2012-08 Dennis Deliberations.... Editorial and Comment

The poet Paul Valery observed after World War One: " Nous autres civilisations savons que nous sommes mortelles" (We, civilizations now know we are mortal)

I would not say that we are looking at the end of “Magic” as we knew it, but certainly the potential mortality of the hobby and business is apparent. Barry’s Magic Shop in Suburban D.C. just closed and it made the AP wire. I saw it on the “State News” part of the regional Associated Press feed while I was preparing the Sunday Morning News for my radio broadcast.

Let’s talk about why the Norfolk International Brotherhood of Magicians National Convention reflects the contraction of magic. My understanding is that attendance was down and certainly there were a lot less dealers. Show quality was considered still good as were the lectures. Those who attended had a good time. The IBM has always been the hobbyist group and mostly middle class. First, Norfolk is not a resort town. The old joke was that you won a vacation: Second prize was two weeks in Norfolk. First prize was one week in Norfolk. Conventions today are too expensive for the shrinking Middle Class. There is nothing new in magic other than the latest packet trick. Grunge Magic is all the rage now and that genre does not lend itself to convention attendance. I heard the attendance was 400 people and 10 dealers! I recall the days were the Florida State Convention was better! All the same lectures are easily available on the lecture circuit and You Tube.

All the acts have been around for years. One night was all Asian and I was told that all they did was productions. Very few people are now making a living from magic and thus you have almost no pros to talk to, just a bunch of move monkeys and finger flickers. “Try the Hamman frustration count just before the Elmsley Move, but Faro shuffle......” Zzzzzzzzzzzz......( by the way, I just Googled “Hamman Frustration Count” and three You Tube videos popped up!)

I have heard dismal reports from FISM. It will be interesting to see how the Genii and Daytona Convention will fare both being in Central Florida and being only four weeks from each other in the October-November time frame. They may appeal to 2 totally different crowds. You have to mortgage your house, which probably has an underwater mortgage, to go to the Genii Convention. It is being held at an Orlando Hotel next to the Florida Mall and near the Orlando Airport. It promises to have a celebrity line-up on the bill.

SAM always was a classy group but we in SAM often seemed like a magic clique. “We’re number two and we don’t try harder!” Apparently with a Vegas venue and David Copperfield, the SAM Convention was well received. But I look at the names. Lots of old guys! Let’s face it in Magic, the old guard is dying off and the new people are a different form of businessman. (Josh Jay, Andrew Mayne, Jay Sankey, Wayne Houchin, Nathan Kranzo, Daniel Garcia.) Denny Haney fancies himself, according to his cover story (August 2012) in MUM, as the last brick and mortar magic shop hold out. No pun intended with the term “hold out”; an old method for doing magic effects. The local corner store just can’t make it when faced with the Wal*Marts of magic. The biggest problem is not so much with other shops which can provide props cheaper. The problem is You Tube when all the secrets are open. Honestly now, a large percentage of people who buy magic buy it for the secret. If it is free on You Tube, they will not buy it. I have a friend going to the MAES Convention in Cherry Hill, New Jersey in September. Reports from Abbotts are coming soon also. We will see how they go.

Dennis

2012-07 Famulus newsletter

Newsletter of IBM Ring #170
The Bev Bergeron Ring

Next general meeting Wednesday, 7/18/2012 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 - 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.

2012-07 From the Editor

We are in the middle of summer and thoughts will start turning to the upcomimg holiday season, especially for our pro and semi-pro performers. Time to dust off that old trick or to buy some new ones to spruce up the act.

Thanks to Sheldon and Deniis for their contributions, and to Jeff for his "commercial"

Your editor

2012-07 Ring Report

President Craig Fennessey opened the meeting with 20 members present and one (1) guest, Richard Myer of San Jose , California who is the Territorial Vice President of IBM for Northern California .  Craig mentioned that a raffle will be held through October for a framed Houdini Poster that had been donated to the Ring by Richard Hewitt. The Tickets will sell for $5.00 each or 3for $10.

 

The previous weekend a memorial service was conducted by many of the late Jack Kodel's friends, Terry Ward led a Broken Wand Ceremony.  A representative portion of our Ring attended a performance in Mt Dora by Kreskin. An interesting discussion of his act took place.  Chuck Smith reported on the recent Tampa Bay Magic Fest which he attended.  Mark Fitzgerald told of a trip he took with Tim Clancy to Eberhard's Bar in Key West .  Mike Martin has resumed his work entertaining at Give Kids the World in Kissimmee .  Ravelli is performing at several resort sites in the area.  Mark Fitzgerald and Wallace Murphy have been performing at the openings of several Good Will Industries in our area.  Jacki Manna is presently doing her act in Ft. Myers , Florida.

 

Our first lecture of the Fall season will be Dan Garrett on September 5th.  Several other events are coming; The Genii Bash as well as the Daytona Magic event to follow.

 

Bev Bergeron followed the discussions demonstrating an impromptu magic effect using either toothpicks or matchsticks.  Phil Schwartz presented Magic History Moment No. 41. His talk was on British magic dealer and publisher, Will Goldston.

 

After a brief intermission, Chris Dunn introduced the performing members of the Ring; led off by Charlie Pfrogner who entertained with a color changing egg bag, a rope and a silk.  William Zaballero and guest Richard Myer performed with several card effects. as did Dan Stapleton.  Mark Fitzgerald opened up his bag of tricks and demonstrated a $1.00 bill transpo to $5,00 as well as a coin production that was very entertaining.  J. C. Hiatt and Ravelli were the final two performers.  Ravelli performed to a musical accompaniment using cards, DVD's and a torn and restored a newspaper with a smash oral recovery of the paper.  J C demonstrated his skills with a production routine that included cups, balls and a film cannister.  The Ring responded with a thunderous ovation.

 

Sheldon Brook

2012-07 New hardback book from Jeff Pierce Magic

"The Cardwarp Tour" Routines and scripts inspired by Roy Walton's Cardwarp effect.

Visit http://www.thecardwarptour.com to read more about it, view some sample pages or pre-order the book and save!

Thank you

Jeff Pierce

2012-07 Dennis' Deliberations

I think that an academic essay about the popularity of magic would include that observation that magic has ridden on two wild horses:

1) The delivery system

2) Technology

Prior to the 1860s, it was all “Street Magic” or “Court Jester”. The last half of the 19^th century saw the rise of industrial cities and the socialist movements which increased worker’s incomes.  This led to cities and towns packed with people who had a few meager coins and a need for paid entertainment. The music hall in Europe and vaudeville here in America became the “delivery system” for magic. 

The technology for modern magic was machine steel and rubber (used in mechanisms by Robert Houdin and Servais LeRoy) and electric lighting http://www.danalee.ca/ttt/lighting.htm  and the proscenium theater stage. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_II,_Duke_of_Saxe-Meiningen . I consider Houdini to be a Doug Henning type of anomaly.  In an age of immigrants in America, he was the little ethnic immigrant who was breaking chains and escaping the poverty of a mundane ordinary life. He was a performance metaphor for triumph over the system.

Sociologists of business look at eras and tell us that business goes in 20 to 30 year cycles with parts of the cycle defined as:  Novelty, Growth, Maturity, Decline, Replacement.    Any technology business is constantly fighting to stay ahead of the technology and how quickly it becomes ubiquitous and washes over them. A business must be able to define what their core product and evolve. i.e.  Buggy Whip manufactures actually being in the “Acceleration and Control” business... Gas Lamp manufacturers being in the “illumination business”...Kodak being in the “Imaging business”...Newspapers being in the “Information” business... Magicians being in the “Entertainment business”...  

As technology changes, if a business is based on strictly operating due to a specific technology and its limited access, they will fail. You can look at the examples above and see how the successful ones transitioned and the ones that failed to change are gone. One shining example of successful evolution is a company I used to work for and have had a long relationship with is , The Harris Corporation. (HRS Stock symbol)    Harris began as a printing press and type-making company!  Understanding that they were in the “Information handling” business they moved into electronic communications hardware.  Just this past month, the radio station I work for bought a new Harris Transmitter. We have other Harris equipment in the station.

Looking at the Magic Arts, you can see some definite trends. The 20-30 year cycle we nostalgically call, “The Second Golden Age of Magic” ran from 1960-2000. the 30 years can be found depending on where you start and end.    Mark Wilson’s TV work along with Paul Osborne’s Theme Park work in the 60s and early 70s put stage magic back in the visibility of the public.  Both freshened up the dated stereotype of the stuffy, bumbling 1920s bumbling magician who most people had never seen but was the typical image in their minds. Actually the few magicians of that era were still doing the routines of the 1920s and the lines! Doug Henning’s image and style was an anomaly which few could or did copy (other than the Gene Anderson Newspaper Tear) but what he did do was prove that a modern audience could enjoy theater magic. He also translated that into his wildly successful blockbuster TV specials which gave Fred Silverman the idea to use David Copperfield on a special to new 1978 ABC Television fall season.

So if we say, “1970 to 2000” we are looking at 30 years and the academic classic business cycle.  If the cycle began technologically as a marriage of magic and TV, then it was brought to a close by new technology of multi-channel cable and satellite TV and the Internet. The major TV Networks had lost so much viewership, with so many channels, that they can not afford the cost or niche nature of magic TV specials.  Mindfreak was designed as a TV series more in the genre of reality TV.   The high point and decline of magic on TV was the Masked Magician series and the Gary Oullett specials.  His “World’s Greatest Magic Specials” were a tossed salad. No one believes that any tossed salad can be defined as “World Greatest”.  They were inconsistent, formulamatic and lacking the strength of personality. It was just a matter of time before people became bored with the magic.

The danger in any blend of magic with technology is that the technology smothers over the entertainment value.  We never want an audience to say, “Its just technology” and today, that is a possibility.  The worst put down by an audience is for them to individually say, “If I had all that technology, I could do that also!”    I am certain that anyone could put together the technology for Carl Ballentine’s Classic Act.  No one else could do it.   We want them to marvel at the magic and not the technology and that is a real challenge today!  I am not sure that the currently hot Marco Tempest can do it.

Looking to be a magic star?  First of all be an incredibly talented, unique personality and then think :Delivery System and Technology.

Dennis Phillips  

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