President's Letter
February 2012
Greetings Compeers,
Can you feel the magic in this wonderful new year? The Super Bowl, Payton Manning (will he or won’t he return) and, of course, the magic of The Harry Riser Assembly 31. If you haven’t joined us lately, you’re missing a lot. Once again over 75 magicians and their families and friends gathered at the Carmel Community Theatre in January to enjoy an afternoon of magic and mirth sponsored by Assembly 31 and Ring 10 featuring Jim Croop, Marcus Lehmann, Don Miller and MC’ed by Barry Rice. It’s not every day that you can see a grown (???) man performing a “Pick a Card” effect while encased inside a giant balloon.
We continue to meet on the 1st Monday of every month at 7 p.m. at Irvington United Methodist Church. The meetings are open to all S.A.M. and I.B.M. members and anyone who has a deep-seated interest in magic. February’s theme (Feb. 6) is “Magic with everyday objects”. We also have one prospective new member performing. In March (March 5) the theme is one which is back by popular demand (Okay, okay; the truth is I requested it): “Coin Magic”.
Also, in February, a group of 20 from our Assembly are finally taking a field trip to Ken Klosterman’s Salon de Magie to be immersed in the history of magic. We will experience, up close and personal, the magical apparatus of such magic luminaries as Robert-Houdin, Houdini, Thurston and Hermann the Great. I regret that if you haven’t already signed up for this trip we can’t take you with us because space was limited but this is just another example of why it pays to join the Assembly. We’ll give you a full report.
Finally, although mentalism is not one of my strong points, I predict that you will soon see an announcement for the 2nd annual “Race for the Stars” magic contest, a roster of amazing magical lectures to be offered by Indy Magic Lectures and other exciting magical opportunities which will be pulled out of the Assembly’s magic hat. Until then, remember to keep the magic alive in everything that you do.
Steven A. Spence
President, The Harry Riser Assembly 31,
The Society of American Magicans
SUMMER SAM #31 SCHEDULE
Please note the schedule for our summer meetings.
1) There will be no assembly meeting in June.
2) Instead we are all invited to attend the annual SAM/IBM picnic at Eagle Creek Park (Shelter G) on Saturday noon, June 9.
3) The July and August meetings will be held at 7:00 PM the first Monday of each month at the Forum at the Crossing, 8505 Woodfield Crossing Blvd, on the north side of town, so that Harry Riser, may attend.
4) The theme for the July meeting will be rope magic.
May 2012 MUM Report
Here is the report submitted to MUM magazine for our May 7 meeting. The report included a photo of Jim Croop and Dee Saul doing Jim's ring on string routine.
The theme for our May 7th meeting was "Rings and Strings." Master of Ceremonies, Jim Croop, kicked off the evening with a very fun version of Diamond Jim Tyler's Ring and String Routine his own patter and ending with Ron Vergilio's Offring.
Shawn Hull then shared with us a piece of sculpture he had recently purchased, much to his wife's dismay. It was a model of a hand enclosed in a glass case. Continuing with the theme of the evening, Shawn then placed a ring on a rope. The ring eventually disappeared, only to be found on one of the fingers of the sculptured hand.
Taylor Martin, explaining that rings are nothing more than simple circles, then proceeded to do a very nice rendition of the Afghan Bands. Finally, Tom Winterrowd, in an effort to be "fair and square" reminded us that the classic linking rings started out as eight rings, then six, then three. He showed us only one ring, which suddenly became a square.
Following the presentations there was a stimulating discussion regarding the history of rings on ropes (strings) which goes back at least to the 1500's. Reflecting on the pros and cons of using borrowed rings generated several horror stories. The conversation drifted onto the multiple variations of the linking rings--mentioned were effects such as floating rings, linking coat hangers, barbed wire linking rings, and linking rings with black light effects.
The election of officers for the coming year resulted in all of the current officers being re-elected--President, Steve Spence; First Vice President, Don Miller; Second Vice President, Taylor Martin, Secretary, Karen Miller; Treasurer, Jay Newby, and Scribe, Dale Benson.
April 2012 MUM Report
Here is the report from our "April Foolers" SAM #31 meeting held April 2nd. This report, along with a photo, has been submitted to MUM magazine.
The theme for our April 2nd meeting was "April Foolers", otherwise known as "sucker effects", or to be more politically correct, "failure effects." There was much discussion about the ethics of sucker effects. The general consensus was that the magician leads the audience down a path where the magician appears to be in trouble (the failure) . But then, a surprise ending fools everyone.
Kicking off our evening of "April Foolers" our club president, Steve Spence, entertained us with his "Cup of Deception." It was based upon an effect called "Just a Cup" by Axel Hecklau. The intriguing patter was created by Steve.
Tom Winterrowd told the tale of the magician with the white top hat and white rabbit. It turned out to be a very nice version of Hippity Hop Rabbits. He threw in a few true stories of when this "failure" trick really did fail, and it was all his fault.
In keeping with the theme for the evening several die boxes appeared. Mike Root did a Shenanigan's Die Box. Taylor Martin followed up with a nicely done performance using a 1920s Thayer Splitting Die Box which he has had since the '60s. It was originally owned by a vaudeville magician named Preston. His patter was wonderful.
Christian Painter did his own version of a "failure trick." The selected card seemed to get totally lost in the four highly shuffled piles. So lost, in fact, that Christian was forced to call upon Katalina to bail him out. She knew the card!
Don Miller fooled everyone. His set of cards had the names of famous people. Of course, the selected card, Tom Cruise in this case, turned up in the envelop upon which his audience volunteer was sitting. Both the trick and the Miller humor were quite entertaining.
Daniel Lee then did a series of moves using a variety of objects. There was no failure in this one. Just excellent slight of hand.
The highlight of the evening was the initiation of two new members--Robin Myers and Katalina Painter. As required, each performed. Robin Myers spun a tale about the development of his particular effect which included an abundant use of legos and the ultimate production of a card castle. Katalina did two close up effects using cards and dice-each had very strong endings. The vote for both was unanimous.
Cesareo Pelaez : Broken Wand
Compeers,
Cesareo Pelaez passed away on March 23, 2012. He was a PNP of the S.A.M. He was the creator of Le Grand David in Beverly, Mass. and he was a friend of Frank Dailey. Also among his friends were Dal Sanders, Maria Ibañez, Bruce Kalver, David Cresey, and Taylor Martin. He created the longest running magic show in history with L.G.D. and helped with the founding of the Society of American Magicians.
The loss of 2 Past National Presidents of the S.A.M. in a week is quite sad. Both helped the organization though rough times and showed that magic brings diverse groups together in the love of the world's oldest performing art form.
Frank Dailey : Broken Wand
Compeers, As has already been posted on this site, it is with deep sorrow that we mark the passing of our own, Past National President of the Society of American Magicians, Frank Dailey. Many of you have asked about a broken wand ceremony. There will indeed be a broken wand ceremony. I am honored to have been asked by Frank's daughter, Sharon, to perform the ceremony as a part of his funeral service on Monday, March 26th at Noon at: Chapel Hill United Methodist Church, I would encourage all of you that are able to either come to the visitation on Sunday or to the funeral on Monday, to demonstrate the great love and affection that we all share for our beloved Compeer, Frank.
963 N. Girls School Rd.
Indianapolis, IN.
A message from Taylor regarding Frank Dailey
Friends:
Frank Dailey has died. He passed quietly in his sleep on Wed.
Here's the details for Franks' funeral. I hope someone will perform the broken wand ceremony for him.
Viewing Sunday 5 - 8pm
Stevens Mortuary 5520 W. 10th Street Indianapolis, IN 46244 317-241-6163
Funeral Monday noon
Chapel Hill United Methodist Church 963 N. Girls School Rd. Indianapolis, IN 317-241-6163
In lieu of flowers please support the Society of Young Magicians SYM Fund c/o Brad Jacobs 234 Towyn Court Ambler, PA 19002
Taylor Martin Producer, Indy Magic Monthly
