SAM Assembly31 and IBM Ring 10 are pleased to announce that on December 7, 2008 we will once again be presenting a magical holiday show and brunch.  Like last year the magical event of the year will be held at the Murat in downtown Indianapolis.  This is a fully catered Sunday all-you-can-eat brunch with choices of foods that the entire family can enjoy.

Tickets for the Brunch are only $15 for persons 12 and older, $8 for kids under 12 and babies/toddlers two and under are free.  The meal will be served from Noon until 1 p.m.  Contact Dale Benson (at dalebenson@sbcglobal.net) or any of your SAM or IBM officers to reserve your place at the magical brunch.

From 1 p.m. until 1:30 p.m. the Society of Young Magicians will be performing walk-around magic for you entertainment.  Beginning at 1:30 the Magic show will begin.  The line-up of magicians for the show is still being finalized but, as in years past, this is a magical holiday tradition that you wonâ??t want to miss.

Don Miller is in charge of producing the stage show.  He is still looking for that one last piece of the puzzle to make it perfect.  If you would be interested in performing contact him at Family Time Entertainment: ph. 635-7770 (speak to Mike and let him know of your interest).

The Annual SAM-IBM Holiday Show and brunch is always a lot of fun for the entire family.  The Magic Show is free.  Both the show and the brunch are open to the public but we need advance reservations for the brunch in order to have sufficient food.  Donâ??t miss it.  Make your reservation today.

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA [Assembly Report for June 2006]
Harry Riser Assembly No. 31
President: Steven A. Spence
Secretary: Dale Benson
Meets the first Monday, 7 PM at Mystic Tai Lodge, SE corner of Illinois & North St.

McDonald's Aces at Asembly 31

Continuing The Classics in Magic theme at the November meeting, the Harry Riser Assembly focused on McDonaldâ??s Aces.

Master teacher Harry Riser was the main event. A number of times during the teaching session, he emphasized â??the use of subtlety in card magic.â?? He then proceeded to give us examples of the subtlety concept.

Harry briefed us on the history of the effect. We heard about McDonald, the one-armed magician, and his $100 routine. Harry traced the history back to 1931 when the trick was first published in German by Johann Hofzinser. He brought along his first edition copy of Dai Vernonâ??s More Inner Secrets of Card Magic and showed us the original description of McDonaldâ??s $100 routine. He talked about McDonaldâ??s Aces as performed by Vernon, Lewis Ganson, Charlie Miller, Stewart Judah, Richard Kaufman, and others.

Harry shared that over the years he has learned or invented 15 to 20 ways to vanish the aces. He taught us six of his favoritesâ??three that are fairly simple, and three that are more complicated and require considerable practice. Harry also demonstrated the â??No Lay Down Acesâ?? version that he developed.

As a humorous aside, Harry told us that he once paid $50 to a magician in Coeur dâ??Alene, Idaho, to teach him how to cut the Ace of Spades out of the deck. Harry did it so well that we began to believe that maybe he actually did shell out the fifty bucks for the lesson!

Vice President Chris Wilcox served as host for the evening. In addition to the learning session with Harry Riser, two other members demonstrated their version of similar card effects. Jack Weigle entertained us with his rendering of the â??Spell of Gathering.â?? We were spellbound! And Chris Henderson flawlessly performed Alex Emsleyâ??s Atomic Aces as found in the Collected Works of Alex Emsley.

The Linking Rings will be featured at the next â??classic eveningâ?? scheduled for January 5, 2009.

Submitted by: Dale Benson, Secretary
November 13, 2008