Ring NO. 46, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Seymour Davis Ring
Meets 7:00 pm, 1st Monday of the month at the New Beginning Fellowship Church, 15601 S. Pennsylvania in OKC
LEE WOODSIDE, Secretary. Email: WoodsideLee@hotmail.com.
www.okcmagic.club
We were pleased to host a lecture on restaurant magic by Keith Leff, a well-known restaurant magician from Kansas City. The lecture sponsors met Keith at Applebee’s Restaurant prior to the lecture and we all enjoyed good food and conversation.
Keith began his lecture with the science of restaurant magic. He talked about what type of restaurants are best and how to get the gig.
The second half of Keith’s lecture focused on the art of restaurant magic. He stressed the importance of using organic props and performing tricks that are easily and quickly reset. He said that no tricks should be performed that require a lot of thinking on the part of the audience.
Keith asked Rick Johnson to bring out a handful of change from his pocket. Keith picked up a penny from Rick’s hand and caused it to bend.
Keith began a sponge ball routine by plucking the balls from a purse frame. He then performed a very nice multi-phase routine with a match book. He said that he would always use the restaurant’s matchbooks back when they had such things.
Keith pulled out a deck of cards in a card box and as he fanned the deck, the card box vanished. When he removed the jokers from the deck, he was “clean.”
Keith invited Shaun Clark to select a card and sign it. The card was then produced, folded in quarters, from a small box.
Keith removed a marble from a salt shaker and passed the shaker, the lid, and the marble out for examination. He retrieved the items, screwed the top on the shaker, and then caused the marble to penetrate the shaker, winding up inside.
Keith showed several playing cards to be all different. He then mixed them and removed one and placed it in his jacket pocket, where the back of the card was in sight. He asked that any one of the cards be named. He withdrew the card from his jacket pocket and showed it to be the named Queen of Spades. He then showed that all the other cards were now also the Queen of Spades.
We recommend Keith’s lecture for anyone interested in breaking into the business of restaurant magic.
Jonathon Meyer generously invited us to hold our annual Holiday Party and Stage/Parlor Magic Contest at his newly opened “Jonathon’s Magic Theater” in South Oklahoma City. It is a very nice venue and even had a stage for our contest. The Ring provided turkey and ham and everyone brought potluck dishes to round out the meal.
Numbers were drawn from a hat to determine the performance order for the contest. President Cassidy Smith acted as emcee for the eight acts that competed for cash prizes.
Jim Green showed a clear drinking glass and a pistachio nut. With a wave of his hand, the nut penetrated the glass.
Lee Woodside placed a table at each side of the stage. On one table, he placed a frame holding three silk scarves, a blue one on each side and a pink one in the middle. Lee removed the pink scarf and carried it to the other table where he picked up a pistol and draped the scarf over the barrel. When he fired the pistol, the scarf vanished. When he pulled apart the blue scarves, the pink one was now tied between them.
Derrick Beeson said, “Poof” and a finger ring appeared on his finger. He then caused the ring to penetrate his fingers. Finally, the ring vanished is a flash of fire. Derrick showed a two-dollar bill front and back. He folded the bill and when he unfolded it, it had changed into two one-dollar bills. Derrick asked Shaun Clark to pick a card. The card was returned to the deck and Derrick handed the deck to Shaun, who found that his card had vanished. Derrick removed the card from his pocket.
David Teeman said that the magician doesn’t pick a wand, the wand picks the magician. He said, “This is the wand that picked me” and showed a large wand with a toilet plunger on one end. David asked Jonathon and Brynna to assist him. He had Brynna place a silk scarf into a bag. He handed Jonathon a wand, but the wand “broke” in his hands. David brought out a jumbo deck of cards and asked Jonathon to say “Stop” as David riffled the deck. The card he stopped at was the King of Hearts. David removed an insurance policy from his pocket and after much byplay, the policy unfolded into a giant King of Hearts. The scarf was pulled from the bag and it was now a silk scarf with a giant King of Hearts printed on it.
Rick Johnson brought out two books that he recently purchased from the half-price book store. He asked a volunteer to take one of the books. He then had her insert a card into the pages of another book. Rick opened the book at the selected page and read the page numbers as 194. He asked his volunteer to turn to that page in her book. Rick gave an accurate account of the text on that page. David Hoy would have been proud!
Rick brought out three jumbo playing cards with their backs towards the audience. One of the cards had “17” written on the back. He asked Rick Martin and Michael King for numbers between 1 and 52. Rick said “49” and Michael said “44.” Rick wrote these two numbers on the backs of two of the jumbo cards. Rick now had Cassandra Crow name red or black. She said, “Black.” Asked to name a black suit, Brian Tabor said, “Clubs.” Randy said “7” when asked for a value. Rick Johnson now pulled out a regular deck of playing cards, which had a number from 1 to 52 written on the back of each card. The cards with the numbers 49 and 44, matched the jumbo cards with those numbers. The card with 17 written on the back proved to be the 7 of club, which matched the jumbo card with ’17’ written on its back.
Bob Caldwell took the stage wearing a tropical shirt and a Santa hat and invited Derrick Beeson to join him. He placed a red card box, a blue card box, and a bell like those found on a counter on the table. He would perform an action, ring the bell, and then Derrick would perform the same action. Finally, each placed a playing card from his deck into the other person’s deck. Sure enough, both cards were the three of diamonds.
Bruce Rodesney said that he now performs with the stage name “B.” Many performers have gone with single names, so he is going with a single letter. He invited Jim Green onto the stage and performed the classic paper balls over the head routine. He then invited Cassidy Smith on stage. B tied two silk scarves together and placed the knotted end into Cassidy’s pants pocket. When he jerked the scarves out, Cassidy’s boxers were now tied between the two scarves.
Grant Vinson and his lovely girlfriend and assistant, Ashlee were the last contestants to perform. Grant taped his mouth shut with duck tape. He tossed wadded-up paper balls to each of four audience members. The first audience participant chose low cards, the second chose four, the third chose diamonds, and the fourth, with a choice of rock or roll, chose roll. Ashlee brought Grant a cylinder and a board. Grant placed the board across the cylinder and began to roll back and forth. He then ripped off the duck tape from his mouth and removed a folded playing card, which proved to be the four of diamonds. As a kicker ending, he had the four audience participants straighten out their papers and read them. Four. Of. Diamonds. Roll.
While Treasurer Michael King tabulated the scores, Cassidy Smith and Jonathon Meyer took the stage and discussed the trials and tribulations associated with Jonathon opening his Magic Theater.
Cassidy announced the winners: third place for Bob Caldwell, second place for Rick Johnson, and first place for Grant Vinson. Each received a cash prize to buy more magic.
Kevin Brasier took the stage and produced a dove from a foulard that had been shown on both sides. He then placed the dove into a small box. He tore the box apart piece by piece and the dove was nowhere to be found.
Lee Woodside
