Posts
Newsletter of IBM Ring #170 The Bev Bergeron Ring
Next general meeting Wednesday, 11/15/2006 at 7:30 PM SHARP
Meeting theme: Christmas Magic
Marks Street Center, 99 Mark Street, downtown Orlando
If you visit with us and do not know the room we meet in , please be aware that some of the people in the office at the Senior Center may not be aware we are meeting there! At the last meeting one visitor asked where the "IBM" was meeting and the management apparently thought they were asking for the International Business Machines group! They said that there was no "IBM" on the schedule. So, if you have never been to our ring meeting , please say "magicians" or "FAME" and if that doesn't get the room location , just walk around looking for us. The Senior Center is a public building.
Lunch meetings every Tuesday at noon at Goodings (next to the food court)
Website: www.ring170.com
F. A. M. E. is the Florida Association of Magical Entertainers
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Directory
Harvey Brownlow, President - harvini@yahoo.com
James Songster, Vice President - JjTjMagic@aol.com
Dennis Phillips, Secretary - Dennis@alliedcostumes.com
Art Thomas, Treasurer- Art.Thomas@disney.com
Charlie Cox, Sgt. At Arms - charles_c2000@yahoo.com
Joe Vecciarelli, Director at Large - talkingmute@tampabay.rr.com
Stefan Bartelski, Editor 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, put Famulus in the subject of the email. Due to the high volumes of spam your messages are in danger of getting lost if you do not do so.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Nov 06 - From the Editor
November is up on us, so hopefully our professional members have their calendars filling up.
I hope that those who were able to visit the Daytona Magic convention last weekend had a good time. Although is would be a little late, if anyone would like to write a review of the proceedings......
As many know my job takes me all over this great country of ours, and my current project has me visiting Denver. I would like to thank the Mile High Magicians for inviting me to their Bizarre Magic evening last month. It was a a thoroughly enjoyable evening with some excellent, but scary, magic.
Regards
Your Editor
I hope that those who were able to visit the Daytona Magic convention last weekend had a good time. Although is would be a little late, if anyone would like to write a review of the proceedings......
As many know my job takes me all over this great country of ours, and my current project has me visiting Denver. I would like to thank the Mile High Magicians for inviting me to their Bizarre Magic evening last month. It was a a thoroughly enjoyable evening with some excellent, but scary, magic.
Regards
Your Editor
Nov 06 - Ring Report
Ring Report Ring #170 The Bev Bergeron Ring
This Halloween season provided a great theme and fun meeting for the ring. Thirty members were present as President Harvey Brownlow brought the meeting to order.
We has two guests, Patrick Oliver and his fiancé, Ashley Fianse. In a generous gesture, Charlie Pfrogner made the announcement that he was donating video tapes of a number of classic magicians. Our Lecture Chairman, the hard working Craig Fennessey, announced a great lecture season is upcoming and he gave us a few names that will be lecturing to us in the future. The business meeting adjourned and Harvey was this month's MC for our ring show.
Ravelli lead off with an old favorite, the Chain Puzzle. Actually it is an old con game from the streets of a big city where a spectator can never guess where to put his finger in the loop of a chain. It is entertaining and a fooler. Charlie Pfrogner managed to create another trick for this month's meeting. We don't know how he does it!
This time he had a wonderful cure-all medicine elixir called "Icmag". It cleaned a table knife, restored hair, and dissolved all health troubles away. The bottle label even changed into "Magic" as it floated out of its box. Charlie enchanted us and left us guessing if medical insurance covered his new product.
Paula Large and Jerry Darkey demonstrated Paula's art skills in a delightful quick sketch routine where she transforms off shapes drawn by a spectator into their cartoon portrait (click here to view the caricatures). Finally she showed a cartoon montage that included a a drawing of everyone present! James and Joe talked about their adventures in Ohio working the renaissance festival and visiting with Ken Klosterman and seeing his magic collection. James showed the latest Tenyo trick where a dollar bill is put into a small origami box and survives. Mark Fitzgerald turned a $1 into a $100 bill and concluded with a nice Linking Ring routine using the magic words, "Hocus Pocus Chicken Bones Choke us!" . Wallace Murphy used a Crystal Silk Cylinder to produce Halloween candy and then did a skilled sleight-of-hand routine with candy pumpkins. They moved from hand to hand and finally all vanished.
Dan Stapleton presented a Halloween "Living and Dead Test" where a dead person's name was selected from a grid chart and when a napkin was touched with a match the dead person's name mysteriously burned into the napkin. Closing out the show was J.C. Hiatt. He had a spectator select a card and it suddenly became the largest card in the deck. He finished with his Spooky Halloween version of the Professor's Nightmare.
Following the show many of us made our way to the local watering hole for more fellowship and others went off to Trick or Treat! Be with us for our regular monthly meeting. Good things are always happening in Ring #170.
Dennis Phillips
This Halloween season provided a great theme and fun meeting for the ring. Thirty members were present as President Harvey Brownlow brought the meeting to order.
We has two guests, Patrick Oliver and his fiancé, Ashley Fianse. In a generous gesture, Charlie Pfrogner made the announcement that he was donating video tapes of a number of classic magicians. Our Lecture Chairman, the hard working Craig Fennessey, announced a great lecture season is upcoming and he gave us a few names that will be lecturing to us in the future. The business meeting adjourned and Harvey was this month's MC for our ring show.
Ravelli lead off with an old favorite, the Chain Puzzle. Actually it is an old con game from the streets of a big city where a spectator can never guess where to put his finger in the loop of a chain. It is entertaining and a fooler. Charlie Pfrogner managed to create another trick for this month's meeting. We don't know how he does it!
This time he had a wonderful cure-all medicine elixir called "Icmag". It cleaned a table knife, restored hair, and dissolved all health troubles away. The bottle label even changed into "Magic" as it floated out of its box. Charlie enchanted us and left us guessing if medical insurance covered his new product.
Paula Large and Jerry Darkey demonstrated Paula's art skills in a delightful quick sketch routine where she transforms off shapes drawn by a spectator into their cartoon portrait (click here to view the caricatures). Finally she showed a cartoon montage that included a a drawing of everyone present! James and Joe talked about their adventures in Ohio working the renaissance festival and visiting with Ken Klosterman and seeing his magic collection. James showed the latest Tenyo trick where a dollar bill is put into a small origami box and survives. Mark Fitzgerald turned a $1 into a $100 bill and concluded with a nice Linking Ring routine using the magic words, "Hocus Pocus Chicken Bones Choke us!" . Wallace Murphy used a Crystal Silk Cylinder to produce Halloween candy and then did a skilled sleight-of-hand routine with candy pumpkins. They moved from hand to hand and finally all vanished.
Dan Stapleton presented a Halloween "Living and Dead Test" where a dead person's name was selected from a grid chart and when a napkin was touched with a match the dead person's name mysteriously burned into the napkin. Closing out the show was J.C. Hiatt. He had a spectator select a card and it suddenly became the largest card in the deck. He finished with his Spooky Halloween version of the Professor's Nightmare.
Following the show many of us made our way to the local watering hole for more fellowship and others went off to Trick or Treat! Be with us for our regular monthly meeting. Good things are always happening in Ring #170.
Dennis Phillips
Nov 06 - Support for a Harry Kellar Museum
I pose this question to you: Would the you and other friends of the magic community
be willing to endorse and support the concept of creating a Harry Kellar
Museum and Magic Hall of Fame in Erie Pennsyslvania,
Harry Kellar's birth place? I am NOT asking for any
financial donations. Just an expressed interest at
seeing this come to pass. If you would endorse this
idea, please email me privately. I am trying to
compile a large list of those in the magic community
that are in favor of this idea. If I can get a large
number of magicians supporting the concept over the
next couple of months, I will take their names to the
project organizer. He will then present it to those
the govenor, county executive and mayor. They will
then know there is a genuine interest in having this come
about. If they know that, then they will begin to
seriously consider giving seed money to make this
project a reality.
If you are in favor of this idea please email me back
so I can add your name to the list of current
supporters.
Thomas McLaren
Capt. Magic Enterprises
Erie, Pennsylavania
be willing to endorse and support the concept of creating a Harry Kellar
Museum and Magic Hall of Fame in Erie Pennsyslvania,
Harry Kellar's birth place? I am NOT asking for any
financial donations. Just an expressed interest at
seeing this come to pass. If you would endorse this
idea, please email me privately. I am trying to
compile a large list of those in the magic community
that are in favor of this idea. If I can get a large
number of magicians supporting the concept over the
next couple of months, I will take their names to the
project organizer. He will then present it to those
the govenor, county executive and mayor. They will
then know there is a genuine interest in having this come
about. If they know that, then they will begin to
seriously consider giving seed money to make this
project a reality.
If you are in favor of this idea please email me back
so I can add your name to the list of current
supporters.
Thomas McLaren
Capt. Magic Enterprises
Erie, Pennsylavania
Nov 06 - Request For Help Finding Roy Houston
I am trying to find our lost friend (Roy Houston).
When we moved from Orange County Calif. to Galveston Texas we lost track of him.
We met Roy at Abbotts Convension. We were assistants with the Ken Griffin Illusion Show. When Ken Griffins show folded we went with Phil Morris Wonderful World of fantasy Illusion Show in Canada. My Wife & I had a Juggling, Unicycle and Eccentric Dancing act. When the tour with Phil Morris ended we went with Roy's show in New England.
When Ken and Roberta Griffin passed away we lost track of everyone in the magic field.
If you know how to contact Roy PLEASE send us his Phone No, Address, Etc.
Contact us at
bdeholt@houston.rr.com
Jack & Betty DeHolt
1711 Ave. M.
Galveston, Texas 77550
Our Phone No. Is 409 763-4525
Sincerely
Jack DeHolt
[Editors note: Please contact Jack directly if you can help him, at the email address above. Sending me any information will only slow things down]
Nov 06 - Ring 175 December to Remember
DECEMBER 10th – Ring 175 HUGE GALA DINNER and MAGIC SHOW
Location: Lion's Eye Institute in Ybor City
1410 North 21st Street, Tampa
Festivities will begin with a Close-Up Magic Show at 5:00PM, followed by a catered dinner buffet from Latam Restaurant. After dinner everyone will be treated to a FANTASTIC Gala Magic Show. There will also be drawings for special prizes and a magic poster exhibit. WOW!
YOU MUST HAVE RESERVATIONS BEFORE THE EVENT TO ATTEND. Seating is LIMITED!
Cost is ONLY $15 per person (What a BARGAIN) and $7.50 for children 6-12.
CONTACT Ken Spanola for Reservations and/or Directions: 813-885-2449
Location: Lion's Eye Institute in Ybor City
1410 North 21st Street, Tampa
Festivities will begin with a Close-Up Magic Show at 5:00PM, followed by a catered dinner buffet from Latam Restaurant. After dinner everyone will be treated to a FANTASTIC Gala Magic Show. There will also be drawings for special prizes and a magic poster exhibit. WOW!
YOU MUST HAVE RESERVATIONS BEFORE THE EVENT TO ATTEND. Seating is LIMITED!
Cost is ONLY $15 per person (What a BARGAIN) and $7.50 for children 6-12.
CONTACT Ken Spanola for Reservations and/or Directions: 813-885-2449
Nov 06 - Book reviews
No Applause, Just Throw Money
In either Genii or Magic Magazine last fall (I can’t remember which), one of the columnists recommended a book on Vaudeville called, “No Applause, Just Throw Money” by Trav S. D. While it is not a book on magic it is a book on the history of show business and it was Vaudeville that gave rise to Houdini. Much of the book is dry but there are some very entertaining sections. From medieval times until the late 1800’s actors and entertainers were looked down on and shunned by respectable people. Shakespeare gives an unflattering image of a traveling entertainer, a mountebank, in “The Comedy of Errors” calling him a lean faced villain; a juggler; a living dead man; a conjurer.
When John Jacob Astor purchased the Park Theatre in 1806 in NYC he outfitted it with special accommodations for hookers where gentlemen could meet them and set up their own appointments. Astor’s competitors all followed suite and for decades no theater was without such a facility. Show business was not for wives and families! The person that changed this and made entertainment acceptable was non other than P. T. Barnum.
In the 1840’s Barnum set up a “lecture room” on the second floor of his American Museum which he gradually transformed into a theater introducing the performing arts to a class of people who otherwise would never set foot in such a disreputable place. He found that if his “lectures” included juggling exhibitions, or magic or ventriloquism he would sell more tickets. But unlike the theaters of the day Barnum sold no liquor and objectionable people were thrown out. He promised “innocent amusements” and to attract women and children he offered the first matinees in town. This “lecture room” was the undeniable precursor to Vaudeville.
The book traces the rise and death of Vaudeville and the details the lives of both the “characters” that entertained as well as those that created and ran the thousands of venues. Oscar Hammerstein (grandfather of the song writer by the same name), a theater owner and promoter made a mint on an act that has gone down in theatrical lore as the most horrible ever seen on a vaudeville stage. Touted at the time as “The worst act in America”, the Cherry Sisters, as a sheer spectacle were on par with a boating accident. To make matters more entertaining they had no idea that they were that bad. Oscar’s son Willie invented the freak act, which included not only Rahja the snake charmer from Coney Island but tabloid headline acts like the “Shooting Stars” Ethel Conrad and Lillian Graham, so called because they’d actually shot a guy named Web Stokes.
Most vaudevillians dropped out of school at a young age yet George Jessel is said to have dazzled Cardinal Spellman with many biblical quotes. Spellman asked, “You’re a Jew, you never went to school. Where’d you learn all of that?” Jessel told him that in his vaudeville days while waiting in hotels for his nightly get together with a hooker, he’d thumb through the Gideon Bible!
While vaudeville died as movie houses grew, many of the stars lived on to star in movies, radio and television. Burns and Allen, Bob Hope, Cab Calloway, Jack Benny, Ed Wynn, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Will Rogers, the Marx Brother, the Three Stooges, Mae West, W.C. Fields, James Cagney, Cary Grant, Walter Pigeon, and Henry Fonda were all vaudevillians.
The book is a great story about our country’s only purely indigenous theatrical form.
The Vernon Touch
Dai Vernon wrote an article for Genii Magazine from September 1968 until December 1990. All of those articles are now in one book, “The Vernon Touch”. It is a fascinating read, all about magic and magicians during the last half of the last century. Vernon talks about many promising young magicians, who have now gone on to be greats. He also talks about many magicians, who I never had a chance to see or meet who are now no long with us.
Vernon also wrote about some Orlando club members. The March 1974 (that’s 32 years ago) article says. “At my age I should be contented to remain quietly here in Hollywood at the Magic Castle. However, when Bev Bergeron called me from Orlando, Florida and asked me to attend their convention, I simply could not refuse. The Langford Motel was an ideal place for the many activities. One of the events was a talk show conducted by Bev. He interviewed Inez Kitchen, Burling Hull, and yours truly. Before leaving Orlando, I spent time at the beautiful home of Ben Walters, He and Dick Randall drove me in style to catch my plane.”
Then in the April 1974 article Vernon wrote about Bev, “I was tickled to death to see the wonderful job he has done down there with Disneyworld. I think he’s set for life! Bev is certainly a hard industrious worker and deserves all the successes he is receiving. He did a great job on the convention. I had a wonderful time.”
There are many nuggets in the book, like the one above, and it is an interesting walk down a magical memory lane.
Gary Adams
Nov 06 - Caricatures by Paula Large
Jerry[Editor's note: I have not labeled any of the pictures, to leave you the fun of guessing the subject of each one]
Nov 06 - Hometown Heroes
Members of I.B.M. Ring #170 - The Bev Bergeron Ring, Ring #258 - The Lake County Magic Club and Central Florida World Clown Alley #158, combined forces to entertain over 1500 attendees at Habitat for Humanity's Hometown Heroes event at the T.D. Waterhouse Center on Wednesday evening October 25th.
The theme for the evening was "The Magic of Habitat". The table decor was black, white and red with black and white magician's top hats as center pieces.
Magicians from both Rings, including J.C. Hyatt, Nicholas Tangredi, Mark Fitzgerald, Bill Terry, Jim Moody & Lee Langer, worked the tables, doing close up magic, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. While Joe Veccarelli, James Songster and Roger Reid performed "stand up" magic on a small platform in front of the large crowd that gathered.
The Central Florida World Clowns provided both balloon sculpting and face painting in relays over the 3 hours of the event. Balloon sculpting duties were performed by Snickerdoodle, Diamond Jim, Handy Dandy, Charity, Candy Cane, and Twist. Face painting was done by Jingles, Kluts, Jackie, Pinkey, Toot, Tapper, Sasha, Bon Bon, Zaney and Glee.
All Magicians and Clowns were treated to dinner provided by
Outback Steakhouse, and received a "Magic of Habitat" T-Shirt, from event chairperson Denise Chernoff, as a "Thank You" for volunteering.
Roger Reid
The theme for the evening was "The Magic of Habitat". The table decor was black, white and red with black and white magician's top hats as center pieces.
Magicians from both Rings, including J.C. Hyatt, Nicholas Tangredi, Mark Fitzgerald, Bill Terry, Jim Moody & Lee Langer, worked the tables, doing close up magic, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. While Joe Veccarelli, James Songster and Roger Reid performed "stand up" magic on a small platform in front of the large crowd that gathered.
The Central Florida World Clowns provided both balloon sculpting and face painting in relays over the 3 hours of the event. Balloon sculpting duties were performed by Snickerdoodle, Diamond Jim, Handy Dandy, Charity, Candy Cane, and Twist. Face painting was done by Jingles, Kluts, Jackie, Pinkey, Toot, Tapper, Sasha, Bon Bon, Zaney and Glee.
All Magicians and Clowns were treated to dinner provided by
Outback Steakhouse, and received a "Magic of Habitat" T-Shirt, from event chairperson Denise Chernoff, as a "Thank You" for volunteering.
Roger Reid
Nov 06 -Dennis' Deliberations
Odd and ends from my "utter frustration" file...A recent phone call:
Dennis: Hello
Client: Mr.. Phillips, I am (name withheld for legal purposes) and I heard that you are a very good magician. We have a mutual friend who saw your act.
I have a luncheon for about 50 people and I want to find out what you would charge to do a 30 minute show and we would like for you to bring your girl assistant and maybe put her in a box and vanish her or something. What do you charge?
Dennis: Thank you for the compliment! May I ask where and what time this event is and who it is for?
Client: It is in (location ) and it is for the (lawyer's organization). I am an attorney in (city). The luncheon is Friday at Noon on the 27th of October.
Dennis: Oh in (city) ? ( A pretty good drive) And my daughter Sara and my wife Cindy are my assistants. We do a cute effect called , "The Indian Sword basket" It is one of the oldest illusions in the world. I will also do my nite club act. My fee would be $250. (okay, I considerably lowballed it because the reference he gave who saw my show is a good friend of my wife )
Client: Wow! that much?
Dennis: If you want to pay less, would you like to just have me come alone?
Client: No. It is just that...uhhh $250 for 30 minutes ? That is $500 an hour! I am a lawyer here and all I make is $105 an hour.
Dennis: You know ( name) when I was the highest paid lawyer in your town that is all I made too!
Client: You were an attorney here?
Dennis: You didn't get my joke?
Client: Oh! Sheez , a wise guy?
Dennis: Yes, an expensive one at that. $500 an hour! Catch ya later, Pal.... You can't afford me! (I slammed down the phone) CLICK!
After I hung up and cussed a little, I was angry that I had lowballed the guy, I don't need the grief about my fee from a lawyer that makes $105 an hour!
Here is a goodie from the Canada:
The Wikipedia Philosophy Towards Magic Exposure by Larry Thornton
Dennis told me about the blatant exposure of David Copperfield's Flying Illusion in Google's Video, http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5726537828765374451&q=David+Copperfield&hl=en complete with animated drawings. I decided to check out Wikipedias "exposures" of magic. Here are just ten that I found. There could possibly be dozens of such magic "spoiler warnings" (their term), or maybe hundreds. After ten, I quit looking.
Wikipedia tries to explain....
1) Copperfield's Statue of Liberty Vanish
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanishing_the_Statue_of_Liberty
3) Sawing a Woman in Half (various methods in illustrated form)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawing_a_woman_in_half
4) The King Rising Levitation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Rising_Levitation
5) Balducci Levitation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balducci_levitation
6) Elevator Levitation
This article "exposes" the trick only by rattling on about a "gimmick" being used, but essentially says nothing. There's even a video clip included of something called "Loughran's Elevator 2".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator_levitation
7) Paul Harris's Sooperman levitation, explained in one of his books and said to be a variation of the Balducci, and sold as a simplified version under the name of Wild Levitation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sooperman
8) A oddball (by my thinking) levitation called Mike Brent's Zero Gravity, said to be an offshoot of Balducci
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Bent%27s_Zero_Gravity
9) The Chinese Linking Rings (standard version with eight rings)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_linking_rings
10) The Cups and Balls
A long-winded "explanation", minus any illustrations, including an explanation of the Chop Cup, said to have been invented by Al Wheatley in 1954. What this sort of convoluted exposure is designed to accomplish, is anybody's guess.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cups_and_balls
THE INCREDIBLE IRONY IN ALL OF THIS, is that in a comprehensive article on the art of magic, the Wikipedia states:
Membership in professional magicians' organizations often requires an oath not to reveal the secrets of magic to non-magicians. This is known as the "Magician's Oath".
The Magician's Oath (though it may vary, 'The Oath' takes the following, or similar form):
"As a magician I promise to never reveal the secret of any illusion to a non-magician, without first swearing them to the Magician's Oath. I promise never to perform any illusion for any non-magician, without first practicing the effect until I can perform it well enough to maintain the illusion of magic".
The Wikipedia article then tells us:
Once sworn to The Oath, one is considered a magician, and is expected to live up to this promise. A magician who reveals a secret, either purposely or through insufficient practice, may typically find themselves without any magicians willing to teach them more secrets. - End of Quote The article then tells us (I'm paraphrasing here) that it is okay for a magician to reveal secrets to people with a sincere interest in magic who are most likely to become magicians themselves.
The "irony" lies in the bizarre fact that it is said magicians are asked (by their organizations) NOT to reveal secrets, and yet it's fair game for Wikipedia and any other non-magicians to reveal magic's secrets to the public at large. Journalists and columnists do it all the time. Sometimes these "exposures" (Wikipedia has examples) amount to little more than blatant guessing, as in the case of the Statue of Liberty vanish, but all too often magic's methods are 'stolen' directly from magic's own literature.
And speaking of "literature", Wikipedia further states [quote ] "The secrets of almost all tricks are available to the public through numerous books and magazines devoted to magic, available from the specialized magic trade."
Now there is a bit of a misnomer here: that almost all tricks are "available TO the public" even thought they come from books and magazines not officially released for public consumption. We have to ask the common-sense question: Do we see any or all of the magic books and magician's trade magazines out on public magazine or book store shelves? NO! Magic's literature is designed specifically and exclusively for "the specialized magic trade". That it can be accessed by a determined public that has to go to the bother of actually searching for it, is beside the point. Granted, many a street magic shop is open to the public and features such books and magazines, but it is a stretch to assert that just because a non-magician can get hold of such literature "if they have a mind to", then all of magic's secrets are in the public domain. Is this what makes them think that the exposure of magic online is no longer unethical? Perhaps it is a fine point, but I take strong objection to the oblique suggestion here, that because magic's literature makes it possible for a determined public to learn any secret, then that makes it perfectly okay to reveal the secrets in a wildly popular online encyclopedia such as Wikipedia.
Any possible legal issues are beyond the scope of this article and knowledge of its author, but I would just like to present this much of the argument as "food for thought". I encourage any constructive feedback. You can send your comments to mail@wizardlarry.com if you have anything pertinent to say on the matter.
- Larry Thornton (Calgary, Alberta, CANADA)
Larry and I ponder over the future of the magical arts as we know them when a few clicks on the Internet will reveal any magic secret you want to know. Moreover, psychologically sick people who resent or are jealous of the popularity of a magical artist will set up websites revealing methods for everything that is done.
Many of David Blaine's effects from his early shows are explained on this site http://www.vkmag.com/media/david_blaines_magic_revealed.pdf .
Please don't E-Mail me and tell me that I am a hypocrite. This newsletter is distributed only to people that are interested in magic. I find it interesting that a magician can walk into a brick and mortar magic shop and be confronted with far more secrecy than is faced by anyone merely typing into Google!
As Kurt Vonnegut often said in Slaughterhouse Five, "And so it goes".
Dennis Phillips
Dennis: Hello
Client: Mr.. Phillips, I am (name withheld for legal purposes) and I heard that you are a very good magician. We have a mutual friend who saw your act.
I have a luncheon for about 50 people and I want to find out what you would charge to do a 30 minute show and we would like for you to bring your girl assistant and maybe put her in a box and vanish her or something. What do you charge?
Dennis: Thank you for the compliment! May I ask where and what time this event is and who it is for?
Client: It is in (location ) and it is for the (lawyer's organization). I am an attorney in (city). The luncheon is Friday at Noon on the 27th of October.
Dennis: Oh in (city) ? ( A pretty good drive) And my daughter Sara and my wife Cindy are my assistants. We do a cute effect called , "The Indian Sword basket" It is one of the oldest illusions in the world. I will also do my nite club act. My fee would be $250. (okay, I considerably lowballed it because the reference he gave who saw my show is a good friend of my wife )
Client: Wow! that much?
Dennis: If you want to pay less, would you like to just have me come alone?
Client: No. It is just that...uhhh $250 for 30 minutes ? That is $500 an hour! I am a lawyer here and all I make is $105 an hour.
Dennis: You know ( name) when I was the highest paid lawyer in your town that is all I made too!
Client: You were an attorney here?
Dennis: You didn't get my joke?
Client: Oh! Sheez , a wise guy?
Dennis: Yes, an expensive one at that. $500 an hour! Catch ya later, Pal.... You can't afford me! (I slammed down the phone) CLICK!
After I hung up and cussed a little, I was angry that I had lowballed the guy, I don't need the grief about my fee from a lawyer that makes $105 an hour!
Here is a goodie from the Canada:
The Wikipedia Philosophy Towards Magic Exposure by Larry Thornton
Dennis told me about the blatant exposure of David Copperfield's Flying Illusion in Google's Video, http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5726537828765374451&q=David+Copperfield&hl=en complete with animated drawings. I decided to check out Wikipedias "exposures" of magic. Here are just ten that I found. There could possibly be dozens of such magic "spoiler warnings" (their term), or maybe hundreds. After ten, I quit looking.
Wikipedia tries to explain....
1) Copperfield's Statue of Liberty Vanish
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanishing_the_Statue_of_Liberty
3) Sawing a Woman in Half (various methods in illustrated form)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawing_a_woman_in_half
4) The King Rising Levitation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Rising_Levitation
5) Balducci Levitation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balducci_levitation
6) Elevator Levitation
This article "exposes" the trick only by rattling on about a "gimmick" being used, but essentially says nothing. There's even a video clip included of something called "Loughran's Elevator 2".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator_levitation
7) Paul Harris's Sooperman levitation, explained in one of his books and said to be a variation of the Balducci, and sold as a simplified version under the name of Wild Levitation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sooperman
8) A oddball (by my thinking) levitation called Mike Brent's Zero Gravity, said to be an offshoot of Balducci
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Bent%27s_Zero_Gravity
9) The Chinese Linking Rings (standard version with eight rings)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_linking_rings
10) The Cups and Balls
A long-winded "explanation", minus any illustrations, including an explanation of the Chop Cup, said to have been invented by Al Wheatley in 1954. What this sort of convoluted exposure is designed to accomplish, is anybody's guess.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cups_and_balls
THE INCREDIBLE IRONY IN ALL OF THIS, is that in a comprehensive article on the art of magic, the Wikipedia states:
Membership in professional magicians' organizations often requires an oath not to reveal the secrets of magic to non-magicians. This is known as the "Magician's Oath".
The Magician's Oath (though it may vary, 'The Oath' takes the following, or similar form):
"As a magician I promise to never reveal the secret of any illusion to a non-magician, without first swearing them to the Magician's Oath. I promise never to perform any illusion for any non-magician, without first practicing the effect until I can perform it well enough to maintain the illusion of magic".
The Wikipedia article then tells us:
Once sworn to The Oath, one is considered a magician, and is expected to live up to this promise. A magician who reveals a secret, either purposely or through insufficient practice, may typically find themselves without any magicians willing to teach them more secrets. - End of Quote The article then tells us (I'm paraphrasing here) that it is okay for a magician to reveal secrets to people with a sincere interest in magic who are most likely to become magicians themselves.
The "irony" lies in the bizarre fact that it is said magicians are asked (by their organizations) NOT to reveal secrets, and yet it's fair game for Wikipedia and any other non-magicians to reveal magic's secrets to the public at large. Journalists and columnists do it all the time. Sometimes these "exposures" (Wikipedia has examples) amount to little more than blatant guessing, as in the case of the Statue of Liberty vanish, but all too often magic's methods are 'stolen' directly from magic's own literature.
And speaking of "literature", Wikipedia further states [quote ] "The secrets of almost all tricks are available to the public through numerous books and magazines devoted to magic, available from the specialized magic trade."
Now there is a bit of a misnomer here: that almost all tricks are "available TO the public" even thought they come from books and magazines not officially released for public consumption. We have to ask the common-sense question: Do we see any or all of the magic books and magician's trade magazines out on public magazine or book store shelves? NO! Magic's literature is designed specifically and exclusively for "the specialized magic trade". That it can be accessed by a determined public that has to go to the bother of actually searching for it, is beside the point. Granted, many a street magic shop is open to the public and features such books and magazines, but it is a stretch to assert that just because a non-magician can get hold of such literature "if they have a mind to", then all of magic's secrets are in the public domain. Is this what makes them think that the exposure of magic online is no longer unethical? Perhaps it is a fine point, but I take strong objection to the oblique suggestion here, that because magic's literature makes it possible for a determined public to learn any secret, then that makes it perfectly okay to reveal the secrets in a wildly popular online encyclopedia such as Wikipedia.
Any possible legal issues are beyond the scope of this article and knowledge of its author, but I would just like to present this much of the argument as "food for thought". I encourage any constructive feedback. You can send your comments to mail@wizardlarry.com if you have anything pertinent to say on the matter.
- Larry Thornton (Calgary, Alberta, CANADA)
Larry and I ponder over the future of the magical arts as we know them when a few clicks on the Internet will reveal any magic secret you want to know. Moreover, psychologically sick people who resent or are jealous of the popularity of a magical artist will set up websites revealing methods for everything that is done.
Many of David Blaine's effects from his early shows are explained on this site http://www.vkmag.com/media/david_blaines_magic_revealed.pdf .
Please don't E-Mail me and tell me that I am a hypocrite. This newsletter is distributed only to people that are interested in magic. I find it interesting that a magician can walk into a brick and mortar magic shop and be confronted with far more secrecy than is faced by anyone merely typing into Google!
As Kurt Vonnegut often said in Slaughterhouse Five, "And so it goes".
Dennis Phillips
Monday, October 09, 2006
FAMULUS - October 2006
Newsletter of IBM Ring #170 The Bev Bergeron Ring
Next general meeting Wednesday, 10/18/2006 at 7:30 PM SHARP
Meeting theme: Halloween Magic (what else?)
Marks Street Center, 99 Mark Street, downtown Orlando
If you visit with us and do not know the room we meet in , please be aware that some of the people in the office at the Senior Center may not be aware we are meeting there! At the last meeting one visitor asked where the "IBM" was meeting and the management apparently thought they were asking for the International Business Machines group! They said that there was no "IBM" on the schedule. So, if you have never been to our ring meeting , please say "magicians" or "FAME" and if that doesn't get the room location , just walk around looking for us. The Senior Center is a public building.
Lunch meetings every Tuesday at noon at Goodings (next to the food court)
Website: www.ring170.com
F. A. M. E. is the Florida Association of Magical Entertainers
*****************************************************************
Directory
Harvey Brownlow, President - harvini@yahoo.com
James Songster, Vice President - JjTjMagic@aol.com
Dennis Phillips, Secretary - Dennis@alliedcostumes.com
Art Thomas, Treasurer- Art.Thomas@disney.com
Charlie Cox, Sgt. At Arms - charles_c2000@yahoo.com
Joe Vecciarelli, Director at Large - talkingmute@tampabay.rr.com
Stefan Bartelski, Editor 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, put Famulus in the subject of the email. Due to the high volumes of spam your messages are in danger of getting lost if you do not do so.
Next general meeting Wednesday, 10/18/2006 at 7:30 PM SHARP
Meeting theme: Halloween Magic (what else?)
Marks Street Center, 99 Mark Street, downtown Orlando
If you visit with us and do not know the room we meet in , please be aware that some of the people in the office at the Senior Center may not be aware we are meeting there! At the last meeting one visitor asked where the "IBM" was meeting and the management apparently thought they were asking for the International Business Machines group! They said that there was no "IBM" on the schedule. So, if you have never been to our ring meeting , please say "magicians" or "FAME" and if that doesn't get the room location , just walk around looking for us. The Senior Center is a public building.
Lunch meetings every Tuesday at noon at Goodings (next to the food court)
Website: www.ring170.com
F. A. M. E. is the Florida Association of Magical Entertainers
*****************************************************************
Directory
Harvey Brownlow, President - harvini@yahoo.com
James Songster, Vice President - JjTjMagic@aol.com
Dennis Phillips, Secretary - Dennis@alliedcostumes.com
Art Thomas, Treasurer- Art.Thomas@disney.com
Charlie Cox, Sgt. At Arms - charles_c2000@yahoo.com
Joe Vecciarelli, Director at Large - talkingmute@tampabay.rr.com
Stefan Bartelski, Editor 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, put Famulus in the subject of the email. Due to the high volumes of spam your messages are in danger of getting lost if you do not do so.
From the Editor
No extra submissions this month's so thanks to Jacki Manna (this month's Ring report) and Dennis for his Deliberations. This is being prepared in a cold and rainy, maybe even snowy tonight, Denver; watch out winter is on its way! Hopefully, many of you were able to see the "magic' movie, "The Illusionist". This month a new magical movie opens, "The Prestige". Magic on the resurgence? Maybe one of our readers can send me a review after it opens in a few days.
Stefan
Stefan
Ring Report Ring #170 The Bev Bergeron Ring
Craig Fennessey, our lecture chairman and video librarian conducted this September meeting. Jackie Manna filed this report for Secretary Dennis Phillips.
We had one guest, David . David was a member 15 years ago, then moved away, now we welcome him back. We look forward to his performances and added magic to our club.
Bev Bergeron gave a report on the IBM convention Miami which took place the last week of June. Please note: daily details of the convention can be found at Stefan Bartelski's blog site: illusioneer.blogspot.com. Bev MC'ed the opening night show and was hilarious as usual. Tony Dunn came up out of the audience to do a funny rope bit with frazzled Bev. All performances were at the Theatre downtown Miami which was a rich piece of Italian looking architecture whereby the ceiling was a dome giving the illusion that we were outside under the stars. Very appropriate. More of our very own Floridians who performed were Vince Carmen from Sarasota, Terry Ward from Orlando whose Italian character is noted by peers in his profession to be impeccable, Jack Kodel and wife Mary who gave a nice discourse, and John Eaken MC'ed one night.
As of July 1st, our ring is doing a membership campaign chaired by Steve Hart. If a person joins before July 1st he/she gets a $50 coupon. There are incentives for sponsoring someone, too.
We are all reminded that as responsible entertainers we should all have insurance on our business. IBM national has an offer that you can't top: for only $111 (income less than $25,000) you can be insured for $1,000,000. It runs from August to August.
Dan Stapleton will give a fantastic lecture that will impact all entertainers, not just clowns, at the Clown Alley Troop 158.
The 1st annual Carat Conference, put on by Terry and Jim Whaples, was a success and positive impact on teachers and performers who wanted to broaden their creativity.
Our ring members are working. Mark Fitzgerald is doing close-up at several high dollar restaurants, Ravelli is a regular at Celebration, Gaylord Palms, LBV Mariott, Café Tu Tu Tango, and others, Jacki Manna celebrates life at Ian's birthday, Zoe's birthday, Jordan's birthday, Chad's birthday...ok you get the picture, many birthdays every weekend.
Our performer's night was great! Jerry Darky MC’ed the show and introduced Bev Bergeron who did a Karrell Fox trick with 4 imp bottles that would not stay laying down except when Bev touched them. Then he did a floating hanky trick called "Guts" appropriately named because it takes guts to do this trick so close to the volunteer.
Kerry Pierce continued the fun with cool rope tricks: he showed how to tie ropes without letting go of the ends, produced knots on ropes with a snap of the wrist, told the story about his shoe laces and how Mom could double knot them but he could always make the knots disappear, and the made loops that dropped to 3 knots when he took a step forward. Mark Fitzgerald dazzled us with coin productions and vanishes. He took 4 half dollars and a couple of cards for a classic and polished routine: the Matrix . He then did the same effect but with Liberty Silver dollars and without the cards! Coin-tastic!
Steve Hart presented a beautiful silk dollar. He asked, "How much money are you suppose to spend on advertising?" the answer: 20% The question is, where? radio? TV? print? The silk was rolled up in a newspaper and what do you think? It disappeared like our money.
Dan Stapleon called 2 volunteers to help with a very unique card trick. He pointed out that a regular drinking glass is very useful, and in this case, it will find a chosen card! After the 2 chosen cards were shown to the audience, the deck was cut several times and Dan looked through the glass to eliminate groups of cards. I thought he was Captain Jack Sparrow from the movie "Pirates" looking through a magnifying glass on a treasure map. Of course he found the cards. He repeated the procedure but instead of looking through the glass, he "listened" through the glass to "look" for the card. Pay attention or you’ll miss it: the glass disappeared but then he found the glass under the table with the chosen card in it!
The trick of Sight and Sound. Jacki Manna was up next with a riveting stand up routine that introduced her partner in crime, Eddie (who will make a stunning appearance at next month’s meeting, don’t miss it). She was funny, fabulous, and could be famous! Wallace Murphy amazed us with his beautifully polished card routines: he produced the 4 aces and then changed them all to Jacks (he learned the trick in Jacksonville- okay , that was the punchline), and then spread the deck out face down. The only face up card was the ace of diamonds which a volunteer had chosen earlier in the routine. Josh the Great from Daytona Magic was gracious enough to visit our ring and display wonderful products in which many of our members invested. A beautiful 6’ x 6’ silk was auctioned off and Dan Stapleton outbid everyone. Josh demonstrated several tricks and even a ventriloquial puppet that can be used to perform a prediction trick. We really appreciated Josh coming all that way to serve us!
Good things always happening at the FAME ring. But it’s not complete without you! So next month, be here!
Jacki Manna
We had one guest, David . David was a member 15 years ago, then moved away, now we welcome him back. We look forward to his performances and added magic to our club.
Bev Bergeron gave a report on the IBM convention Miami which took place the last week of June. Please note: daily details of the convention can be found at Stefan Bartelski's blog site: illusioneer.blogspot.com. Bev MC'ed the opening night show and was hilarious as usual. Tony Dunn came up out of the audience to do a funny rope bit with frazzled Bev. All performances were at the Theatre downtown Miami which was a rich piece of Italian looking architecture whereby the ceiling was a dome giving the illusion that we were outside under the stars. Very appropriate. More of our very own Floridians who performed were Vince Carmen from Sarasota, Terry Ward from Orlando whose Italian character is noted by peers in his profession to be impeccable, Jack Kodel and wife Mary who gave a nice discourse, and John Eaken MC'ed one night.
As of July 1st, our ring is doing a membership campaign chaired by Steve Hart. If a person joins before July 1st he/she gets a $50 coupon. There are incentives for sponsoring someone, too.
We are all reminded that as responsible entertainers we should all have insurance on our business. IBM national has an offer that you can't top: for only $111 (income less than $25,000) you can be insured for $1,000,000. It runs from August to August.
Dan Stapleton will give a fantastic lecture that will impact all entertainers, not just clowns, at the Clown Alley Troop 158.
The 1st annual Carat Conference, put on by Terry and Jim Whaples, was a success and positive impact on teachers and performers who wanted to broaden their creativity.
Our ring members are working. Mark Fitzgerald is doing close-up at several high dollar restaurants, Ravelli is a regular at Celebration, Gaylord Palms, LBV Mariott, Café Tu Tu Tango, and others, Jacki Manna celebrates life at Ian's birthday, Zoe's birthday, Jordan's birthday, Chad's birthday...ok you get the picture, many birthdays every weekend.
Our performer's night was great! Jerry Darky MC’ed the show and introduced Bev Bergeron who did a Karrell Fox trick with 4 imp bottles that would not stay laying down except when Bev touched them. Then he did a floating hanky trick called "Guts" appropriately named because it takes guts to do this trick so close to the volunteer.
Kerry Pierce continued the fun with cool rope tricks: he showed how to tie ropes without letting go of the ends, produced knots on ropes with a snap of the wrist, told the story about his shoe laces and how Mom could double knot them but he could always make the knots disappear, and the made loops that dropped to 3 knots when he took a step forward. Mark Fitzgerald dazzled us with coin productions and vanishes. He took 4 half dollars and a couple of cards for a classic and polished routine: the Matrix . He then did the same effect but with Liberty Silver dollars and without the cards! Coin-tastic!
Steve Hart presented a beautiful silk dollar. He asked, "How much money are you suppose to spend on advertising?" the answer: 20% The question is, where? radio? TV? print? The silk was rolled up in a newspaper and what do you think? It disappeared like our money.
Dan Stapleon called 2 volunteers to help with a very unique card trick. He pointed out that a regular drinking glass is very useful, and in this case, it will find a chosen card! After the 2 chosen cards were shown to the audience, the deck was cut several times and Dan looked through the glass to eliminate groups of cards. I thought he was Captain Jack Sparrow from the movie "Pirates" looking through a magnifying glass on a treasure map. Of course he found the cards. He repeated the procedure but instead of looking through the glass, he "listened" through the glass to "look" for the card. Pay attention or you’ll miss it: the glass disappeared but then he found the glass under the table with the chosen card in it!
The trick of Sight and Sound. Jacki Manna was up next with a riveting stand up routine that introduced her partner in crime, Eddie (who will make a stunning appearance at next month’s meeting, don’t miss it). She was funny, fabulous, and could be famous! Wallace Murphy amazed us with his beautifully polished card routines: he produced the 4 aces and then changed them all to Jacks (he learned the trick in Jacksonville- okay , that was the punchline), and then spread the deck out face down. The only face up card was the ace of diamonds which a volunteer had chosen earlier in the routine. Josh the Great from Daytona Magic was gracious enough to visit our ring and display wonderful products in which many of our members invested. A beautiful 6’ x 6’ silk was auctioned off and Dan Stapleton outbid everyone. Josh demonstrated several tricks and even a ventriloquial puppet that can be used to perform a prediction trick. We really appreciated Josh coming all that way to serve us!
Good things always happening at the FAME ring. But it’s not complete without you! So next month, be here!
Jacki Manna
Bev will be on The Road Again
Houston, Branson, St. Louis and Rock City, Tenn.
Back by Oct. 26th.
BEV BERGERON
That's right REBO himself direct from the Magic Land of Alakazam the Magic Circus, national television appearances with Red Skelton, Lucy Ball, Jack Benny, Johnny Carson, and 15 years of performances at the Diamond Horseshow Review in Disney World and many many more! Early national television fame as REBO on The Magic Land of Allakazam (CBS and ABC-TV), as well as over 16,000 shows. Writer of books and material for the top magicians of the world; creator and inventor of major illusions and hundreds of magic effects.
Author of two books: Tony Marks - Aristocrat of Deception, the first time disclosure of a famous act with details of his magic and his life; and Willard the Wizard, a thoroughly researched look into early 20th century magic shows which has been used by the Smithsonian Institution.
Producer of two videos on magic and the art of clowning.
Back by Oct. 26th.
BEV BERGERON
That's right REBO himself direct from the Magic Land of Alakazam the Magic Circus, national television appearances with Red Skelton, Lucy Ball, Jack Benny, Johnny Carson, and 15 years of performances at the Diamond Horseshow Review in Disney World and many many more! Early national television fame as REBO on The Magic Land of Allakazam (CBS and ABC-TV), as well as over 16,000 shows. Writer of books and material for the top magicians of the world; creator and inventor of major illusions and hundreds of magic effects.
Author of two books: Tony Marks - Aristocrat of Deception, the first time disclosure of a famous act with details of his magic and his life; and Willard the Wizard, a thoroughly researched look into early 20th century magic shows which has been used by the Smithsonian Institution.
Producer of two videos on magic and the art of clowning.
Dennis' Deliberations
I got a rather sad note from England. Many of you may remember "Brioni" ( Brian Mills) a rather short and rotund older magician that visited with us a couple of times from England. At the last ring meeting he attended here in Orlando ,he did a "Cards Across" routine. Here is the note:
Dennis
I am secretary of the Chester Guild of Magicians in England. One of our members has been to your club a couple of times when holidaying in Orlando and has said how welcome he was made on both occasions. He suggested any magicians on holiday in the area should make an effort to attend.Unfortunately, he had a heart attack a few weeks ago and has now sadly died. His name is Brian Mills and went under the stage name of Brioni.I don't know if Brian had any particular friends at your club, but as he had spoken so highly of yourselves, I thought I would let you know this information about his death so you can pass it on.
Regards
Stephen Cooil stevecooil@themagician.demon.co.uk
I guess we never know how many people appreciate our Ring hospitality.
Rest in peace, Brian.
Brian did a good job for us in perfoming. He did jog loose an old memory for me.
Every once in a while all of us wand wielders sit though a magic show that is so awful, so revolting and so stomach turning that we leave the performance and want to rush home and burn our equipment. At best, we have to spend all the drive back home with our spouse explaining how the show wasn’t really all that bad.
One of my most memorable stories was when I lived in the Carolinas in the early 70s. Back then, a person could make a fair living doing magic for school shows, service club shows, Cub Scout meetings and birthday parties. The hills of Western North Carolina were filled with little mill towns and each town had its own industrial company and community spirit.
One such enterprising performer was a bit of a local legend in that area. For purposes of this story let me call him Luke Porter. That is not his real name because I have every desire to let the dead rest in peace. His wife was Opal. Luke was a rather rotund character with thinning gray hair on the sides and patches of hair in the middle. His face was deeply wrinkled and resembled fifty miles of bad road ahead. He had a pencil thin moustache. His massive hands looked like they belonged to a plumber. In fact, his whole personage resembled a country plumber and that would be complete with a big potbelly and a belt that allowed it to hang over. Luke wore a tailcoat outfit that had been homemade by Opal. The store-bought black pants did not match the shade of black on the tailcoat! The tailcoat had actually been constructed by cutting down a black suit coat and merely tacking on tails made from black cloth. Are you getting the idea that this was not a class act?
Opal was very grandmotherly. Her gown was homemade out of lavender satin and she barely fit into it. It was sleeveless and allowed a generous hanging slab of arm flesh to flop around. She wore loads of powder that accented her wrinkles and bright red lipstick that was the popular shade in 1954. Luke had a bit of a speech defect and could not say the sound of “r” very well. He also had a curious shaking in his hands. He moved like a plodding elephant. To his credit he did have a warm smile and enjoyed what he was doing even though he was clueless as to how bad he looked and acted in front of the audience.
Luke and Opal traveled to shows with their son-in-law, Theodore. “Theo” was very thin country fellow about 40 years old. He had a receding chin and a bit of an overbite. His eyes were droopy and nose long. He wore a baby blue velvet sport coat that was two sizes too big and white pants and shoes and a long paisley necktie. Theodore was a frustrated Pentecostal evangelist. He had all the hand motions and staccato speech pattern with a deep breath between every 3 words. Theo carried props on and off stage and did his own specialty act in the show. I will have more to say about that act in a moment.
They rode and carried their props in a converted step van, better known to most people as a bread truck. It had been painted white with a brush and not a sprayer. Luke had free hand lettered the name of his show on the side. It said, “Luke and Opal Magic Shows. The best in magic shows. Call 704- xxxx” (The numbers ran down hill, as did the whole lettering. It looked like a sign for a garage sale) .
Luke made almost every prop in the show. He must not have known about such things as sandpaper or a carpenter’s square or putting an undercoat on plywood before he painted it. He made an attempt at creating a fabric backdrop by using plumber’s pipe. The backdrop fabric had huge gashes in it. After the show I asked him about the gashes and he said, “It allows the wind to go through it so it doesn’t blow over when we do outside shows”. His stage lighting was a pair of outdoor floodlights mounted on a square of plywood that sat on the flood.
The show opened with a very scratchy instrumental theme playing on a phonograph record. Luke plodded out and tried to do the gloves to spring flowers. He tossed the gloves into the air and they fell to the floor as he was trying to get the spring flower packet to open. Bautier DeKolta, the inventor of spring flowers, would have had a stroke watching this. The show went downhill from there. With a combination of U.F. Grant magic and home built props, Luke managed to get more groans and moans than applause.
His audience participation bits with children were painful. When talking to the children he used “baby-talk”. This was not received well by a 10-year-old boy. Luke attempted to do Grant’s Devil Canister. Recall that this is a tin can about the size of a can of green beans. It had a wick with lighter fluid around the top inside edge. A secret metal tube was spot welded down the middle and the tube opened at the bottom. So to make a wedding ring disappear in the flames, you light the wick and drop the ring in the center of the can. It can safely fall down inside the tube into the middle into the palm of your hand where you could palm it off and load it to another prop. At least this is how it is supposed to happen.
This is the wrong trick to do with a 10-year-old boy. The kid did not have a ring and had to borrow one from his Mom. She was not about to let her wedding ring be used by the idiot
magician on stage. After arguing she relents. Luke lit the Canister and dropped in the ring and it fell out of his palm and onto the floor. He begged, “Opal, can you get the ring for me? Oh Opal!” The mother was furious, the audience was laughing and 65-year-old Opal was on her hands and knees searching the floor. Suddenly, we became aware of the flaming canister as Luke cried out, ‘Oh Jesus, is this hot!” Now the flaming canister fell on the floor as Luke winced in pain. Opal found the ring and Luke did a clumsy sleight and passed it off to Opal who loaded it into a gigantic sized nest of boxes -For a small ring?
Luke’s stage tables were 3 TV snack trays and a card table with one bent leg. After a few more fiascos it was time for a special word from Theodore. Theo came out holding an easel with a half completed cartoon. He began adding parts to the drawing with a magic marker. His patter seemed odd! “Friends, if you died tonight are you sure where you would be?” He went on to sketch a Christian Cross and give his testimony. As he talked his rhythm got faster, he began to sharply inhale between each word. “ And –uh- I –uh-am here-uh-to tell you-uh, oh glorah, that He can save ya! And I-uh- can tell you-uh that if your life is filled with alkie-haul- uh- and you need victory-uh…” I did not object to the sermon but I did feel it was inappropriate for an audience that was there to be entertained. However in fairness to Luke, this was in western North Carolina, just under the buckle of the Bible belt, and fifty miles east of where the snake-handling churches were. Theodore finished and dragged his easel off stage.
Luke and Opal and Theodore finished up their act with more Grant magic and a rabbit vanish. After the show, while Theo and Opal were backing the props, Luke came out to shake hands with the crowd. He recognized me from seeing me on the local TV children’s show. He grabbed my hand and almost shook it off. We exchanged a few niceties.
That was a different day and a different age. That type of magic show could not play today. Luke made a living. He stayed busy. To be honest with you, most of the people that watched his show were adequately amused and entertained. Their level of expectation was much lower than today with 500 channels available by satellite TV.
All the way home my wife kept saying, “Why do you drag me to these things? I deflected the questions with, “ Tell you what, honey, tomorrow night lets go see the new Paul Newman movie, “The Sting’.
These are some memories from so long ago.
Dennis Phillips
Dennis
I am secretary of the Chester Guild of Magicians in England. One of our members has been to your club a couple of times when holidaying in Orlando and has said how welcome he was made on both occasions. He suggested any magicians on holiday in the area should make an effort to attend.Unfortunately, he had a heart attack a few weeks ago and has now sadly died. His name is Brian Mills and went under the stage name of Brioni.I don't know if Brian had any particular friends at your club, but as he had spoken so highly of yourselves, I thought I would let you know this information about his death so you can pass it on.
Regards
Stephen Cooil stevecooil@themagician.demon.co.uk
I guess we never know how many people appreciate our Ring hospitality.
Rest in peace, Brian.
Brian did a good job for us in perfoming. He did jog loose an old memory for me.
Every once in a while all of us wand wielders sit though a magic show that is so awful, so revolting and so stomach turning that we leave the performance and want to rush home and burn our equipment. At best, we have to spend all the drive back home with our spouse explaining how the show wasn’t really all that bad.
One of my most memorable stories was when I lived in the Carolinas in the early 70s. Back then, a person could make a fair living doing magic for school shows, service club shows, Cub Scout meetings and birthday parties. The hills of Western North Carolina were filled with little mill towns and each town had its own industrial company and community spirit.
One such enterprising performer was a bit of a local legend in that area. For purposes of this story let me call him Luke Porter. That is not his real name because I have every desire to let the dead rest in peace. His wife was Opal. Luke was a rather rotund character with thinning gray hair on the sides and patches of hair in the middle. His face was deeply wrinkled and resembled fifty miles of bad road ahead. He had a pencil thin moustache. His massive hands looked like they belonged to a plumber. In fact, his whole personage resembled a country plumber and that would be complete with a big potbelly and a belt that allowed it to hang over. Luke wore a tailcoat outfit that had been homemade by Opal. The store-bought black pants did not match the shade of black on the tailcoat! The tailcoat had actually been constructed by cutting down a black suit coat and merely tacking on tails made from black cloth. Are you getting the idea that this was not a class act?
Opal was very grandmotherly. Her gown was homemade out of lavender satin and she barely fit into it. It was sleeveless and allowed a generous hanging slab of arm flesh to flop around. She wore loads of powder that accented her wrinkles and bright red lipstick that was the popular shade in 1954. Luke had a bit of a speech defect and could not say the sound of “r” very well. He also had a curious shaking in his hands. He moved like a plodding elephant. To his credit he did have a warm smile and enjoyed what he was doing even though he was clueless as to how bad he looked and acted in front of the audience.
Luke and Opal traveled to shows with their son-in-law, Theodore. “Theo” was very thin country fellow about 40 years old. He had a receding chin and a bit of an overbite. His eyes were droopy and nose long. He wore a baby blue velvet sport coat that was two sizes too big and white pants and shoes and a long paisley necktie. Theodore was a frustrated Pentecostal evangelist. He had all the hand motions and staccato speech pattern with a deep breath between every 3 words. Theo carried props on and off stage and did his own specialty act in the show. I will have more to say about that act in a moment.
They rode and carried their props in a converted step van, better known to most people as a bread truck. It had been painted white with a brush and not a sprayer. Luke had free hand lettered the name of his show on the side. It said, “Luke and Opal Magic Shows. The best in magic shows. Call 704- xxxx” (The numbers ran down hill, as did the whole lettering. It looked like a sign for a garage sale) .
Luke made almost every prop in the show. He must not have known about such things as sandpaper or a carpenter’s square or putting an undercoat on plywood before he painted it. He made an attempt at creating a fabric backdrop by using plumber’s pipe. The backdrop fabric had huge gashes in it. After the show I asked him about the gashes and he said, “It allows the wind to go through it so it doesn’t blow over when we do outside shows”. His stage lighting was a pair of outdoor floodlights mounted on a square of plywood that sat on the flood.
The show opened with a very scratchy instrumental theme playing on a phonograph record. Luke plodded out and tried to do the gloves to spring flowers. He tossed the gloves into the air and they fell to the floor as he was trying to get the spring flower packet to open. Bautier DeKolta, the inventor of spring flowers, would have had a stroke watching this. The show went downhill from there. With a combination of U.F. Grant magic and home built props, Luke managed to get more groans and moans than applause.
His audience participation bits with children were painful. When talking to the children he used “baby-talk”. This was not received well by a 10-year-old boy. Luke attempted to do Grant’s Devil Canister. Recall that this is a tin can about the size of a can of green beans. It had a wick with lighter fluid around the top inside edge. A secret metal tube was spot welded down the middle and the tube opened at the bottom. So to make a wedding ring disappear in the flames, you light the wick and drop the ring in the center of the can. It can safely fall down inside the tube into the middle into the palm of your hand where you could palm it off and load it to another prop. At least this is how it is supposed to happen.
This is the wrong trick to do with a 10-year-old boy. The kid did not have a ring and had to borrow one from his Mom. She was not about to let her wedding ring be used by the idiot
magician on stage. After arguing she relents. Luke lit the Canister and dropped in the ring and it fell out of his palm and onto the floor. He begged, “Opal, can you get the ring for me? Oh Opal!” The mother was furious, the audience was laughing and 65-year-old Opal was on her hands and knees searching the floor. Suddenly, we became aware of the flaming canister as Luke cried out, ‘Oh Jesus, is this hot!” Now the flaming canister fell on the floor as Luke winced in pain. Opal found the ring and Luke did a clumsy sleight and passed it off to Opal who loaded it into a gigantic sized nest of boxes -For a small ring?
Luke’s stage tables were 3 TV snack trays and a card table with one bent leg. After a few more fiascos it was time for a special word from Theodore. Theo came out holding an easel with a half completed cartoon. He began adding parts to the drawing with a magic marker. His patter seemed odd! “Friends, if you died tonight are you sure where you would be?” He went on to sketch a Christian Cross and give his testimony. As he talked his rhythm got faster, he began to sharply inhale between each word. “ And –uh- I –uh-am here-uh-to tell you-uh, oh glorah, that He can save ya! And I-uh- can tell you-uh that if your life is filled with alkie-haul- uh- and you need victory-uh…” I did not object to the sermon but I did feel it was inappropriate for an audience that was there to be entertained. However in fairness to Luke, this was in western North Carolina, just under the buckle of the Bible belt, and fifty miles east of where the snake-handling churches were. Theodore finished and dragged his easel off stage.
Luke and Opal and Theodore finished up their act with more Grant magic and a rabbit vanish. After the show, while Theo and Opal were backing the props, Luke came out to shake hands with the crowd. He recognized me from seeing me on the local TV children’s show. He grabbed my hand and almost shook it off. We exchanged a few niceties.
That was a different day and a different age. That type of magic show could not play today. Luke made a living. He stayed busy. To be honest with you, most of the people that watched his show were adequately amused and entertained. Their level of expectation was much lower than today with 500 channels available by satellite TV.
All the way home my wife kept saying, “Why do you drag me to these things? I deflected the questions with, “ Tell you what, honey, tomorrow night lets go see the new Paul Newman movie, “The Sting’.
These are some memories from so long ago.
Dennis Phillips
Monday, September 11, 2006
FAMULUS - September 2006
Newsletter of IBM Ring #170 The Bev Bergeron Ring
Next general meeting Wednesday, 09/20/2006 at 7:30 PM SHARP
Meeting theme: Card-less Magic
Marks Street Center, 99 Mark Street, downtown Orlando
If you visit with us and do not know the room we meet in , please be aware that
some of the people in the office at the Senior Center may not be aware we are
meeting there! At the last meeting one visitor asked where the "IBM" was meeting
and the management apparently thought they were asking for the International
Business Machines group! They said that there was no "IBM" on the schedule. So,
if you have never been to our ring meeting , please say "magicians" or "FAME" and
if that doesn't get the room location , just walk around looking for us. The Senior
Center is a public building.
Lunch meetings every Tuesday at noon at Goodings (next to the food court)
Website: www.ring170.com
F. A. M. E. is the Florida Association of Magical Entertainers
*****************************************************************
Directory
Harvey Brownlow, President - harvini@yahoo.com
James Songster, Vice President - JjTjMagic@aol.com
Dennis Phillips, Secretary - Dennis@alliedcostumes.com
Art Thomas, Treasurer- Art.Thomas@disney.com
Charlie Cox, Sgt. At Arms - charles_c2000@yahoo.com
Joe Vecciarelli, Director at Large - talkingmute@tampabay.rr.com
Stefan Bartelski, Editor 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, put Famulus in the subject of the email. Due to the high volumes of spam your messages are in danger of getting lost if you do not do so.
*****************************************************************
Next general meeting Wednesday, 09/20/2006 at 7:30 PM SHARP
Meeting theme: Card-less Magic
Marks Street Center, 99 Mark Street, downtown Orlando
If you visit with us and do not know the room we meet in , please be aware that
some of the people in the office at the Senior Center may not be aware we are
meeting there! At the last meeting one visitor asked where the "IBM" was meeting
and the management apparently thought they were asking for the International
Business Machines group! They said that there was no "IBM" on the schedule. So,
if you have never been to our ring meeting , please say "magicians" or "FAME" and
if that doesn't get the room location , just walk around looking for us. The Senior
Center is a public building.
Lunch meetings every Tuesday at noon at Goodings (next to the food court)
Website: www.ring170.com
F. A. M. E. is the Florida Association of Magical Entertainers
*****************************************************************
Directory
Harvey Brownlow, President - harvini@yahoo.com
James Songster, Vice President - JjTjMagic@aol.com
Dennis Phillips, Secretary - Dennis@alliedcostumes.com
Art Thomas, Treasurer- Art.Thomas@disney.com
Charlie Cox, Sgt. At Arms - charles_c2000@yahoo.com
Joe Vecciarelli, Director at Large - talkingmute@tampabay.rr.com
Stefan Bartelski, Editor 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, put Famulus in the subject of the email. Due to the high volumes of spam your messages are in danger of getting lost if you do not do so.
*****************************************************************
From the Editor
Once again thanks to all who submitted articles for this month's newsletter. I think that I managed to get everybody in this time. I can second the comments in the ring report about the movie "the Illusionist". This is a very well done movie, incorporating magic, but not giving anything away. Also, purists will no doubt balk at the fact that many of the tricks are "film" tricks and not true magic. But they still provid ea very entertaining evening. Coincidentally, one of the previews before the film was for another magical movie, "the Prestige". So it looks as if magic is making a come-back to the big time. I wonder if Criss Angel's success has anything to do with that?
Stefan
Stefan
Ring Report IBM Ring #170 "The Bev Bergeron Ring"
August is the hottest month in Orlando and also the peak of the Summer tourist and convention season and a busy time for all the local working professionals.
Twenty one members showed up for the meeting that was conducted by Vice-President James Songster sitting in for President Harvey Brownlow.
Lecture chair and video librarian Craig Fennessey gave a report on future lectures in the ring. Bev Bergeron is doing well after his therapeutic adventures with the medical system. Comments were positive on the new theatrical film, "The Illusionist". We hope this revives interest in classic magic and illusions. Comments were also positive on Chuck Smith's new "Enigma the DVD" magic magazine. Chuck was with us for the meeting. He is a man of many talents in the video production area as well as magic. Several club members can be seen and heard on the DVD. Chuck's concept is the wave of the future in the magic publishing business.
Jim and Terry Waples gave a preview of their clown convention. The convention will feature all allied arts as well as Christian ministry presentations.
Dollie's Comedy Shop has opened in the International Drive area and comedy magician John Ferrentino will be appearing as part of the entertainment.
With the business portion of the meeting concluded the monthly ring show began with James Songster as Master of Ceremonies.
First up was Terry Waples. Terry presented a cute effect with business cards called "Perfect match" and she again invited everyone to the clown convention she is presenting.
Charlie Pfrogner, Mr.Originality, presented another of his creations. A bag with ribbons a a clear marble vanished. The bag then changed colors a few times. A wand and silks were then produced from the bag. Finally the marble reappeared with a silk that said, "The End". How Charlie comes up with such clever routines is as much a mystery as his unique tricks.
Dan Stapleton presented a mentalism effect he developed during his years as a top-notch cruise ship entertainer. Six slips of a paper were passed to people that Dan did not know. They wrote their names on the paper. A spectator selected one of the papers that were cleverly strung on a strip of masking tape. Dan burned the paper and rubbed the ashes on his arm and the name of the spectator appeared on his arm. Roger Reid invited a spectator to help him and he did a slick Jarden Ellis ring routine with a handkerchief using the spectator's thumb as the ring holder.
Finally closing out the show, VP James Songster and Director at Large, Joe Vecchiarelli , showed their version of "making it snow". They had created a clever routine and developed the device to help them with the paper snow storm. They gave credit to several ring members who helped them create the routine and the prop.
Even though many of the ring members are old hands at magic we always learn something new from the monthly ring show.
With the show concluded, we all went back out into the warm August night. If you are in Orlando on vacation please join us because good things are always happening in Ring 170.
Dennis Phillips
Twenty one members showed up for the meeting that was conducted by Vice-President James Songster sitting in for President Harvey Brownlow.
Lecture chair and video librarian Craig Fennessey gave a report on future lectures in the ring. Bev Bergeron is doing well after his therapeutic adventures with the medical system. Comments were positive on the new theatrical film, "The Illusionist". We hope this revives interest in classic magic and illusions. Comments were also positive on Chuck Smith's new "Enigma the DVD" magic magazine. Chuck was with us for the meeting. He is a man of many talents in the video production area as well as magic. Several club members can be seen and heard on the DVD. Chuck's concept is the wave of the future in the magic publishing business.
Jim and Terry Waples gave a preview of their clown convention. The convention will feature all allied arts as well as Christian ministry presentations.
Dollie's Comedy Shop has opened in the International Drive area and comedy magician John Ferrentino will be appearing as part of the entertainment.
With the business portion of the meeting concluded the monthly ring show began with James Songster as Master of Ceremonies.
First up was Terry Waples. Terry presented a cute effect with business cards called "Perfect match" and she again invited everyone to the clown convention she is presenting.
Charlie Pfrogner, Mr.Originality, presented another of his creations. A bag with ribbons a a clear marble vanished. The bag then changed colors a few times. A wand and silks were then produced from the bag. Finally the marble reappeared with a silk that said, "The End". How Charlie comes up with such clever routines is as much a mystery as his unique tricks.
Dan Stapleton presented a mentalism effect he developed during his years as a top-notch cruise ship entertainer. Six slips of a paper were passed to people that Dan did not know. They wrote their names on the paper. A spectator selected one of the papers that were cleverly strung on a strip of masking tape. Dan burned the paper and rubbed the ashes on his arm and the name of the spectator appeared on his arm. Roger Reid invited a spectator to help him and he did a slick Jarden Ellis ring routine with a handkerchief using the spectator's thumb as the ring holder.
Finally closing out the show, VP James Songster and Director at Large, Joe Vecchiarelli , showed their version of "making it snow". They had created a clever routine and developed the device to help them with the paper snow storm. They gave credit to several ring members who helped them create the routine and the prop.
Even though many of the ring members are old hands at magic we always learn something new from the monthly ring show.
With the show concluded, we all went back out into the warm August night. If you are in Orlando on vacation please join us because good things are always happening in Ring 170.
Dennis Phillips
Request for help
from Tom of Backstage Magic
Mark Duva is one of our Best suppliers (Murphys magic) and has been keeping us updated to the all new effects AND THIS TYPE OF INJUSTICE!!!!.
Please: Take a look at this, and please send them your comments . I also would like this to be Posted on the RING WEB SITE, SO ALL OF US THAT WANT TO, CAN LET THEM KNOW WHAT WE THINK AND TO GIVE THEM A PIECE OF OUR MINDS!!!! We need to help try to stop this from happening, I am hoping the ring feels the same way!!.
Ok so here is a REALLY BAD IDEA, Please take a look at this bad site. These guys could really impact our industry in the most negative way. What they are setting out to do is to expose all secrets of magic to any one willing to join their “club” and single handedly do away with all of the secret and mystery in magic. This will also do away with all interest and need for Magicians, performers, store owners, magic instructors. Who will need to buy magic to learn how a trick works, when you can pay a nominal fee, and learn everything? At the bottom of the page is a link to email comments to them.
Please take the time to tell them what YOU really think. Please ask some of your customers to tell them what they think as well.
Thanks,
Marc Duva
Mark Duva is one of our Best suppliers (Murphys magic) and has been keeping us updated to the all new effects AND THIS TYPE OF INJUSTICE!!!!.
Please: Take a look at this, and please send them your comments . I also would like this to be Posted on the RING WEB SITE, SO ALL OF US THAT WANT TO, CAN LET THEM KNOW WHAT WE THINK AND TO GIVE THEM A PIECE OF OUR MINDS!!!! We need to help try to stop this from happening, I am hoping the ring feels the same way!!.
Ok so here is a REALLY BAD IDEA, Please take a look at this bad site. These guys could really impact our industry in the most negative way. What they are setting out to do is to expose all secrets of magic to any one willing to join their “club” and single handedly do away with all of the secret and mystery in magic. This will also do away with all interest and need for Magicians, performers, store owners, magic instructors. Who will need to buy magic to learn how a trick works, when you can pay a nominal fee, and learn everything? At the bottom of the page is a link to email comments to them.
Please take the time to tell them what YOU really think. Please ask some of your customers to tell them what they think as well.
Thanks,
Marc Duva
In the News
James and Joe - Bunnies in Peril - were the subject of an article in some Ohio newspapers.
-click here to view-
-click here to view-
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