2012-06 Famulus Newsletter

Newsletter of IBM Ring #170
The Bev Bergeron Ring

Next general meeting Wednesday, 6/21/2012 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
*************************************************************
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 - Bev@bevbergeron.com zimsalabim@aol.com
Mark Fitzgerald- Director at Large - markaf1949@hotmail.com
Dan Knapp- Sgt at Arms - danknapp@centurylink.net
Stefan Bartelski – Editor of “Famulus”- Famulus@illusioneer.com 
*************************************************************

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 Famulus@illusioneer.com e-mail address, your messages are in danger of getting lost if you do not do so.

2012-06 From the Editor

This month's edition was compiled for you from across the pond. Your editor is on a family visit to the UK and the netherlands for the occasion of the wedding of his edldest daughter. Unfortunately, while I do pass through London, I as there for too short a time to visit any of the many magical places, e.g. Magic Circle, magic shops or Harry Potter studio tour.

Thanks to Dennis and Sheldon for their contributions, yet again, I am still waiting for items from other members. Of course, Craig's reminder of the Jack Kodel memorial is included, which I am sorry to be misssng as I will be somewhere over the Atlantic as it takes place.

Your editor

2012-06 Jack Kodell Memorial

"Jack Kodell”

"A Celebration of Life"

Please join us as we remember the life of our dear Jack Kodell, a true original.

Sunday, June 17th at 11:00 a.m.

Family Funeral Care
13001 S. John Young Pkwy.
(407) 812-4200

John Ekin and Terry Ward will perform a special Broken Wand ceremony.  

Mary requested, "No flowers, please". 

Craig Fennessy

2012-06 Ring Report

President Craig Fennessey opened the meeting and introduced the officers to the membership and guests in attendance. Gerard Jendrzejak, a guest, told of his interest in magic and a desire to join up with our Ring. Craig pointed out that June would be a busy month in our area with appearances Raphael Benatar, Kreskin and the Tampa Magic Fest all scheduled.  We have Dan Garrett scheduled for a lecture in September and the Genii International Bash scheduled here in October. Next month the IBM National Convention will be held in Washington. 

Our Ring will be holding a raffle over the next 5 months to award a framed Houdini poster generously donated by Richard Hewitt. 

Mark Fitzgerald attended the Fechter Conference and is back performing at the Portofino Hotel as well as The Hard Rock Cafe.  Craig Fennessey and Wallace Murphy continue their table hopping gigs at Gator's Dockside and Wallace and Mark are performing at the opening of a Goodwill facility in Kissimmee.  Dan Stapleton is booked to do a big show at the Maitland Jewish Community Center on June 21. 

Bev Bergeron came on with a well received impromptu trick of making sugar (or salt) from a small packet disappear into a napkin held by a spectator. 

Phil Schwartz presented his fortieth Magic History Moment, something he does at each meeting.  This month he spoke about book collecting and reading -- in particular: Scott's Discoverie of Witchcraft and Hoffman's Modern Magic.  He described how these books contributed to the record of magic history and recommended that members read Modern Magic and the Hoffman books that followed it.  Phil showed examples of several rare volumes and talked about Raymond Toole Stott's reference numbers.   

Following a brief intermission 8 members signed up to perform:  Mark Fitzgerald hosted and started it all by bringing up a spectator and having the spectator do the effect  with Mark's directions. Bob Swadling did a quickie Steel Ring passing through a rope; clean as a whistle.  J. C. Hiatt was up next and demonstrated his complete mastery of the "Ring and a Rope Routine".  Sammy, "The Magician" followed with a mentalism  routine utilizing a chalkboard and three volunteers from the audience.  Charlie Pfrogner performed with a salt and cup effect and Dan Stapleton did another of his magical predictions,  setting aside the dominoes and working with ESP chips made for a very clean and entertaining performance.  Chuck Smith, not to be outdone by our evening's mentalists, predicted the serial number on a one dollar bill, randomly, selected from numerous bills.  We will all look forward to our next meeting in July.

2012-06 Dennis' Deliberations

The Descent of Magic 

By Larry Thornton and Dennis Phillips 

            It seems that rapidly changing times have now caused magic and its relatively insular world to wind down. Its yearly conventions, after many decades of stability and success, are now struggling to survive. One long-time annual conference, a virtual institution among the magicians in its area, has recently had to call it a day.  Young blood is no longer infusing the magic community at a rate that is able to "stabilize" its population, let alone keep it expanding, as older magicians and magic enthusiasts retire from the scene. Are there other reasons for magic's malaise? An attempt to answer this question leads us to some disturbing conclusions. 

Revolutionary advances in science and technology, especially during the last dozen or so years, has been instrumental in altering the cultural landscape and attracting the rapt attention of the masses.  Computers, video gaming, and mobile communications devices are now ubiquitous, and as a consequence, magic as we know and love it has been shunted off to the side, and so very far away from public awareness that for all intents and purposes it has become pretty-much invisible to the world.  Today, millions of people are immersed in video games, texting, and online socializing through Twitter and Facebook. The video game industry alone has blossomed into a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, exceeding the combined revenues of the entire movie industry. And this is all in addition to the traditional offline activities that flourished well before the Internet and dozens of electronic distractions burst on the scene: sports, rock music, television, and movies exploding on the silver screen with ever-escalating special effects and in glorious 3D.    Magicians everywhere are sinking into a mental funk with the realization that their talents are no longer at the forefront of the public's consciousness -- if indeed, they ever were.  

            But many magicians beg to differ.  Some of the elder stalwarts of magic like to tell us magic has always been cyclical. That is to say, the art of magic always keeps renewing itself every twenty, thirty, or even fifty years. To back-up such assertions, they cite the big touring shows of the first half of the 20th century by the likes of Blackstone, Thurston, and Dante; and the rise of television magic stars Doug Henning and David Copperfield in a post-hippy era; and the decades-long popularity of eclectic magic shows in Las Vegas. Even the ragamuffin 'bastard child' called Street Magic is cited as still another "wonderful" indication that magic is constantly re-inventing itself anew.  ... So what's the worry?  We're only in a temporary down cycle right now! 

            But dare we ask: Will we ever see discussions of this situation in magic's club journals, or in it's major magazines?   It is doubtful.   When a particular kind of entertainment begins to falter, whether by imploding from within or simply dwindling away for lack of adequate public support, it rarely becomes a serious topic of internal dialogue among its practitioners. Magic today, as exemplified by its monthly magazines and its organization's journals, seem to be blissfully living in a fuzzy-warm state of perpetual denial. 

            Perhaps we could suggest that one arguable reason for the alleged "silence" on this matter, stems from the very nature of the magic journals themselves: funding comes from dealer advertisements aimed at selling magic apparatus, books, and DVDs.  What magic publications need, are a few more voices of positive self-criticism and balance.  One thoughtful voice from the past was “Senator” Clarke Crandall (1906-1975).  Crandall was an Abbotts’ and Magic Castle legend with his long curled moustache and cowboy hat and boots. He had a way of cutting to the chase in his observations of magic and magicians.  It was best not to abuse the art of magic, because he was open with his rebukes.  (Often Mark Kornhauser’s column in Magic Magazine is reflectively "Crandall-like" in its honesty. But he is among a minority these days.)  Many young magicians used to think that the curmudgeonly "Senator" was just an angry old man, but as those same magicians grew older and wiser themselves, they realized it was honesty shaped by experiential insight and wisdom. Crandall risked offending some for the sake of truth and in support of the magical art in general. 

            Much of the credit for the revival of magic, which was on life-support in the early 60s, was The Magic Castle. (Mark Wilson and Bev’s weekly Network TV show also helped bring in young blood)  The Castle was a venue that was far more than a private night club. It became the focal point for magic celebrities and the best of the art.  If the Castle's concept could extend to other major cities, it could keep the art alive.  We recall the Comedy Clubs that formed to keep the art of comedy alive and they were successful.   Magic certainly isn't likely to die completely, but it can and should remain a vital and continuing niche in the performing arts. 

            There is also one other controversial monkey wrench in the gears that we consider axiomatic, and you've heard it before: Magic dealers on the Internet. An explosion of online commerce by virtually every business on the planet has resulted in this formerly "niche" business jumping online as well. Magic is a great performing art, but the business of selling its props is a peculiar one. The typical magic shop used to exist (and "exist" is the proper term) almost exclusively as a low-profile business not given to advertising to the general public. In an effort to make our point, just try to imagine the following bizarre scenario: A citizen opens up his morning newspaper and sees the following advertisement: "SLICKO'S TRICK-AND-JOKE SHOP is having the SALE OF THE CENTURY! Come on down today! Slicko's is featuring ZIG ZAGS, SUB TRUNKS and LEVITATIONS at ROCK BOTTOM PRICES! ”The traditional paradigm of the commercial magic dealer, once relegated to quaint little street magic shops and discrete "backroom" emporiums that only the serious magic aficionado was aware of -- is now dead. Sure, many dealers eventually developed a thriving business through mail-order too, but that was still well under the radar compared to the gigantic visibility potential of the World Wide Web.  When the dealers took the economic 'high road' online, they inadvertently threw the ethical 'low road' to the wolves when they started advertising magic's wares indiscriminately to all the world.  It represented nothing less than that newspaper metaphor, writ large.  The result is that in going online, the magic shops underwent an almost Frankensteinian transformation as they exploded into the public's consciousness. Irrespective of the fact it may have been good for the economic health of many of the magic companies, was this, in the long run, really good for magic? 

Before the personal computer and the worldwide web became ubiquitous, there were people who would be so amazed by a magic effect that some of them would feel compelled to ask in astonishment, "Where did you ever learn to do that?" Such an odd question may seem naive, but it told the tale: that people half-believed (or wanted to believe) that magicians were "privy to an exclusive art", and that such an art seemed all the more exotic and mysterious for its apparent lack of origins.  What the viewer didn't know, he didn't need to know: that magic books are available in every public library; that there are monthly magic clubs for amateur magicians who talk shop and perform for each other; and that there are a some exclusive magic fraternities (like London's Magic Circle) that are almost pathologically secretive, while other, much larger international magic organizations are so "open" that they will seemingly admit just about anyone with the mildest interest in magic. As an existential matter, almost all magic secrets can be found on You Tube and discussion boards.  

            In spite of the many symptoms that we've outlined here that suggests magic may be on the ropes for good, our diagnosis may not be all that convincing. Perhaps the old guard are right after all: that magic will still recycle itself once again. Through the creative efforts of progressive thinkers like Marco Tempest, we might see a "new renaissance" in magic that could conceivably blow-off the barnacles of a bygone era and steer a refurbished conjuring "ship" majestically into a world of ever-advancing technological wonders.  In his day, the great 19th century French conjuror Robert Houdin did much the same thing by updating his attire and streamlining his tables and props. He employed clockwork automation in his performances, and disguised the then-novel discoveries of electromagnetism, anesthetics, and chemistry to look like pure magic. And a century or so later, a progressive David Copperfield revitalized magic in the latter half of the 20th century by jettisoning the arcane boxes and outdated theatrics and costuming, and in so doing, totally retrofitted the art of magic for modern times. The pre-internet times, that is.  

But now, after some 20 to 30 years of creative paralysis, we find ourselves immersed in a hyper-technological new century, and so we see the need for a major magic transformation once again. The world is changing at a seemingly breakneck pace, and along with it, the ways and means with which we entertain ourselves. 

        If the first part of this essay seems overly pessimistic, it was not meant to be anything other than constructive.  We all know that "something" is seriously amiss in the world of magic, but rather than fall into a state of denial, we felt it would be more productive to look the patient squarely in the eye and try to determine some of the principle causes for magic's "cyclic malaise". It is only then that we all will be able to examine the possible future directions magic should take in order to keep it not only alive, but vibrantly healthy.  The magic world sorely needs more forward-thinking geniuses the likes which we mentioned above. We need the creative dreamers who will stay ahead of the curve by exercising the foresight and courage to redefine one of the greatest of the performing arts.  It will be through their efforts, and your efforts, that magic will again be able to dazzle the world, and thereby propel it deeply into the 21st century -- and beyond. 

        Larry Thornton is a long-time family magician in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

        Dennis Phillips, who performed and built magic for many years and lived in Orlando, Florida, is now based in Virginia. 

2012-05 Famulus Newsletter

Newsletter of IBM Ring #170


The Bev Bergeron Ring

Next general meeting Wednesday, 5/16/2012 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
*************************************************************
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
*************************************************************

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.

2012-05 From the Editor

Many, many apologies to the members for the tardiness of this month's newsletter. However, it has enabled me to include a short tribute to that great magician, Jack Kodell, who left us earlier this week. I was very proud to have known him and remember seeing his friendly face at many Wizardz shows. He will be missed and our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Mary.

2012-05 Broken Wand - Jack Kodell

It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Jack Kodell, one of magic's great pioneers on the 17th of this month. Out thoughts and prayers are with his wife Mary and othe family members. Craig will be notifying the membership about funeral arrangements.

A reminder of his signature act:
http://youtu.be/IwDVwUwMk2I

2012-05 Ring Report

President Craig Fennessey opened the meeting with 21 members present and  proceeded to introduce the Ring's officers.  He further announced the appearances of magic entertainers that would be appearing in the Orlando area within the next few weeks and before these minutes are to be published.  Dan Garrett will be doing a lecture for our Ring on September 5th.

Phil Schwartz will be attending The Magic Collectors Association meeting in Chicago on May 11 thru 12..  The Potter and Potter On-Line Auction Event will follow on May 13th.  Bev Bergeron is off to participate at a Circus Convention in Tampa and Mark Fitzgerald will travel to the Fechter's Meeting in Batavia , NY but is still performing at the Hard Rock Cafe and at the Portafino Hotel at Universal Studios.  Craig Fennessey and Wallace Murphy are doing walk around at Gator's Dockside in Ocoee.  Ravelli is entertaining at several venues in the area; at the Marriott Courtyard, the Royal Plaza Hotel and at the Kissimmee YMCA.

Jacki Manna has been asked to perform at the  July Ventriloquists' Convention in Covington , Kentucky and is presently doing her Library Show "Dare to Dream" and is also looking forward to her Summer booking schedule. 

Bev Bergeron, assisted by Joe Cappucino, came forward with another impromptu teach-in on the "torn and restored napkin".  Phil Schwartz next presented Magic History Moment #39.  The topic this month was the proliferation of Magic Catalogs that came into prominence as we entered the 20th Century.  His interesting lecture was accompanied with many examples of catalogs from that era and included several from his Thayer Magic Collection.

Following a brief intermission, four Ring members volunteered to perform.  Ed McGowan did a card prediction from an audience participant's randomly selected number.  William and Brandon Zaballeros did individual Card and Coin handling routines that added to the enjoyment of the program.  J.C. Hiatt performed his sponge Buck and Doe comedy routine to the audience's delight.  Ravelli closed the meeting by sharing with the membership a matching card routine and a "yarn thru the arm" illusion which was the hit of the evening.

2012-05 Dennis' Deliberations

"Don't pay too much attention to the advice of others -- you might end up like them." -- Magician David Stone. 

Linking Ring magazine, Vol. 92, Number 4, April 2012

I used to think that Senator Clarke Crandall  (1906-1975) was an old angry old guy. Now that I am old, I realize that it was just his wisdom and honesty. He did not mind offending anyone for the sake of the truth.

Crandall was an Abbotts and Magic Castle legend with his long curled moustache and cowboy hat and boots. He was a very funny comedy magician with a great Card Duck and Cups and Balls Routine. Abbotts still has an award in his name at the annual Get Together given to the best comedy act.Crandall had a way of cutting to the chase in his observations of magic and magicians.  It was best not to get on his wrong side and if you did, he was open with his rebukes.

He was a host at the Magic Castle, introducing the acts and fended off people who were improperly attired (there is a strict dress code). “What are you too cheap to buy a decent suit? You have to wear Buick seat covers?”. “Who did you chase down to steal that shirt?”  He was the original grumpy old man and his wit and sarcasm were accepted and expected by all. He would do a weekly X-rated show on Saturday nights at midnight. He had a column in The New Tops magazine, from Abbotts, called "It's A Mystery To Me."  Usually in it he was befuddled by how someone could come up with such awful magic.

Here is my offering, with the help of Canadian magician, Larry Thornton, created in the spirit of Senator Clarke Crandall. This is not an attempt to put down magicians or magic clubs but to appeal to honesty and transforming magic clubs into places where you can get valuable guidance and advice on improving the difficult art of entertaining with magic. It is what Crandall would do today, if he were alive:    
1.  If you have a lot of tension and you get a headache, do what it says on the aspirin bottle: "Take two aspirin," and "Keep away from magic clubs." 
2. A word to the wise isn't necessary. It's the stupid magicians who need the advice.  
3. Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't: Keep magic as a hobby for annoying strangers on the street, your cerebrally-challenged relatives, semi-comatose friends and acquaintances, and other such long-suffering magic watchers. 
4. If I were asked to give magicians what I consider the single most useful bit of advice ("Not a lot!" - Paul Daniels), it would be this: No one of sane mind and countenance ever wakes up in the morning and suddenly thinks to himself, "Gee, I have this sudden craving to see some magic!"
5. Go ahead and be whacky. Get into a looney frame of mind that encourages you for the first time in your life to ask yourself, "What's so weird about magicians that causes so many people to turn their backs, cross their eyes, and stick a finger in their mouths in mock gag?" 
6. When a magic fanatic doesn't listen to his conscience, it's usually because he doesn't want advice from a total stranger.
7. A typical magic club member owes his failure to having listened to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite. 
8. Advice after a mediocre magic performance is like medicine after death. 
9. Dying is a dull, dreary affair. And so my advice is to give up the dream of being a magic superstar, and thereby die only once.
10. It takes nearly as much ability to know how to profit from good advice as it does to roll a rabbit across your knuckles for lack of a few coins.
11. When a young magician asks you for advice be leery - what he is actually asking for is your praise.
12. My advice when all is said is to perform magic: If you find success, you'll be happy; and if not, you can always become a magic dealer or go on the lecture circuit.
13. Magic is the only hobby where people ride to a club in a car, to get advice from those who took the bus.
14. The people sensible enough to give aspiring magicians advice are usually sensible enough to give none.
15. We hate to see some magicians give others advice when we know how badly they need it themselves.
16. Old magicians love to give young magicians advice; it compensates them for their inability to set a bad example.
17. The advice of ancient magicians to their younger cohorts is very apt to be as unreal as a collection of the hundred best magic books that are never opened.
18. If you don't know what magic road to go down in order to avoid failure -- any road will get you there.
19. There are always three magic performances for the one you actually gave: The one you rehearsed, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.
20. According to most magicians, their number one fear is failing to fool an audience. Number two then, must be death. Does that sound right? If it does, then this must mean that if you go to a magician's funeral, you're better off in the casket than showing people in the back row your favorite card tricks. 

And finally:  Too many magicians overvalue what they do in their marketing, while those who see them work undervalue who they are. 

Dennis Phillips

2012-04 Ring 170 Newsletter

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
*************************************************************
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
*************************************************************

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.

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.

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

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   

2012-03 Famulus newsletter

Newsletter of IBM Ring #170


The Bev Bergeron Ring

Next general meeting Wednesday, 3/21/2012 at 7:30 PM SHARP


I-HOP Kirkman Road
5203 Kirkman Road, Orlando, Florida 32819
Meeting Theme: Easter Magic

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
*************************************************************
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
*************************************************************

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.

2012-03 From the Editor

Spring is sprung and we have moved to Daylight Savings Time, so summer is on its way. In this newsletter you will see a short review and some pictures of another excellent Flea Market/Auction. Congratulations to everyone involved, especially our president as driving force behind this event.

2012-03 Ring Report

President Craig Fennessey called the meeting to order with 28 members and several guests, Clem Kinnicutt and "Sammy, The Magician": both were accompanied by their wives.  Craig went on to report that Jack Kodell was recuperating from a recent health setback at a local rehab facility.  The plans for our annual Flea Market and Auction on March 10th were going well with the 30 available  tables going fast. Bob Swadling and Bob Moreland were scheduled to do lectures and the former will also do a Workshop.

Dan Stapleton did a brief book review of  The Life and Times of Augustus Rapp and So You Want To Be An Illusionist by David Seebach.  He endorsed them both.

 

Orlando SAM Chapter President, Craig Schwarz, presented Charlie Pfrogner with a fifty (50) year membership pin commemorating is service with them.  Charlie is also very active in IBM 170.  A brief film, from the 70's, was shown of  member Valerie Swadling performing her FISM award winning magic act.  Bev Bergeron came on to demonstrate and teach Bob Hummer's  Three (3) Item Prediction.

 

Phil Schwartz presented Magic History Moment No. 37.  His subject this month was Frederick Eugene Powell, a master magician who entered our world in 1856 and performed throughout his long life into the 30's.  Educated at Pennsylvania Military College in Engineering he gave up a teaching career to pursue Magic.  He teamed with several of the top magicians of the day to perform on stage some very unforgettable illusions. He was a contemporary and friend to Houdini.  Powell's most noteworthy illusions included 'Noah's Ark' and 'Cremation': his tricks included the burned and restored rope and coin ladder.  Powell died at the age of 82 in 1938.

 

This month we had 11 performers demonstrating their art to an appreciative audience.  Chuck Smith did a Keno Prediction effect followed by George Bernard showing a Chain Penetrating Spike.  Charlie Pfrogner was back, after an illness, performing a Card Transpo that was very entertaining.  Dan Stapleton performed Psycho-Psycometry with Valentines Day cards that were sent to him from audience participants.  Newcomer, Sammy, The Magician, entertained with Shots in the Deck, a novel playing card illusion.  Bob Swadling took the stage next and demonstrated his card handling techniques.  Craig Fennessey did a Cut, Mixed, and Matched Jumbo Card Routine.  J. C. Hiatt followed with a perplexing selected card routine.  Next,  Ed McGowan brought out his Cups and Balls and expertly performed the Vernon Routine to the delight of the membership.  Ravelli closed the evening performances with a shredded paper routine to restored paper and ended with the oral consumption of razor blades and then producing them, from his mouth, on a thread, as the curtain went down.

2012-03 Annual Flea Market/Auction

To judge by the attendance, this year's Flea Market and Auction was again a huge success, thanks to the excellent organization by President Craig Fennessey and a horde of volunteers. As usual, the visitors were treated to two free lectures, by the inimitable Bob Swadling (with a lot of help from Val) and Robert Moreland. In addition, Bob Swadling gave an over-subscribed workshop to 15 lucky participants.

Pictures below

2012-03 Dennis' Deliberations

I still get upset over magic on TV boasting that there is “no trick photography and it is just as you would see it if you were here!”  That statement is only true if you stood in one exact spot, with blinders on each side of your eyes!  That is not a practical or realistic or truthful claim.

I think, in some videos, the cameras (angles) are as important as the illusion. And it could be, that some viewer could be placed at a spot that would reveal something, but they are hired to still look dumbfounded. It is all designed to throw us off completely. One magician wrote me back once in one of my previous tirades to say, ” Yes, his trick was Interesting. But not practical.”

The beginning of this kind of “magic” was:

1) Copperfield with his stooges on the Lear Jet and Statue of Liberty Vanish as well as his fake dummy being hung from a chopper on the Grand Canyon levitation.

2) David Blaine, in his first special, when he edited in a few shots of his feet while he was doing “chin-ups” during the Balducci heel-rise sketch.

After that it was pretty much over for any creditability for TV “Magic”. The Golden Rule of Milbourne Christopher, Mark Wilson and Doug Henning had been trashed: Never use the camera in any way that would violate what an audience would see if they were there in person.  

Even Jim Steinmeyer stooped to use a “position vital” method on Lance Burton’s Elephant Vanish. Anyone there would have seen the mirror method unless they were positioned with blinders on and looking only where the camera was aimed.

I am not sure that “practical” has anything to do with TV fakery.  Whatever looks like a miracle on TV, regardless of how it is done, has accomplished its purpose. TV itself is a trick, an illusion. It is just a flat screen with moving pictures.  Copperfield was able to adapt total TV trickery to an entertaining sketch on live stage with the “Escape from Alcatraz”. Of course the fake shots of him flying a helicopter and vanishing things by dropping them out of frame were not used in his stage version. His actual vanish from the cardboard box on the table was done differently for TV.

I have never actually performed John Cornelius’ “Fickle Nickel” but Henning opened one of his specials with it.   I guess it could work in some situations as a live performance piece but, for me, I consider it impractical due to the complexity of the thread and getting into and out of it. It is great for TV. Can I forgive Henning for breaking his own rule? Probably.  

About the same time, on Copperfield’s #3 special, David was doing a miracle in his opening by making a medallion appear in his bare hands.  The methodology was similar to Fickle Nickel but apparently Copperfield had someone sitting below him manipulating the medallion on a magnetic stick and keeping it constantly behind his hands, so as not to be seen.  Is that magic?  It is TV magic using the characteristics of the camera and, as such, it is camera trickery.     When you drop a coin out of frame, it is the TV equal to “lapping” or sleeving but if you were there you would see it.  That is TV trickery.

I am not trying to be a purist. I am trying to arrive at some ethical definitions.  I get people who come up to me and ask, “Is that Criss Angel guy for real?  I saw him float a woman on the sidewalk in the middle of the town with people all around him. That must be real!”   I almost always say, “Yep he is real alright!” Often it is followed by them saying, “Do it!  Float me right here!” I respond, “Just like Criss Angel, I would need 50 grand worth of video gear, an editing suite, 12 assistants and all the special gimmicks.”   I wink…  They then get the idea; not the method or secret but the idea that TV magic is a bit different than live magic.

************

Career management and timing are so important to anyone wanting to work in show business. You can have all the talent in the world but if it is not managed and brought to bear at the right time and places, you will get nowhere.  It is so easy to get side-tracked and lost in the boiling cauldron of show business.  The opportunity to stay in the top tier and in the public’s eye and making money is very limited and tenuous.   You can rattle off the names: Brett Daniels, Rick Thomas et.al. All who have decent acts and should find it easy to stay busy. I am not sure that they do.

There was a window from 1975 until 2000, that we now call, “The Second Golden Age of Magic” where a competent stage act (willing to travel and put up with a little hardship) could stay fairly busy.  Just like the First Golden Age was ended by talking pictures and the Great Depression, the second was crushed by the Internet and the Great Recession. The Great Recession began in 2000 with the Dot Com bubble burst and was deepened in 2001 with 9-11 and then smothered over by Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve with massive injections of paper money which led to the Real Estate Bubble and financial shenanigans and the Global 2008 free-fall. 

In many ways, this epoch in magic is worse than the 1930s Depression for variety arts. America is no longer rural with a large market of “tall grass” venues.  Mac Birch and later Lee Grabel and Ken Griffin and many others just went into the remote countryside where  the population only had radio and they booked “first money” gigs for community organizations such as The Lions, Rotary Optimists and even school fund-raising.

Such a market no longer exists and is only viable in some parts of Canada, Australia and New Zealand... John Kaplan still does it in Canada and sells his method but I do not think that it works well in many places here in the lower 48 other than in the minds of those deluded by visions of grandeur. What cracks me up is that there are many magicians who have failed at taking out a successful touring show but they will sell you the secret to doing it for a few hundred dollars.

As the rural areas got strung with phone wires, the late 40s to mid 80s saw the heyday of the “phone promotion”.  This was the main source of activity for my illusion show.  A rural club or charity was booked and a crew of phone callers moved into town for a month and sold tickets through phone calls in a “day room” to local businesses and its “night room” to homes and local families.  The last gasp of dying breath on this was in the late 80s.  My long time agents, John Bevis and Ken Parker all faced the truth: Wal-Mart killed small town businesses and phone answering machines, cell phones and legal restrictions killed cold-calls to homes.  I recall in the pre-internet age (1989)when Ken showed me his note-card file with calling records of a town ( called a “tap file” in phone room lingo) and only one third of some small town businesses were left after the rise of the big boxes such as Wal-Mart.  Compounding this was the collapse of most Fraternal Organizations. Today you can look at the declining memberships of the Elks, Moose, Masons, Boy Scouts and see how our ideas of “community” have shifted from face-to-face interaction to social media!

My point is that these venues and performing opportunities for a lightly capitalized illusion, self-promoted and independent touring show no longer exist.  

I have heard that the big money shows such as Ringling now use E-mail lists and their name-recognition along with splashy video clips in their E-Mail to sell tickets on-line to their smaller tier of traveling attractions (Mickey’s Magic Show etc).  Whereas, radio, TV, newspapers and print media posters were the primary and expensive and inefficient method of advertising, now E-mail is free. But you have to have the list and the name recognition and the money.

It is easy to see oneself as a victim and blame others or get into mental depression and self-pity.  The fact is that show business is a very limited business and is often at the mercy of conditions beyond the control of all parties. Will Rock, was a great showman and he tried it for a few years , in the late 30s, with Thurston’s brother’s show and then threw in the towel and spent his remaining years working for a dry-cleaners. Raymond Sugden was said to be a great performer. He signed a 10 year contract with Howard Thurston and performed under the name of Tampa - England's Court Magician. The timing was wrong.  Talkies were in, vaudeville was on the way out, and the Great Depression had arrived.   

The cultural mindset of America has been greatly influenced by the mythological Calvinist-Puritan work ethic: “the cream rises to the top” and “hard work and talent always are rewarded”. This is overlaid with the myth found in the Horatio Alger “Rags to Riches” stories which were so popular in the late 1800s.  “Anyone can get rich, famous and successful is you work hard enough. This is America!”  When both of these myths are severely challenged by existential reality, social rage and anger result along with political unrest. 

Culturally, Americans try to find who publicly denies the holy myths which were supposed to work for them. The search for the “guilty” is both public and noisy.   On one side, a cacophony of screams into the radio microphone: “It’s the illegal immigrants. It’s the unions. It’s all those lazy and stupid people who want something for nothing. It’s…”    Fill in the blanks with racial slurs and what I don’t have to tell you.  On the other side: “It’s the rich. It’s Wall Street. It’s the Far Right. Its the Bankers.  It’s the …”

In a country without a common ethnicity and religion, we are only bound together by economics and an ill defined and individual and flexible idea of liberty and freedom. That is not much to hang unity upon.

In the last few years, I have come to appreciate an old bumper sticker that I saw on an old rusted-out car years ago in Orlando. It said, “Since I gave up hope, I feel so much better!”  

Recently I have beaten my head against the wall until it is bloody and I am just flat tired.  Younger, brighter and fresher minds may find an easier way to make money in magic.  I am old and worn out. I have been selling myself for far too long.  Churchill once defined insanity as “Doing the identical thing over and over again and each time expecting a different result”.   I am at the point where I know that I am not insane and I simply don’t have a clue as to what else to do and I no longer want to do the same thing over and over again.      I will continue to perform and  mentor, write, discuss, create on the cheap, do shows if they drop in my lap, sub-teach and do radio.  It could be worse…

There comes a time to stop believing in myths and face reality. Arthur Miller put these words in the mouth of Charlie as a eulogy for the ill-fated Willy Loman, a man who never could face reality,  in Death of a Salesman    “A salesman is got to dream, boy. He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. . .”    I don’t think that formula works anymore. 

2012-02 Ring newsletter

Newsletter of IBM Ring #170


The Bev Bergeron Ring

Next general meeting Wednesday, 2/15/2012 at 7:30 PM SHARP


I-HOP Kirkman Road
5203 Kirkman Road, Orlando, Florida 32819
Meeting Theme: Fresh Tricks

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
*************************************************************
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
*************************************************************

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.