January 13th
Awards for the 2009 RING 216 Magic Competitions and Certificates of Appreciation for Leadership in the 2009 Teach-In Club Meetings were presented to club members. Theron Schaub won first place at the Walk Around Competition, Stan Sieler won first place at the Close-Up Competition, Kim Silverman won first place at the Stage Competition, and John Bodine won the People's Choice Award at the Walk Around Competition. Many members were excited to have the December 2009 Stage Competition Details (along with pictures of all the competitors) published in the monthly IBM RING Magazine, January 2010 edition. The following individuals were awarded Certificates of Appreciation for leading Magical Teach-Ins during the 2009 year: Doug Eakin, John Bodine, Brian Hart, Calvin Tong, Jeff Chiou, Mike Bailes, Bill Benson, Stefan Fisher, Guy Philips, Jim Mullen, Scott Emo, and Patrick Reed. Finally, Michael Bailes received the Wally Gibson Award (Outstanding Contribution).Next, 2 fantastic magical teach-ins kicked off the new 2010 year! John Bodine lectured on "Expert at the Card Table" covering blind shuffles and blind cuts and Will Chandler covered a session on “Rope Magic" which included special moves for the Professor's Nightmare routine.
Finally, we closed the night with our traditional Open Performance Night with magical routines by John Jones, Ben Davis, Cal Tong, and Don Bloomer. John Jones performed for membership status and was officially awarded membership with Ring 216. John performed T. Nelson Downs' "Catching five coins" and David Devant's "Coin from Hand to Hand." Ben Davis performed a routine with a Cube a Libre set. Cal Tong performed a coin manipulation act with Morgan Silver Dollar coins which resulted in a series of productions, penetrations, and vanishes. Don Bloomer guided most of the club members through the magic game of Solstice Queen. Finding the queen would indicate good luck for the coming year. Despite each person doing their own shuffling and dealing with their own cards, they still wound up holding their lucky card. We have a very special club!
February 10th
We kicked off the February meeting by having President Fred Rasmussen present Jim Mullen the Life Time Achievement Award. Fred also formally introduced Jim Blashek as the clubhistorian after which Jim shared some of his ideas that would be presented to the club in future meetings. Next, Bill Benson walked the members through the new IBM Ring 216 web site which is now fully up and running! Big thanks for Bill for all his efforts in the new web site and in transitioning into his new position as webmaster! Next, Vice President Cal Tong facilitated the main event of the evening: John Bodine’s Expert at the card Table focusing on the top palm and Will Chandlers Ring on String lecture. We would like to thank both John Bodine and Will Chandler for leading the hands-on 2 part series lectures which were kicked off in January and completed in February. The evening ended with open performance night where 8 members (Jim Mullen, Fred Rasmussen, Michael Bailes, Cal Tong, Ken King, Bruce Jordan, Alan Lees, and Michael Feldmon) performed their entertaining magic effects for the rest of the club. Jim Mullen started off the open performance night with a torn and restored card card routine using a band-aid. Fred Rasmussen performed a 4 Ace Card Routine. Michael Bailes performed a series of Wally Gibson routines including the Coin Vanish/Production routine, the Red and White Silk in Glass, and the 3 Match Box Marketed effect. Cal Tong provided advice on love while performing 2 Back-Fire Matrix routines. Ken King performed a Teleporting Knot routine involving a red silk, a white silk, and 2 glasses. Ken taught the secret at the end of his routine. >Bruce Jordan performed a Monkey Bar routine. Alan Leeds performed a mentalism routine called “Who wants to be a Mentalist?” Last but not least,Michael Feldmon performed 4 cards to Pockets.March 10th
We had a great turnout for the Shawn Farquhar lecture (sponsored by IBM RING 216, San Jose and coordinated by Ring 216 President Fred Rasmussen) this past Wednesday night. Many of us were blown away by Shawn's Bread and Butter lecture which included presentations on MatriXpress, MagiCD, Torn 2 Pieces, Tagged, Photo Finish, and the Ultimate Invisible Deck. We would like to thank SAM 94 (Society of American Magicians Palo Alto) and OMC (Oakland Magic Circle) Officers for helping us advertise the lecture (). We would also like to thank the many club members from IBM Ring 216, OMC, and SAM 94 for attending and supporting this lecture. Shawn is a super nice guy and Kim Silverman, Joe Caffal, Scott Alcalay, and Bryon Walker socialized with us at our usual restaurant of choice after the IBM Ring 216 club meeting and lecture. Shawn shared many wonderful stories with us relating to his experience performing magic on Cruise Lines, business conventions, and Television shows such as the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Our IBM RING 216 President, Fred Rasmussen, met Shawn in mid year 2009 while vacationing around the world and set actions in motion at that moment which led to this past week's lecture. A Million thanks to Fred! On that note, if you have the opportunity to meet fantastic professional lecturing magicians (like Shawn), please establish that relationship, obtain contact information, and relay that stuff to one of our Magi clubs (ie.. IBM RING 216, SAM 94, or OMC). Thanks again for helping make this a successful event!April 14th
Many thanks to Sergeant at Arms Sy Hoff for documenting the meeting activities while I was vacationing in Maui. The April 14th meeting activities started with Teach-ins by Kim Silverman and Stan Sieler. Kim talked about scripting being very important. He described his own methods for creating a script. As an example he demonstrated his version of Ring on Rope. He referred to the ring as "your life" and the rope as "your problems" and showed how your problems can be overcome and your life returned to you. As a surprise, Jim Mullen gave a short lecture emphasizing the importance of preparation and scripting. Stan Sieler's topic was Mentalism. He performed three demonstrations and explained how each of them was done. The effects he performed were the Tossed-Out Deck, a Mind Control effect using different colored shapes on cards, and a Mind Read/Recollection effect. He emphasized that performing magic and performing mentalism are different and should not be mixed.Jim Blashek (newly appointed Ring 216 Historian) showed his new 17 pound book on "Magic and History from 1400 to 1950" that is a great reference on magic history. Seven members signed up for Open Performance Night. Joss Lee did some divining of who had what cards (Michael Weber's Memories). This was Joss' performance for Ring 216 acceptance. He was unanimously voted into our Ring. Stan Sieler did a Book Test. He had a spectator select a book, had another spectator stop him on a page, and was able to divine the information on that page. Alan Leeds performed a small act where he gave out some Movie Cards and was able to figure out which movie each participant selected. This was followed by a Book Test of the Travel Book. He was able to tell people what was on a freely chosen page, and also identified a picture on another page. Patrick Reed performed the new Chris Kenworthy effect, Mastermind. He had different cards chosen and amazingly they were both the same card. Vijay did the 52 on 1 Dick Barry routine. Fred Rasmussen performed Shawn Farquhar's T2P (Torn 2 Pieces). He used an Indian Fakir theme. John Jones showed us Kent Gunn's version of the classic, Triumph.
May 12th
As the event leader for the May club meeting, Bill Benson (Ring 216 Web Master) lead the club through the Annual Walk Around Competition which is the first of 3 friendly IBM RING 216 Magic Competitions planned for 2010. 7 ring members (Doug Eakin, Jim Mullen, John Jones, Raahul Srinivasan, Sy Hoff, Stan Sieler, and Cal Tong) participated in the event and magically entertained the audience filled with both lay people and magicians. Doug Eakin performed Easy Money, Direct Coins across, and Identity. Jim Mullen performed a six-minute Ambitious Card routine inspired by Daryl’s FISM-winning act. Stan Sieler performed Director's Cut, Body Language, Cartomancy, and some direct mind reading. Cal Tong performed a coin to dice/dice to coin transformation, the Ivory connection, Cal's One Coin Routine, and his personal 3 Choice routine using bills from different countries. Rahuul Srinivasan performed a unique version of 2 Card Monte, 5 Card Biddle Trick, and Static. Sy Hoff and John Jones both performed outstanding card routines. All the competitors performed their walk around routines 7 times through out the evening and demonstrated endurance and perseverance! At the end of event, President Fred Rasmussen and Web Master Bill Benson tabulated the ballets and announced the names of the competition winners. The People's Choice Award, based on the votes of 15 lay people, went to Sy Hoff. Stan Sieler placed 3rd, Raahul Srinivasan placed 2nd, and Cal Tong won first place. The 2nd half of the evening was dedicated to open performance night. Glenn DeBella presented an alternative approach to the playing cards card clip. He demonstrated a box with a deck of cards in it and a steel bolt thru the middle. After removing the bolt, he removed the deck of cards, showed openly both sides of the deck by fanning, and there was no hole to be seen in the cards. He then had a spectator select a card. The card then vanished from the deck and was subsequently found in a box, which was in a bag, next to spectator's chair. Dan Chan the Magic Man performed a routine titled Mystery before the Magic, where a spectator held one flap of a cut dollar bill. Under impossible conditions, with the flap being firmly held by the spectator the dollar bill mysteriously now has the back facing the spectator. Dan ended his routine with a display of pick-pocketing. Michael Feldman and Theron Schaub ended the evening by performing outstanding card magic. Ring 216 also sponsored a lecture by Nathan Kranzo. Nathan is a comedian, magician, mind reader, and entertainer! As a full time entertainer who has acquired a reputation for creating unique and original magic, Nathan writes a monthly column in MUM Magazine and is featured in the following Instructional DVDs: Visual Voodoo, Outside the Box, Stand Up Coin Magic, Extreme Magic Seminar. Nathan's lecture included his 3 Coin Routine, Voodoo card, The Tail, Diction, and other mentalism routinesJune 9th
Our June Ring meeting included a successful lecture by Tom Ogden after Raahul Srinivasan was voted in as Ring 216 Secretary. Tom Ogden has appeared in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Lake Tahoe, and he’s opened for such acts as Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, The Osmonds, and B.J. Thomas. His television work has included “The World’s Greatest Magic II” (NBC) and “The Great Magic of Las Vegas” (FOX), as well as numerous commercials. He has twice been voted “Parlor Magician of the Year” at the famous Magic Castle in Hollywood and has received an astounding additional 14 nominations in other categories! Today, Tom is one of America’s most popular cruise ship entertainers as well as the author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Street Magic.” Tom’s lecture material included the following: Business Card Switch, Business Card Wrap, The 7-Cent Solution, A Bird in The Hand, Five and One, Out of Sight, Cards Across, an Egg Bag routine, and tips on booking and performing children’s birthday party shows.July 11th
We held our Annual IBM RING 216 Auction/Swap Meet with sold out tables and a full house of magicians looking for bargains. Special thanks to the officers who coordinated this event: Rahuul for using the latest technology to track and manage the auction finances, Bill and Fred for helping to lead the event, and Sy, Patrick, and Cal for helping out with the inventory management. In addition, thanks to all of you who attended and supported the auction! Without you, there would not have been an auction!August 11th
Ken King taught Tony Clark’s “Knife Through Jacket." President Fred Rasmussen presented a brief segment on “Applause.” Historian Jim Blashek lectured on “Servais Le Roy.” Secretary Raahul Srinivasan taught his 5 card Biddle trick.The evening ended with Open Performance Night which included presentations from JohnJones (Reverse 4 of a kind), Andrew Dodds (Repeater Card to Pocket), Joe Caffall (Grandma’s necklace), and Stan Seiler (“You Will Stop Here” Card Trick).
September 8th
The September meeting started off with a healthy discussion on the proposal to transition the club to an Unincorporated Association. President Fred and Web Master Bill answered many questions from club members on this topic. Next, Vice President Cal Tong lead a working session on coin magic. For beginners wishing to experiment in coin magic with very little investment, Cal referenced books such as Bobo's Modern Coin Magic, T. Nelson Down's Modern Coin Manipulations, Arthur Buckley's Principles and Deceptions, and Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic. Purchasing these reprinted books in used condition can cost as little as $40 for all 4 books. Cal lead the club members through a basic "One Coin Routine" while focusing on the principles of "conditioning the audience, time delays, and displacement in space." While Secretary Raahul helped club members with the basic one coin routine, Cal lead a parallel session for a few of the more experienced coin practitioners by teaching them an advanced three coin routine using the same three principles. During the 2nd part of the evening, Raahul reviewed some coin magic highlights from the EMC convention via video projection. The last part of the meeting was “Open Performance Night!" Brenton Cromwell entertained the audience with his card to pocket routine and officially joined Ring 216, Ken Gelow performed a book test, VJ Kumar performed Rubix Card, Stan Sieler demonstrated some card fanning with designer cards, Vice President Cal performed a 3 Coin vanish and production routine, and Ken King closed the evening by performing and teaching a false shuffle.October 13th
The evening started off with voting pertaining to the club migration towards an Unincorporated Business. 97% of the votes (Total 31 ballots including in-person and email votes) were in support of the UA.At our Ring 216 Annual Close Up Competition, we had a line up of 8 Amazing Close Up Competitors including Theron Schaub, Fred Rasmussen, VJ Kumar, Michael Feldman, Alan Leeds, Joe Caffall, Cal Tong, and Andrew Dodds. Magic Castle Performer Michael Feldman performed three original effects. In the first, Michael vanished three coins which reappeared in a coin purse followed by the startling production of his own glasses from out of the purse. Next Michael performed his handling of the card under glass, sneakily loading the card, not twice, but seven times. He ended by performing a three-way transposition between spectators' selected cards and a surprise kicker where the cards appear under the box, under the glass and in a paperclip set out at the very beginning of the routine.
The Amazing Vijay showed us his close up routine where he had weaved together some of the effects he does with his own unique patter. He started off with a "hand trick" he had everyone in the audience participate in. He then talked about the joys of being a magician and learning specific skills - he then repeatedly showed how he can cut a specific number of cards called for using one finger. This demonstration was followed by a funny gag with a coin and he then concluded by showing a card box which seemed to have something rattling in it. He then managed to influence 4 people who collaborated to name a freely chosen card. You guessed it - that same card appeared in the card box.
Ring 216 Vice President Cal Tong performed his original routines which included a 3 Coin Manipulation and Transformation Act, Appearance of 4 Jumbo Chinese Coins on the table, and Jumbo Coin Matrix/Jumbo Explosion.
Ring 216 President Fred Rasmussen performed his entertaining Impossible Card Transportation, the Egyptian Chop Cup Routine, and the Five Coin Illusion/Delusion.
Alan Leeds performed Coins to Glass, Mental Photography, and "Where in the World did the coins go?
Joe Caffall performed his versions of Tony Chris's "The Chosen," "The Immortal," from"Capricornian Tales" by Christian Chelman, and "A Promise Kept," by Dave Mitchell. Theron performed Coins Across, Mentalism with a Dice, and a 3 phase card effect with the aces of which phase 2 was taught to him by the late great JC Wagner!
Andrew Dodds amazed the audience with his refreshing card magic and coin magic. While the ballots were being calculated, Glenn Debella and John Jones kicked off Open Performance Night. Glenn DeBella performed Troy Hooser's "Charming Chinese Challenge" and John Jones performed a "Driving Instructor" routine in which cards chosen by the performer and spectator changed places during a simulated automobile accident.
In closing, Event Leader and Historian Jim Blashek announced the winners of the Ring 216 Close-Up Competition: Michael Feldman won First Place, Theron Schaub won 2nd Place, and Cal Tong won 3rd Place. Congratulations to all the competitors for a great evening of entertainment.
November 10th
We sponsored a Professional Lecture by Gregory Wilson! Greg is a two-time FISM Award Winning Champion. He performs for Fortune 500 companies and just completed a one year run doing his stand-up comedy magic show at at top Casino Resort in Lake Tahoe. His lecture included material from his new instructional DVD series called "In Action." Both older material as well as brand new material was covered in this fantastic lecture.Before the lecture, Vice President Cal Tong lead the membership through the business portion of the meeting. The Nomination Committee (consisting of past presidents John Bodine, Doug Eakin, and Carey Klenetsky) lead the club membership through the 2011 officer elections process. Special thanks to the exiting officers (SAA Sy Hoff and Treasurer Patrick Reed) for their service in 2010, and congratulations to the new SAA (Theron Schaub) and new Treasurer (Will Chandler) who will be serving in 2011. In addition, the following officers in 2010 will be returning to their positions in 2011: President Fred Rasmussen, Vice President Cal Tong, Secretary Raahul Srinivasan, and Web Master Bill Benson. Many thanks to these officers for serving in 2010 and continuing their service in 2011.
December 8th
Vice President Cal Tong lead the club through the Annual Stage / Parlor Magic Competition which was the last of 3 friendly IBM RING 216 Magic Competitions in 2010. 4 ring members (Jim Mullen, Joe Oliverio, Stan Sieler, and Phil Ackerly) participated in the event and magically entertained the audience filled with both lay people and magicians.Jim performed a wonderful multi-phase mentalism act with a deck of cards. Multiple spectator's freely chosen cards were revealed by Jim with style and humor. Joe performed three of his classic effects from the ‘Big Show’. Most mentalists read people’s minds but Joe did the opposite for his first effect. He placed a thought in his audience’s mind and then proved with an oversize set of Kings that he indeed was thinking of the king one audience member called out loud. The second effect was Daryl’s ‘Identical Impossibility’, in which two audience members communicate mentally and arrive at the same selected card from two identical decks. The last effect was that of a large die penetrating through two solid steel plates held in place in an open sided box. The die magically penetrates the plates one at a time and is shown complete and whole at the end to the astonishment and delight of his audience. Stan competed with his new "steam-punk magician" stage act, where he used steam-punk technology to read the mind of a spectator: once directly, and once picking up the spectator's future thought. Phil told us about making a career change from the corporate world to becoming a full-time entertainer. His story was illustrated by borrowing money from the audience, ripping it in half, then vanishing it and finally making it reappear inside a peanut. He started to give the torn pieces back to the volunteers with a roll of scotch tape, then decided best to restore the bills for a dramatic conclusion.
At the end of event, Secretary Raahul Srinivasan and Web Master Bill Benson tabulated the ballets while the audience was entertained by magic from Richard Mayer, Michael Feldman, Peter Apples, and Phil Ackerly. Richard performed a 1 dollar bill to 100 dollar bill transformation, Michael performed his original multi-phase card under glass Magic Castle routine, Peter Apples performed a billet mentalism act, and Phil Ackerly performed a floating dollar bill effect. At the end of the evening, Vice President and Master of Ceremonies Cal Tong announced Phil Ackerly as the first place winner and Stan Sieler as the 2nd place winner. A special thanks for all the competitors for putting their acts together and entertaining the attendees during the last club meeting of the 2010 year.
