2008-06 Ring Report

Ring Report Ring #170
The Bev Bergeron Ring

The tourist season is approaching in Orlando and that means that many of our professionals in the ring are working but we still had a very good attendance at the May Ring meeting with 34 enthusiasts in the seats.

Randy Smith joined us from the Melbourne area and was surprised that a few of our older members recalled “The Eclipse” illusion from a few decades ago. It is an intriguing effect where a solid metal disk invisibly moves from one side of the stage to the other and passes by a lighted cloth frame in the center of the stage. The audience can see the shadow moving by the lighted frame. Ken Morrow was also a guest.

George Glasscoff is a local talented woodworker and great guy. He had a display at the ring meeting offering his hand crafted wands and tables. He used a Charlie Pfrogner idea to create what best can be described as a “Light and Heavy Wand”. By cleverly weighting a wand it can appear “light as a feather” or very heavy. George uses “green” wood. Years ago the term “green” had a different meaning; it meant wood that had not been dried in a kiln. What George means is that he uses recycled wood so that new trees do not have to be destroyed to make his creations.

Phil Schwartz was back with his priceless monthly “Magic Moment” on a unique aspect of magic history. This month he explained the unusual item he bought from John Daniel. With the help of Chuck Jones, Phil discovered the effect he had bought was called, “Humboldt and the Globe” named after the famous German explorer, Alexander von Humboldt. The original effect had a bust of Humboldt and a small globe on a pedestal. When covered by two tubes they mysteriously changed places. Phil revised the effect to make a dragon sculpture change places with the globe. Phil gave all the background on how this late 19th century illusion developed. In addition, he also showed an antique Thayer tea-chest and a fake trick that had the Thayer name stamped on it. Phil also presented an informative explanation on the ways that magic experts date equipment using periodicals, catalogs and books.

Following Phil, it was time for the monthly show and “KP”, Kerry Pierce, was the Master of Ceremonies.

First up was Charlie Pfrogner, our new Lifetime Member Honoree. Charlie gave a brief explanation of his “light and heavy wand”. He then had an audience assistant put stickers on the back of a four alphabet cards that spelled “aces”. The cards were put in a wallet and magically changed into four cards that spelled “gone”. The cards did return for Charlie. James Songster did an unusual and entertaining version of the classic “Pea can”… With the help of an assistant, small shredded bits of tin foil transformed into a Hershey’s Chocolate Kiss.

Bev Bergeron presented his version of Billy McComb’s Half-Dyed hank. Bev provided a pseudo explanation on how a white hank can be dyed to red inside his fist. Bev had all the little comedic moves to really gets a crowd going and then he shows that the handkerchief is actually dyed half red and half white. The late McComb would be proud of Bev’s presentation.

Finally, Emcee Kerry Pierce did a unique and very entertaining version of David Hoy’s “Tossed Out deck”. Kerry invited up 5 male volunteers and outfitted them with “Village People” head gear. For those of you that don’t remember the Disco Era, I am sure you remember one of their hit songs, “YMCA”. The deck is bound with a rubber band and each volunteer is asked to peak at just one card. After a bit of by-play and a fun dance to the boom-box playing “YMCA”, Kerry called out five cards and all the volunteers recognized that he had called out their card! They tossed their hats into his bag and he bowed off to a great hand.

Another great ring meeting came to an end. Please plan to be with us when you visit Orlando. Good things are always happening in Ring 170.

Dennis Phillips