October 2009 - IBM Ring #21

Caryl Fleming
Ring #21
Hollywood
The Fleming
Flashpaper
October
2009
News, Information & Current Happenings of IBM Ring 21
Prez-tidigitation
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Tips on Children’s...
2
Greats of Magic
3
Calendar of Events
5
Prez Message
1
Flash Pot
5 &
8
Flash Points
10
Points of
Interest
• Greats of Magic —
Brother John Hamman
• September Recap —
Broken Wand and Swap
Meet
• October — Banquet and
Installation of Officers
• November — Lecture TBD
Hi Everyone,
I think this year’s banquet will be my sixth or seventh since I joined Ring 21 and
they always are a highlight of the year. I can recall some outstanding performers who did
magic for us including Tom Ogden, Arthur Trace, Robert Baxt and Johnny Ace Palmer.
And this year we continue the tradition of great local magicians with the inimitable
Whit Haydn. Some may recall that Whit did a lecture for us a few years ago and it was a
genuine stand-out. I always invite relatives and friends to the banquet so they can share in
a special evening and I encourage others to do the same.
Another highlight is the special raffle. As in previous years, we are spending some
extra money on raffle prizes, and we will be giving raffle tickets to those who have renewed their memberships. Of course, you can always buy more tickets on the night of
the banquet. Several members who have won raffle prizes have been impressed with their
luck. A few years ago someone got a magic table, another winner got a classic effect called
“copenetro,” and I got my “passé-passé” bottles and glass effect. So this year may be your
year to win something extra-special.
Of course, at Taix, the food is consistently good, and the conviviality is also a lot of
fun.
If you haven’t already bought your tickets, call Lois; otherwise it will cost you $35
at the door.
The year ahead promises to be an exciting one; we’ll have a lecture in November,
our potluck holiday event in December and quite a few meetings that will give everyone a
chance to perform (and I really mean everyone). We also have a very special lecture for
family entertainers by David Ginn that will be in conjunction with other magic clubs. This
will be a several hour lecture on a weekend (see article on Page 8)
.
See you at the Banquet.
Gerry
2008-2009 Executive Board
President: Gerry Schiller (805) 499-8921
[email protected]
Vice-Pres: Rafael Ortiz (818) 761-0426
[email protected]
Secretary: Raul Fernandez (818) 8482013
[email protected]
Treasurer: Lois Harmeyer
(626) 358-2637 [email protected]
Sergeant-at-Arms: Robert de la Guerra
(818) 269-8917 [email protected]
Members at Large
Micah Cover (818) 281-5780
[email protected]
Tim Mannix (323) 848-8922
[email protected]
Bill Turner
(818) 786-5326 [email protected]
Jim Richardson (818) 848-1978
[email protected]
Wendy Sobel (310) 859-2989
[email protected] (editor of Flashpaper)
Past President—Don Kenney
(818) 896-7261 [email protected]
The Effective Family Entertainer and From the
Trenches—
Trenches—Two Looks at Entertaining Magic
Page 2
Ring 21 was very fortunate not too long ago to have a shared lecture by our own Micah Cover
and Tim Mannix. I will be sharing with you some of the tips they discuss in their (both very impressive) lecture notes. (By the way, if anyone wants the entire lecture notes, they are available, just contact Tim or Micah and I know they will be very happy to sell you a copy.)
Micah has an impressive wealth of information from not only his own experience, but researching
what has happened with other magicians. First, he has included the pros and the cons of different
situations he has come up against. He also includes opinions of people who disagree with what he
says. He wants to assure you of being able to be familiar with what can happen in a given situation.
And he’s interested in the different types of situations you encounter when performing. In fact, he
desires to make his lecture notes the first “interactive lecture notes.” When you want to contribute
your own thoughts and ideas on a subject, just email them to Micah (micahthemagician@ yahoo.com)
and he will edit and compile the notes he gets. Micah, this could be an interesting concept.
One of the first things Micah talks about is that some people will say that a Family Magic Entertainer is a “Kid’s Magician”, but that’s an oversimplification. There’s generally at least as many adults in
the audience as kids. Micah says: “In fact, here’s tip #1, MAKE SURE that there are SOME adults
available.” If the moms are too busy talking and the dads are in another room watching TV, then they
expect you to be a babysitter. At that point Micah says they have to pay him for his show AND a
babysitting fee. Micah’s only had that happen once in his life (and it was truly a nightmare without any
adults around). Generally he has found there are at least as many adults as children (if not more), so a
family entertainer needs to be ready to entertain the family.
Tim Mannix lays out the “Rules of the Road.” He has set out a meticulous roadmap for the stepby-step directions on what needs to be done in order to be a successful entertainer. The tips he has
are extensive (and things he does every day). Tim assumes you have the act. And he knows you want
it to be enjoyed by all, and the only way to do that is to start performing for people and see their reactions. He talks about the importance, before you ever get in front of an audience, of getting feedback, especially from non-magicians, someone who can help with staging, possibly someone who has
done directing for any kind of play. And to be sure that the routines are kid and family friendly.
(Continued Page 9)
THE FLEMING FLASHPAPER
OCTOBER 2009
The Greats of Magic — Gerald Schiller
Page 3
A Series of Capsule Biographies of Famous Magicians
Brother John Hamman
Although the name John Hamman may not
ring a bell for many magicians, if you do card
effects and do some sleights, you may well be
using moves developed by Brother John
Hamman. Among these are the Hamman
Count and the very popular “Flushtration
Move.”
Born in St. Louis September 3, 1927, John
Charles Hamman attended Catholic schools.
In 1942 he became a postulate of the Marianists (a Catholic Order). He received a
Bachelor’s Degree from the University of
Dayton and later an MA from St. Louis University. He taught English at various Catholic
high schools. In October of 1952 he was diagnosed with a severe case of polio.
As a child Brother Hamman had started
doing magic and as a teacher he frequently
performed for his students.
As he recovered from polio, he spent
many hours developing numerous card tricks
and a variety of moves and sleights. He collected much of his original thinking in a book
that ws published in 1958 called “The Card
Magic of Brother John Hamman, S.M.” The
book was published by Paul LePaul and
quickly became a popular primer for card
workers. In the Forward to the book LePaul
wrote: “Brother John Hamman leads you
down the garden path to the exact spot
where he wants you, then he turns on the
sprinkler.”
Brother Hamman continued writing and
developing novel effects, ultimately creating
more than 100 card tricks as well as refining
many other basic moves. He often used the
effects in his classroom to teach aspects of
the Catholic Catechism.
His reputation among magicians grew and
he was invited to lecture and perform at
many magic conventions and get-togethers,
including the prestigious FISM.
In 1995 he received the first St. Louis
Heritage Award. In his acceptance speech
he provided some sage words to the magic
fraternity: “The object of magic is misdirection. Audiences are more apt to believe
what they hear than what they see, and intelligent people are the easiest to fool because they don’t expect me to use some
childish gimmick to deceive them. On the
other hand, children are had to fool because they watch closely and don’t listen.”
Among the many card tricks he is responsible for are Double Deal Aces, the Diminishing Card to Dollar, the Fabulous Expanding Card, the Homing Card, the Phoenix Four, a version of the Second Deal,
Thought Cards Across, and many, many
others.
Brother Hamman retired from teaching
in 1986 but continued doing magic. He
died on December 5, 2000 at the age of 73.
but the many card effects he developed live
on in the hands of magicians everywhere.
“Magic happens not in the hands of the
performer but in the minds of the spectators.”
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OCTOBER 2009
Page 5
The Flash Pot — a pot pourri of news, in fo, po sting s, etc.
The Flash Pot — a potpourri of news, info, postings, etc.
October Board Meeting
(Please note new day
day—
—Tuesday)
October 20, 2009,Valley Village, CA
Scheduled for 7:00 pm, Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at Four ‘n 20 Pies located
at 4723 Laurel Canyon Blvd.,Valley Village, Ca. 91607 Phone 818 761-5128
October Meeting
Meeting—
—Party Time,
Raffle Prizes and (the best of all)
Whit Haydn!!
It is now the time of year we put on our party
clothes and celebrate together with magic, food
and fun. As always, we will be at Taix Restaurant
on Sunset Boulevard. The festivities will start at
6:30 p.m. with walk-around magic.
There will be a silent auction for the wonderful table decorations custom-made by Lois Harmeyer. These are always a favorite each year. In
the past there has been some hot and heavy bidding for her fun and magical creations. I’m sure
you’ll want to be the highest bidder on at least
one of the masterpieces she has made.
The magic raffle is always very special. The
committee goes all out to get some wonderful
items for this event. It is a good idea to come
with extra money on banquet night.
And to top off the evening, we have non-other
Calendar of Events
October 1— Banquet
r
November 5—Lecture TBD
December 3—Potluck, gift exchange and seasonal magic.
January 7— TBD
than Whit Haydn who is the master of so many
areas of magic. Close-up, parlor and stage are all
his specialties (he’s won awards in each of these
categories from the Academy of Magical Arts). In
addition Whit is the Dean of the School for
Scoundrels, where one learns exactly why you
NEVER play the 3 Card Monte, Fast and Loose or
the Shell Game with anyone on the street. He is
a master at all of these. But you can trust this
charmer, he keeps you entertained and amazed,
you’ll never miss your wallet.
This promises to be an evening you will remember with joy and magic for a long, long time.
If you have not made your reservations with
Lois Harmeyer, NOW is the time to do it. We
look forward to seeing you at THE BANQUET!!
AT THE MAGIC CASTLE
CASTLE—
—Swap
Meet October 10 and Cabaret & Comedy
As always, the Magic Castle swap meet is
highly anticipated. There is so much to be
found from old favorites to the newest gags.
So show up at 9:00 a.m., pay a small fee and
enter the world of the Magic Castle Swap
Meet. It is open to all.
If you are not a member at the Magic Castle (even if you are), there are Special Events at
the Castle that you can buy your ticket for, pay
the door charge and come in and enjoy the
magic at the Castle.
In the near future Joanne Worley is booked
in October, Florence Henderson in November, Rip Taylor in October and Stan and
Hunter Freiberg in November. There is also
the Magic of Jazz on Thursday nights. If you
are interested in buying tickets go to magiccastle.com/eventtickets or broman@ magiccastle.com or call 323 851-3313 ext 434.
The Caryl Fleming IBM Ring #21
Meets @ 6:30 pm first Thursday of the
month
Next Meeting
October 1, 2009 6:30 P.M.
Taix Restaurant
1911 Sunset Boulevard
* Calendar subject to change without notice.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 484-1265
Page 6
THE FLEMING FLASHPAPER
OCTOBER 2009
September Meeting
Swap Meet
And Broken Wand Ceremony
For Chuck LeFever
In tribute to Chuck LeFever,
Gerry Schiller does Chuck’s trick
with really big cards, which is a lot
of fun and always well received
The Swap Meet was a nice ending to an evening of
remembering.
Page 7
The Flash Pot — a potpourri of news, info, postings, etc.
September Meeting
The meeting began with introducing our guest,
Ricky Ricardo who is a clown.
There was discussion of how many members at
large there can be (3—5). The slate of officers was
presented: Gerry Schiller for president; Rafael Ortiz
for VP; Raul Fernandez for secretary; Lois Harmeyer
for treasurer and Robert de la Guerra for Sergeantat-Arms. Bill Turner, Don Kenney, Tim Mannix, Micah Cover and Jim Richardson for the Members at
Large. The slate was accepted by acclamation.
Gerry talked about the upcoming banquet and
that Whit Hadyn will be performing. There will be
walk-around magic. Whoever would like to entertain
can come early and do it. Also, there was a general
invitation for people to bring friends and family along
since it is such a fun time to share.
The November 1 show at Shomrei Temple was
discussed. Right now the performers are Gerry, Don,
Wendy, Raul and Tim. Stephen Levine is producing
the show. If anyone is interested in helping in the
show, please contact Stephen (818) 426-6266. There
will be a second show in March.
Raul reminded people about the Westside Wizard’s meeting the following Tuesday.
Then we had the Broken Wand ceremony for
Chuck LeFever. Lorraine, Lafe, Raul, Matt and
Wendy each gave personal memories of Chuck.
Gerry then performed Chuck’s Giant Magic Card
trick. And then the wand was broken.
Don Kenney edited one of Chuck’s performances
with Ring 21and that was running for the rest of the
evening so people could see Chuck in action.
Then we had the swap meet. I don’t know about
anyone else, but I had a great time. I spent a lot of
money with Stephen Levine and a little with Suds. I
know I felt I got a great deal, I hope they did, too.
Actually, I think everyone had a great time at the
swap meet. I always think this is a win/win for everyone. See you at the banquet!!
Page 8
School Shows/Fund Raisers
There is a show being planned for November 1
at Shomrei Temple. Stephen Levine will be producing it. This location is in the West Valley
around Calabasas.
If you are interested in helping with the show,
performing, selling magic kits or being stagehand,
please call Stephen at:
(818) 426-6266
Remember, it is these shows that help us have
the variety of people we have to lecture, and they
help to underwrite our wonderful
banquet, picnic and potluck each
year.
Whatever help that can be given
is much appreciated.
Kidbiz Live Workshop
On Saturday, January 16, 2010 David Ginn, a
very well-known and well-respected family entertainer, will be giving a workshop. It is from 2 pm to
6 pm. And the best part is, you pay the $35 entrance fee and you can bring as many people as you
want to. For the person who registers there will be
a free book, tricks and a kit.
It will be held at the Mark Twain Middle
School in Venice, California. Whoever you know
who might be interested are invited to be a part of
this exciting workshop. Ring 291 and S.A.M. Assembly 290 have been invited. Also, if you know
any clowns or other family entertainers please pass
the word along. The more the merrier.
And once again, bring your children, siblings,
whoever you think might enjoy an afternoon of
comedy, magic and fun while learning from a pro
the “how-to’s” for family entertainment.
We are looking forward to this being an outstanding day of fun and magic. See you then!!
T H E FL E MI N G FL A S H P A P E R
OCTOBER 2009
Dues are Due
Page 9
We are coming to the time of year that our annual dues need to be paid. What a bargain we
have at only $30 for the year!! We have had so
Happy Birthday to all Ring 21 members
many fun-filled nights with lectures, opportunities to
celebrating their birthdays in October. They
include Gary Frieden, Lois Harmeyer, Stephen
perform, wonderful raffles with fun prizes, picnics
Levine and Mario Seki. And to magicians in
and potluck dinners. What a great place we call
general such as: Dante, Roy Horn, Al Flosso, Ed
home, the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, some of
Marlo, Caryl Stacy Fleming (13) Harry Laverne
old Hollywood taken into the 21st Centuay.
Anderson, Martin Gardner, and Joshua Jay.
Your last chance to pay your dues at the incrediHappy Birthday to all (whether on
ble rate of only $30 is at the October meeting. As
this plane of action or the next) from
a matter of fact, you will get $5 in raffle tickets for
the Banquet After that time the dues will be $35.
Ring 21!!
So take advantage of this very
(If your birthday was missed, tell Wendy)
special offer, pay your dues early
and get $5 in raffle tickets to be
Family Entertainers (From Page 2)
used at the Banquet. The raffle
Tim gives tips on little things like when to committee goes all out to be sure
produce the rabbit, confirming shows, always, we have some very special prizes.
There have been some extraordiand use a telephone script. He gives you
nary prizes in the past, wait until
ideas for what to do in every situation he
presents, even what to put in your telephone you see what’s in the future!
script or how to talk to moms.
He actually gives you the ABC’s of Becoming an Effective Family Entertainer, things
such as audience participation, comedy is king
Board Members!!!
and dress professionally.
Please remember that the meeting night for
Above all, he absolutely insists that you
the
Board
meeting has been changed. It is now
have fun with your show and the audience.
the
third
Tuesday
of the month. Our meeting for
Once you have put down the rules, enjoy
yourself. “Remember, this is fun stuff and
October is on the 20th.
you’re getting paid for it!”
We look forward to seeing you then!!
Tim talks about information you need to
get to the show, ideas for give-aways, answers to commonly asked questions for a
successful party, packages for the mom, testimonials, marketing and more.
Video Library
Both of these lecture notes contain valuIf you are interested in borrowing any of the vidable, hard-won information from totally difeos in our library, please e-mail Bob Smillie (the club
ferent perspectives. They are valuable addilibrarian) at [email protected].
tions to any magic library. (Micah and Tim
You can see the list of videos available at the Ring 21
can be found at the Banquet on October 1).
website.
October Birthdays
Recycle Magic
Jim Richardson is asking: Do you have
metal odds and ends clogging up a drawer?
Do you have bent metal parts and you don’t
even know what they go to? No use for
that broken screwdriver?
He is collecting metal parts for a magic
trick. Please save the metal and give them
to him, possibly at the October meeting?
Apology to
Gerry Schiller and Buatier De Kolta
Gerry, I am so very sorry that I totally misspelled
Buatier de Kolta’s name in your Greats of Magic series
last month. I will, of course, do whatever I can to be
sure such a mistake does not happen in the future.
Sincerely, Wendy Sobel
Fleming Flashpaper
Wendy Sobel, Editor
CARYL FLEMING
RING #21 HOLLYWOOD
Celebrating the enjoyment &
camaraderie of magic since 1938!
We’re on the Web!
www.ibmring21.org
Flash Points
One Night Only
The Amazing Pop Haydn
• GO TO THE WEBSITE
FOR FUN STUFF
www.ibmring21.org
• October 1—Banquet
and installation of officers
• November 5—Lecture
TBD
• December 3—Potluck
and seasonal magic