April 2012

April 2012
VO RTE X
Magic Club of PJs Trick Shop
Schedule
Wed. Apr. 11th
Jon Armstrong
Lecture
Tue. May 15th
3rd Annual Contest
Tue June 19th
Workshop T.B.A.
Tue. July 17th
Lecture T.B.A.
Tue. Aug. 21st
Workshop / Elections
Tue Sept. 18th
Show / Lecture
T.B.A.
Meetings Info
All dates and events
are subject to
change.
Meetings are
normally held on the
3rd Tuesday monthly.
Dues
$80.00 / Year +
Benefits
Workshops
Anyone interested in
teaching a table at
the next workshop
meeting please ask
us how to get your
own table.
It’s that time again for our annual magic contest / show.
This year we are shaking things up a bit. This year we will
feature a close up contest. Please contact Fred Paul
Bailey if interested in performing a close-up set. There will
be twelve performers so contact Fred and grab your spot.
New Meeting Location –
Please make note of our new location for the magic club.
Rocky Vanders – 698 N. Milwaukee in Prospect Heights
PJs Trick Shop Has Moved
Please stop by and see our new home. Our new location is located on
Milwaukee Ave just north of where River and Milwaukee meet, just south of
Palatine road. The new address and phone number are:
652 N. Milwaukee Ave Prospect Heights, IL 60070
847.353.8797
We look forward to seeing you at our new location.
ACEs McBride Experience
By Kevin Kapinos, Bill Cook, Andrew Michals and Fred Paul Bailey - Photos by Brian Carter
It was such a treat for ACEs Magic Club to host The Jeff McBride Experience. It was amazing to see all the people come
out from far and wide to enjoy Mr. McBride’s performance and lecture. The place was packed – In fact it was standing
room only! One of the best shows we have ever seen was followed by one of the best lectures we have ever seen. We
were impressed by the length of the McBride show and the variety of magic he went through (in both the show and the
lecture). It goes to show that you can be a master manipulator but you can't do an entire show doing manipulations with
playing cards. You've got to have a variety of material that can last the length of a full evening show.
Jeff's experience and wisdom in magic really showed during the lecture.
One of the first and most important ideas that he showed was that great
magic can be easy to do. Twice, after he taught a trick, he allowed
someone who had never performed magic to step up in front of everyone
and perform the trick. Both tricks were featured in his show prior to the
lecture proving his point about the lack of correlation between quality and
difficulty. He also taught easy card manipulation techniques. McBride's
experience helped him teach the most important lessons of the lecture:
He shared how to fill a larger room with small tricks through the use of
confetti and a mouth squeaker. These two props take up less room than
many popular stage tricks but McBride showed how they can make a
simple spongeball routine or silk production play on a large stage for a
large crowd.
“Everything is better with confetti!”
Another highlight of the show was also part of his Pack Small, Play Big philosophy. He showed how if he ever loses his
props, he can still perform his stage show. While opening an eyeglass case, he revealed what props he keeps in it so that
he can always be prepared to perform most of his 90 minute show with just those props. McBride also taught close-up
tricks that weren't in his show that followed some of his other philosophies about magic. For preparedness, he taught the
Kundalini Rising - A borrowed deck rising card in the spectators hands. Another close-up trick he taught was the string
through a spectator’s finger, which demonstrated gift magic. The performance was poetic and inspiring, using a string with
a bead on each end to convince the spectator that an obstacle in her life was just an illusion and the string was given to
her as a bracelet to remind her of the magic (and the magician!). The explanation was comical with a large rope with
tennis balls on the ends to teach everyone in the room how to do the trick! Everything McBride taught had practical
applications to the performance of magic. Each trick was technically easy and each trick demonstrated part of McBride's
philosophies about magic. The lessons learned from the lecture span from simple tricks to entire performance concepts…
all of which can easily be implemented into all of our magic performances weather you’re a professional or hobbyist!
THE
SUPER
SESSION
The McBride Super Session is a
condensed version of his week long
Magic and Mystery School class.
Jeff covered a wide range of subjects
including magic, theory, and philosophy.
For many of the attendees
The Jeff McBride Super Session
was a unique, once in a lifetime experience!
How many times in our lives can we say we’ve
learned first hand from a Las Vegas headliner?
Jeff covered everything from close up magic, stage and mentalism sharing his 20+ years experience teaching magic. He
started the evening with an example of how most people feel that their status is diminished when shown a magic trick. Jeff
taught us how to move our audience from darkness to enlightenment. He explained that “Good magicians wrap their magic
in theatrical presentations to give their audience mare than just a puzzle to solve” (as most people feel put-down with puzzle
magic). He reviewed four presentation strategies with the small group: Storytelling, The Magician in Trouble, Conspiracy
and Gift Magic. To illustrate his point he performed varied routines incorporating many different styles and characters along
with providing amazing on-line and in-print references. To break-up the immense amount of knowledge he was imparting on
the group he would pause from time-to-time for multiple Q&A sessions. The diverse group, as you might have guessed, took
full advantage of the time with Mr. McBride and asked several excellent varied questions: The best way to approach a table
for restaurant workers, How to handle a rude audience, How to handle “Grabbers”, What can we ad to our magic to make it
more memorable, Advise for performing in magic competitions, Where to place what effects, How to turn an objective
witness into a subjective participant and
how to re-frame stage freight. He also
gave advise on the best rehearsal methods
and practices, how and where to find
training groups and the best books to learn
mentalism. He gave the group some very
useful card handling/forcing tools that were
very easy to learn in an instant! He also
advised that when you are trying out new
pieces to keep them short and “hammock”
them in between two strong pieces. Jeff
also announced that the material from his
column in past issues of MAGIC is being
expanded and turned into a book! All in all
everyone in attendance agreed that it was
an amazing four hours well-spent and that
they were walking away with performanceready material and tips & tricks for real
world performing situations.
ACEs Magic Club thanks you Jeff McBride!
“I've been fortunate enough to sit
through several McBride super sessions
and I've experienced McBride’s
Masterclass and residency. I must
admit though, each super session is
better than the last…
But this one was his best by far!”
– Bill Cook
"I promise to tell all the big lecturers about
your fantastic club and you should expect to
hear from some of magic's best."
- Jeff McBride
April 2012
VO RTE X
Chicago’s Premier Magic Club
It’s a Mystery To Me
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President
Barry Sonenthal
There was this sales clerk at a gift shop who hated magic. This is sadly not
an isolated instance. Protecting the secrets of magic is part of what we
are about, and sadly the art of magic is the only creative science that is
contingent on a secret. Reveal the secret and the magic loses its depth.
In the book Shattering Illusions by Jamy Ian Swiss, Mr. Swiss spoke of sharing
color vision with a young girl. She then insisted on knowing “how".
Reluctantly Mr. Swiss shared the secret, only to have the girl express
disappointment. We want to believe that magic can be real. The
sales girl has the right to like, resent, or even hate magic. Her only
experience with magic is from a brother who cherished the secrets
enough to alienate his family or at least his sister. The answer to this issue is
not simple. It’s very individual. Respect magic but respect those around
you. If you ask a family member to witness your latest miracle, you are also
asking for criticism. It comes with a price. Be ready to pay the price and
say thank you.
Bill Cook
VP
Steve Lindstrom
Secretary
Andrew Michals
See Magic Live -- Where do YOU perform?
Pete Kovacevich
Mark Presley
Bill Cook
Dan Neilson
Steve Belliveau
Your Name
- Wednesdays
- Fridays
- Saturdays
- Sundays
- Sundays
- Day
IHOP Buffalo Grove
Barnaby’s Arlington Heights
Paisanos Richmond
Glenview Hackneys
LaVilla in Chicago
Where
Treasurer
Brian Johnson
Support Your Sponsors
Officer At Large
Kevin Kapinos
Rocky Vanders Café & Bar
www.PJsTrickShop.com
PR
For more information on
ACEs Magic Club visit us online
Fred Paul Bailey
www.ACEsMagicClub.com