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Our August meeting began with an update on the great magic events our members attended in the previous month and an update on the upcoming magic in the Seattle area. Tom Payne told us about the closing of an old magic shop and the opening of a new one.

Our president, Jim Earnshaw, welcomed our newest member, Dave Buck, to the S.A.M. and to our club. Dan Kennedy, who recently injured his hand, showed us that he could still do card magic without touching the cards. He had a spectator handle the deck and follow his instructions to find the selected card. The effect was based on Daryl’s “Untouched.”

Larry Dimmit helped a spectator see through his own third eye and the spectator unbelievably divined his own ESP card. Roger Sylvester performed an ACAAN effect where the card is found reversed in the exact location in the deck. It was based on Dai Vernon’s trick that can’t be explained. Jim Earnshaw performed a manipulation act using three coins, a salt shaker, a butter knife and a napkin. The coins appeared and disappeared to the beautiful music of the Blue Danube.

Mark Paulson told us that his father never let him play with cards but that he’s always been drawn to them. Each card in his deck had a different name on the back. The spectator’s freely chosen card turned out to be named Satan. Maybe his dad was on to something. Mark also showed us a balloon that we all burst with the power of our minds.

Chuck Kleiner performed Docc Hilford’s “Wizard’s Manual.” Otto Miller showed us a matrix routine with four cards and four coins where all of the coins magically moved from one under each card to all four under one card. He then upped the skill level by performing a matrix routine with no cards, just the coins and his two hands. Now that’s magic!

Our club has nurtured a positive and supportive environment where members can workshop new routines and get positive feedback on how to improve them. Michael Jacobs took the workshop opportunity this month and demonstrated the difference between a magician and a mentalist. Michael’s effect was based on Milbourne Christopher’s “Concentrate on a Card.” He got a lot of ideas from Brian Cook, Jim Earnshaw and other members on how to improve the effect. We hope he shows us an update at a future meeting.

If you’re ever in Seattle on the first Thursday of the month come and visit our magic club. You’ll definitely see some cool stuff!

Nine magi and one magic apprentice attended our July meeting. Magic was shared and taught and we heard some great stories about performing at different venues.

Our guest for the evening was Dr. Hal Quinn, who ended up being the designated volunteer for all effects. We hope he’ll return to share some magic with us. Our president’s challenge was taken by Mark Paulson, Ben Eskenazi and Reymarx Gereda. Each performance was very entertaining but Rey’s use of balloons, ducks and money won over the gathering.

Jim Earnshaw showed us coins appearing and disappearing in mid air. He even had an invisible air hook where he could store his invisible coins. Dan Kennedy wowed us with a July 4th effect using red, white and blue sticks. He was able to tell the location of each stick no matter where we secretly put them. Michael Jacobs used math, magic and mystery to divine someone’s age. Chuck Kleiner turned a deck of cards into a computer which automatically ejected the selected card.

Ralph Huntzinger shared stories of performing at Renaissance Fairs and the challenges presented by the outdoors and hot weather.

Following our first turn around the table members shared some of their favorite card and coin routines with explanations and instruction. Although our gathering was small our magic was big. A fun way to spend a hot July evening in Seattle.

Our theme for May was “Mad Props.” We also had our first monthly “President’s Challenge,” where three of our members were challenged to perform a selected effect not in their comfort zone.

Hugh Castell began the challenge by performing Scotty York’s version of “Back and Forth.” A freely selected card couldn’t be found in Hugh’s pocket, in his hand, or in the deck. What! It was laying there right in front of us on the table. Ben Eskenazi gave us a wow moment when he removed a full sheet of gum from a clearly divided gum box. Mark Paulson completed the challenge by having a selected card appear reversed in a deck. The performances were outstanding and three more members volunteered for another challenge next month.

For our monthly theme, Ben Eskenazi used flash cards to reveal the magical number 36 which was where the selected card was found in a deck. J.R. Russell showed his skill with three silver dollars by having them appear and vanish through juggling, cheating, misdirection, and finally by pure magic. Mark Paulson had four volunteers each select one of eight envelopes with Mark keeping the remaining four. Each volunteer ended up with a humorous coupon while the four left with Mark all contained cash.

Bruce Meyers had a quarter appear between two business cards and another appear under Mark’s shoe. Jenifer Meyers told us about some great magic on TV. Ron Young displayed his gold coil and then showed us his 15 pocket sport coat.

Hugh Castell demonstrated his Keychain of Life which allowed a key to penetrate a quarter. Tom Payne showed us a collection of shot glasses to use for cups and balls. He then performed Tim Ellis’ Deck-stress. Michael Jacobs drew a closed lock on one side of a blank business card and had a spectator sign the other half. Then, just like Houdini, Michael had the lock unlock with the spectator’s signature intact on the same card. He also had a rope penetrate the plunger from Houdini’s bathroom.

Ralph Huntzinger shared his patter for a Renaissance Fair routine he called Georgio and Henriette where a rose becomes a daisy and then turns into a swarm of butterflies. He also shared his favorite Tenyo prop, Crystal Cleaver. Chuck Kleiner asked the club to help him identify a prop he’d had for many years. The club quickly identified it as a Chinese Flame Clock and even described the effect and the story behind it. John Cameron performed Bert Allerton’s Aspirin Tin where a WWII microscopic camera miraculously took a picture. Jim Earnshaw completed our meeting by fooling us all with a skilled performance of Garrett Thomas’ Stand Up Monte.

The theme for April was “tricks without cards,” But it should have been called “anything but traditional card tricks.” So we got to see some very nice effects that sometimes used cards but also used something else.

Ben Eskenazi started us off with a slick matrix effect using four cards and four dice. The added thickness of the dice required that the cards be perpendicular to the table surface. Ben pulled if off brilliantly. Larry Dimmit brought out some ESP cards and predicted the thought of symbol. Ralph Huntzinger workshopped a new routine for his next family reunion where math, sudoku, cousins, and a little witchcraft led to an amazing sequence of coincidences.

Chuck Kleiner made a ball bearing slowly penetrate a sheet of glass without breaking the glass. John Cameron asked us to be creative and imaginative by having a spectator shuffle and select a card from an invisible deck. He then had a visible version of the “selected” card in his wallet. A new magician to our club, Kenny Wehl, had a spectator set a specific time on a watch. Kenny then predicted the time within a few minutes. But, after his applause he had the spectator look at the watch and the hands were gone. Nice kicker.

Hugh Castell showed us some serious sleight of hand by having a finger ring penetrate each of his fingers. Brian Cook brought three full size dump trucks to the meeting. Two were empty and one was full of top soil. He had the trucks drive around to confuse us and then had us select the one with the soil. We couldn’t get it right. Finally each truck was filled with soil. Hmmm.

Mark Paulson had an ESP card selected and showed that he had one card which matched the selected symbol. Michael Jacobs showed us an effect he had crafted called the Indigo Children, based on Professor Hoffman’s “The Q Trick.” His revelation seemed impossible, but he was correct. Michael’s magic is very creative.

Gary Parish came in full costume and performed a nice rope escape routine based on Grandmother’s Necklace. He then decided to compete with Brian and brought a pony into the meeting which he transformed into a full sized horse.

Some of the most amazing magic occurs at our April meeting.

Chuck Kleiner

Our March meeting was well attended with clever magic and supportive criticism. The theme was magic that plays well for lay audiences. Brian Cook, our IBM territory VP joined us to share his insights and help us improve our performances.

Chuck Kleiner started off with hopping halves and a good discussion about to how to perform this close-up effect for a larger audience. Bill Murray surprised us with a tarot card effect that used numerous false cuts and shuffles. Michael Jacobs allowed a spectator to lie or tell the truth, yet no matter which they chose to do, he still found their selected card.

Gary Parish performed the Styrofoam cup of doom. This led to a lively discussion about tricks that can maim or kill you. Fortunately Gary didn’t require a trip to the hospital. Reymarx Gereda turned his deck into a computer and by pressing the correct pip the chosen card emerged from the deck multiple times.

Otto Miller, our newest and youngest member, jumped right in and showed us a slick card effect using a key card to reveal the aces in a deck. Ben Eskenazi had his card prediction printed on the back of a playing card. When the prediction was incorrect he flicked the card and it magically changed to the chosen card. Hugh Castell told us about a card game he used to play with his sister and demonstrated that he could always predict the outcome.

Mark Paulson shared a comedy mentalism effect followed by the perfect prediction of a thought of card having a red back in a blue backed deck. Jim Earnshaw performed with a 50 cent piece that kept appearing and disappearing. He then broke from his traditional coin work to show us a Star Trek themed card effect where he had us all chanting, “Beam me up Scotty.”

Ralph Huntzinger related the history of his block with ropes effect and how he practices for Renaissance Fair audiences. Roger Sylwester performed his torn and restored newspaper and explained how he learned to do the moves and recite his patter so that the two are timed perfectly. Their performances and attention to detail reminded all of us that in order to have a quality performance you need to think hard, practice often, and learn from every performance so that you can make the next one better.

Great ideas were shared around our ring tonight. Can’t wait to see what we learn next month.