You may have seen Karen's email.  This is a reminder.  Our December combined SAM/IBM  meeting will take place at 7:00 pm on Monday, December 3rd.  The meeting will be held at the Irvington United Methodist Church--not at The Forum as previously announced.  The theme will be Christmas Magic.  Jim Croop will lead us down the "Royal Road to Card Magic" during our teaching session.

Also be sure to read the most recent President's Letter on our website home page.  You will find a report of the recent National Council meeting in Indianapolis as well as some exciting news!

Here is the report submitted to MUM Magazine regarding both our November parlor magic meeting and the special show which we did for the National Executive Council.

The first full week in November was a busy and exciting week for the Harry Riser SAM #31 Assembly.  At the beginning of the week we had our regular SAM #31 Assembly meeting with the theme of parlor magic.  At the end of the week we had the pleasure of hosting SAM's  National Executive Council meeting.

The parlor magic evening began with Barry Rice, otherwise known as The Amazing Barry,  performing a lively and very humorous rendition of Cards Across.  Mike Kohrmann broke out his Kamillion Koins and checked out the moods of several of the volunteers.  George Notarus astounded us all when his five ones became five tens, and then most astounding of all, the five tens became five one hundreds!  He said it was all in the hands. 

Taylor Martin brought his Troublewit and demonstrated some of the designs he is developing.  Taylor also shared his copy of  William Pinchbeck's  The Expositor.  Published in 1805 it is reputed to be the first American book on the art of magic.  Significantly, in relation to the theme of the evening, the book includes a complete parlor act.

Jim Croop produced a half dollar and an English penny and did the Copper-Silver Transposition. Finally, Phil Dubbs demonstrated a clever version of the sliding knot.  The story had to do with difficulty in tying one's shoes.

For the educational portion of the evening, Don Miller taught us two effects--a beautiful version of the torn and restored dollar bill which he has been doing for twenty years.  The other was the 'half and half' from Tarbell Volume Three.

On Saturday six of our Assembly members had the privilege of performing for the National Executive Council.  Our President, Steve Spence, was the master of ceremonies.  The other performers were Daniel Lee, Barry Rice, Don Miller, and Christian and Katalina Painter.  The show included much good magic and many laughs.  

Greetings Compeers, You are all invited to join in a rare magical event which is coming to Indianapolis, the weekend of November 9-10. The National Council of the Society of American Magicians will be visiting our city. This is our opportunity to shine. The S.A.M. is considering holding the 2016 National Convention in our fair city! Here is the schedule of events for this weekend. I hope that each of you can make it to the Council meeting on Saturday morning in order to show your support. It is also a great opportunity to learn what our National organization is doing and to make your voice heard if you have anything that you would like to share with them. Saturday at 10 a.m., National Council meeting in the Texas Rm. at the Downtown Marriott Saturday at 2 p.m., Downtown walking tour beginning at lobby of the Downtown Marriott for the visiting crowd (Christian Painter & I will be leading these but everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend). Saturday at 5 our member show (performers, Don Miller, Barry Rice, Daniel Lee. I'm Emcee) at the Downtown Hilton in Christian & Katalina's space (the exact room will be posted in the lobby of the hotel). Saturday at 8:30 p.m. Christian & Katalina's show (same location). I'll see you there. Magically, Steven A. Spence President, Harry Riser Assembly 31

The Harry Riser Assembly #31 began the evening by recognizing Tom Winterrowd for his 35 consecutive years of membership in SAM. Taylor Martin and Ted Baer are close behind with 27 years as members. Our master of ceremonies for the evening, Jim Croop, introduced our theme, Spooky Magic. Several of our spookiest magicians then presented their Halloween effects. Tom Winterrowd, who did his first public magic performance seventy years ago, shared with us his Jack Daniels official Tennessee Squire certificate and then proceeded to capture the "spirits" of Jack Daniels using his Tennessee Squire bandana and two appropriately sized empty glasses which remained on the tray even when the tray was turned from the horizontal to a vertical position. Daniel Lee shared a spine tingling story regarding Susie, Tony and Billy Spade and the four Hamilton sisters, who turned out to be witches. In Daniel's version of the cannibal cards, the witches devoured the spade siblings accompanied by spooky music and multiple sound effects. Taylor Martin invoked the ghost of the silkworm which made the silk which Taylor proceeded to tie and untie around the volunteer's wrist in amazing ways. The knots would come and go with no apparent help from Taylor. Taylor also told the story of The Yakuza, Japanese criminals who lost their fingers due to selected crimes. While telling the story he produced his ancient wooden finger chopper and surprised us with an unexpected finale. Don Miller demonstrated a trick which he had just received in the mail from England and had never practiced. It had something to do with a spirit, and obviously needed a bit of polishing. He was still looking for the directions when he sat down. Following an interesting conversation about the history of spooky magic and spook shows, we then adjourned to the tables for part two of the evening. Jim Croop proceeded to walk us through chapter one of The Royal Road to Card Magic by Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue. The key is being able to control cards. With Jim doing the teaching, together we reviewed, or learned as the case might be, how to hold the deck, the top to bottom overhand shuffle, milking the deck, how to run cards and the jog shuffle. Various breaks were also discussed. While practicing the techniques, the conversation was livened as the experienced magicians related their particular approach to the method for each move.

The theme for the August 6th meeting of the Harry Riser Assembly was "new beginnings." The idea was to showcase tricks that each magician had recently begun working on. Considering that they were new beginnings, the tricks were extremely well performed. It was also the first evening for our new educational format which was also well received. Here is a quick review of the "new beginnings" which were enjoyed by the members. Jim Croop went first with with his version of Alex Linian's "Puncture 2.0" in which the black Bic went through the quarter. Aaron Kalinowski followed with "Psypher and the Holy Grail." Aaron had three spectators, one at a time pick a card, look at it, put it back in the deck and then send their brainwaves to the next person who picked a card and put it back in the deck and then send brainwaves to the third person.  It was only after the third person picked the card that Aaron revealed the name of the card that each of them had picked using his psychic powers. Taylor Martin did Paul Harris's "Free Flight" which involved four coins, his Okito Box, the coins disappearing through his hands (Taylor's original idea), and finally turning up under a card. As a part of the finale, the Okito box also ended up going through his hands. Mike Root did a Halloween-themed version of "Will the Cards Match" which one of the audience members suggested should be called "Will the Ghoul Match".  It put the audience in a pre-Halloween mood. Bill Coffee then topped off the magic with what on the surface started out to be a mind reading trick, then appeared to be messed up, but ultimately was brilliantly salvaged. The new educational format involves a member teaching a bit of magic found in one of the classic books of magic. This evening it was The New Modern Coin Magic, which is the 1966 revised version of J. B. Bobo's classic, Modern Coin Magic published in 1952 for the express purpose of "reestablishing coin magic as a popular branch of conjuring." President Steve Spence shared interesting historical notes such as coins were first noted in the 8th Century BC and that it is safe to say that magic with coins likely began 2,000 years before cards. Steve then taught the group several classic coin moves including the classic palm, the thumb and finger palm, the back finger clip, and the Bobo and utility switches. It was a fun evening combining magic performance and magic education.

President Spence has announced the meeting themes for our newly beginning magic year. He will be looking for a volunteer(s) to head up each month. The idea is that the volunteer will select and teach an effect from that month's reference book. Background information regarding the history of the trick would also be included. For the September meeting Steve Spence and Jim Croop will be the "volunteers." SAM #31 Monthly Meeting Themes for 2012-2013 Sept.:  "New Beginnings-routines that are new (or relatively new) to your repertoire"/ Bobo's The New Modern Coin Magic Oct.:  "Spooky Magic"/ Royal Road to Card Magic Nov.:     Parlor Magic/Tarbell's Course in Magic Dec.:  Christmas Magic/Royal Road to Card Magic Jan.:    "Outside of the Box" magic/Bobo's The New Modern Coin Magic Feb.:  Magic from the Heart/Tarbell's Course in Magic March:  Ides of March (Treacherous Magic)/Royal Road to Card Magic April:  Your Favorite Coin routine from Bobo's/Bobo's The Modern Coin Magic May:  Your Favorite effect from Tarbell's/Tarbell's Course in Magic June:  Your Favorite Card trick from Royal Road/Royal Road to Card Magic July:  Patriotic Magic/Bobo's The Modern Coin Magic Aug.:  Your All-time Favorite effect/Tarbell's Course in Magic

The theme for the August 6 2012 meeting of the Harry Riser Assembly was "magicians' choice." The choices turned out to be most interesting and abundant. Nine magicians performed. Jim Croop, who also served as our master of ceremonies, began the evening with his version of Paul Gordon's "Psychotronic Rides Again." Jack Weigle then took a deck of cards and did two effects. The first one was entitled, "It's Up His Sleeve" by William Zavis found in Divers Deceits, (1973). The second was Jay Sankey's "Outsider" from his DVD "Sankey's Best Card Magic." Gerry Thompson demonstrated his newly obtained "Sixth Sense" effect. He asked the club members for assistance in developing a story to go with the effect. Jay Newby performed the Johnny Thompson version of the "Endless Chain" or "Fast and Loose."  Daniel Lee did a nice rendition of Oz Pearlman's "Clutch." Taylor Martin used 50 year old slates to do the "Spirit Slates." The slates were sold to him in Canada by a toy merchant who said he got them from a school in Ontario. And finally, Michael Ray did his version of Calin Merelli's "Dress Code." It was a fun evening with much magic as each performer did one of his favorites.

As you may know, Carl Schneph passed away on June 26. Below is a copy of his obituary and information regarding the showing and the funeral. Feel free to contact Taylor Martin if any questions. Carl J. Schnepf Jr. 77, Indianapolis, passed away June 26, 2012 at the Indiana Masonic Home. He was born December 6, 1934 in Indianapolis to the late Carl J. and Thelma Amann Schnepf. His memberships include Zion Evangelical Church of Christ, graduated Emmerich Manual High School; attended Butler University; Evergreen Oriental Masonic Lodge No. 500; Prospect Masonic Lodge No. 714; Indianapolis Valley of Scottish Rite; Forest A. Wakeman Council No. 110; West Side Chapter No. 138; Wm D. Bray Commandery No. 65; Shrine Transportation Club; Shrine Past Masters Club; Shrine VCM Club; Society of American Magicians; and International Brotherhood of Magicians. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Laurel Schnepf; his son Carl J. (Mary Jo) Schnepf III of Manning, South Carolina; grandson Christopher (Sarah) Schnepf of Indianapolis and Ryan (Karen) Schnepf of Tuscon, AZ; great grandchildren Nicolas, Michael, Elizabeth, and Rebecca; and brother Paul (Sheila) Schnepf of West Lafayette. He was also preceded in death by his son Kurt Schnepf. Services will be 10:00 AM, Saturday, June 30 in Zion Evangelical Church of Christ with visitation 4:00 â?? 8:00 PM, Friday, June 29 in Singleton Community Mortuary and Memorial Center. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts have been suggested to Zion Evangelical United Church of Christ, 603 N. New Jersey Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202 or Shrine Transportation Club, 510 N. New Jersey Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204.

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) So that Harry Riser may attend, the July and August meetings will be held at 7:00 PM at the Forum at the Crossing, 8505 Woodfield Crossing Blvd, on the north side of town. 4) The July meeting will be on the second Monday, July 9. The August meeting will be the first Monday, August 6. 4) The theme for the July meeting will be rope magic.

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.