IBM – Page 2 – Emerald City Wizards

March 2015 Meeting Minutes – Magic that Plays well for Non-Magicians

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 … Continue reading “March 2015 Meeting Minutes – Magic that Plays well for Non-Magicians”

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.

December 2014 Meeting Minutes

Larry Dimmit showed the power of suggestion, along with a little hypnotism, to show that a spectator’s previously seen card was nowhere to be found among a small packet of cards. Ralph Huntzinger performed a nice piece of magic where a spot was removed from a three of hearts, changing it into a two. However … Continue reading “December 2014 Meeting Minutes”

Larry Dimmit showed the power of suggestion, along with a little hypnotism, to show that a spectator’s previously seen card was nowhere to be found among a small packet of cards.

Ralph Huntzinger performed a nice piece of magic where a spot was removed from a three of hearts, changing it into a two. However the “spot” turned out to be the only card remaining in an otherwise blank deck of cards.

Mark Paulson used the power of a pendulum to accurately determine who was the deceased person written down among a group of names.

J.R. Russell performed some great card magic where each phase built on the previous, the routine had a bit of color separation, a bit of mentalism, some mathematics, and just all around fun magic.

Hugh Castell presented the “trick that probably can’t be explained” where he punched a hole and placed a tag on an indifferent card, however with a bit of magic the tag was connected to the spectator’s chosen card.

Ben Eskenazi performed some very nice card magic that was a clever combination of a sandwich type of effect combined with an ambitious card routine. Ben’s magic is getting stronger with each meeting.

Enzo Lombardi amazed the group with an any card at any number routine that involved some very cool technology that Enzo personally devised. The group was really wowed when they learned the secret behind the trick.

Bill Murray presented a nice card routine involving the queens as his helper cards. He was able to locate the chosen cards of two spectators by spelling out the names of the queens.

Jim Earnshaw performed a matrix type coin routine with a surprising copper / silver ending.

The group was also treated to some funny, but informative instructions by Tom Payne on how to make a realistic looking edible candle and Roger Sylwester showed us his very nice travel / performance case he has been using for fifty years.

November 2014 Minutes – Pretty Close

Our club culture offers a safe, supportive environment where members can try out new presentations and get positive feedback on how to make them better. Our November meeting found many members trying out new effects which revealed our unplanned theme of the month, “Pretty Close.” Bill Murray started the evening with a new psychic effect … Continue reading “November 2014 Minutes – Pretty Close”

Bill Murray started the evening with a new psychic effect where he had three spectators randomly choose cards and he divined what each card was. Well, he got two out of three. Pretty close. John Cameron unveiled a new effect he created using geometry and playing cards along with a Goldilocks theme. It was a fun effect but John only got two out of three cards correct. Pretty close.

Michael Jacobs wrote randomly selected numbers on a balloon that were calculated to arrive at the number nine which matched the prediction he had placed in the balloon. Fortunately Michael put a line under the nine in the prediction otherwise it could have been seen as a six which would have been pretty close. But in this case it was right on. Larry Dimmit hypnotized a half dollar that stood up and spun around on its own. This one was also right on.

Ralph Huntzinger shared some books by Tobias Beckworth and Max Howard to keep us thinking creatively. Roger Sylwester offered some magic VHS tapes that were grabbed up by the group. He also showed us some beautiful wooden wands.

Hugh Castell shared a story about his grandfather’s ring which visually changed into a quarter and then back into a ring. Ben Eskenazi showed us some mentalism by divining a word freely selected from a book. Chuck Kleiner showed a genie bottle and flying carpet where the genie left the bottle and magically returned when the bottle was place on the flying carpet.

Reymarx Gereda divided a deck in half keeping one and giving the other to a spectator. After numerous shuffles and cuts each half was dealt into four piles. All of the cards on top of Reymarx’s piles were kings. All of the cards on the spectators piles were supposed to be aces but only two were. Pretty close. Mark Paulson had three spectators each choose a page from a book. He divined two and missed the third one by five pages. However, he had a prediction that said he would miss one by five so it turned out he was both pretty close and right on.

It’s great being able to try out new magic and get positive feedback from peers. If you’re ever in Seattle come with your magic and play with us.

October 2014 Minutes – Hatoween

What a great week of magic in the Pacific Northwest! The week started on Sunday with the Emerald City Wizards’ Dinner Show where we got to showcase our skills to friends and family members. We were joined by young magicians from the Ring of Smoke who also amazed our audience. Special thanks to Brian Cook … Continue reading “October 2014 Minutes – Hatoween”

What a great week of magic in the Pacific Northwest! The week started on Sunday with the Emerald City Wizards’ Dinner Show where we got to showcase our skills to friends and family members. We were joined by young magicians from the Ring of Smoke who also amazed our audience. Special thanks to Brian Cook for setting up our stage and managing the production.

Later in the same week we had our October meeting. The theme was Hatoween. JR Russel started the fun by having five different colored poker chips placed in his hat. After shaking them up and holding the hat above his head he retrieved the colored chip that was selected. Dan Kennedy revealed his Dracula cards and performed Victim of the Vampire by Peter Marucci.

John Cameron performed David Harkey’s “Faces in the Crowd” while wearing a wizard’s hat almost as tall as him. Michael Jacobs performed a two card monte with the help of his hat. Ben Eskenazi showed us five cards that magically turned blank and then ended up in his hat.

Larry Dimmitt kept it spooky by showing us how the shadow can alter reality by keeping the same cards in four volunteers’ hands even though the deck kept being mixed. Who knows? Gilbreath knows. Tom Payne shared his gaffed top hat and told us the thinking behind it and how it works.

Chuck Kleiner, in a hat, had good wishes written on a piece of paper and placed in an ashtray. There was a burst of flame and when the paper was opened the good wishes had vanished and emanated out into the universe. Roger Sylwester performed a feat from Barrie Richardson’s ‘Theater of the Mind’ by remembering where every card in the deck was located. Reymarx Gereda showed us an Aldo Colombini card effect where the selected card is found in a waterfall shuffle.

Jim Earnshaw performed a smooth three coin routine set to music where he kept placing coins in a hat only to have them reappear in his hands. Mark Paulson predicted the selection of a small skull by revealing a large skull under his hat. He also performed “Being There,” by Christopher Taylor, where he predicted what a spectator simply imagined.

Happy Hatoween from the Wizards in the Emerald City!

September 2014 Minutes – Seahawks cause members to disappear

The Seattle Seahawks prevented most of our members from appearing at our September meeting since it was the opening game of the 2014 season and they chose football over magic. They should have come to the meeting as most of the cars had disappeared from the roads and there was no traffic. Four of our … Continue reading “September 2014 Minutes – Seahawks cause members to disappear”

The Seattle Seahawks prevented most of our members from appearing at our September meeting since it was the opening game of the 2014 season and they chose football over magic. They should have come to the meeting as most of the cars had disappeared from the roads and there was no traffic. Four of our wizards resisted the Seahawks allure and gathered for an intense review of some excellent new and old magic.

JR Russell started us off by cutting the top off of a Ziploc bag and making it move magically. No strings attached! He then shared the “how” with the group and gave us some baggies to practice with. The trick is called Baggie Puppet by Julian Mather. It not only looks cool, it’s fun to do. JR then put a ribbon visually through a ring showing us what real magic looks like. This was Ring & Ribbon by Shigeru Sugawara. Finally he blew our already blown minds with Unleashed Dog Tag by Gregory Wilson.

Jim Earnshaw is focused on perfecting his routines and he showed us a coins across effect and some additional coin moves that were perfect for our small audience. We also discussed a very cool effect he is working on with Mark Paulson for our upcoming club dinner.

Larry Dimmitt presented a creative routine using cards and characters from the board game Clue. We randomly chose a room, character and weapon only to discover that Larry had already solved the crime showing us that his prediction matched our choices. He also showed us a slick book test and even let us inspect the book. It’s fun to be fooled but it’s also fun to find the secret.

Chuck Kleiner showed his ability to scale an entire deck of cards with only one hand. He also predicted the exact card that was chosen. He is working on combining this skill demonstration and magic into a new routine.

Throughout the meeting JR kept following the score of the game on his phone but Chuck insisted that he not tell the group since he was recording the game to watch after the meeting. Everyone predicted that the Seahawks would be victorious but what would you expect from the Seattle magicians’ club? We were all correct.

June 2014 Minutes

Our June meeting was “Packet Trick Night.” Some of the wizards showed us interesting packet tricks and some wowed us with other magical effects. Magic that happens in the hands of everyone in the audience was performed by two of our members. John Cameron had us all select random times on a clock and after … Continue reading “June 2014 Minutes”

Our June meeting was “Packet Trick Night.” Some of the wizards showed us interesting packet tricks and some wowed us with other magical effects.

Magic that happens in the hands of everyone in the audience was performed by two of our members. John Cameron had us all select random times on a clock and after following his instructions we all ended up on one o’clock. He then taught us Jim Steinmeyer’s One O’clock Mystery. J.R. Russell performed Robert Giobbi’s Einstein trick where we all magically discovered the exact card we had been thinking of.

Michael Jacobs shared Aldo Columbini‘s Jumbo Coincidence with a jumbo deck that had been sliced in half. Miraculously he not only had the selected card matched in both halves but then had all of the cards match after numerous shuffles. Ben Eskenazi demonstrated a Michael Ammar effect where the selected card had a different colored back than the rest of the packet. Roger Sylwester showed us some serious sleight of hand with a slick three card monte routine.

Hugh Castell had a prediction sealed in an envelope in a wallet that matched a card that a spectator had him stop on. Mark Paulson continued to amaze us with his evolving mentalism repertoire by performing Richard Osterland’s Hands Off. We welcomed a new magus, Gary Parrish, who shared some of his background and his desire to find effects that could be performed without the use of the magician’s hands. We’ll all be thinking about that challenge.

Bill Murray amazed and amused us with a Juan Tamariz effect where we used negative vibrations to find a card leading to a positive conclusion. Chuck Kleiner shared his version of an old Emerson & West packet routine called Color Monte.

We closed out the meeting with a matrix routine from Mike Battistoni using only two cards and four silver dollars. We felt that if he could do it with two cards what about just one card. Instead, he performed the routine with no cards blowing our minds. The cries of “Do it again, do it again,” made our club sound like a bunch of kids at a magic show. Mike shared that he had help from Dean Dill in developing the effect.

Maybe it’s me, but the magic at the Emerald City Wizards’ meeting seems to be getting better and better every month. Can’t wait for next month’s meeting.