventually built a very large repertoire of magic. His shows involved many assistants and tons of equipment. Some of his illusions include the "Floating Ball", and "Creation-The Aquarium Mystery". In 1908, when another Master Magician Kellar retired, he passed the Mantle of Magic on to Thurston. Thurston died in California of a cerebral brain hemorrhage in 1936.
The Performance portion of the meeting was led off by Chuck Smith who with a tour Brochure Book, a volunteer, and a paper bag drew an image of an unknown page of the book, selected by the volunteer. It all made for a very entertaining performance. Joe Cappucino surprised everyone with a great rope tie escape. Up next was Sammy the Magician had a selected card cut and restored to a card rack. Wallace Murphy put his coins aside and demonstrated his card prowess with a Four Ace Production. Dan Stapleton brought out his Dominoes and predicted the total number of pips found in the last dominoes played by two audience volunteers. Mark Fitzgerald ended the evening with a spectacular coin and card matrix performed to perfection.
Sheldon Brook
Once again our Ring will be looking forward to the Fall with scheduled lectures by Dan Garrett and Paul Godon. October will also be time for the Great Genii Bash followed in November by the always popular Daytona Magic Convention. Dan Stapleton and Bev Bergeron noted that The Circus Fans of America were meeting in Deland this month and that The Cole Family Circus would be performing. Guests Merlin Oldham of Clarion County, Pa. and Seloua Caccioppa of Orlando were introduced. Mark Fitzgerald has been performing at the Hard Rock Cafe for five years and will continue along with a new gig at the Portofino Resort Hotel. Mark related that on a recent cruise in the Caribbean, he watched our own Fred Moore performing a magic act on shipboard. Dan Knapp informed the membership that Give Kids The World was taking a magic hiatus and that James Songster has been presenting his act together with Joe Vecciarelli at GKTW for twenty years. Craig Fennessey and Wallace Murphy are
also performing one night a week at Gator's Dockside in Ocoee. Joe Cappucino took over the Teach-In with an origami lesson in making a rabbit from a paper or linen napkin. He opened with a dyslexia routine that was as well received as the instructional lesson.
Master Magician Howard Thurston was the subject of Magic History Moment No. 38. Phil Schwartz took the Ring from Thurston's birth in Columbus, Ohio either to his death in 1936. He was born either in 1869 or '70 and through out his life he was a rather eccentric individual as well as a health food devotee. He learned some magic while selling his father's potato peelers and used the art as a means of increasing his sales. He first performed with playing cards but left Columbus to travel with side shows and circuses and eventually built a very large repertoire of magic. His shows involved many assistants and tons of equipment. Some of his illusions include the "Floating Ball", and "Creation-The Aquarium Mystery". In 1908, when another Master Magician Kellar retired, he passed the Mantle of Magic on to Thurston. Thurston died in California of a cerebral brain hemorrhage in 1936.
The Performance portion of the meeting was led off by Chuck Smith who with a tour Brochure Book, a volunteer, and a paper bag drew an image of an unknown page of the book, selected by the volunteer. It all made for a very entertaining performance. Joe Cappucino surprised everyone with a great rope tie escape. Up next was Sammy the Magician had a selected card cut and restored to a card rack. Wallace Murphy put his coins aside and demonstrated his card prowess with a Four Ace Production. Dan Stapleton brought out his Dominoes and predicted the total number of pips found in the last dominoes played by two audience volunteers. Mark Fitzgerald ended the evening with a spectacular coin and card matrix performed to perfection.
Sheldon Brook
2012-04 Dennis' Deliberations
Hey! The crumble of the brick and mortar shops seems to be accelerating. Now, even the on-line shops could be thinning. I am speaking of the latest legal issues with Hank Lee, as reported by Boston media. http://www.thebostonchannel.com/r/30805445/detail.html “Harry P. Levy, the owner of Hank Lee's Magic Factory, admitted he made 134 false transactions between 2009 to 2011 on a customer's American Express card totaling $561,927, according to a stipulation of facts signed by Levy and prosecutors. The document was filed in Federal Court in Boston Friday, March 30th. Levy has agreed to plead guilty to credit card fraud and making false statements, and in exchange prosecutors won't charge him with wire fraud or aggravated identity theft, according to a plea agreement. Levy faces a total of up to 20 years in prison on the charges. Prosecutors will seek a sentence at the "low end of sentencing guidelines," and to have Levy ordered to pay restitution to the victim, according to the plea agreement.”
****** We all know the average membership demographics in a magic club are slanted toward older men. Research studies show that female membership in magic clubs and performances hovers around 5 percent. That is incredibly low. As Melinda attempts to revive her career in Las Vegas, we are aware that there are probably no female names that are recognized by the public as being female magicians or illusionists. Magic hobbyists know about Charlotte Pendragon, Adrian Black. Jade, Princess Tenko, Joanie Spina and others: http://www.all-about-magicians.com/femalemagicians.html Why there aren’t more women magicians is an intriguing question, especially in an age when women are more likely to participate in comedy, acting, sports and music. What is it about magic that discourages women from an active role and sees them primarily as magicians’ assistants? http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture-society/why-have-women-magicians-vanished-8369/
I will look at the article: Perhaps by looking at this unusual hobby and form of entertainment, we can better understand how gender is performed and how differences continue throughout today’s society. What does magic tell us about the persistence of gender roles in our supposedly more egalitarian era?Instead of speculating, consider the explanations from magicians themselves. Responding to a survey posted on various magic Web sites and boards (and thus not meant to generalize all magicians), 220 male and seven female amateur and professional magicians answered the question: Why aren’t there more women magicians?
These are the answers provided by the seven female magicians:
Males seem to better identify with famous magicians, most of who are male, and therefore are more apt to develop an interest in magic. Because magic at its heart is about power. Men in general have an internal desire to move into chaotic situations with power to bring about order. Is that not in essence what magicians do? Now, I know sometimes the magician causes the chaos in the first place — cutting the rope, tearing the paper, sawing the lady — but the magician always makes things turn out right. Women, by contrast, usually desire to build strong, intimate relationships with others, and this doesn’t always translate well to magic. Part of the great challenge in being a female magician is not simply to amaze people – which is crazy easy — but to put a deeper meaning into the things we do in order to build that relationship to a level where meaningful ideas can be exchanged. Because women have not seen themselves as magicians they have not been encouraged. Women have to invent for themselves ways to do things that men do not.
Most magic instruction is designed for men with jackets. Women’s clothes don’t have pockets and women can’t reach into their breast pockets. Magic books and magazines gear more for men in their advertising and descriptions of magic. It’s hard for women to find role models that they identify with. Also, women are under intense pressure to stay thin to perform, they are criticized more, where men often do not have the same pressures when performing. Like most performing arts, there weren’t many women as a lead performer. It wasn’t socially acceptable for women to be in a “lead” role since they were housewives and mothers of children. To break that mold took a lot of courage. Women were known as the assistants to create a beauty and distraction for the stage magician. So the lesser role was really played by the woman, yet the one with the most responsibility is the woman. It is the assistant who is the real magician.
Just recently women are starting to appear in more science- and math-related jobs, and the same goes for magic. Men never take women seriously, and it is harder for some women to find mentors. Also women see a magician do a stage act with skinny models dancing around and have a hard time visualizing the woman doing magic with men dancing around her. Large men can’t be box jumpers, so [they] can’t have a male assistant in the box all the time, which adds to the difficulty of a woman performing.
To summarizing the key explanations, the actual words of the magicians are presented: (for more details on these see the on-line article)
Gadget/Technical
It’s rare to see women become interested in technology and gadgets to the same extent as men. It interests guys more in general to know how stuff works. PowerMagic suggests power, or a show or display of power. Magic attracts men for the most part because of this power, which is oft associated with men in patriarchal societies. Men feel more social pressure to be in control. It stems from the initial power trip most young men are on when they first begin the pursuit of magic (“I know something you don’t know”).
Competitive, Confrontational and Commanding
The initial steps in magic tend to be attempts to prove “I know something you do not.” This is a very confrontational relationship that is more typical of men than women. The “boldness” required to present yourself is, historically, a masculine trait. Women present magic more as an art form.
Hobby for Geeks
It’s the boys-and-their-toys syndrome. Magic is often considered a childish phase and fixation, which is more acceptable for men to have than it is for women.
Traditional Gender Roles
It’s about stereotyping and social acceptability. Parents give magic sets to little boys and dolls to little girls. The classic image of a magician is male, so more males are drawn to it as an acceptable hobby, and the next generation sees mostly male magicians and thinks it a pursuit for males, so the pattern perpetuates itself. Also, differences in social acceptance of keeping secrets may be a factor for magic. Men tend not to believe they have deceived a friend by keeping a secret (not restricted to magic) while females relate it to trust. Males accept keeping secrets such as customer base, market information, etc., as just another day at the office. Women “share” and aren’t generally the best at keeping secrets.
The Nature of Magic
Historically, women have been persecuted for participating in magic and women who practiced magic were historically identified with witchcraft. Perhaps people expect males to be wizards/magicians and women to be witches. Because women are smaller, they are better suited as the subjects for levitations and other illusions where close confinement is required. A woman’s hands are usually smaller than a man’s and therefore less suited for concealing cards and other large objects. It also seems to be more difficult to adapt women’s clothing with pockets for concealment of birds and other objects used in magic.
Biology
Brains are wired differently for men and women. Most of contemporary magic is presented as an analytical challenge/puzzle. This is analogue to the left part of the brain, which is the “male” part. Women are more right brain oriented and respond better to the emotional, lyrical and mythical. There are different interests between women and men, mainly due to a difference in their brains. This does not mean that women are inferior to men, just that they are different. Although there are many young female magicians entering the field, and despite less overt discrimination in magic clubs and performance venues, the continued male-dominance of magic highlights the entrenched values and social roles in our society today. Looking at the increased number of women in other traditionally all-male occupations, such as medicine or law, obscures how many still view gender differences in areas characterized by issues of power and control.
Perhaps only when magic’s gender imbalance changes can we declare that discrimination based on sex has truly vanished. I would encourage you to read the entire article. The answers given were by seven female magicians. As the father of two daughters, it seems to me that the ancient Roman Myth of Dido-Elissa, is still deeply embedded in Western thought!
Dennis Phillips
****** We all know the average membership demographics in a magic club are slanted toward older men. Research studies show that female membership in magic clubs and performances hovers around 5 percent. That is incredibly low. As Melinda attempts to revive her career in Las Vegas, we are aware that there are probably no female names that are recognized by the public as being female magicians or illusionists. Magic hobbyists know about Charlotte Pendragon, Adrian Black. Jade, Princess Tenko, Joanie Spina and others: http://www.all-about-magicians.com/femalemagicians.html Why there aren’t more women magicians is an intriguing question, especially in an age when women are more likely to participate in comedy, acting, sports and music. What is it about magic that discourages women from an active role and sees them primarily as magicians’ assistants? http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture-society/why-have-women-magicians-vanished-8369/
I will look at the article: Perhaps by looking at this unusual hobby and form of entertainment, we can better understand how gender is performed and how differences continue throughout today’s society. What does magic tell us about the persistence of gender roles in our supposedly more egalitarian era?Instead of speculating, consider the explanations from magicians themselves. Responding to a survey posted on various magic Web sites and boards (and thus not meant to generalize all magicians), 220 male and seven female amateur and professional magicians answered the question: Why aren’t there more women magicians?
These are the answers provided by the seven female magicians:
Males seem to better identify with famous magicians, most of who are male, and therefore are more apt to develop an interest in magic. Because magic at its heart is about power. Men in general have an internal desire to move into chaotic situations with power to bring about order. Is that not in essence what magicians do? Now, I know sometimes the magician causes the chaos in the first place — cutting the rope, tearing the paper, sawing the lady — but the magician always makes things turn out right. Women, by contrast, usually desire to build strong, intimate relationships with others, and this doesn’t always translate well to magic. Part of the great challenge in being a female magician is not simply to amaze people – which is crazy easy — but to put a deeper meaning into the things we do in order to build that relationship to a level where meaningful ideas can be exchanged. Because women have not seen themselves as magicians they have not been encouraged. Women have to invent for themselves ways to do things that men do not.
Most magic instruction is designed for men with jackets. Women’s clothes don’t have pockets and women can’t reach into their breast pockets. Magic books and magazines gear more for men in their advertising and descriptions of magic. It’s hard for women to find role models that they identify with. Also, women are under intense pressure to stay thin to perform, they are criticized more, where men often do not have the same pressures when performing. Like most performing arts, there weren’t many women as a lead performer. It wasn’t socially acceptable for women to be in a “lead” role since they were housewives and mothers of children. To break that mold took a lot of courage. Women were known as the assistants to create a beauty and distraction for the stage magician. So the lesser role was really played by the woman, yet the one with the most responsibility is the woman. It is the assistant who is the real magician.
Just recently women are starting to appear in more science- and math-related jobs, and the same goes for magic. Men never take women seriously, and it is harder for some women to find mentors. Also women see a magician do a stage act with skinny models dancing around and have a hard time visualizing the woman doing magic with men dancing around her. Large men can’t be box jumpers, so [they] can’t have a male assistant in the box all the time, which adds to the difficulty of a woman performing.
To summarizing the key explanations, the actual words of the magicians are presented: (for more details on these see the on-line article)
Gadget/Technical
It’s rare to see women become interested in technology and gadgets to the same extent as men. It interests guys more in general to know how stuff works. PowerMagic suggests power, or a show or display of power. Magic attracts men for the most part because of this power, which is oft associated with men in patriarchal societies. Men feel more social pressure to be in control. It stems from the initial power trip most young men are on when they first begin the pursuit of magic (“I know something you don’t know”).
Competitive, Confrontational and Commanding
The initial steps in magic tend to be attempts to prove “I know something you do not.” This is a very confrontational relationship that is more typical of men than women. The “boldness” required to present yourself is, historically, a masculine trait. Women present magic more as an art form.
Hobby for Geeks
It’s the boys-and-their-toys syndrome. Magic is often considered a childish phase and fixation, which is more acceptable for men to have than it is for women.
Traditional Gender Roles
It’s about stereotyping and social acceptability. Parents give magic sets to little boys and dolls to little girls. The classic image of a magician is male, so more males are drawn to it as an acceptable hobby, and the next generation sees mostly male magicians and thinks it a pursuit for males, so the pattern perpetuates itself. Also, differences in social acceptance of keeping secrets may be a factor for magic. Men tend not to believe they have deceived a friend by keeping a secret (not restricted to magic) while females relate it to trust. Males accept keeping secrets such as customer base, market information, etc., as just another day at the office. Women “share” and aren’t generally the best at keeping secrets.
The Nature of Magic
Historically, women have been persecuted for participating in magic and women who practiced magic were historically identified with witchcraft. Perhaps people expect males to be wizards/magicians and women to be witches. Because women are smaller, they are better suited as the subjects for levitations and other illusions where close confinement is required. A woman’s hands are usually smaller than a man’s and therefore less suited for concealing cards and other large objects. It also seems to be more difficult to adapt women’s clothing with pockets for concealment of birds and other objects used in magic.
Biology
Brains are wired differently for men and women. Most of contemporary magic is presented as an analytical challenge/puzzle. This is analogue to the left part of the brain, which is the “male” part. Women are more right brain oriented and respond better to the emotional, lyrical and mythical. There are different interests between women and men, mainly due to a difference in their brains. This does not mean that women are inferior to men, just that they are different. Although there are many young female magicians entering the field, and despite less overt discrimination in magic clubs and performance venues, the continued male-dominance of magic highlights the entrenched values and social roles in our society today. Looking at the increased number of women in other traditionally all-male occupations, such as medicine or law, obscures how many still view gender differences in areas characterized by issues of power and control.
Perhaps only when magic’s gender imbalance changes can we declare that discrimination based on sex has truly vanished. I would encourage you to read the entire article. The answers given were by seven female magicians. As the father of two daughters, it seems to me that the ancient Roman Myth of Dido-Elissa, is still deeply embedded in Western thought!
Dennis Phillips
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