H e a r t o f t h e R i n gH e a r t o f t h e R i n gH e a r t o f t h e R i n gSeptember 2007 NewsletterVolume 20, Issue 9

I.B.M. Ring 129 - Kansas City, Missouri

Ring Members Dominate Close-Upat the Midwest Magic Jubilee

crowd watching Jason’s lecture and the line follow-ing it to purchase his products!

Ring member, Tom Burgoon served as Master ofCeremonies during the Friday evening show. Hishumor and antics alone made the evening a greatone!

My favorite area at the convention was the Dealer’sRoom. Club members, Terry Elton,

Melito Takes 1st, Chaikin 3rdBy Steve Steiner

Our Ring 129 members made quite a presence at theMidwest Magic Jubilee Convention, held on August9-11 in St. Louis, Missouri. Mike Melito took home1st place in the Close-up Competition, and Josh Chai-kin finished 3rd. Both men did outstanding jobs andrepresented our ring very well. Another local magi-cian, Devin Henderson, finished 2nd in the StageCompetition during the weekend.

The convention included three evening stage shows,two afternoon close up shows, numerous lectures anda whole bunch of fellowship with other magiciansfrom all over the United States.

I counted 16 ring members in attendance during theweekend convention. Several of them were billed asConvention “Headliners”. Jason Dean and ToddLamanske lectured and were part of the close-up tal-ent booked during the weekend. There was a greatcrowd in attendance for their lectures and they werevery well received. In the picture spread in the backof this month’s newsletter you can see the huge

Josh Chaikin (left) and Mike Melito prepare to compete ...

Inside This IssueInside This IssueInside This Issue

Mark Your Calendars 2Ring 129 Board Members 2Magicians of the Month 2September’s Teach-a-Trick 2News and Announcements 3Last Month’s Ring Report 4Kyle Sheel Magic Show Review 5Mike Melito’s Reflections From the Magic Jubilee 5Paul Cummings Lecture Review 7

From The Editor’s Desk 7Website of the Month 8Magician of the Month Winners 8Kendrick “Ice” McDonald Lecture Announcement 9Scott’s Thoughts 10Developing Your Routines 12Our Web Page 14Dealer Booth Policy 14Late-Breaking Jay Scott Berry Email Message 14Picture Spreads 13-21

Page Page

Continued on page 13 - (See “Jubilee”)

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President - Mike Blum 913. 383. 2586

Vice President - Julia Clark 816. 478. 9787

Secretary - John Hicks 913. 334. 1392

Treasurer - Kirk DeWeese 816. 224. 5000

Sergeant-at-Arms - Mike Melito 816. 459. 8314

Board Members:Rod Sipe 816. 916. 3655Ken Reedy 816. 734. 1484Eric Woods 913. 709. 1606

Past President - Chuck Macan 913. 681. 0368

Ring 129 Board MembersRing 129 Board Members

Congratulations!

Josh Chaikin - August’s Close-upMagician of the Month!

Gene Kean - August’s Stage Magicianof the Month!

Jason Dean - August’s winner of2 Renaissance Festival Tickets!

Mark Your Calendars!Mark Your Calendars!Mark Your Calendars!

Thursday, September 6thRegular Ring Meeting, 7:00 pm,Radisson Hotel, 95th & I-35, Lenexa, KS.

Thursday, September 20thSeptember Board Meeting, 7:00 pmDenny’s Restaurant, I-35 & Shawnee Mission Parkway

Thursday, September 20thKendrick “Ice” McDonald Lectureat U.S. Toy, 7:00pmSponsored by S.A.M. Assembly #30

Thursday, October 4thRegular Ring Meeting, 7:00 pm,Radisson Hotel, 95th & I-35, Lenexa, KS.

Saturday, October 6thSorcerers Circle Sponsored Day at theRenaissance Festival, Bonner Springs, KS.

Friday, October 12thRing 129 Halloween ShowRoeland Park Community Center

Thursday, October 18thOctober Board Meeting, 7:00 pmDenny’s Restaurant, I-35 & ShawneeMission Parkway

Friday, October 19thJay Scott Barry Lecture, 7:00 pm at U.S. Toy

Don’t Forget!Our Next Regular Ring Meet-

ing, Thursday, September 6th,7:00 pm, The Radisson,95th & I-35, Lenexa, KS

Invite a Friend!

TeachTeachTeach---aaa---TrickTrickTrickSeptember’s Teach-a-Trick is titled“1089” from page 183 of the book: Ency-

clopedia of PracticalMagic ,aka The Artof Magic and Sleightof Hand ,(NicholasEinhorn) and will betaught by LarryPoague.

To sign-up to do a “Teach-a-Trick,contact Mike Melito at

mmelito@kc.rr.com

Teach-a-Trick qualifies forSorcerers Circle Points!

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Jay Scott Berry Coming to Town! - Mark your calendars for the Jay Scott Berrylecture to be held at U.S. Toy, on Friday, October 19th, 2007, 7:00 p.m.! A three-hour “Master Class” will also be taught by Jay on Saturday, October 20th. with pre-registration required. Complete details in next month’s newsletter!Special Note! - See Special, “Late-Breaking” email message from Jay on Page 14!

Sorcerers Circle Sponsors Renaissance Festival Event - Saturday, October 6thhas been set for the annual Sorcerers Circle Day at the Renaissance Festival. Normallypriced $17 tickets can be purchased through Ring 129 for only $10! For tickets or moreinformation, contact Rod Sipe - rod@eatfire.com or call 816-916-3655.

Nominating Committee Election - Ring President, Mike Blum an-nounced to the Ring Board that the Nominating Committee Election will take placeat the September 6th Regular Ring Meeting. The Nominating Committee will thenmeet and bring forward a recommended slate of potential board candidates for thetotal approval of the Ring Membership at the October 4th meeting. Should you havean interest in serving on the Ring 129 Board of Directors, please notify the Nominating Committee.

Halloween Show Date Set - The date for the annual Halloween show has been setfor Friday, October 12th. Show producer, Kirk DeWeese, told the Ring Board that hehas almost finalized the slate of performers for the show. The ring provides the Hallow-een show to the City of Roeland Park in trade for the use of the Roeland Park Commu-nity Center for the Ring’s Stage and Close-Up Competitions.

The Ring 129 Board is also exploring the possibility of producing an additional Halloween Show inconjunction with a local community theater organization to help raise additional funds for the Ring.More information will be released when it becomes available.

October Mini-Lecture Set - Mike Melito will present a mini-lecture at the regularRing 129 Meeting on October 4th on the subject of “Using Ebay for Acquiring Magic”.He will include several tips and tricks that will assist not only the begin-ner, but even the experts in using the internet auction service.

The Ring Board has also approved a request from Tom Burgoon togive a mini-lecture at one of the upcoming regular ring meetings!

More information will be made available after a date has been confirmed.

Stage Competition Committee - The Stage Magician of the Year Committee,headed up by Larry Warshaw has met twice and their recommendations concerningways to improve the Ring’s annual event will be shared on September 6th, at the regu-lar Ring Meeting. The Stage Magician Competition is annually held during late Janu-ary of each year.

News and Announcements

4

There was avery sizeablecrowd in atten-dance for ourregular monthlyring meeting,held on August2nd, at the Rad-dison Hotel inOverland Park,Kansas. Beingthe third con-

secutive month to meet in the club’s new location isproving to be a wise decision as we are beginning tosee larger crowds showing up at the new and largerfacility.

President Mike Blum began the meeting by makingvarious announcements concerning many activitiesthat are taking place within the ring over the nextcouple of months. Those activities include lecturesby Paul Cummings and Jay Scott Berry, a one-daymagic learning event called Magic University 103,and a ring Halloween show.

Long-time ring members, Bob & Bernice Klamm,next presented a lecture which included several tricksand routines involving comedy and magic. Bob used

the occasion topromote his latestbook, “Outfoxthe Kids for Fun& Profit” by dis-cussing some ofthe basic princi-ples of usingcomedy andmagic to enter-

Last Month’s

RingReportBy Steve Steiner

tain both adults and children.

The night was also filled with plenty of magic astwelve people performed in three different cata-gories.

In the Closeup Competition, Jared Millican made asigned card re-appear in another deck while MartyIsenberg performed a torn & restored napkin mental-ism effect and Harris Deutsch did a series of coinmanipulations. However, the winner for the eveningwas Josh Chaikin who did a mentalism routine whichused four different selections from different Chineserestaurant menus. Josh’s routine actually served as apractice run for his performance in the Close-upCompetition at the Midwest Magic Jubilee in St.Louis the following week.

In the Stage Contest Larry Poague and Phil Franklinperformed two different mentalism effects while 39-year member, Gene Kean drove in from Lawrence,Kansas to perform a series of different routines thatincluded cups and balls. Gene’s performance wonthe approval ofthe audience ashe was declaredthe August StageMagician of theMonth by themembers in at-tendance.

In the open com-petition severalothers performedincluding JoeWhite, EricWoods, Mike Melito, Jason Dean, and Mark Tams.

Steve Steiner can be reached via email at:steves7@microdsl.net

The Monthly Ring Report is alsopublished monthly in the I.B.M.

“Linking Ring” Magazine.

This past month, Steve Steinerfilled in for vacationingRing Editor, Stu Lewis.

Jane & Duane Fields enjoy the humor-ous performance...

Berniece & Bob Klamm

5

The following is adaily journal writ-ten by Ring 129Board Member,Mike Melito of hisexperiences at theMidwest MagicJubilee held in St.Louis on August 9-11, 2007.

Day 1, Thursday - I must say that 7:30 rollsaround pretty early on your day off. My wife and Itook off for St Louis early Thursday morning for theJubilee with Steve Steiner and Josh Chaikin intow. We had made good time and got there a littleearly before the registration was open. It was fun tolinger around waiting, seeing the attendees comingand going.

The first night’s show was pretty disappointing. Af-ter starting a ½ hour late the first act looked like hewas still setting up props and re-arranging tables dur-ing his show. Then there was an older gentlemanwho came out to tell a few jokes and sing a fewsongs. My wife commented that she was surprisedto see this sort of an act during a magic convention –well, so was I.

Day 2, Friday - I must say 7:00 rolls aroundpretty early on your day off. However, there was amandatory meeting for close-up and stage perform-ers that morning at 8:00. Again, started late becausethey were waiting for all those who signed up towake up and get to the meeting. I felt sorry for thestage guys cause only 2 showed up and the chairmanchanged the rule for mandatory attendance to bewaived. Well, it was off to the contest!

There weren’t a lot of people awake and movingaround yet so they only were able to fill one room toperform in. This way we didn’t have to do multipleperformances. Wouldn’t you know it – I drew first

(Continued on next page )

By Steve Steiner

On Saturday, Au-gust 4th, I had theprivilege of attend-ing Kyle Sheel’s“Welcome to theImpossible”magic show at theIn the Light Per-forming Arts Centerin Peculiar, Mis-souri. The one-hour and forty-five

minute show included a wide variety of stage magic,manipulations, mentalism, and major illusions. I at-tended the afternoon show along with close to 125others and only recognized one other magician in theaudience which can only lead one to assume thatmost of the crowd consisted of friends, family, andcommunity spectators.

After researching some past Ring 129 Club history, Ifound that Kyle Sheel has amassed quite a number ofachievements for only being 17 years of age. Aftergetting his start at the age of eight in the back of theU.S. Toy and Magic Shop, he has continued per-forming and perfecting his art, achieving severalawards and recognitions along the way.

At the age of twelve, Kyle became the youngestmember to win the prestigious I.B.M. Ring 129Stage Magician of the Year Award. The followingyear, he became the youngest member to win thesame award in consecutive years. In July of 2002, hetraveled to Las Vegas, Nevada to compete n the So-ciety of American Magicians International JuniorStage contest, taking home the 1st place award. Itwas during that same year that he received proclama-tions from Mayor Kay Barnes and Governor MattBlunt for his outstanding achievements.

In his August 4th show, Kyle, accompanied by hisLead Assistant and girlfriend, Emma Jo, and On-Stage

(See “Kyle Sheel”, Page 13)

Kyle Sheel’s

“ Welcome to the Impossible”

Magic Review

Left to Right: Emma Jo, Kyle Sheel,

Kat Cheney, and Blake Silvernail

Reflections From theReflections From theReflections From theMidwest Magic JubileeMidwest Magic JubileeMidwest Magic Jubilee

Guest Column

6

Sick and ConvalescentIf you know of a ring member or their family member who is

hospitalized or has passed away contact:

Carl Macan913-648-1465

crm130@aol.com (if e-mail is sent please contact Carl byphone to let him know to check his e-mail account)

again. I had fun with the crowd waiting for thejudges and timer getting set telling them Melito isspelled with one “R”. Performing was a little nerv-ous, especially when the judges are David Solo-mon, Mark Mason and some guy named Todd La-manske. But it was still fun.

Later that day was the first close-up show with theKansas Citycontingency –Jason Dean,former residentJohn Born andthat Todd guyagain. I knewit was a greatshow becausethere was onepoint when my

wife said “that was AWESOME”. The eve-ning’s show had another KC native Tom Burgoondoing emcee duties with his very funny jokes andtricks. The highlight was seeing a young kidcalled on stage actually able to make a balloon ani-mal that Tom tried to confuse the instructionson. The crowd went nuts when he presented Tom acompleted dog.

Day 3, Saturday - I must say 7:30 rolls aroundpretty early on the weekend. I got up early to seethe stage show performers. I was surprised to seethat for the first contestant, the sound guy (whoclaimed he had done this for many years) turnedoff the music in mid-performance. The contestant,Jason Anderson had been in Kansas City a whileago doing a lecture with Steve Daly. Jason han-dled it like a pro. He stood in position waiting forthe music to catch up. At the first crescendo in themusic he picked up and did the same moves wherehe was fanning a now empty hand to send the con-fetti flying that had already been fanned and wasnow on stage. He went right along and gave a fineperformance.

The 2nd close up show was a little later with JimmyMolinari, Howie Schwarzman, Joe Young and thencame Omar Ferret. I had not seen someone get astanding ovation before in this kind of close up per-formance. However, Omar got one in every roomhe performed. To see him vanish items and appearglasses filled with a drink was truly amaz-ing. Dale Huffman commented afterwards –

“Now THAT was close-up”.

They announced the winners of the contests. Instage, Jason Anderson came in first with anotherKC native Devin Henderson finishing 2nd. In closeup, Josh Chaikin got 3rd and I was honored withfirst place. It was a nice award – but meeting peo-ple who came up to me to say they enjoyed theshow was just as nice. The last night’s show wasthe best. With the side splitting humor of MichaelFinney, the evening was a lot of fun. SonnyFontana gave a beautiful performance of shadowpuppets that got a resounding applause. And thefunniest act was watching Les Arnold and Daz-zle. The humorous energy of Dazzle dancing wasreally the funniest part of the act.

Day 4, Sunday -I must say 8:30 rolls aroundpretty early when you’ve been up really late at theHospitality suite. Still, there was a chance to meetsome very nice and wonderful people. A memberof the Merlin Order and also the National presidentof the SAM, MariaIbanez was so niceto talk to and get toknow. Oh, thepeople you’ll meetat a conven-tion. The finalgood byes to newfriends was nothard because Iknew I’d see them again soon at another conven-tion.

Mike Melito can be reached via email at:mmelito@kc.rr.com

7

From theEditor’s DeskBy Steve Steiner

Ring 129 memberswere treated to anawesome display ofclose-up card magicthis past month as thetalented Paul Cum-mings presented his“FASDIU” lecture atU.S. Toy & Magic

on August 13th. Paul’s lecture was arranged by ringmember, Jason Dean who certainly knows a cardmaster when he sees one!

Paul shared several card routines that he had mas-tered from 30 to 35 years of working close-up magicin bars and restaurants. While Paul shared the work-ings of his routines, most of the 20 or so members inattendance watched with open mouths at the skillsand dexterity he displayed. His use of the “sidepass” was truly amazing.

Paul offered the attendees his lecture notes and CD’sduring the break and following the lecture. Althougheveryone knew that the moves and skills displayedwould involve much time and practice to master, it

did not keep eve-ryone from trulyenjoying an eve-ning of watchinga great card ma-gician performhis magic.

Steve Steiner can be reached via email at:steves7@microdsl.net

I want to begin by saying “thank you” to the I.B.M.Ring 129 Club members for the multitude of compli-ments I have received from my ring newsletter publi-cation last month. If you liked the last one then Iknow that you are going to really enjoy the addedgoodies in this month’s edition. With this being onlymy second month serving as the club newsletter edi-tor, I have to warn you that I am still feeling my wayaround with this “Newsletter Thing”.

At the last Ring 129 Board Meeting I was asked tocome up with some basic policies concerning ourclub newsletter, including what news and items willbe considered appropriate for publication. With theboard,s help, I would like to share them with you atthis time.

1. The Emphasis will be Local and Personal – Abasic principle of the written media is to know whomyour reading audience is and understand that peoplelove to read and view pictures about themselves.Our club newsletter’s audience is its own member-ship. Although I subscribe to two different dailynewspapers, the only clippings that I have saved andhave taped to walls of my room are the articles orpictures about myself. Now some of you may thinkthat to be vain, but just think about it for a moment.

Have you ever gone over to a friend’s house only tospend the evening watching some of their old familyhome movies? Usually the only people really inter-ested in the movie are the people in the movie itself.I believe the same principle can be applied to ournewsletter. I want to see it filled with pictures, news,information, and stories about our club members. Iwill therefore be seeking out more and more articlesand stories from each of you as time goes by. Don’tbe surprised to get an occasional request from me tosubmit an article or picture for a future edition.

Continued on Page 9 - (See “From the Editor’s Desk”)

Lecture ReviewLecture ReviewLecture Review

Paul CummingsPaul CummingsPaul CummingsBy Steve Steiner

8

Magician of the Month WinnersMagician of the Month Winners

This month’s “Websiteof the Month” is a littlebit more obscure sitelast month’s “MagicCafé”. It is calledMagic New Zealand E-zine. The official link ishttp://www.watson.co.nz/fezine.html. I stumbledon to this site when Iwas contacted by the site’s author, Alan Watson,concerning a fraudulent illusion builder that hadscammed several magicians, me being one. Shortlythereafter, I signed up for his weekly magic newslet-ter. I must say that this weekly email is remarkablyfull each week of magic news from around theworld.

A typical week’s newsletter will include informationconcerning conventions, magicians, contests, head-lines, lectures, conventions, tours and televisionshows. Also included are articles submitted by a va-riety of independent contributors. It also featureshealth reports and notices of broken wands ceremo-nies. The person who is first to submit a specificnews item will receive full credit when that item ispublished.

If you visit Alan’swebsite, you will seethat his family has along and active inter-est and career inmagic. He has givenour Ring 129 News-letter special permis-sion to reprint anyarticle from his news-letters. As a matter of

(Continued on Page 13—See “Website”)

The following monthly winners have qualified to compete in the

Stage Magician of the Year Contest

traditionally held in late January or early February of each year.

Reminder for all members that would like to com-pete in the monthly contests and open perform-ances:

Please make sure that your performances arewithin the allotted time of 10 minutes.

Make sure that you are aware of the fire policy. You can find all the details for performance

rules on the ring website.

Month WinnerJanuary Rod SipeFebruary Steve Steiner

March Dennis BurksApril —————May Joe WhiteJune Marty IsenbergJuly Jonathan Atkinson

August Gene KeanSeptember

OctoberNovemberDecember

Month Winner

July Jim HagarAugust Josh Chaikin

SeptemberOctober

NovemberDecemberJanuaryFebruary

MarchAprilMayJune

The following monthly winners have qualified to compete in the

Close-Up Magician of the Year Contesttraditionally held Mid-Summer of each year.

Website ofthe Month

Check This Out

9

“From the Editors Desk” - “Continued From Page 7)

2. If it is Local Magic News, Then its Fair Game! -In the past there have been questions concerningwhether it is appropriate to publish news and articlesabout non-club members in the Ring 129 ClubNewsletter. Some may have even thought it wrongto promote events sponsored by other magic clubsand organizations. The policy of this editor will be toadvance and promote all local magic.

Now, I still believe that we should endeavor to bringin as many club members as possible, but we shouldnot exclude the promotion of some of the localmagic happenings and magicians, simply because itdoes not directly involve our club. If David Copper-field comes to town, I am probably going to have anarticle in the newsletter. If one of the other localclubs are hosting an event, then it too will probablybe in our publication. We need to be leaders in thepromotion of local magic and local magicians.

3. Club News First - Unless it is a major event, the“page-one” type stories of the newsletter will dealwith club news. As editor, I reserve the right to de-termine the placement of all the articles in eachnewsletter and will try my best to make the “clubnews” our top stories.

4. Disclaimer - Even thought this sacred, hollowed,and historical newsletter will be proofread and re-viewed thoroughly each month by an expert team of129 editors, I reserve the right to unintentionallyomit events, pictures & news, and misspell individ-ual’s names without notice. (Tongue in Cheek!)

Steve Steiner can be reached via email at:steves7@microdsl.net

Kendrick “Ice”McDonald willbe lecturing atU.S. Toy &Magic on Thurs-day, September20th beginningat 7:00 pm.The event issponsored bythe local Societyof American Ma-gicians, Assem-bly #30. Ken-drick’s theme

for the lecture will be “Show No-Knows”and he will deal with both stage andclose-up performances.

“Ice” has been a premiere performer atthe Society of American Magicians Con-vention and the International Brother-hood of Magicians Convention, breakingaudience attendance records. He haswon numerous awards in the entertain-ment circles and was featured on thecover of the May 2001 issue of "The Link-ing Ring", the world's largest magic publi-cation by the International Brotherhoodof Magicians.

ICE was recently featured in the history-making documentary, "The Art and Soulof Magic; The Story of the American BlackMagicians" filmed in New York City.

For more information about KendrickMcdonald, you can access his website:

www.ice.mcdonald.net

Kendrick “Ice”Kendrick “Ice”Kendrick “Ice”McDonald toMcDonald toMcDonald toLecture at U.S. ToyLecture at U.S. ToyLecture at U.S. Toy

10

Showdown At High Noon“Hey Dave, show this guy that you can shove

a cigarette through a quarter.” “Hey Mike, can youshow these guys that one where you stick the card onthe ceiling?” “Hey guys, watch Frank change thisone dollar bill into a hundred. You CAN do it can’tyou, Frank?” “OK everybody, hang on to yourwatches and pocketbooks. This guy is good!”

How often have we been put in a situationwhere two things like this have happened? First, youare caught cold, outside of a regular performing en-gagement without the appropriate gimmick, and sec-ond, even if you had the necessary something for theeffect, the denouement is blown. The guy has al-ready spoiled your ending by revealing the climax.It then becomes a challenge to figure out how youare going to accomplish the effect. Perhaps yourpresentation is entertaining enough to put everyoneoff guard again and again, particularly those who areseeing it for the first time, but the "friend" who wantsyou to show it to his friends may be looking for thesecret and has heard your clever banter several timesbefore. He may also merely be wanting his friendsto know that he knows a magician.

Several issues have been raised here, specifi-cally: 1) are some tricks which become "reputationmakers" too strong, 2) should you always be pre-pared to perform that "special" effect, 3) should weperform on demand like a trained seal, 4) is it possi-ble to have alternate methods for their favorite trick.Basically, what do we say and what do we do whenwe are placed in a no win situation?

First of all, I believe that there are some ef-fects that are so good that they can give you a reputa-tion as a magician and become associated with you.Whenever that person sees anyone else doing that

trick which they saw you performing, they refer to itas “your” trick. For example, I have been perform-ing the rising cartoon card effect known as MartinLewis' “Cardiogra­phic” since it was first published.When some people who had seen me first performthe effect then saw David Copperfield do it on hisTV special in 1990, they said “Hey, he’s doingScott's trick.” Or when I do the torn and restorednewspaper, they may say "Hey, that guy's doing BillPalmer's trick (a local magician)." That's just the na-ture of this business unless you are so creative thatyou are doing something that no one else is doingyet. This gets into the realm of infringement andcopyright problems which is quite topical now andnot within the scope of this article.

There are some great effects that can becomereputation makers for you that you should never haveto worry about. For instance, most any illusion (i.e.cutting a woman in half, a levitation, or an impale-ment) necessitates you having the proper equipmentbefore you can perform the feat...or does it? Youmay be in someone's home when you are handed abroomstick and asked if you can suspend someone inthe room.

Then there are the dove workers who gainfame by making doves appear and disappear. If thisis exclusively the kind of magic you perform, thenyou should be safe. More than likely, you will neverbe asked to make the pet canary disappear or tochange it into a rabbit.

As we move down in size from the larger il-lusions, there are some great effects like the torn andrestored newspaper mentioned earlier or even theever flowing Lota Bowl. But even here, you may behanded a newspaper at a party and asked to tear it upand put it back together again or jokingly asked torefill their martini without going to the bar. Thereare some smaller, close-up effects that require someapparatus that make for a good reputation. One sucheffect of mine that comes to mind is the ring on stickand/or ring off rope effects. These can be performedif the friend asking you to do it has a rope or wand/stick. I once performed the effect using someone'sshoelace they took from their shoe and a woodenspoon from the kitchen. How far must we go?

(Continued - See “Scott Wells” , Page 11)

11

“Scott Wells” (Continued from Page 10)

Then we come to the “impossible” im-promptu effects like the cigarette through quarter.What can we do when we are asked to performsomething like this? With the larger effects that re-quire props or apparatus, we can easily beg off say-ing that we don't have the proper equipment. Butwhat about the tricks that apparently require no appa-ratus, no special equipment, just a borrowed dollar orcoin and your renown skill as a magician? You'refaced with a no win situation. You have apparentlyproven your prowess in a previous performance.Now you are asked to do it again for real in an im-promptu situation thus securing your fame for a bitlonger and building the stature of the one who askedyou to do it among his group of friends.

If you can’t do it or anything else, then re-gardless of any clever remark you make, you areviewed as an amateur having no special "powers"and the one who asked you to display your talentsstill looks good because he “called you down”. Itwas high noon and you lost the showdown.

I could suggest several different responses tosomeone's request, but I feel that all of them are infe-rior to actually accepting the challenge if the requestis sincere. That is, if you are prepared with the re-quested effect or if you can do anything else. Buteven if you are prepared now, will you be ready laterwhen you are asked again? If you don't satisfy theone asking to see the trick now, then you can bet thathe will ask you again at another inopportune occa-sion. At the risk of feeling as if you are performingon command like a trained seal, I suggest that youhave something else ready to perform upon request.It doesn't have to be a "killer" effect but something tosatisfy those who are seeing you perform and toprove that you are indeed a magician worthy of pro-fessional respect. And more importantly, provingthat you are someone whom they should consider asthe entertainment for their next affair.

Let me first address the psychological prob-lem you may have of performing on command. Ifyou let yourself be used, then you will be used. Youshouldn't feel as if you have to put on a whole showor run through your whole repertoire; however,there's nothing wrong with doing two or three tricksto establish your position then you can use the oppor-

tunity to pass out your business cards and ask fortheir cards. I prefer to try down play the fact that Iam a magician rather than trying to always prove thatI am a magician at every drop of the hint. Only afterI am convinced that they really want to see a trickwill I do it. I believe that I have mentioned beforethat Max Malini was one of the only magicians tohave been invited to join the prestigious Player'sClub in New York mainly because he didn't "force"himself on everyone by offering to do a trick for eve-ryone all the time; however, he was ready at any timeto do some incredible magic when pressed into ser-vice. Believe it or not, he nearly always carried ablock of ice under his cloak to use as a final load in atrick that made a reputation for him.

You might start by saying something like“Yeah sure, I’d like to show you that but first let meshow you something else that's a lot better and youhaven't seen before.” Then go into a different im-promptu routine using anything you have at hand(i.e. coins, napkins, rubber bands, silverware, etc.).If you do any mental effects, then now would be thetime to put these talents to work. Whatever you do,make sure that you can do it well and that it's not aweak trick that looks as if anyone can do it. By thusestablishing yourself as more than a “trickster” youdon't have to feel ashamed that you have not per-formed the trick requested. You may have been suc-cessful enough to make your friend forget about that“special” trick he requested. You have just per-formed other “miracles” that have satisfied the intentbehind his request . . . that is, to let his other friendsknow that he knows a professional entertainer.Moreover, you have actually secured your place inyour friend’s mind as a complete conjurer. Someonewho is able to leap tall buildings at a single bound,etc.

12

Developing YourDeveloping YourRoutinesRoutinesBy Kyle Peron

What I have found that when Istart to work on a manipulat-ive act (or most any magicact) using non-common ma-nipulative objects, I always gothrough a process that seemsto work for me to generateideas and methods. I would like to share some of thesethoughts with you if I could in hopes they might helpyou as well.

Step One: First you must look past the object and seewhat the object really is. By this I mean you look pastthat fact that this is a bracelet or that this object is abroach. By looking past the object you then start tobreak down the object into its most simplest of forms.The bracelet no longer is a bracelet but is a circular ob-ject or a ring of sorts. The broach is not a broach butalmost like a small coin and circular in nature and solidbut also flat. By breaking the object down to its sim-plest form, one can often start to see how this objectcan be used. This brings me to phase two.

Step Two: Once you have looked past the object andbrought it to its simplest forms, you can then look backinto your manipulative skills and arsenal and see if youcan apply certain moves you already know to thesenew objects. For example, if one looks at the braceletas a ring, then you can first start practicing any type ofring on string moves. What moves for ring and stringcould be applied to this bracelet of which has the sametype of shape? A similar thing can be said and donewith the broach. The broach could be very similar inshape and form to a coin. What type of manipulativemoves can be done with coins that you could apply tothe broach. This brings me to phase three.

Step Three: You do not have to reinvent the wheelwhen you create a custom manipulative act based onobjects that are not commonly used for manipulativemagic. As discussed above, you can learn to studymoves and use moves you already know and applythese moves to the new objects you are using. Movesused for thimbles, CDs, cards, billiard balls and coinscan often be used in the same way for new objects (inthis case jewelry).

Step Four: Step four is where I begin to experiment.This means really studying the object for what it is. Itmeans looking at it, handling it and using some of themethods and moves you already know to see what maywork for you. The more you get used to experimentingwith the objects through the act of doing, the sooneryou can realize what moves you already know may beable to be applied to this new object. It also then allowsyou to see if any certain move can be adapted in someway to help you achieve what you are after.

Step Five: Step 5 is where I see if there is any qualityabout this new object that I can use to my advantage.For example, a broach may have something on the backthat I can use to allow my hands to clip it in some fash-ion allowing me more possibilities for moves and se-quences. A necklace can be rolled up and condensedinto a smaller form and so can be concealed differentlyallowing for further possibilities. Study the object andsee if anything about the object may give you an ad-vantage. Often times what some magicians see as a hin-drance may in fact actually be an advantage.

Step Six: Step 6 is simply trying things out. Go aheadand try stuff. What would happen if I take a necklacein combination with a Fantasio vanishing wand? Hmmperhaps the wand can change into the necklace. Thismeans you will not know unless you simply start DO-ING. Try things out and see what works and what maynot.

Step Seven: Make sure to video tape all your practicesessions. This is very important as most of what youdevelop will be by a happy accident. You will want iton tape so that you can refer to it after any session. Of-ten times something will happen by accident and youmay not realize how you got to that point. The videowill allow you to see your progression of ideas.

There are certainly more steps that I use and can beused, but I hope these 7 simple steps will help get youstarted in the right direction for creating unique ma-nipulative act ideas. As always, I encourage you thereaders to let me know your thoughts.

Kyle Peron, Magician and Illusionist, can be reached byemail: magic4u02@aol.com or by visiting his website:www.kyleandkellymagic.com This article was used by permis-sion from Magic New Zealand, Issue Number: #518, © Copy-right 2007 Alan Watson

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As part of a new monthly feature, I am selecting amagical “Website of the Month”. It is my hope to passalong to you each month, not only some of my favoritemagical sites, but some of your favorites as well!Should you discover a new and exciting magical web-site, please feel free to pass it along to me.

Thanks,

Steve Steinersteves7@microdsl.net

(“Kyle Sheel” - (Continued from Page 5)

Assistant, Kat Cheney, overcame a less-than-perfectstage environment and some occasional technicaldifficulties to provide a very entertaining show. Itwas Kyle’s poise and experience that helped makethe show very entertaining for all those in atten-dance.

He opened the show with a flurry of manipulationsthat included the production of several coins anddoves. Shortly thereafter, Kyle produced Emma Joout of his torn and restored newspaper. Emma Joand Kyle worked several major illusions throughoutthe day including a very well done Sub Trunk routinein which they switched places wearing straight jack-ets!

I found their most dramatic illusion was a shadowbox in which Emma Jo’s shadow was folded up intoa small square card with a real rose attached. Al-though I have seen them perform their KrondrumBox illusion in the past, I still cannot figure out howEmma Jo can squeeze herself into the box and missall those rods and tubes!

Although the illusions were a big hit, Kyle’s bestroutines were a couple of the older and more prac-ticed tricks. His performance of “The Sands of theDesert” had everyone spellbound and the ChocolateMilk routine had everyone amazed. It was duringthat routine that he poured several different drinksfrom the same carton of chocolate milk. The realkicker followed as he passed out the drinks and hadmembers of the audience validate the drinks by sam-pling them.

Midway through the show, Kyle took a short breakand handed the stage over to the young Blake Silver-nail. Blake, an award-winning magician in his ownright, performed two very entertaining routinesshowing his smooth style and poise.

Kyle and his assistants were very poised and playfuland really seemed to enjoy doing their routines forthe audience. Their attitudes were infectious to thecrowd which should be a lesson all of us who enter-tain. The show ended with Kyle doing a Napkin toRose to Snowstorm routine while Emma Jo sang afinale song.

To contact Kyle visit www.kylesheelmagic.com

“Website” - (Continued from page 8)

fact, this month’s article titled “Developing YourRoutines” is a reprint from one of his early Augustnewsletters.

The main reason I wanted to share this particular sitewith you is to encourage you to sign up for hisweekly email publication. There is no charge and itis easy to sign up. Simply go to the link, fill in theboxes, and send it away. The newsletter will comein text form without pictures and fanfare. It’s a greatwebsite. Try it out for a few weeks and see if youdon’t agree.

“Jubilee” - (Continued from Page 1)

Tom Burgoon, and U.S. Toy & Magic’s Dale Huff-man & Corey Harris manned their own Dealer’sBooths and from the times I visited, it looked as ifsales were going very well!

In this edition of the Ring Newsletter, Mike Melitoshares his daily reflections from the convention in anarticle that you will not want to miss. Congratula-tions again to Mike and Josh for their accomplish-ments!

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Pictures-Pictures-Pictures!

Check out the 9 pages of photosfrom magic events this past month!

Picture Spread Page

Midwest Magic Jubilee 15-17Kyle Sheel’s Magic Show 18Paul Cummings Lecture 19August Ring Meeting 20-23

Our Web PageMuch helpful information can befound on the Ring 129 Web Page:

www.ring129.com

The following passwords are neededfor members to access special areas of the website:

User Name: ring129 Password: aj

If you have questions concerning thering website, contact Ken Reedy at816-734-1484 or email him at …

webdesigners@kc.rr.com.

Dealer Booth PolicyDealer Booth PolicyDealer Booth PolicyIn order to set up a dealer table at Ring 129 Meet-ings, the board of directors haveestablished the following policy.

A dealer is considered legitimateprovided they meet one of thefollowing criteria:

Operate their business out of an actual magicstorefront or building.

Have an actual magic dealer’s I.D. or busi-ness license.

Have a Sales Tax Number

The Heart of the Ring is published monthly as a ser-vice to the members of IBM Ring 129. Views and commentsdo not necessarily reflect the opinions of Ring 129 officers,the IBM, or the Editor.

Members are encouraged to submit articles and commentsfor publishing and earn additional Sorcerers Circle Points.

Articles should be emailed to the editorby the 20th of the month.

steves7@microdsl.net

Late Breaking News!

Just as this newsletter was to go to press, we re-ceived an important email from Jay Scott Berryconcerning his scheduled lecture on October19th and “Master Class” on October 20th:

From: Jay Scott Berry

As I mentioned, I have been able to set aside Satur-day, October 20th for a Master Class. The normalprice for this 3 hour, hands-on session is $50 perperson. However, I am offering $10 off for anyonewishing to reserve a space in advance. This is rec-ommended, as seating is limited. All they need do isemail me and I will organize it from there:jsb@jayscottberry.com

The time and location details are yet to be deter-mined. Usually we just find a convenient localmeeting place, such as a member's home or confer-ence room. If you have any suggestions on thisplease let me know. Details on the Master Class areat: http://www.jayscottberry.com/masterclass.aspx

Finally, please remind everyone about the Topit in-stallations. This is a special service that we offerwith the lecture. My wife, Lisa, is recognized as thebest in the world at installing JSB Topits, SleevePockets and Side Pocket Slits. Advance reservationsfor this are recommended. However, anyone whojust wishes to bring along their jackets can decideafter the lecture to have installations done. Moreinfo on Lisa and this service are at:http://www.sewmagical.com/topits.html

We look forward to seeing you all in October.All the Best,

Jay