A Routining Night at Assembly #31

Indianapolis, Indiana

It was a busy evening at our June Harry Riser Assembly #31 meeting.  We elected and installed officers for the coming year, inducted four new members into our Assembly, and invested a fascinating hour discussing the art of routining. 

Newly elected officers include Chris Wilcox, President; Mike Engle, Vice President; Dale Benson, Secretary; Jay Newby, Treasurer; and Ulises Galeano, Sergeant-at-Arms.  Our officers were dutifully sworn in with the prescribed number of â??I wills.â??

We then proceeded to induct four new membersâ??Ulises Galeano, Karen Oâ??Connor, Dan Devine and Dale Benson.  In addition to the induction ceremony, each was asked to perform a trick or give a brief historical report.  Ulises Galeano did a very nice coin routine which he said was inspired by Homer Liwagâ??s â??Coin in Twoâ?? routine.  Karen Oâ??Conner shared a very sweet story of a

motherâ??s love for three daughters while smoothly performing the Professorâ??s Nightmare.  And Dan Devine combined his magic effect (straight out of Martinâ??s Miracles by Eric C. Lewis) with a nice bit of origami.  Dale Benson was accepted by virtue of presenting an extensive history of the Torn and Restored Newspaper at the previous monthâ??s meeting. 

As a bonus, member Chris Henderson performed Sid Fleishmanâ??s â??You Too Can Have X-ray Eyesâ?? from his book, The Charlatanâ??s Handbook.

What followed was a fascinating conversation regarding routining by what became a panel of several of our most experienced membersâ??Don Miller, Taylor Martin and Tom Winterrowd.  Retiring President, Steve Spence, facilitated the discussion.  Tom Winterrowd drew from his 65 years of magic experience.  Taylor Martin provided a number of tips including deciding who your character is before you do your routine and constantly tightening your show.  Don Miller shared his list of â??pet peevesâ?? regarding routining, turning each pet peeve into a significant piece of learning.

We concluded the evening with a surprise gift from the Executive Committee. We just completed our Year of the Classic.  Throughout the year, one of our members had been preparing a fourteen page, spiral bound, full color booklet with photos and narrative from each of our classic meetings.  It was a well  received souvenir of a fun and educational year.

Submitted by: Dale Benson, Secretary

June 2009

Harry E. Riser Assembly No. 31, usually meets the first Monday of the month at 7 pm at Mystic Tie Lodge (2^nd floor), corner of Illinois and North Street, Indianapolis.